Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy

by Serena Valentino

Other authorsJeffrey Thomas (Cover artist)

Paperback, 2018

Series

Villains (4)

Genres

Fantasy

Fiction

Description

Mythology. Folklore. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. The tale is told as if it's happening once upon a dream: the lovely maiden meets her handsome prince in the woods. The story has been told many times and in many ways. But always the maiden finds out that she is a princess�??a princess who has been cursed by a dark fairy to prick her finger on a spindle and fall into an eternal sleep. Though her three good fairies try to protect her, the princess succumbs to the curse. But the power of good endures, as her true love defeats the fire-breathing dragon and awakens the princess with true love's first kiss. The two live happily ever after. And yet this is only half the story. So what of the dark fairy, Maleficent? Why does she curse the innocent princess? What led to her becoming so filled with malice, anger, and hatred? Many tales have tried to explain her motives. Here is one account, pulled down from the many passed down through the ages. It is a tale of love and betrayal, of magic and reveries. It is a tale of the Mistress of All Ev… (more)

Language

English

Original language

English

Original publication date

2017

Physical description

7.56 inches

Publication

Autumn (2018)

ISBN

1788103289 / 9781788103282

Library's rating

Library's review

While lacking the narrative drive and intensity of "Fairest of All", "Mistress of All Evil" is easily the second-best entry in this series so far, following two much weaker books. Valentino's heavy-handed work in books two and three to wrestle a series of standalone origin stories into an ongoing

narrative of primarily her own original characters is finally coming together here, and while by no means great, at least now works to a degree it never did in the previous two books. It is as usual in this series an inexcuseable shame that the author's familiarity with the characters from the Disney films seem shallow at best (cluelessly giving the fairy Flora the same personality as Fauna, and giving Merryweather both her own and Flora's personality traits is an easy example of this), as it severly undermines what should be the books' biggest draw. As to the title character, I find the core idea behind the plot much stronger than the actual execution, but the idea itself is so strong it warrants some approval nonetheless. Valentino also at times falls into the (understandable) trap of trying too hard to redeem the titular villains to turn them into relatable protagonists, thereby removing most of the allure of them as villains in the first place. But for the most part, it sort of works, which is a relief after two books where it mostly didn't. As an entry in the ongoing saga of Valentino's original characters living in a world populated by established Disney fairy tale characters, this shows a fair bit of promise for future installments. As a standalone book about Maleficent, it falls a bit short, but at least it is actually about Maleficent (while the Ursula book hardly even had Ursula in it). I also give it some credit for tying back to the first book and making the series feel more holistic as a result. I'm invested enough in this that I'm curious to see how it continues now, and the improvement this book provided over the previous two is somewhat encouraging, but the amazing cover designs aside, it's clear at this point that the series will never be half as good as it from a conceptual standpoint should have been.

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Similar in this library

Mother Knows Best: A Tale of the Old Witch by Serena Valentino

The Odd Sisters: A Tale of The Three Witches by Serena Valentino

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Rating

½ (45 ratings; 3.7)

User reviews

LibraryThing member DJLunchlady91404

So far this book seems to hold the most secrets yet. Really enjoyed the many plot twists and can't wait to keep going in the series

3 more

LibraryThing member KatKealy

Very disappointing. Since it's a physical book, I didn't even want to find time to bother finishing it at home and it took way longer than it would have if I'd cared. Probably only took a bit over an hour to read, but took me so long to care enough to finish it.

LibraryThing member LVStrongPuff

OH WOW. This book is just WOW. There are so many twist and turns with it. I loved every minute of it. It also hints at possible new stories.

LibraryThing member briandrewz

This was definitely better than the previous entry in the Villains series. While, of course, this book deals with Maleficent and explores why she became the way she did, it feels like the "Villains" of the series are merely background characters to Serena Valentino's own set of original characters,

the Odd Sisters.

I do have to say that I was genuinely surprised by one of the twists in the story. A lot of questions in the previous 3 books were answered in this one. So, if you've read the first 3, I would definitely recommend pressing on.

Enjoyable.