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Book Review: Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz

Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel by Melissa de la Cruz

Disney-Hyperion, 2015

ISBN-13: 978-1484720974

Available: Hardcover, Audible, Audio CD, Kindle edition

The premise of Isle of the Lost is that all the Disney villains, along with their children, have been imprisoned on an island without any magic or access to technology, by King Beast (of Beauty and the Beast). King Beast rules over Auradon, where all the “good” characters from Disney movies live with their children. That works out well for the princes and princesses, but not so much for the sidekick characters, who are working hard and not seeing much in the way of reward.

In Auradon, Prince Ben, the son of King Beast, is about to turn sixteen and take over as king, with very little past experience or guidance in governing. On the Isle of the Lost, Mal, daughter of the fearsome Maleficent, is ready to take down Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen from Snow White. Her allies include the clever, amoral, thieving Jay (son of Jafar) and the nerdy, easily bullied, mad scientist-in-training, Carlos de Vil.  While Mal plans evil schemes against Evie, Carlos invites her to see his new invention, which he hopes will poke a hole in the force field that separates the Isle of the Lost from access to magic, a wireless connection, and better television reception… and it works. The magic of Maleficent’s fortress begins to wake, and she sends Mal to retrieve her wand, accompanied by Jay, Carlos, and Evie.

What’s interesting about Isle of the Lost is that every kid in the book really cares about living up to parental expectations, even though the parents are frequently neglectful, superficial, or abusive. Evie’s mother, Evil Queen, is hyper-focused on appearance, and Evie is always perfectly made up. Mal is determined to be as evil as possible to impress her mother. Jay steals to provide stock for Jafar’s junk shop. Carlos keeps Cruella’s furs in perfect condition. Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos are not especially sympathetic characters. They lie, steal, vandalize, and put each other in physical danger, and they really don’t care that they might have done damage, but somehow, de la Cruz manages to make them relatable. She does a great job at developing their characters as they try, fail, and begin to reinvent themselves and the way they see the world. The part of the book that takes place on the Isle of the Lost has a dark, gritty feel to it, and the part that takes place in Auradon suggests that not everything is as perfect as it seems.

Isle of the Lost is a media tie-in to a Disney XD made-for-television movie titled Descendants, which was shown on July 31, but it doesn’t have much in common with it outside of the initial premise of the children of Disney villains imprisoned without magic and Internet. The director of the movie, Kenny Ortega, described it as a Disney fairytale-based version of High School Musical, in which Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay are chosen to attend high school with the princes and princesses in Auradon. I only saw the trailer, but I can tell you that the tone of the movie is completely different than that of the book. In fact, I would say that the Ever After High books by Shannon Hale are a much better match, even without the Disney aspect.

Disney marketing claimed that they aren’t expecting this to become a franchise, but I have difficulty believing that. I frankly am surprised they went the route of making a made-for-television movie instead of a series. The book is being marketed as a prequel to the story in the movie, but I’m really hoping it is the first in a series. Typically I am not a fan of books where the story ends without the plot being resolved, but I’m really intrigued by this one and would be interested in seeing where de la Cruz takes it. The book has sold really well, and I can’t say I am surprised. However, readers of the book may be surprised at the differences between book and movie (and vice versa). Isle of the Lost isn’t deep, but if you like your Disney villainous, this is a great dark and twisted fairytale read.

Posted on August 1, 2015 by , Reply

Don’t Trust Disney!

Usually when someone comments on Disney movies it’s either “They’re wonderful” or “they’re awful”.

I can run with both. You can’t escape Disney now. It’s so huge and encompasses so many brands and types of media that half the time you don’t even know you have a Disney product in your hands. I think a lot of us feel nostalgia for the first time we saw a Disney movie (especially if you are old enough to remember the time before VCRs and DVDs, when you had to wait seven years for the movie to come back to the theater so you could see it again). Some of the messages Disney, through its many faces, aggressively promotes, are uncomfortable and even sources of outrage. But something you rarely hear about in the discussions of Disney movies is that they are really scary. As in, fear-inducing. You cannot take your kid to a Disney movie with the belief that it will be all sunshine and flowers. Unless some of the flowers are roses with really vicious thorns, or the garden is on fire. Someone over at FEARnet started a discussion on movies that scared the members as kids. The first one he recalled was Sleeping Beauty. It’s true, Maleficent is terrifying, and I’ve never forgotten her (on a side note, it’s amazing to me how many people said they had watched IT or The Exorcist between the ages of 5 and 10). The shadows from the Frog Princess gave my son nightmares. And Ursula from the Little Mermaid… yikes. And those are just the animated movies.

Anyway, the folks at FEARnet did a short interview with an archivist at the Disney Archives where she showed off some of the props from a few of the past Disney movies. It’s really interesting to watch, and it does make you think. Who decides a movie is a children’s movie, anyway? If you are planning to take your child to a Disney movie, you might want to check out a trailer first, and try to evaluate whether the fright factor is one your child can handle.  Even my monster-loving kid has been known to run from the room or hide under a pillow during Disney films. Just because it’s a “princess movie”, a “children’s movie”, or a “family film”, you can’t trust Disney to make the decision an easy one.

Posted on May 1, 2013 by , Reply

Giant Princesses

Around Halloween, my daughter decided she wanted to be a princess. Cinderella, specifically. I personally think Cinderella is a kick-butt princess, so that was cool with me. I wasn’t all that keen on a Disney Cinderella costume, though. They looked kind of cheap, plus Disney’s Cinderella isn’t my favorite version of that particular princess.  I like Jim Hines’ version a lot, but then I can’t exactly read his stuff as bedtime stories to my three year old. Now, her older brother had an obsession with dinosaurs that had lasted a long time, and right around then it started to morph into an obsession with dragons. Finding a cool dragon costume is a challenge, let me tell you, but we found one that rocked. My mother found an elegant, sparkly royal blue princess dress with a hoop for my daughter, and she was in princess heaven. But her princess wasn’t going to be the victim of any dragon. She announced that she was a “giant princess” who could beat the dragon. And she has steadfastly stuck to that. She insisted on wearing the dress to our Mother’s Day brunch, and was really cute, but whenever someone tried to compliment her appearance, she announced indignantly “I’m a GIANT princess”!

Our zombie editor, the lovely and talented Michele Lee, has brought a link to my attention that makes me think of my daughter’s princess attitude (although she’s a little young to share it with). She likes Disney princesses, but sometimes she just doesn’t get why they act the way they do. Princesses that can take out dragons, now that she can understand.

Posted on May 17, 2011 by , 1 comment
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