The Circle of Ter-ROAR

Disney Chills #7

by Vera Strange

"Hakuna matata means no worries." Twelve-year-old Silas is a scaredy cat. Everything from an unexpected door slam to someone coughing in class scares him, and the other students waste no time in ruthlessly reminding him of it. So when his family unexpectedly inherits a safari-themed summer camp in Arizona, he is both terrified, and thrilled, at the prospect of the cross-country move. Hakuna matata is the theme of Camp Pride Rock that was the pride and joy of Silas's Aunt Scarlet. But when she suddenly passes away and gives all ownership to her brother, Silas's father, they find upon arrival that the camp isn't in the shape they they thought it would be. And deep inside Silas's closet is an old, mysterious trunk. When he is finally able to unlock it, he finds the spirit of Camp Pride Rock--the pelt of an old lion named Scar. Once he unlocks the trunk, Silas begins to think that things are looking up for the dilapidated camp and for his family, until a terrifying accident and a series of scary animal encounters immediately switches his thought process. Grab your nightlight, dear reader, and prepare to be CHILL-ed!

Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Middle Grade, Retellings

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2023

Reviews

[Kristin Keele]

The next installment of the Disney chills series The Circle of Ter-ROAR follows along with The Lion King. I enjoyed this book as far as children's books go. I do think that this story could have been a bit shorter as it is just over 350 pages. I think the beginning and middle felt a little slow, and the end felt slightly rushed. I like that each of these stories are meant to teach a lesson and do not offer a happily ever after. I think this story is the darkest storyline we have seen so far.

[Alex]

I love this series!

However, this was one where I really wished the main character would have a happy ending. He deserved it.

[Shawn Mcmahon]

I continue to be surprised how dark this series is willing to get! I do think the length hurt this one as it started to feel a bit aimless in the middle and the ending felt very rushed. Still worth the read though and I will absolutely continue to follow this series.

[johntmp]

★★ - MEDIOCRE

I'll be honest, I only read this because it's centered around The Lion King, and horror, and Scar is a great villain. The main thing I did appreciate was how dark and threatening it was willing to get for a children's book, and handled it in a respectfully frightening way where it wasn't inappropriate for it's target audience. And the ending was especially dark. However, what could have been a much tighter and gripping mystery was dragged out across 350+ pages, with so much of the first half being incredibly repetitive and very boring to read through. There was a lack of progression. Scar is also severely underutilised, only appearing in about 10% of the entire story. The main character was rather annoying but did redeem himself by the end. There are quite a few loose ends that the book seems to forget, and it had plenty of pages to do it considering how long it was. Safe to say, I won't be seeking out anything else in this series of books. It could have been so much better.

[Damita Perez]

I adored this series. It gives Goosebumps vibes, but instead of creepy dolls and gnomes, we get Disney Villains.

In this book, we follow Silas. His parents just had his baby brother, George, and his father recently lost his job. They're all majorly stressed out. When Silas's father gets the last will and testament from Scarlett, his father's sister, they find out she's handing over Pride Rock Summer Camp to her family. They jump on the chance for a new future.

When arriving at the camp they truly see how much work it will be to fix it up and although Silas is nervous the workers from the camp take great pride bringing him into their circle, even giving him the staff his aunt carried around.

After an unfortunate accident that leaves Silas's father injured, a lot of really bad things start happening, and it's up to Silas to stop the ghost of Scar!

[Frankie]

Lion King goosebumps.
I thought this one was going to end nice but then it wouldn't have fitted in with the rest of the series 🥲.

Silas and his family move to Arizona from Florida to help rebuild his Aunt's campsite Pride Rock after her sudden death.
Silas has always been easily scared and starting anew with new people in a new place with his ever annoying baby brother George and his constant crying Silas feels even more keen to explore his surroundings and try to learn to be brave.
After a freak accident with his Dad, Silas is given a protection staff from the groundskeeper Archie, however this is when things go bad, a chest appears and releases bad spirits, strange things happen including Scar, hyenas and creepy photos coming to life.

[Christian Lenz]

Sailas moved from Flora to Airzona to Camp Pride Rock. He unleashed the ghost of scar whith the help of his magicl staff. Bad things started happening at the camp. The parrot named Zuzu goes missing than Scar steals Sailas baby brother Goroge. Sailas gives the staff to Scar and thinks he can return home but turns out he is in for a rude awaking. Scar tells his hyneins to eat Sailas. Scar walks away with the staff. I'm sad to be done with this series and hope the other writes more Dsiney Chills.

[Megan]

I love this series and will continue to read it, but this was not my favourite! Her best is still the Cruella one, and that’s going to be hard to top for me.

The ending of this one isn’t as creepy as I was expecting, and I saw the “twist” coming from the moment Zazu said what he said, but I also understand that I’m not the age group this is aimed for!

A solid and creepy book for younger readers. :)

[Sara]

I liked the premise and characters overall but tired a bit of how afraid and anxious Silas was in every other scene. The author really emphasized that, and then the ending seemed rush. This is the second book of the series I’ve read.

[Alexander Draganov]

Финалът, ах финалът! ДОЧАКАХ!

Какво имам предвид ще разберете само, ако прочетете книгата, но ако искате да добиете повече представа за сюжета и идеята, хвърлете едно око на ревюто ми в Цитаделата:
https://citadelata.com/the-circle-of-...

[Erika Butler]

Favorite one out of the series by far! Definitely gave me the chills and was surprised on how dark and intense it was for a Disney book

[Colleen]

I have enjoyed this series quite a bit, with each book getting better. This one is no different and actually takes the cake, my favorite so far!

[Jennifer]

That ending though!

[Wolverinefactor]

Solid ending but I gotta admit it was a drag at times. This could have used some of the fat being trimmed off

[Drew Dietrick]

A spine-tingling story starring my favorite (not to mention one of the greatest) Disney villain of all time.

[Brittany]

One heck of a book I loved all the books they will definitely be in my head for long time great job

[Sophie]

This is probably my least favorite book from this series. The beginning and middle was super slow and the end felt rushed. There was a couple characters that were forgotten like Billie or Rafi. Were they there to be there? We only see Scar 4 times in the whole book and in the other books we see the villain a lot more.

[Carolyn]

2.5 stars

This is by far the longest of the Disney Chills books so far, clocking in at almost 400 pages but it didn’t need to be that long. It easily could have cut 100 pages out without losing anything from the story. It dragged on and on after the dad got hurt, and the lion pelt and sketchy stuff until in the last 60 pages or so the action picked up and it felt like we’d finally come to the whole point of the book - a showdown between Scar and Silas and his friends.

I almost walked away from the book when I thought the dad was going to die a la Mufasa, but I guess that’s on me for not seeing that potential coming. 💀😭 I did lose my favourite aunt last year so those parts/feelings/emotions were hard to read, even if Silas had never met her.

I wish we’d gotten a better explanation of how Scar was doing this, seeing as he doesn’t have powers. Where did the pelt come from? Last time we saw it Hercules had it!!! 🤣

I’m writing this review about a week after I finished it and I can’t even tell you how it ended/what the “chills” twist was. This series is all over the place with its quality, but I keep on reading.

[James Vincett]

Good book. Hope theirs more to come. Top 10 villains I should have a book.

10. Shan Yu
9. Frollo
8. Madam Mim
7. Shere Khan
6. Queen of Hearts
5. Gaston
4. Mother Gothel
3. Lady Trdmaine
2. Jafar
1. The Evil Queen

[Melissa Loucks]

I really liked all the other Chills books but I really couldn't get into this one.