Maîtresse de tous les maux

Villains #4

by Serena Valentino

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 Evil.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Audiobook, Magic

324 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2017

About the author

Serena Valentino is best known for weaving tales that combine mythos and guile with her work on the comic book series GloomCookie and Nightmares & Fairy Tales, and her best selling Disney Villain Novels which have earned her critical acclaim for her unique style of storytelling, bringing her readers into exquisitely frightening worlds filled with terror, beauty and extraordinary female protagonists.

Her Disney Villain novel series would be best enjoyed if read in this order: Fairest of All: The Story of the Wicked Queen, The Beast Within: The Story of Belle’s Prince, Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch, Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy. Mother Knows Best: A Tale of the Old Witch and The Odd Sisters: A Villains Book to be released in Summer 2019. Book 7 will be out Summer 2020, Book 8 summer of 2021, and Book 9 Summer of 2022.

Serena lives in New Orleans with her dog Gozer, and a very tiny kitty named Momma.



Contact: Serena@serenavalentino.com

Reviews

[MissBecka Gee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is awesome! I hope she writes more.

"Why must a young girl need a man to save her? Why can't a princess fight for her own life, break her own curse? Why must it always be a prince? "

[Katie.dorny · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the worst book in the series by far.

All the other Disney books detail the Villian’s book and humanises them, shows them compassion. This one did nothing of the sort.

Maleficient could have had a wonderful backstory - look at the film!

This was tragic and you just felt sorry for her the whole way though.

And the twist at the end was so unnecessary and I just felt that it didn’t really add anything to the story as it didn’t really make any sense compared to the dialogue.

[emerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to kill Prince Phillip on principle, just so we don’t have yet one more prince kissing some helpless sleeping girl, making her feel like she has to marry him out of gratitude.”

[Suhailah · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

A Tale of the Dark Fairy/Once Upon a Dream – flip tale of Sleeping Beauty

4th installment of Serena Valentino’s Villains series complete ✓

“There is nothing more frightening to a forest than the threat of fire.”

Finally got to read Maleficent’s story! I’d have to say she is at the top of my list of favorite Disney Villains so far. I mean her being a dark fairy, having the ability to transform into a dragon, and her beautiful horns…hands down just equals a quality villain in my opinion.

The Villains series continues to explore behind-the-scenes of our favorite Disney movies, revealing possible details that Disney never gave us access to. What if the villains we've all grown up with aren't really the villains we’ve always thought they were? What if their actions weren’t really their fault? What if something lurking deep in the dark had something to do with it all? This series attempts to look into these very possibilities…

After getting a bit frustrated with the last installment in the series, I admit I was very hesitant to dive back in. And when I finally decided to, I had to do a major recap after the mess the last book left behind!! Uh…deep breath haha. In the end though, I was extremely happy when this book finally started to come together and connected all the missing pieces. It wasn’t quite so pulled into ten different directions like the last one, and I had no confusion or frustration whatsoever! It was once again relaxing like my experience going into the first book of the series.

There is a story line continuation of the Odd Sisters which is getting more and more interesting. Nanny and Tulip are back with some surprises. Then there is a major plot twist in Maleficent’s story that just leaves you feeling so sorry for her and everything she’s been through.

"Have you ever looked back on events that happened many years ago and felt as if they happened to someone else entirely?"

I really enjoyed this one and look forward to continuing the series. Next up will be: Mother Knows Best (Mother Gothel’s story), and I can’t wait!!

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Going into Maleficent and reading her story - well, there's no reason to doubt why she became the way she did. It was also really interesting to see the three fairies not being all goodie goodie too. Their 'relationship' reminded me of Maleficent - the movie.

So I'm not going to lie, I'm devouring this series so freaking easily. I'm trying to make it so it's one book a day or so but dang it's hard. There's just something about retellings that grabs me into the story. Beyond addicting and I'm always hooked for another Disney adventure.

Now I've never made it past book 4 so I'm really intrigued what the next one will give me.
_____________________________




YYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!



I absolutely adore these books and they definitely get me into a Disney mood. There are a ton of different POV's in this book - which can somewhat get a bit confusing while listening to the audio - but it's really enjoyable at the same time. The only complaint I have is that I wanted more of Maleficent. I mean it is her book and everything so I just kind of expected more of her point of view than anything else. This is kind of like my disappointment in Ursula's book because Ariel wasn't the main focus in that book - but some other lame mermaid.



Mistress of All Evil will definitely give you more of a background into Maleficent (sort of like how her own movie gave a different view on Sleeping Beauty and background into how she grew up) and it takes you throughout her journey to becoming evil. Very evil.



And now I want to stop reading books today and watch disney movies.. too bad they are all packed up because I'm moving next week.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of the series thus far!

5 stars!

[Amélie Boucher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mistress of All Evil was probably my favorite in the series so far! Sleeping Beauty has never been one of my Disney favorites, but I absolutely loved the Maleficent movie with Angelina Jolie, so I have to admit that I was curious about this book.

I know Maleficent is meant to be a villain, but my heart cannot help but ache for her, especially after what she has been through. This story did a wonderful job of describing Maleficent and explaining how she became the villain we all know (and love). I love how we not only dug deeper into Maleficent's past, but we also got to see other characters from the Sleeping Beauty world as well as characters from previous novels in the series. Despite being quite a short book, I think Serena Valentino portrayed each character fabulously. They were all so fleshed out!

The plot twist at the end was probably my favorite part of the book. I definitely did not see that coming! I think it was a great idea and it totally makes sense with the story. Contrary to Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch, I think the author did a great job at balancing other storylines and Maleficent's backstory. The book made me understand most characters better, and I just love how she linked all the Disney stories I grew up loving.

I really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to read the other ones in this series!

[RumBelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not impressed by this book. Firstly, considering the title and cover, you would assume it was about Maleficent. I would say, for about maybe 40% of the book that was true. The other 60% was about the Odd Sisters, Circe, Snow White and the Fairy Godmother of Cinderella fame. That makes about 5 different plot lines, all woven into one book, and not woven very well I'm afraid. The book became convoluted and uninteresting very quickly.

Secondly, no one in this book was likeable! They were all evil, backstabbing, false, cruel characters. Absolutely no one was redeeming or even interesting. They were just flat, evil, stereotype characters even when they were supposed to be "good guys." It was not an engaging read by any means.

What little you got to see of Maleficent was interesting, up to a point. A lot of her early history at Fairy School felt disjointed to me, I couldn't really picture any of them at desks at a school learning how to be fairies, it just seemed so odd. Who Aurora really was was intriguing, as was the ending where she explains why she did what she did. That made her story somewhat, if not interesting, then tolerable.

In my view this series started out so well, then it just seemed like the author wanted to cram every conceivable plot she could think of, into each book, and in the process write absolutely no likeable characters. Disappointing all around.

[Sara (A Gingerly Review) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terrible but I had been hoping to hear more about the wicked queen and not the Odd Sisters... I grew very tired of them.

[Mandy (Bookishlove85) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this one was the longest, had more interweaving stories in it, and at times left me a little confused, I still think it was my face so far. Maleficent has always been my favorite "villain" and I loved seeing her back story and what led to her ultimate demise. I still love her and this story. Looking fwd to more in this series!

[Sydney ✽ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mistress of All Evil is an imaginative retelling of the story of Maleficent, the iconic villain from Sleeping Beauty. The book dives into her past, exploring the pain, betrayal, and isolation that shaped her into the powerful sorceress we know today.

❀ﾟ.･｡ﾟ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ﾟ｡･.ﾟ❀
✦･ﾟ: * My Thoughts * :･ﾟ✦

˗ˏˋ ★★☆☆☆ ˎˊ˗

Umm…hmm. I found this to be a bit more childish than the other books that I have read in this series. I also felt like it got repetitive and a little annoying at parts. Sleeping Beauty wasn’t, and still isn’t, a Disney princess I like so I feel like that played a big role while reading the book.

❀ﾟ.･｡ﾟ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ﾟ｡･.ﾟ❀
✦･ﾟ: * Vibes * :･ﾟ✦

Genre: 𝑌𝐴 𝐹𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑦
Tropes: 𝐹𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑦𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑊𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠, 𝐹𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠
Spice: 𝑁𝑜𝑛𝑒
Song: 𝄞 𝑂𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑈𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝐴 𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 — 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑎 𝐷𝑒𝑙 𝑅𝑎l

❀ﾟ.･｡ﾟ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ﾟ｡･.ﾟ❀
✦･ﾟ: * Favorite Quotes * :･ﾟ✦

╰┈➤ “𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎: 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍, 𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛.”

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This one had a slower start and the meshing of all the different fairytale characters got a little confusing, making me lose interest, but it picked up about halfway. The twist around Maleficent's origin was a well-thought out plot point by the author.

[Mariah Roze · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was more on the slower end. I felt that not much happened and it was mostly talking. This was probably my least favorite of the series so far. However, I still plan on finishing the series.


"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 Evil."

[Yas · Rating 5 out of 5]

واقعا برای منم همیشه سوال بود چرا مالفیسنت باید برای جشن تولد آرورا دعوت میشد؟🙂
و وای کی فکرشو میکرد داستان این باشه...😭

اول اینکه این داستان از پایان کتاب سوم یعنی داستان اورسلا شروع شد. دوما چقدر همه‌ی این داستان‌های دیزنی به هم وصلن. نصفشون که باهم فامیلن و کارکترهایی از کتاب اول و دوم (کتاب‌های سفید برفی و دیو و دلبر) در این کتاب هستن که اگر اونا رو نخونده باشین گیج میشین اینا کی‌ان...
تا نیمه کتاب دقم داد تا درست داستان مالفیسنت رو بگه😂😭
ولیییی باید بگم عجب داستانی بود. عجیب و دور از ذهن. خیلی زیبا و البته غم‌انگیز بود:( هیچ وقت از اون ۳تا پری خوشم نمیومد و الان بهم ثابت شد، فضولا.

تمام این داستان‌های ویلن‌های دیزنی غم‌انگیزن و سر این بیشتر از ۳تای قبلی سوپرایز شدم:))

[Karly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn about this book...Some parts are deserving of 5-stars, while others (including the ending) are only worth about 2-stars.

I loved the way this story tied together all three of the previous books in this series. I also love whenever the author pulls scenes exactly as they are from the original Disney movies (the best!!).

However, I didn't love how dragged out some scenes were..."ok, I get it, she is angry with her mother!!" And the ending was extremely anticlimactic considering all the build up throughout the book.

I think this was my least favourite from this series :/ I still hope there will be more to this series tho!

[Janinas.Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein weiters Buch aus der Bösewicht-Reihe aus dem @carlsenverlag geht für mich zuende und dieses Mal handelte es von Maleficents Leben, der Dunklen Fee aus Dornröschen. Erzählt wird ihre Geschichte in Form von Flashbacks und Einschnitten in die Gegenwart. Die Leser tauchen ein in Maleficents Jugend, wie sie von Nanny adoptiert und aufgezogen wurde. Danny glaubt fest daran, dass Maleficent nicht so böse ist, wie alle denken und das sie ihrem Schicksal entgehen kann.

Direkt von Beginn an war ich gefesselt von diesem Buch und fühlte mich Maleficent augenblicklich tief verbunden. Ich weiß, sie ist der geborene Bösewicht, aber mein Herz konnte nicht anders und hat sich sofort für sie erwärmt! Besonders nach all dem, was sie durchmachen musste.

Jedoch war die Geschichte für mich nicht komplett rund. Der Schreibstil zum einen ist nicht der Beste, jedoch hat es die Autorin defintiv geschafft einen Spannungsbogen aufzubauen und mich beim Lesen vollkommen zu fesseln! Generell hätte ich mir mehr Dialoge zwischen den Charakteren gewünscht und weniger Monologe des Erzählers und auch das Ende konnte mich leider nicht wirklich überzeugen.

Insgesamt ist dies jedoch ein empfehlenswertes Buch und ich hatte Spaß daran Maleficents Geschichte zu lesen und auch mehr über die Charactere aus den vorherigen Büchern zu erfahren. Ich würde euch raten, die Bücher in der richtigen Reihenfolge zu lesen. "Das Geheimnis der Dunklen Fee" ist bereits Band 4 der Reihe.
Das Buch erhält von mir 3,5 Sterne und ich freue mich schon sehr auf die weiteren Bände!!

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Convoluted. Unrelated. Boring.

[Eva Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

War echt interessant zu wissen, wie ihre Geschichte war. Habe mich allerdings schon immer für die Dunkle Fee interessiert

[Alexaltii · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo he disfrutado como una enana. Me ha encantado, no solo por la historia en si, sino porque entran en juego otros villanos como Úrsula y la Bestia. Necesito saber qué ocurre con ellos. Espero que lo publiquen pronto.

[Meegy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing and sad story. Poor Maleficent.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been looking forward to Serena Valentino's novel Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy for so long, not only because I very much enjoy her Disney Villains novels but also because Maleficent is my favorite of the Disney Villains. Mistress of All Evil is the fourth installment in Valentino's Disney Villains series, preceded by Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen, The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince, and Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch. While Fairest, the first in the series, remains my favorite, Mistress is undoubtedly my second favorite. The novel takes us back to Maleficent's childhood and teenage years, leading us up to what eventually causes her to become the eponymous Mistress of All Evil. (As readers of previous novels of the series can probably surmise, Valentino's original Odd Sisters are involved, but so are several other characters.) There is definitely a lot of room for sympathy for Maleficent because as is the case with Fairest, this novel reveals to us that not everything that we see in the Sleeping Beauty film is as we had thought because not everything is within Maleficent's control. Valentino crafts a much different story than Linda Woolverton does in her 2014 Maleficent film starring Angelina Jolie, and each story has its strengths. Valentino, for example, gives us more about Maleficent's youth, and her novel also takes place in the same universe as the classic Sleeping Beauty film (whereas the Angelina Jolie film cannot possibly take place concurrently with the classic animated film for many reasons). The Angelina Jolie film, however, is much more focused on Maleficent as a character, and that Maleficent is a much more independent and autonomous character. Something that has always bothered me about the Angelina Jolie film, however, is that it offers no explanation as to why Maleficent's parents would give her a name that basically means evil, but Valentino does explain the origin of her name. I think that one of the main aspects of Mistress of All Evil that bothers me a bit (which I admit is a bit nitpicky) is that Fauna, the good fairy dressed in green, is depicted no differently than either of the other two fairies. In Sleeping Beauty, however (and, for that matter, in Liz Braswell's novel Once Upon a Dream), Fauna is depicted as the only one of the three good fairies who seems to harbor some compassion for Maleficent, first by suggesting that they try to reason with her (which, according to this novel, might have possibly worked) and then by suggesting that Maleficent is evil because her life is void of love. In Mistress of All Evil, however, Fauna is just as petty and as cruel to Maleficent as Flora and Merryweather are. Aside from that, I really don't have many complaints. Mistress of All Evil reminds me a great deal of Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked, which is a retelling of The Wizard of Oz from the perspective of The Wicked Witch of the West. Both novels have a lot in common; both Elphaba (The Wicked Witch) and Maleficent are born with green skin and other physical oddities that cause them to be feared and hated by their societies, and both are looked after by maternal figures known only as Nanny. I don't know if the similarities and parallels are intentional on Valentino's part, but they are definitely there nonetheless. I also much enjoyed all of the references and connections to other Disney films. Both Snow White and Queen Grimhilde (whom Valentino finally names) return. The Beast is mentioned several times, and the novel begins directly following the aftermath of Ursula's death. Hades is mentioned more directly than he was previously in the series. Cinderella is once again mentioned, and her Fairy Godmother is even a character in this novel. We briefly meet the Blue Fairy, and Pinocchio is consequently briefly mentioned. This idea that all of these Disney films are connected and take place in the same universe is one aspect of this series that I absolutely adore, and although she isn't necessarily one of my absolute favorite Disney Villains, I am definitely looking forward to Gothel (from Tangled)'s story, titled Mother Knows Best, which is expected to be released next summer.

[Sarah Salazar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jetzt wo ich das Buch beendet habe, hat Goodreads es auch endlich geschafft, die deutsche Version zu hinterlegen. Ich vergebe drei Sterne. Vier oder fünf Sterne erhalten bei mir nur Bücher, welche mich wirklich richtig packen und unterhalten, direkt von der ersten Seite an. Das Geheimnis der dunklen Fee ist zwar zeitweise wirklich spannend, mich ärgern zwischendurch aber immer wieder die elendigen Intrigen der verdrehten Schwestern. Ich liebe die Villains-Reihe wirklich, bin aber so abgeneigt von den Dreien, dass es mich jedes Mal beim Lesen wieder ausbremst. Die Geschichte hinter den Schwestern finde ich wirklich nervtötend und mega überzogen. Jedoch interessiert mich zu jedem Disney Bösewicht natürlich auch der Hintergrund. Wenn man „Maleficent - Mächte der Finsternis“ gesehen hat, wird man hier etwas am Ende der Geschichte im Buch auszusetzen haben. Eventuell wird dieses aber in den nächsten Teilen der Villains nochmal umgekehrt. Es würde mich zumindest bei der Schreibweise der Autorin nicht allzu stark wundern. Die letzten drei Kapitel fand ich übrigens sehr überladen an Ereignissen und die Handlung musste plötzlich schnell abgewickelt sein. Irgendwie verwirren mich mittlerweile auch die häufigen Zeitsprünge und dass plötzlich jeder mit jedem verwandt ist oder sich aus früheren Zeiten in anderem Zusammenhang kennt. Im Buch selbst ergibt sich auch ganz unerwartet ein komplett anderes Verwandtschaftsverhältnis von Protagonisten, welche uns schon in den vorherigen Büchern begleitet haben. Und an dieser Stelle dachte ich dann: „Oh nein, echt jetzt!?“ und musste etwas mit den Augen rollen.

Trotzdem freue ich mich auf die nächsten Bände der Reihe. 😄

[kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was meh to be completely honest. It just felt kinda slow and I didn’t love all the flashbacks and stuff. It was a very interesting plot line though.

[Durch.Welten.Und.Zeilen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5⭐️

[Fynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot twist :o

[Alejandro Camacho · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got my ARC today and from the moment I got this book in my hands I couldn’t stop reading till the end. Since I started reading the villains books saga, I’ve always knew Maleficent’s story was going to be crucial in many ways to the universe created by Serena Valentino. But I never imagined it to be so outstanding and amazing and I dare to say that till the date is by far the best book in all the saga. There is so much strong and powerful writing between the pages and I was literally shocked with all the twists and secrets revealed in this book. There is so much I would like to express but it’s going to be hard to write this not giving spoilers, so what I can say without revealing too much, is that there is one word to describe this story perfectly and it’s “heartbreaking”.
As a character Maleficent is so intriguing and alluring, she is in fact the Mistress of all Evil, dark, cold hearted and merciless, but as we travel back in time to know her origins and past we discover that there is so much more of her layered between pain and hate, which as you know is not the best combination inside one heart, particularly a heart belonging to a powerful being whose magic can be influenced by this feelings with no good ending. It is hard not to feel sympathy for Maleficent from the very beginning and the rest of the story as we discover the real reason of why she is who she is. It’s shocking, it’s sad and it so beautifully done and brilliant that we reach a point while we are near the end of the story and we already know (because yes, it follows the canon of the film and nothing changes her demise) what is going to happen once she faces prince Philip during in the final battle, we reach this climax and we don’t want her to die, not like that, and that it’s the plus of this story, how hard all the plot made us to root for Maleficent, so strong than when we know all the secrets and revelations (and trust me there is more than one ) we don’t want that sword to cross her heart. What I can say is that Serena did an amazing job giving a voice and depth core to the character, making the reader to connect with her and understand what is inside her heart and the pain hurting her soul, and I must say this, if you are expecting something similar or related to Angelina Jolie’s movie take that idea and throw it away, because this story has nothing to do with that one.
All the stories return in this book, many old faces from the previous books come back not only to say hello but give the story so much more sense now, and yes you need to read the previous books before reading this one, because all the stories are linked by a reason. If you are fond to the Odd Sisters, Circe and the original characters from this universe I can assure you then that you are going to love what is next for them and be shocked in this new chapter of the story.
And if you are wondering if Aurora has a bigger role in this book, I can only say that she is in fact the heart of the story in many ways and yes, there is more background of why Maleficent cursed her, and the discovering is so powerful and heartbreaking that the feeling is still aching me while I write this review. If you liked the previous novels then yes, you are going to Love this one, and surprise you with every chapter you read.
Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did, happy reading.

[Brooke Coffell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I dont know where to begin with my review, only because Mistress left me SPEACHLESS ! I'm keeping this short & sweet, only because I don't want any types of spoilers ! I'll start by saying, from the begninning of the story I felt so relatable to Maleficent. I had more in common with her story & her pain than any of the past villains. I loved the power she carried all through her journey & I feel like so many more people, other than myself will agree that at one point in their lives they felt Maleficent's type of pain. I love her Independence & free will to go far & beyond, whether she had someone behind her saying to do so. She needed no one, but her self. I feel a lot of people could look up to Maleficent in that point; At the end of the day, she knew she could depend on herself no matter what. This brilliant novel revealed so many secrets & unanswered questions ! It felt to me like this book was the climax of a epic movie & things are just now really getting epic ! You did it again, Serena ! You never fail to amaze me with your vibrant imagination & how you weave these classic tales into your own, somehow like magic !! I can't wait to see where our adventure continues when all the other books release ! I send you all my love, support & blessings ! Keep doing what you are doing !! You are amazing at what you do !!! Let's get Mistress to number one !!! Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy

[kathis.books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eine interessante und andere Perspektive auf Dornröschen und Maleficient. Das Buch hat mich insgesamt ganz gut unterhalten, konnte mich aber nicht umhauen oder extrem fesseln. Die Reihe ist super angenehm und schnell zu lesen und daher schön für Zwischendurch. Man sollte sie aber auf jeden Fall in der richtigen Reihenfolge lesen.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were many things I liked, but overall this story feels like something I'd read on fanfiction.net. The writing wasn't necessarily bad, but the book read like a Thomas Sanders' narration of people's lives vine. On repeat. While it set amusing imagery while reading the story, it didn't necessarily lend itself to enjoying this story as a drama (and not a comedy). I'm not sure what could have made it better, except maybe more dialogue and action and less redundant introspective monologues from the narrator.
What I did like, however, was Maleficent's backstory. I thought Valentino did a fantastic job writing her character as the most famous misfit, whose evil manifested itself when she felt betrayed.

[poot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like these retellings of classic fairytales/Disney tales. They tell the stories of the villains from another perspective. However, this one did not have a great flow nor was I a fan of the ending :(