Twisted Tales Anthology

by Elizabeth Lim (Editor & Contributor), Liz Brazwell, Jen Colonita

Disney's New York Times best-selling series presents a rich anthology filled with all-new what-if twists, such as What if Snow White learned magic? What if Mulan became the emperor's advisor? And what if Remy the rat met Colette first?

Edited by New York Times best-selling author, Elizabeth Lim, this Twisted Tale anthology features sixteen twisted short stories with new takes on fan-favorite Disney films. Swoon as Ariel and Eric meet right after the Little Mermaid saves her prince; join Tiana and Naveen on a race to get back to Maldonia; take a ride on a pirate space ship with Jim Hawkins; and uncover just what power Tinker Bell's pixie dust holds.

Written by veteran Twisted Tale authors, Elizabeth Lim, Liz Braswell, Jen Calonita, and Farrah Rochon, and featuring captivating contributions from best-selling authors, Livia Blackburne, M.K. England, Micol Ostow, and Kristina Perez, this collection filled with magic, intrigue, and charm is a must-have for Disney and fairy tale fans alike.

For more twisted adventures, try the other books in the A TWISTED TALE

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

295 pages, Paperback

Published July 31, 2024

About the author

Elizabeth Lim grew up on a hearty staple of fairy tales, myths, and songs. Her passion for storytelling began around age 10, when she started writing fanfics for Sailor Moon, Sweet Valley, and Star Wars, and posted them online to discover, "Wow, people actually read my stuff. And that's kinda cool!" But after one of her teachers told her she had "too much voice" in her essays, Elizabeth took a break from creative writing to focus on not flunking English.

Over the years, Elizabeth became a film and video game composer, and even went so far as to get a doctorate in music composition. But she always missed writing, and turned to penning stories when she needed a breather from grad school. One day, she decided to write and finish a novel -- for kicks, at first, then things became serious -- and she hasn't looked back since.

Elizabeth loves classic film scores, books with a good romance, food (she currently has a soft spot for arepas and Ethiopian food), the color turquoise, overcast skies, English muffins, cycling, and baking. She lives in New York City with her husband.

Reviews

[Lucy Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright. Overall, 3 stars

A new dawn mufasa

2 star rating for this short story. I am not really a Lion King fan. Mufasa gave up being the king of pride rock to simba. There was a twist where mufasa survived scar's murder attempt has had injuries, which is why simba is king.

The journey home belle

4 star rating. I enjoyed this one. When Belle's father hurts himself, Belle ends up taking his place at the fair to show his invention. His invention got first place.

ET Volila ratatouille

I skipped this one.

The secret exchange ariel

4 stars. I enjoyed it. Ariel met Eric after she saved him. Every day, they met up.


Fates, three brave

3 stars. It was nice to see more of the triplets

The reluctant Prince bambi

I skipped this one.

A first mission, Mulan

I skipped this one

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very different from the things I usually read. As a Disney adult though it was a very interesting idea for a book and I did enjoy myself for the most parts

It was an okay book. It had some real highs but also real lows. My Ranking of the 8 stories is as followed:

1.The secret exchange. What if Eric met Ariel after she rescued him?
It was a really cute way of them getting together over their shared love of knowledge. This truely would have changed the whole movie and I think they did a really good job at making such a big change in such a short story. Even the action scene managed to be very packed and interesting despite the short length.

2.Et voilà. What if Remy had met Colette first?
In this story we got to see a lot more of Colette than we ever did and I enjoyed her as a character. I really liked how it showed Collete's struggles in the kitchen with both being a woman and her sometimes lack in creativity to come up with new flavours, all the while still showing her confidence in cooking. I especially liked how she didn't find herself with the help of a man, no she found her calling through a rat. Shout out remy, raising the bar for all of us. The communication between them I also found very well done. It's easy to show the human/rat interactions on screen, but in writing it becomes much harder.

3. Fates, three. What if the triplets visited the whitch?
It felt more like a continuation of the movie other than a what if scenario but I didn't mind. It also gave us a rare disney sight with a muh luh muh relationship, adorable. It was quick to the point and fun with a cutre resolution.

4. A first mission. What if Mulan became the emporor's adviser?
It was a very quick story depicting Mulan in the way we remember her. It's a good showcase of her humanity and brings back all the characters you know and love.

5. The journey home. What if Belle had to take her father's place at the fair?
The was a beauty (hold the beast) retelling and what the helly, this was a retelling alright. Not a beast in sight, not a sliver of romance. That being said we do get the headstrong belle we all know and love, a strong independent woman who don't need no man. It was okay, very interesting to see how such a small change would change the entire trajectory of the movie.

6. Rattle the stars. What if Jim Hawkins joined the pirates?
I dont really have an opinion on this one, it had been way too long since I've watched treasure planet. That being said it got pretty gritty in my opinion, which is a pretty rare sight for Disney to do in this way, so that is something I can very much appreciate.

7. A new dawn. What if Mufasa gave up his throne?
Besides lion king being one of my least favourite movies, it wasn't written in the best way (referring to a group of lions as people was a blatant mistake). It was also just not really interesting IMO. It really painted Mufasa in a bad way with horrible lion reading skill and way to proud for his own sake.

8. The reluctant prince. What if Bambi didn't want to be the next great prince of the forrest?
It really hard to get through, if he would've just talked to his girl, the whole thing could've been avoided. It was so long winded for no reason and felt like an after thought, like they needed one more quick story and decided this was it.

[Alison Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd already read the majority in the advent calendar so was a bit disappointed in this book. I did enjoy the Ratatouille short though.

1) A New Dawn - The Lion King 2/5
So boring, can't really say much else!

2) (read previously in Advent calendar) The Journey Home - Beauty and the Beast 4/5
Enjoyed it, but that wasn't a twist that was a complete "what if" change of fate. Basically if she went the fair instead, then her life would have taken a complete different direction, Gaston would be outsmarted by a woman, the beast would never have been met resulting in an entirely different ending. A very "gender doesn't matter" scenario.

3) Et Voila - Ratatouille 4/5
Really enjoyed this and wish it was more fleshed out as full novel. Loved the whole concept of Colette and Remy starting their own back alley restaurant.


4) (read previously in Advent calendar) The Secret Exchange - Little Mermaid 4/5
Enjoyed this one, though it would be better as a longer book. Loved the twist to the original, but it just needed more padding rather than being done as a novella! Ursula was just way too easy to defeat, and the most "thrilling" bit was done within 2 pages.

5) (read previously in Advent Calendar) Battle The Stars - Treasure Planet 3/5
I have no idea what the twist was as I don't know the actual story. I read the plot on Wikipedia, and I still don't know what the twist is. But, it was an OK story, like most novellas, it needed a bit more depth though.

6) (read previously in Advent Calendar)Fates, Three - Brave 3/5
OK, but a bit boring, set after Brave. Brothers learnt what they truly wanted...and that was about it. Bit underwhelming!

7) (read previously in Advent Calendar) The Reluctant Prince - Bambi 3.5/5
Better than some others but a little underwhelming, like the Brave one. It would make a great longer book or film, needs a bit more detail I think so see Bambi learn what time of Prince, partner and father he would be.

8) A First Mission - Mulan 3/5
Mulan suits being part of the council and the story was good but like most shorts it lacked detail, good concept though.

[Megan Wintrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first twisted tales book I've read and I really want them all now 😂.

This one has multiple what if stories inside. I'm very excited to see that we had:

• A New Dawn (Lion King)
• The Journey Home (Beauty and the Beast)
• Et Voilà (Ratatouille)
• The Secret Exchange (The Little Mermaid)
• Rattle the Stars (Treasure Planet)
• Fates, Three (Brave)
• The Reluctant Prince (Bambi)
• A First Mission (Mulan)

Immediately I needed to delve into this and I was very happy to try the series as I love Disney moves. I was very pleasantly surprised to read them and have my heart racing because I had to keep reading. Absolutely brilliant.

Can't wait to read more of these books!

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm an avid Disney enthusiast and a fan of the Twisted Tales series. I found this anthology particularly enjoyable. It's always a pleasure to read more about my favourite Disney Princess Belle. I'm looking forward to adding a physical copy of this book to my collection, alongside the others I've already acquired.

[Keira Clayton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the tales were not as exciting as others and could be a little bit hard to understand. However the ones which I liked were really good and had a good storyline

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free ARC for an honest review!*

-----------WHAT I ENJOYED: ------------

- This collection is perfect for Disney lovers - both adults and children alike. It definitely has the magic of Disney woven throughout each story, but it also brings a more modern flare to these tales, which I loved. The collection definitely follows the traditional Disney/ fairytale model of showcasing a "moral of the story", and I think that all of the authors did a really great job of creating positive messages for their younger target audience!


- I loved how some of the authors chose to diverge away from the princess films, and instead showcased some of the more underrated Disney films, such as Ratatouille and Treasure Planet. It gave a spotlight to under-appreciated characters and stories, and I honestly think it would definitely spark an interest for readers to go back and watch these films, if they hadn't already!

- I've only read one of the full length Twisted Tales novels previously and absolutely loved it, which was Reflection by Elizabeth Lim, so I have always been intrigued by the rest of the series. The concept of having an almost "multiverse" experience for Disney's backlist is just so interesting to me, but seeing it on such a short-form scale opened up so many possibilities for this idea.


- The bite-sized stories, mixed with with different authorial voices, allowed for the Twisted Tales concept to be utilized in many different ways: for some stories, it introduced a change to the plots we know and love and so created a whole new storyline; some stories introduced changes to a future we hadn't seen yet, and so opened up ideas on what happened after the credits rolled; in others, it acted like a blip in the timeline, where things would revert back to the original story, just with some minor changes. I loved the variety this brought to the collection, and it always left me excited to see what the next story would bring!

- My favourite stories were definitely "The Journey Home" by Farrah Rochon and "A First Mission" by Elizabeth Lim. I absolutely adore Elizabeth Lim's lyrical writing style, as it always pairs well with a fairytale-esque story. But, the main reason that I loved these stories so much was because of how they placed the princesses in a more modern, feminist light. Both authors really pushed home the message that women can do anything that they put their mind to, and that they deserve equal rights and respect. I think that this is an absolutely amazing message for the younger readers that will pick this book up!


---------WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME:-----------

As is the curse of short story collections, it isn't always guaranteed that every story is going to resonate with the reader. And sadly, this was the case for me with this collection. I really enjoyed most of the stories, but some were just okay for me, and didn't really add much to the characters, or change my perspective on the original films.

The stories that I especially didn't connect to were the ones with themes of power and responsibility - mainly, the animal-focused stories based on The Lion King and Bambi. Now, these stories were not bad in any way, I just didn't really take much away from them? Especially as they are focusing on themes like leadership and selfishness vs. responsibility, and these are things that just don't really resonate with me! So, mainly that is just personal preference and experience, and other readers might really enjoy these stories!

---------OVERALL THOUGHTS---------

Overall, I did really enjoy this collection. It was fast-paced due to the short length of the stories, and I loved the variety shown throughout. It really made me want to go back and re-watch some of my favourite Disney films (something I'm now definitely going to be doing!). It was just a really fun, positive time! Would totally recommend if you are a Disney lover who wants a different perspective on some of the classic stories!

If you want to check out some more of my reviews, head to my blog: https://livingthroughfiction1.wordpre...