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Adventure is Out There!
Adventure is out there in Disney’s New York Times best-selling A Twisted Tale series that asks, “What if it was Ellie who went UP to Paradise Falls?”
16-year-old Ellie Mullins is fed up. Sure, for some, life in small town Americana is idyllic. Nothing but picket fences and USO dances and holiday parades. But Ellie has long dreamed of towering mountains and tangled jungles and most of all…traveling to the incredible South American landmark, Paradise Falls.
Ellie thought these dreams made her strange, until she met her sweet best friend Carl (when he promptly broke his leg in her clubhouse). Carl is Ellie’s closest confidante. He’s also the only able to talk her off the ledge. But things between them seem weird lately as Ellie grows increasingly frustrated with his quiet way of doing things. And is it just her, or are there new feelings bubbling up between them?
Then Ellie begins her dream internship at the local zoo, where the flashy millionaire owner organizes an expedition to the Paradise Falls to collect new specimens. But the star newcomer, a bird given to him by Charles Munz himself, doesn’t adjust well to his new home and Ellie is put in charge of its hopeless-seeming recovery. Carl advises Ellie to laylow, to not make waves. But that’s not something Ellie has ever been good at. And when an opportunity comes for a last minute, emergency rescue mission, she decides to take it.
Will Ellie’s impulsiveness finally get the better of her? Or will she get the adventure she always wanted . . . and at what cost?
16-year-old Ellie Mullins is fed up. Sure, for some, life in small town Americana is idyllic. Nothing but picket fences and USO dances and holiday parades. But Ellie has long dreamed of towering mountains and tangled jungles and most of all…traveling to the incredible South American landmark, Paradise Falls.
Ellie thought these dreams made her strange, until she met her sweet best friend Carl (when he promptly broke his leg in her clubhouse). Carl is Ellie’s closest confidante. He’s also the only able to talk her off the ledge. But things between them seem weird lately as Ellie grows increasingly frustrated with his quiet way of doing things. And is it just her, or are there new feelings bubbling up between them?
Then Ellie begins her dream internship at the local zoo, where the flashy millionaire owner organizes an expedition to the Paradise Falls to collect new specimens. But the star newcomer, a bird given to him by Charles Munz himself, doesn’t adjust well to his new home and Ellie is put in charge of its hopeless-seeming recovery. Carl advises Ellie to laylow, to not make waves. But that’s not something Ellie has ever been good at. And when an opportunity comes for a last minute, emergency rescue mission, she decides to take it.
Will Ellie’s impulsiveness finally get the better of her? Or will she get the adventure she always wanted . . . and at what cost?
512 pages, Hardcover
Published April 7, 2026
131 people are currently reading
2839 people want to read
About the author
Liz Braswell
57 books6,542 followersAfter the sort of introverted childhood you would expect from a writer, Liz earned a degree in Egyptology at Brown University and then promptly spent the next ten years producing video games. Finally she caved into fate and wrote Snow and Rx under the name Tracy Lynn, followed by The Nine Lives of Chloe King series under her real name, because by then the assassins hunting her were all dead. She also has short stories in Geektastic and Who Done It and a new series of reimagined fairy tales coming out, starting with A Whole New World—a retelling of Aladdin.
She lives in Brooklyn with a husband, two children, a cat, a part-time dog, three fish and five coffee trees she insists will start producing beans any day. You can email her at me@lizbraswell.com.
She lives in Brooklyn with a husband, two children, a cat, a part-time dog, three fish and five coffee trees she insists will start producing beans any day. You can email her at me@lizbraswell.com.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 20, 2026
3.25. The Twisted Tales rendition of Up, Adventure Is Out There!, takes a character who had a surprisingly prominent emotional role in a movie they were barely even physically present for and fleshes them out in a believable, if bittersweet, way. And while that alone is worth the price of admission, it’s also clear the story could have been much more than it is if it hadn’t stopped short of digging deeper into its own lore, hinting at directions that could have been genuinely rich had it just gone a bit farther.
The character of Ellie Fredrickson (whose maiden name is revealed to be McGill, as she’s not yet married to Carl at the point this book takes place) must have been a fascinating figure to flesh out, even for someone as well-versed in reimagining Disney heroines as Liz Braswell. You essentially start with a near blank slate, save for the emotional weight and context clues packed into those first infamous ten minutes of Up. So, while reading this, I found myself going back to rewatch that opening to see whether she’d done the character justice, and she had. Braswell takes everything briefly said or implied and uses it to great effect, making it entirely believable that Ellie would be well-versed not just in zoology but in conservation and aviation as well (though I’ll admit that knowing how to fly an actual plane after a single simulation session did stretch my suspension of disbelief just a bit).
As for what I didn’t like, there were a few things. One was that Charles Muntz (the main antagonist of the source material) is mentioned again and again throughout, yet never shows up in any capacity. I was genuinely shocked, given how inevitable his appearance felt. I mean, how hard would it have been to give him a quick cameo? Maybe a radio interview where he shuts down Leroy Fontaine’s lies about them being buddies and business partners at the narrative’s end. If I’d gotten that, I’d have been happy. Another thing that got me was that I found the second half (which is really where the bread and butter of this adventure takes place) to be less enjoyable than the first half, which unfolds back in the States. Who knew Ellie’s love life and the workplace sexism she has to navigate, given the post–World War II setting, would be more interesting to me than her adventures stranded in a South American jungle with rich, armed adult nepo babies chasing her down. I couldn’t have imagined that being the case, but here we are.
All in all, this wasn’t a bad adaptation. It benefits a lot from the fact that the character at its center is essentially a blank slate, but ultimately I’ve read better Twisted Tales (and far worse, too). Still, I’d give it a recommendation for the simple fact that, given Ellie McGill/Fredrickson’s penultimate fate in the original, it’s genuinely nice to see her granted a much happier ending here.
The character of Ellie Fredrickson (whose maiden name is revealed to be McGill, as she’s not yet married to Carl at the point this book takes place) must have been a fascinating figure to flesh out, even for someone as well-versed in reimagining Disney heroines as Liz Braswell. You essentially start with a near blank slate, save for the emotional weight and context clues packed into those first infamous ten minutes of Up. So, while reading this, I found myself going back to rewatch that opening to see whether she’d done the character justice, and she had. Braswell takes everything briefly said or implied and uses it to great effect, making it entirely believable that Ellie would be well-versed not just in zoology but in conservation and aviation as well (though I’ll admit that knowing how to fly an actual plane after a single simulation session did stretch my suspension of disbelief just a bit).
As for what I didn’t like, there were a few things. One was that Charles Muntz (the main antagonist of the source material) is mentioned again and again throughout, yet never shows up in any capacity. I was genuinely shocked, given how inevitable his appearance felt. I mean, how hard would it have been to give him a quick cameo? Maybe a radio interview where he shuts down Leroy Fontaine’s lies about them being buddies and business partners at the narrative’s end. If I’d gotten that, I’d have been happy. Another thing that got me was that I found the second half (which is really where the bread and butter of this adventure takes place) to be less enjoyable than the first half, which unfolds back in the States. Who knew Ellie’s love life and the workplace sexism she has to navigate, given the post–World War II setting, would be more interesting to me than her adventures stranded in a South American jungle with rich, armed adult nepo babies chasing her down. I couldn’t have imagined that being the case, but here we are.
All in all, this wasn’t a bad adaptation. It benefits a lot from the fact that the character at its center is essentially a blank slate, but ultimately I’ve read better Twisted Tales (and far worse, too). Still, I’d give it a recommendation for the simple fact that, given Ellie McGill/Fredrickson’s penultimate fate in the original, it’s genuinely nice to see her granted a much happier ending here.
April 19, 2026
3 ⭐️ I just don’t think anything can beat the movie.
I was very excited for this new Disney Twisted Tales release. I feel like everyone loves Up, right? The movie just gave you all the best feelings, warm and cozy. And this book was just very one toned to me.
Here we follow Ellie on her adventures to try to save her feathered friend, Soda-Pop. I like how we got to see her work in the zoo (mentioned in the movie briefly) and how that led to her adventure. Although I just couldn’t connect to the characters enough and felt like things were just repeated. If this was more conscience with maybe 100 less pages, I might have been more invested.
Also, persons preference, but I could have really used some moments of comic relief or just more ebbs and flows in feelings.
Overall, not a bad read, just a bit stagnant for me for the adventure she was on.
I was very excited for this new Disney Twisted Tales release. I feel like everyone loves Up, right? The movie just gave you all the best feelings, warm and cozy. And this book was just very one toned to me.
Here we follow Ellie on her adventures to try to save her feathered friend, Soda-Pop. I like how we got to see her work in the zoo (mentioned in the movie briefly) and how that led to her adventure. Although I just couldn’t connect to the characters enough and felt like things were just repeated. If this was more conscience with maybe 100 less pages, I might have been more invested.
Also, persons preference, but I could have really used some moments of comic relief or just more ebbs and flows in feelings.
Overall, not a bad read, just a bit stagnant for me for the adventure she was on.
May 1, 2026
Only because Liz Braswell is super wordy.
I get lost in the extra wordings and descriptions and not in a good way-its quite distracting and takes away from the storyline.
I get lost in the extra wordings and descriptions and not in a good way-its quite distracting and takes away from the storyline.
April 26, 2026
Dare I say my favorite Twisted Tale???
May 1, 2026
This is my fourth book that i've read in the twisted tale series and MY GOD is this the worst one. Hands down. Like it's not even close. The Hercules, Princess and the Frog, and Nightmare before Christmas books were all in the pretty dang good category. but MY GOD was this one bad. I feel like in order to properly describe WHY this is so bad, i need to bring out some bullet points.
1. it's too long. like it's 100-150 pages too long. she spends WAY too much time on nothing that by the time you get to the "adventure" you don't care. and this is a "Y" book don't forget. so you'd even be losing young people. in this 500 page book she doesn't even leave to go to paradise falls until page 250. literally halfway through the book. there's so much filler in the beginning talking about Ellie's hometown and how men who came back after WWII stole the jobs women took over blah blah that you just completely lose interest by the time the actual adventure kicks in.
2. While i'm no stranger to feminism in books, and i have NO problem with female lead stories (as i said, i thoroughly enjoyed the previous 3 twisted tales starring Meg, Sally, and Tiana) the feminism is REALLY in your face. there's no subtlety. the antagonist is a white rich guy who fires the smart kind woman who ran things wonderfully before he came back. The other male besides Carl is a self absorbed pretty boy. Every single woman (with the exception of like 2 henchladies) in the book (in the 40's mind you) is capable, doctorate level intelligence, but only held down by the man. and the only good male really in the book is carl. I don't mind if you want to put a bit of a feminist agenda in your book but when it TAKES OVER THE PLOT, when i'm trying to have a disney adventure, it gets a bit tiring
3. they don't utilitize ANY of the stuff from the movie. because they're doing ellie's story when she's a kid, there's no flying house, no kevin (the bird), and there's not even Charles munz. you know...the VILLAIN of the movie? he gets referenced a bunch but doesn't appear ONCE in the book. Like, how do you even HAVE an Up book with NONE of those things? Ellie isn't old, there's no balloon house. They tease Munz like 100 times but he never shows up. It's really not even an Up book. it has The names Ellie and Carl, but honestly, if you had called the two main characters Jill and Jack, You wouldn't even have known this was an Up book. it could have been any generic adventure book. the connections is superficial at best and nothing at worst.
4. it's incredibly boring. the adventure she's on doesn't have any excitement. it's just the author whinging about how girls don't get a fair shake in the 40's. (she doesn't go on the adventure until page 250 of the 500 page book), she has so many internal monologues about what Carl would say at the moment, how she wants to go on adventure, how the guy at the zoo is unfair. blah blah. it's so distractingly dull for the first 85% of the book you have to fight yourself to not skim through it.
5. there's no whimsy. most of it is just ellie complaining in internal monologues. There's no fun to this book. It's just incredibly dull and it reads like the author has a chip on her shoulder about men. like she just wanted to kvetch about men in the 1940's.
I'm sad this book was so awful. I REALLY wanted to enjoy it. i was thinking "oh. maybe Ellie will be the old lady and fly her house" nope. "okay, well maybe a YOUNG ellie will meet charles munz and-" nope. "okay..um...well maybe ellie will find out about the talking dogs or kevin or-" nope. Nope. if you were hoping there to be ANY connection to Up other than the main characters names, you will be sorely disappointed.
I'm trying so hard to find anything good about this book, and the only thing i can say about it is that..you know, i'm sitting here writing this review trying to think of a positive to not give this book a 1 out of 5, and i'm really struggling. it REALLY is a 1.5 out of 5. but do i round it up to a 2 or down to a 1?
You know, i think more than anything i'm mad about the missed opportunity. so yeah. i'm gonna round it down. I could have had a wacky adventure with an old lady. and i didn't get that. i got whinging. and that i can't forgive.
1.5 out of 5 rounded down to a 1.
1. it's too long. like it's 100-150 pages too long. she spends WAY too much time on nothing that by the time you get to the "adventure" you don't care. and this is a "Y" book don't forget. so you'd even be losing young people. in this 500 page book she doesn't even leave to go to paradise falls until page 250. literally halfway through the book. there's so much filler in the beginning talking about Ellie's hometown and how men who came back after WWII stole the jobs women took over blah blah that you just completely lose interest by the time the actual adventure kicks in.
2. While i'm no stranger to feminism in books, and i have NO problem with female lead stories (as i said, i thoroughly enjoyed the previous 3 twisted tales starring Meg, Sally, and Tiana) the feminism is REALLY in your face. there's no subtlety. the antagonist is a white rich guy who fires the smart kind woman who ran things wonderfully before he came back. The other male besides Carl is a self absorbed pretty boy. Every single woman (with the exception of like 2 henchladies) in the book (in the 40's mind you) is capable, doctorate level intelligence, but only held down by the man. and the only good male really in the book is carl. I don't mind if you want to put a bit of a feminist agenda in your book but when it TAKES OVER THE PLOT, when i'm trying to have a disney adventure, it gets a bit tiring
3. they don't utilitize ANY of the stuff from the movie. because they're doing ellie's story when she's a kid, there's no flying house, no kevin (the bird), and there's not even Charles munz. you know...the VILLAIN of the movie? he gets referenced a bunch but doesn't appear ONCE in the book. Like, how do you even HAVE an Up book with NONE of those things? Ellie isn't old, there's no balloon house. They tease Munz like 100 times but he never shows up. It's really not even an Up book. it has The names Ellie and Carl, but honestly, if you had called the two main characters Jill and Jack, You wouldn't even have known this was an Up book. it could have been any generic adventure book. the connections is superficial at best and nothing at worst.
4. it's incredibly boring. the adventure she's on doesn't have any excitement. it's just the author whinging about how girls don't get a fair shake in the 40's. (she doesn't go on the adventure until page 250 of the 500 page book), she has so many internal monologues about what Carl would say at the moment, how she wants to go on adventure, how the guy at the zoo is unfair. blah blah. it's so distractingly dull for the first 85% of the book you have to fight yourself to not skim through it.
5. there's no whimsy. most of it is just ellie complaining in internal monologues. There's no fun to this book. It's just incredibly dull and it reads like the author has a chip on her shoulder about men. like she just wanted to kvetch about men in the 1940's.
I'm sad this book was so awful. I REALLY wanted to enjoy it. i was thinking "oh. maybe Ellie will be the old lady and fly her house" nope. "okay, well maybe a YOUNG ellie will meet charles munz and-" nope. "okay..um...well maybe ellie will find out about the talking dogs or kevin or-" nope. Nope. if you were hoping there to be ANY connection to Up other than the main characters names, you will be sorely disappointed.
I'm trying so hard to find anything good about this book, and the only thing i can say about it is that..you know, i'm sitting here writing this review trying to think of a positive to not give this book a 1 out of 5, and i'm really struggling. it REALLY is a 1.5 out of 5. but do i round it up to a 2 or down to a 1?
You know, i think more than anything i'm mad about the missed opportunity. so yeah. i'm gonna round it down. I could have had a wacky adventure with an old lady. and i didn't get that. i got whinging. and that i can't forgive.
1.5 out of 5 rounded down to a 1.
April 13, 2026
This is genuinely one of my favorites from the Twisted Tales series. I absolutely loved getting to read from Ellie’s perspective and learn more about her since we obviously can’t in the movie (😭). She is just so smart and loving to all animals and it’s just a blast to see her perspective of everything. The plot and the actual story was really really well told, it was fun and suspenseful and mysterious and so much more. If you’re a fan of the movie Up, I think you’ll definitely like it. This peek into Carl and Ellie’s early life is absolutely amazing and makes you all the more sad for the beginning of the movie (😭). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PS
This book is set in the 1940s post WWII so there are A LOT of men underestimating women as was the thing back then. Made me cringe and roll my eyes every time. But still a fantastic read.
PS
This book is set in the 1940s post WWII so there are A LOT of men underestimating women as was the thing back then. Made me cringe and roll my eyes every time. But still a fantastic read.
April 13, 2026
An “Up” adaptation on ‘What if it was Ellie who went up to Paradise Falls?’ It’s cute and hits all the feels the movie does but from teenage Ellie’s point of view. It takes place at the end of WW2 where Ellie deals with sexism while interning at a zoo and fighting for animal rights. Then she goes on an adventure. It gets a little…out there about halfway through but we’re talking about a book based on a movie where the main character flies his house away with balloons. This fits in. Go team Ellie.
4 out of 5 🌟
4 out of 5 🌟
May 7, 2026
What If it was Ellie who went UP to Paradise Fall ?
I waited so long for this to be released and i ate this up in a day ! I adore this movie so much ! I love seeing Ellie's perspective and be able to learn more about Ellie. The story was told so good . My favourite part was the peek in Carl and Ellie’s early life which just made it more beautiful aswell as sad at same time because of the beginning of the movie
I waited so long for this to be released and i ate this up in a day ! I adore this movie so much ! I love seeing Ellie's perspective and be able to learn more about Ellie. The story was told so good . My favourite part was the peek in Carl and Ellie’s early life which just made it more beautiful aswell as sad at same time because of the beginning of the movie
April 22, 2026
Another great and interesting addition to this series. Getting to read about Ellie and Carl as they grew up was fun. Ellie being the one who got to go on a crazy adventure, as a 16 year old, was quite the ride. I did like the ending, but also felt it was a little abrupt as well. An epilogue would have been nice, though the book ends on a high note as is.
April 15, 2026
Adventure is out there! is a wonderful new addition to the twisted tales series. I Loved it! Though for some people the start of the book might feel a little slow, but it builds UP to the adventure part perfectly.
Want to Read
March 24, 2026hey so i actually cried in my public library reading this description
April 15, 2026
Cute read! Definitely different from the original UP story, and very unique as far as the Twisted Tales series goes. Enjoyed the ride! Cute!!
April 19, 2026
Thank you to PRH Audio for my audiobook. I will have a full review soon.
April 19, 2026
4.5 rounded up. This was a really well done reimagining.
April 21, 2026
Such a sweet story. I loved that we got to dive deeper into Ellie’s young life and adventures.
April 22, 2026
..it is just as great and cute as the movie..🌝although a different storyline. very good
April 26, 2026
A fun adventure story.
April 27, 2026
I really enjoyed this side of Ellie!! This time she goes “up” to paradise falls.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews