Waiting on a Miracle: A Twisted Tale

by Anika Fajardo

What if Mirabel and her sisters had to leave the Encanto? A magical addition to the New York Times bestselling Twisted Tale series about Disney’s Encanto.

Mirabel’s worst fear is confirmed—she is responsible for the faltering powers of the Familia Madrigal. Guilt-ridden and feuding with her sisters, Mirabel decides to save the magic herself. Sure, she may be the only gift-less member of her family, but she knows she can put their crumbling pieces back together again.

Unfortunately, Mirabel’s youngest cousin, Antonio, beats her to it. He overhears Tío Bruno’s vision and does the unthinkable—leaves the Encanto to find a solution. Terrified of what could happen outside the safety of their home, Mirabel has no other choice but recruit Strong Luisa and Perfect Isabela to help find their baby cousin.

But what starts as a rescue mission turns into a magical quest with a band of brothers whose family has a deep secret connection to theirs.

And soon, Mirabel learns that missing cousins and disappearing gifts may be just the beginning of their problems….

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Adventure

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2026

About the author

Anika Fajardo is an award-winning writer, who was born in Colombia and raised in Minnesota. Her debut novel, The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore, earned a gold medal from the International Latino Book Awards and a literature award from the Friends of American Writers. She is also the author of middle-grade novels, What If a Fish, Meet Me Halfway, and Encanto: A Tale of Three Sisters, as well as Magical Realism for Non-Believers: A Memoir of Finding Family. She lives with her family in Minneapolis.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched the movie Encanto for the first time fairly recently so that I could read this Twisted Tale and not be totally confused.

Unfortunately, I had two main problems with this book:


#1) the narrative voices of the 3 sisters sounded identical so I had a very difficult time telling them apart and knowing who was narrating;

#2) the stakes felt VERY low, specifically in the second half of the book.


I actually really enjoyed the beginning with the sisters forced to work together to find Antonio who has run off. But the second half of the book dragged big time, especially when the brothers were introduced. There was a character set up to be the villain except that plotline never really went anywhere, and any sense of conflict was removed from the story after the “villain” was essentially told off and stranded on the other side of the bridge. I guess we’re just supposed to assume that she will never dam the river again? The ending was very sudden and somewhat lackluster as well. I guess it was the 3 girls working together that fixed the magic? The book was a very quick read, but in terms of the Twisted Tales, it ended up being fairly middle of the road for me.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. It was a nice little side story that offers a Band-Aid for the problem of the magic, but depending on how much the changes from this book effect the timeline it's either just kicking the can down the road or it'll create a cascade effect that'll heal the family over years.

The girls conclude that the magic stops working when they don't get along, instead of the movie's deeper solution of self-respect, freedom of espression, and overcoming generational trauma. And it ends with Mirable promising herself that she'll get Bruno out of the walls "someday", so I guess he's just going to be stuck back there indefinetly?

[Kryssy]

**not read yet. Will update starts when read**

💙💚🧡💙💚🧡

Prior to reading, i watched the following movies:
Encanto
I also watched the movie commentary by Dylan is in Trouble

Summaries to compare are below.

Other books based on the story of Encanto include:
Nightmares and Sueños

Encanto
The family starts to think that they are nothing if they don’t have magic. So what. Maybe a good thing they had to fear what they would do without it

- abuelo surrendered and a candle helped the single mom to triplets (must be nice)
- How did she know about the doors when the kids came of age??
- a town was build around the casa?
- While everyone is celebrating antonio getting his powers, the house starts to crack. Only mirabel saw
- Basically selling isabella off to the handsome neighboring family
- Luisa feels the effects of the cracks. Tells mirabel to check bruno’s room. She finds shards of a vision involving her
- Dolores (super hearing) overhears about the vision
- Everyone is mad at mirabel. Rats take the vision shards. She follows them and finds bruno. He never left. Living in the walls
- Bruno forced another vision where mirabel has to hug isabella (for whatever reason)
- Goes to apologize and isa confesses she didn’t want the marriage ands make singing not perfect but still beautiful
- The hug is after she embraced her magic!!
- Abuela blames mirabel again. They argue. Destroys the casita. And the candle
- The whole town comes to help rebuild. And the madrigals embrace who they are now and help each other
- Mirabel puts in the doorknob and the magic comes back


Dylan is in Trouble movie commentary
- which world you rather have? A husband or a magic candle?
- Everything explained in song is kind of bad
- really made the casita a character. So now it’s sad that’s it’s breaking
- wouldn’t abuela be worried about saying stuff about the family being in trouble out loud? There’s the super hearing one
- luisa’s song is about her being worried that she’ll be worthless if no one needed her help anymore
- Are they worried he won’t marry into the family if the magic is dying?
- Real villain is the lack of grandma’s love
- With there was more development on the cousins. The shape shifting guy

[Pit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book as someone who is unfamiliar with the Disney Twisted Tales franchise but fairly enjoyed Encanto.

It starts off strong in comedy, heart wrenching as it is warming and quite in character with past memories from the sisters and Abuela Alma that fit into the universe…until we meet the Ramos family who the sisters and cousin stay with for a couple of days to recover from their journey before heading back.

From there, the story begins to shift focus to the princely, tall, muscular broad shouldered, handsome brothers issues (am not exaggerating in repeated descriptions) which leads to a flat, stereotypical romance with a now clumsier, meeker Mirabel (confirmed) and weaker, shorter Luisa (implied) while Isabela - who grows cruder to Mirabel - may not have a love interests but she is attracted to the two men.

The resolution that the other reviews claimed this book has is - pardon my language - mind boggling. When the dirt, covered sisters and baby cousin *finally* return to The Encanto after being missing - a reader's anticipation for the confrontation as the last time we were at Casita the family was reaching the boiling point to a literal collapse - there is a puzzling hault - everything is fine back home and the magic is strong! This is implied to have happened because the sisters bonded a tiny bit helping *another* family..

Alma is never truly confronted, most of the family still see themselves as just their gifts, isabela and mirabel fued remain, the town still heavily relies on the Madrigals, we still don't talk about Bruno as he's still secretly in the walls despite half of the family knowing, Mirabel is still in the nursery…and the vision didn't play out so the miracle will die the next hour for all we know. This is indeed a twisted tale when it comes to Encanto I suppose.

[Aria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute and fun for the most part (particularly the first half), but the ending falls flat and the forced romance elements are poorly executed and at odds with what the Encanto story is about.

The themes of overcoming generational trauma and finding confidence & self-respect aren’t really explored here. Instead of committing to the complex emotional conflict that the Madrigal girls are having, the story becomes a trite romance about Mirabel’s first kiss and Luisa’s realization that maybe a boy can actually be interested in her even though she’s big and strong (🙄).

None of the girls get satisfying endings, and only Mirabel truly gets one at all.

We are left in a version of the Encanto where Alma is never confronted, Bruno stays in the walls, and there is no reason to believe that the cracks in Casita won’t return before too long.

//

Twisted Tale rankings so far:

1. Almost There (S tier)
2. Waiting on a Miracle (C tier)
3. Go the Distance (C tier)

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending felt rushed. Not sure how it was resolved? Felt very ambiguous. 3.5 rounded down.

[Jacrandaaaas · Rating 2 out of 5]

A really great read in the first half with some stellar interactions between the sisters. Unfortunately the quality falls off a cliff in the second half. The brothers become the main focus and none of the tension between isabela and mirabel is addressed. The forced romance between mirabel and Miguel Jose was not only pointless but it also ruined her character in the second half. The family issues were heavily sidelined for the sake of giving a main character a love interest in a story that should be about sisterhood.

[Keyblade_Alchemist · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was looking forward to this one and didn't like it at all. The dialogue felt so childish at times, the innter monologues repetative, like there is nothing behind these characters other than what we physically see them go through in the film, and there's romance added for one of the sisters that was so unecessary and unwanted. This should've been about the sisters, not a sudden romantic relationship.
Was not a fan of this one.

[Courtney Caler · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I think of all the times during our adventure when the Madrigals’ gifts faded and all the times the magic came back strong. It happened, I realized, when we worked together, and when we laughed together. That’s when the magic - and our family - is strong.”


This picks up right after the disastrous proposal dinner and Mirabel finding Bruno in the walls.

I am SOBBING! Encanto is one of my favorite Disney movies and I love the Twisted Tales series so I was super excited when I won a giveaway for an ARC of this one. I loved every minute of it, but especially loved the flashbacks of Alma and Pedro. My heart broke for them. And when the reveal of the Ramos’ connection to the Madrigals happened I gasped (even though I had a feeling). I loved this so so much! This is definitely one of my favorite of the Twisted Tales series.

I wish Bruno was able to come home (like in the movie) and recognize that with this story there wouldn’t have been a way/reason for him to but I appreciate Mirabel thinking about how she will convince him to come home at some point.

[DasAbby · Rating 2 out of 5]

It felt disjointed over all. There were chapters where the story seemed to work together and make sense, but it did give the vibe that it was written in part by AI. I checked and it was not, but this is on the bottom of Twisted Tales for me.

[Jessie Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Encanto and enjoyed the backstory here but at times it was almost a DNF. Good, cute but not my favorite

[Destiny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't hate it, but I also didn't like it either

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I simultaneously like and hate this. It's like the lesson of generational trauma was 'oh but she went through so much' and excuses her behavior.

Plus what about Bruno??

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute easy read and a well written twisted tale. I liked the inclusion of Spanish and so much Colombian culture as that felt authentic to the movie. And I loved that the author brought in the other family that tied the grandparents together. I felt it was unnecessary to switch between the sisters in each chapter and would have personally preferred if the author just kept it as an omniscient narrator. It did start to feel a little repetitive and the characters were somewhat one dimensional but I think that’s more the author trying to stay true to what we know about the characters than any flaws in her writing. The biggest thing I think could be different was a more obvious tie between the magic and the sister’s relationship. It was there and maybe I would have been annoyed if it was too obvious, but it seemed not obvious enough. It felt more like they were just lucky the magic healed and now they could move on with their lives. I also would have loved more from other characters in the Casita but I didn’t mind this story being mostly focused on the 3 sisters.

[ViperWolf · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

⚠️ Content warning:

Faith: none

Language: none

Violence: puma attacks a teenage girl; two brothers start boxing each other

Spice/Nudity: light kissing

LGBTQ: none


This was a cute book. Not one of my favorites in the twisted tales series, but still cute. The main theme in this book was the sisters learning how to show that they love each other. As they work together to try and find their cousin, they learn that they’re actually not so different from each other. I absolutely loved the two brothers that they met while trying to find their cousin, who disappeared trying to find a way to save the encanto. I was definitely disappointed that Bruno was not really in this book. Apparently he’s just staying in the wall?? Poor Bruno deserves a better ending.

[Katelyn Peel · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books in this series. I do LOVE Encanto so this book had me excited and it did not disappoint. I love that they kept the important pieces of bruno’s vision/living in the walls, Isa really being annoyed at Mirabel, and Luisa losing her strength. It kept the important plot points from the movie in their adventure. The flashbacks to Abuela’s journey to get the miracle added to the story but it also probably could have just been a prologue. Overall, I really loved the story and how they kept the importance of the movie with the spin. Even having Isa and Mirabel make up at the end was the best ending and I would have been mad if it wasn’t true still.

[Sarah J Stebbins · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

4.5 (really, really great)

This is one of my favorite Disney movies and I love the Twisted Tales series so I was excited to read this. Overall, I really enjoyed this. It was interesting to see how Mirabel, Luisa, and Isabela figure out how to work together once off the Encanto land. The fact that magic was acting up added another layer for Luisa and Isabela, and even Mirabel as she still got the blame often. There were also several new characters who were met along the way that were entertaining and interesting. I also liked how everything connected by the end and that there is little bit of love in the air as well. The fact that family is the most important thing remained and some of the same lessons learned as in the movie, but how it happened was different. There was a lot to like and enjoy, but I do wish there had been more of Bruno by the end as well.

[Courtney Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this way more than I thought I would. Probably because it still held onto all the elements that made us love the original movie. Bruno’s vision. The sisters’ dynamic. And other elements that added to their adventure.

The flashback to Abuela’s journey is no less heartbreaking on page as it was on screen.

I liked that the essence of the movie’s message still held true in this book and they kept important resolutions the same just arrived differently.

[Amanda Stavdal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read all of the Twisted Tales besides Alice in Wonderland, UP and some of the foreign ones. This was one of my favorites! It was one that created a whole new plot line and did not just tweak something small from the movie. It you were looking for that, you won't be a fan!

[Cecilia Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Narrated by each of the three Madrigal sisters, when their cousin Antonio goes missing, Mirabel, Luisa, and Isabela leave their Casita to find him.
Part of Fajardo’s plot mentions sustainable coffee farming.

[Reese Macgregor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was cute! Encanto is one of my favorite Disney movies so when I saw this book I immediately had to pick it up.

That said. It is a Disney book and very YA. I don’t typically read YA books because that’s a past stage in my life, but I couldn’t resist this story.

[James Vincett · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it was announced that there was a Twisted Tale book on Encanto I did watch the film once a month to know the characters and the story.

It is a good book. It does expand on the house. It’s a shame that Bruno didn’t get to be a part of the family.

[Allison Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Natalie Mayhugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like the book of how it follows the movie really well.

[James T. Goble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great “What if…” story in the Twisted Tales series. I like that it gave more depth into the characters of Isabella, Mirabel and Luisa!

[tortured.readers.department · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

So so so good! Is it bad that I like it more than the movie 👀

[Kristen (belles_bookshelves) · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

"Family is the best."

I actually think this story fits really well with the theme of the original movie. This easily could have taken place instead and it would have been just as good.