Part of Your World

by Liz Braswell

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Part of Your World

It's been five years since the infamous sea witch defeated the little mermaid . . . taking King Triton's life in the process. Ariel is now the voiceless queen of Atlantica, while Ursula runs Prince Eric's kingdom on land.

But when Ariel discovers that her father might still be alive, she finds herself returning to a world, and a prince, she never imagined she would see again. Will Ariel be able to overthrow the murderous villain set on destroying her home and the world she one longed to be a part of?

Follow this tale of power, love and a mermaid's quest to reclaim her voice.

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

497 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2018

About the author

After 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.

Reviews

[megs_bookrack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Geesh. This was a rough reading experience.

I never felt connected. I was bored out of my skull. It makes me sad because I really love this Twisted Tales series as a whole.



It's possibly my fault. I finished the lastest edition to the Twisted Tales line-up, Mirror, Mirror, last month and really enjoyed it.

Compared to that one, which does have a different author, this one felt very flat and forced.



The format of this one worked against it as well, IMO. The other books I have read in the series follow the events of the Disney movies fairly closely in the beginning.

Then one plot element will change, be 'twisted', and the rest of the book will explore what could have happened following the new plot twist.

This one did not do that. It began years after the final events of The Little Mermaid, the twist being that Ursula had won and was now married to Prince Eric.



Y'all, Ursula slays, so I am fine with that. It was just the story focus was much more political and there were odd little details everywhere.

I don't know, it just felt so off to me. I think maybe if you aren't as familiar with The Little Mermaid animated Disney film, you may actually enjoy this one more.



I think for people who are hella nostalgic over that movie, this book just won't have the right tone.

Then again, I could end up being completely in the minority opinion on this, so, bottom line, if this sounds interesting to you, pick it up!

There is a reader for every book, sadly, I just wasn't the reader for this one.

[Tucker Almengor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Disney for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

I have not seen The Little Mermaid. Partly because I wasn't alive when it was in theaters. Mainly, because my parents didn't want me seeing it for two reasons. 1) Ariel was sassy and disobeyed her parent(s). They didn't want me getting any ideas. (That plan backfired on them horribly.) 2) They deemed Ariel's outfit too inappropriate. At five, I didn't really care because I had no idea what it was. (I also didn't know there was still slavery, what the internet was, etc).

Somehow, I managed to see the trailer. That was enough. From age five and a few years onward, I was obsessed with mermaids. Every time, I was in the pool I would pull up the tiny little baby slide we had and I would pull my tiny body up onto it, reenacting the scene where Ariel bursts out of the water singing her lungs out. The first time I did this, I was able to get to the top, proudly singing my lungs out. I promptly slipped and fell down the slide my face landing in the water.

One of the best "mermaid moments" I remember is when I wrapped my dry towel around my legs and jumped into the pool with it. I stumbled around the pool until my mom came out and found me with my towel soaking wet.
To this day, I still have a fascination with mermaids. (Fortunately, I grew out of my obsession.)

Even though I haven't seen the movie, I still really enjoyed the book. I wasn't expecting much. Maybe a quick retelling of Ariel. Something cheap, plasticy and full of filler. That is not what I got. I was honestly stunned by how much I enjoyed this book. It was so creative.
The book opens on a kind of depressing note. Ursula has taken over the kingdom and Ariel has lost her voice and is stuck ruling Atlantica because King Triton has been captured by Ursula! Super sad but props for snagging my attention.

Even though the plot is a pretty basic good verses evil, it was still entertaining and held my attention till the very end. They characters were pretty good. Nothing short of what I would expect from Disney. Even though the characters were already established, the author still manages to make them her own.

Many thanks to Disney for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

Bottom Line:
4 Stars
Age Recommendation: 12+ (Midly scary themes, some violent scenes)
Cover: 4/5 • Plot: 4/5 • Characters: 4/5 • Audio: 4/5

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[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been all about the mermaids lately! Can’t get enough of variations on this great fairy tale. In this “Little Mermaid” retelling, author Liz Braswell sticks to the Disney movie version of events with one exception—rather than Ariel defeating the Sea Witch at the end, Ursula wins, Ariel is turned back into a mermaid only because Tritan sacrifices himself for her, and now Ursula rule the human kingdom as a cruel princess. Awesome, right? I liked the way the author kept true to the Disney tradition while thinking through various what if scenarios for how the characters might have evolved had one crucial point in the plot been changed. This made for a fun read.

[Jenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry to all the Little Mermaid fans who read this. This was absolutely dreadful. And honestly, it's my fault. I've pretty much hated everything Braswell has written for this series yet I keep coming back to see if maybe it gets better.

It doesn't.

So that's on me. And I'm pretty sure I'm done.

Also, if you're going to write this type of book, maybe rewatch the film you're basing this on because based on this book, I'm convinced you've never actually seen the movie.

Anyway, this work of Disney fanfiction takes place like 5 years after Vanessa aka Ursula marries Eric. Ariel is voiceless and ruling the merpeople while her father is held captive by Ursula. All the characters we loved from the movie are here, even though I'm not quite sure what she did to Scuttle. And they do things and stuff...I don't know. There was a lot of whining about how bad their lives were yet nothing of importance happened until the last chapter. Pacing is a thing people!

And the characters were blah! Eric was an idiot, Ariel was whiny and Ursula was a petty teenager stamping her foot in anger. The best parts were Flounder and Max and they were in it for all of 5 pages maybe.

Along with the many plot issues, the writing just wasn't that great. The story was all over the place, jumping from one character to the next for no reason. I'm not kidding guys, there was literally like 10 different POV's in this story. AND ALL OF THEM READ THE SAME WAY! So what was the point?

Liz Braswell, I think it's time you and I part ways.

[Kiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a Disney junkie and retellings fanatic, the “Twisted Tale” series has been on my radar for a while, but the terrible premises, poor reviews, and previous bad experience with Disney YA cautioned me to stay the hell away. I’ve already been burned by Serena Valentino’s villain stories, and had no desire to read more Disney publications that at worst slaughtered the source material and at best fell short of it.

But Part of Your World finally made me cave. Not because I thought it would be good. Oh, no, I had no expectations for this book to do anything other than make me utterly, utterly angry. I mean, all you have to do is look at the premise:

The story rests on the concept that Ariel didn’t stop Eric’s forced marriage to Vanessa. As a result, Ursula married Eric and then took Ariel prisoner only for Triton to exchange himself for his daughter’s freedom. Ariel, a free but voiceless mermaid, ends up in charge of Atlantica, while Ursula remains disguised as Vanessa, married to Eric on land.

So.

Ms. Braswell, or whomever laid out the plans for this book—you do realize that when Ursula became Vanessa and tried to marry Eric, it wasn’t because she wanted to become a queen, right? She was only doing it so Ariel would lose the bargain and become her prisoner, forcing Triton to give Ursula control of the underwater kingdom in order to save his daughter. Like, ruling the sea was her whole plan. The movie lays it out pretty clearly from her first scene—Ariel is meant to be the “key to Triton’s undoing”—and right before her wedding to Eric, Vanessa sings: “Things are working out according to my ultimate design… Soon I’ll have that little mermaid and the ocean will be mine!” The ocean, Ms. Braswell/Disney publishing. Not the land.

I know this, and I’m not even that fond of the 1989 Disney film; I’ve seen it only a few times, and it’s not even in my top ten Disney movies. But knowing your source material and acknowledging its basic plot beats and character motivations are probably something one should consider before writing an alternate universe story that hinges on the film’s original premise. Just a thought.

Clearly, I’m a masochist, because even after reading the frustrating synopsis, I still picked Part of Your World up (for free, on the eBook library—no way would I ever spend money on these things). Some part of me, deep down, thought it might be a passably entertaining hate read. And its status as an alternate universe story at least meant it wouldn’t stain the original’s plot and backstory. Instead, it’s just a weak, watery reimagining that clearly has no concept of the characters it’s dealing with or the logic of the universe it’s set in. Unfortunately, Part of Your World is actually not so bad that it’s good. It’s also not so bad that I want to set it on fire. It’s just passably bad. The premise is totally wrong, but that doesn’t mean Braswell couldn’t have gone somewhere interesting with it—but, really, it’s just dull throughout.

Mainly, this story just doesn’t work because it gets so much of the source material wrong. “But it’s an alternate universe,” you might say. But it’s still an alternate universe with these characters, the characters who have experienced practically all of the events we saw in the movie, and are now just set on a different path. They should still behave somewhat like the figures we saw in the 1989 movie. The film’s facts should still be respected. I can already see book defenders saying that Braswell never gets anything precisely wrong, which is true—it’s not like she says Ariel has five sisters instead of six or calls Triton’s kingdom “Mermaidia”—but everything is off in terms of how the characters act and situations play out. It’s not true to the movie’s characters or spirit.

I suppose I should stop making vague statements and instead just list some of the reasons why Part of Your World bugged me.

Stuff that went against everything in the movie's implications and tone, as well as basic logic:

Since Ariel is responsible for Triton’s imprisonment and (supposed) murder, she is told by her sisters that, “It’s only right that you take on his burdens”—therefore, ruling the underwater kingdom. Why on earth would anybody want the person who brought about the (supposed) death of their previous ruler to have control over the kingdom? I understand that they want her to atone for her sins, but I’m pretty sure there’s a way to do that that doesn’t put her in the most powerful position in the kingdom. Ariel just gave up her voice for legs and endangered her entire family: her track record for rational, informed decision-making is not strong at this point.

And because Ariel is in charge of the kingdom, she holds the trident—yes, the trident, the big powerful object that Ursula wanted so badly in the movie because it would give her control over everything. NO WAY would Ursula go off and live the human life while letting the mermaid she bested have the most powerful magic object in the sea.

I cannot stress this enough: Ariel has the most powerful magical object in the sea. Why did she never challenge Ursula? Why didn’t she try to free Eric? She says she can’t reach him because there are a few dozen human guards on the beach—so what? She could crush them with a tsunami. She could turn them into slugs! If her excuse is that she’s trying not to use her magic for harm, that doesn’t mean she had to hide away in Atlantica for five years. She could use her trident to make water splash the guards or cause a distraction that makes them look the other way so she can run past them. I can’t accept that this story gives Ariel this super-powerful object and then never, even during the final battle, has her become eighty feet tall (like Ursula, badass that she is, did in the original film) and stomp on her enemy like an ant.

Also, having Ariel totally abandon the human world implies that she doesn’t really care that much about Eric. I know people have spent the last thirty years bashing on how she sacrificed everything for a guy she barely knew but, regardless of whether or not one approves of that decision, I think we can conclude that she was pretty passionate in her desire to be with him. But leaving the man as a brainwashed zombie married to Ursula...that’s pretty cold. The novel makes some weak excuses about how she’s prevented from reaching him (but again—see my point above about having the most powerful object in the sea), yet at no point does she really express remorse or pain at what happened to him. I suppose having the pain of her father’s presumed death would overshadow any romantic sentiments, but still—she treats losing him like a minor inconvenience. And just abandoning him to live the rest of his life as Ursula’s puppet doesn’t speak volumes for how much she values his well-being: it’s like she only cares about Eric in relation to herself, and not as a person in his own right who deserves to have his own agency.

Ariel’s sisters are treated horribly. They’re barely in the film so we never get a clear reading on whether or not they’re total bimbos, but they are here. Which is fine—a bit cheap, but fine—but you can’t convince me that they’re so shallow that they won’t react or do anything when it’s revealed that their father is alive and held in captivity. Surely these girls loved their father. Surely they have something invested in this. But when Ariel brings it up, they’re just like, “Huh, okay, go bring him back, then, good luck.” SERIOUSLY? No offers of help? No expressions of concern or longing?

Speaking of family, in this novel Eric has living parents. No way. Maybe it’s never explicitly said in the movie, but it’s pretty clear that his parents are dead—otherwise, why aren’t they around, or even, like, mentioned in passing? (The musical—rightly—specifies that they have both passed away.) And since his parents don’t even make an appearance in this book, what was the point of including them? Maybe Braswell was trying to counteract the dead Disney parents trope, but it just goes against the emotional truth of everything we see in the film.

And, in another repulsive example of how this book treats Eric even worse than the original movie: he says to Max, “Come on, let’s head back before the missus decides we’ve been out on our walkies too long.” EW. That is just—so gross. This is a sentence I never needed to hear Eric say. Max is a dog who doesn’t deserve to be spoken to in baby talk, and Eric doesn’t have the kind of relationship with Max where he’d speak to him with baby talk. It’s always, “Come on, boy!” with him. See, even I know how the characters speak.


Actual, honest-to-Disney factual errors/plot mistakes:

At one point in the novel, Ariel says, “It’s been over one hundred years since Mother died.” Um...how? In the film, Ariel is sixteen. This story takes place five years later, so she’s twenty-one. We know mermaid years are measured at the same rate as human years because Ariel explicitly says that half a decade—five years—have passed since Ursula took over. Do mermaid eggs hang out for seventy-nine years before the child hatches? How could Ariel’s mother be dead for over one hundred years when Ariel’s barely an adult? How can you WRITE that sentence and not realize how messed up that timeline is? Like, just THINK for a moment.

Ariel also states that when she saved Eric “I think most of the crew died.” This is true in most versions of the story—but the Disney film (naturally, being Disney) makes it pretty clear that everyone makes it off of the ship before it explodes. It shows everybody in the lifeboat and when Eric realizes Max is still on the ship, it’s clear from the look on his face that they thought everybody had gotten to safety.


Stuff that's just the mark of lazy and disappointing writing:

The Ariel and Eric reunion conversation is some terrible, terrible stuff. No passion, no talking like any adult humans ever would… Granted, with all they’ve been through in the past five years, it makes sense that they wouldn’t have their youthful connection in the film, but there is just no chemistry whatsoever. Maybe the movie did us a favor by having them exchange so little dialogue: they have nothing of value to say to one another. They are a boring and awkward couple here.

Eric realizes he’s been brainwashed for five years and doesn’t freak out. I call BS.

He also tattoos his girlfriend's name on his arm. Which, in addition to being a tacky, tacky cliche, is also horribly inappropriate given how their relationship has consisted of five meetings, none of which really gave them time to properly know each other.

A character says, “Oh my cod.” Oh my COD. Just, no.


The real poor unfortunate soul:

If there’s anything this novel really does a disservice to, it’s Ursula. Wonderful, wonderful Ursula deserved so much better than this downright crappy character treatment. Braswell took the film’s iconic sassy, confident schemer and turned her into a shrill, shallow harpy. Half of the story’s plot points exist because Vanessa/Ursula makes a bunch of idiotic decisions that Ursula never would have stood for or is manipulated in a way that Ursula would have seen right through. Mostly, though, it just fails because its very premise ignores the core facts about Ursula: she cares about power, yet here she relinquishes all of the power she ever had. It’s not like she took her original magic with her to human life: the story directly explains that sea magic doesn’t work on land and visa versa. So, again, why would she ever want to stay on land? No matter how (poorly) Braswell tries to sell it, I will never believe that the boring non-magical abuse of power she exercises as Vanessa would draw her away from all of the havoc she could wreak as the sea witch. Ursula did more damage in her two minutes as ruler of the sea in the movie than she did in this book’s entire page count. Also, her death is so disappointing and half-assed.


In conclusion:

Part of Your World is bad. No matter how I look at it, it’s a poor, underdeveloped, unimpressive take on a source material that (admittedly) has plenty of room for improvement, but improve it it did not. Still, I have to begrudgingly admit that it was slightly better than I expected. It is not as gloriously sloppy as the Kingdom Keepers nor as downright vile as Serena Valentino’s post-Fairest of All works. There are enough borderline decent ideas sprinkled in among the gross mistreatment of the source material that it kept me from loathing every moment of it. For instance, I was okay with the idea of Ariel stepping into a position of responsibility and being a more burdened adult: considering how my biggest beef with the 1989 film is that she doesn’t learn anything or own up to her choices, this hack AU novel provides us with a more satisfying character than the movie. So this book could have gone somewhere good—as it is, it’s just bland and disappointing. At any rate, I’m just relieved this series is published fan-fiction rather than other Disney YA that is supposedly canon (shudder).

So congratulations, Part of Your World: I did not spend this entire novel wanting to throw up or toss you in a bonfire. You were not incompetent enough to leave me with a bad taste in my mouth or disturbing enough that I won’t be able to forget you for years to come. It might not sound like much, book, but by just being messy and unbelievable rather than downright awful, you surpassed my wildest expectations.

1.5 stars.

[Jennie Damron · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I liked this book, but I didn't love it. Now the Little Mermaid is one of my favorite princesses. I adore her. The movie was incredible and magical. This book was good, but it was missing heart and that spark of magic. I don't know it just fell flat with me. I loved Ariel and Eric but parts just felt so incredibly cheesy. At least with the movie the cheesy factor is charming this was just ridiculous. And Ursula is my favorite villain, but in this book she wasn't anywhere near as awesome as the movie. I think that's why the book fell flat. The author got Ursula all wrong. I am glad I read it and if you like the Little Mermaid you will appreciate the book.

[Alaina · Rating 2 out of 5]

A RETELLING ABOUT THE LITTLE MERMAID?? SIGN ME TF UP!



Not gonna lie, Ursula slays guys. Well, until she died in the movie.. but that's "details" for another time. Even before diving into this book, I've been wanting to dive back into Disney movies. However, after diving into this.. I was kind of hoping that it was going to be a bit better than it was. I mean, I liked it.. but I didn't really love the book.

Ursula is such a freaking good villain. Pretty sure I realized this when I was little girl and saw this movie in the freaking theaters. Unfortunately, the movie villain was like 20x better than this one. Then there was the whole Ariel and Eric thing that was beyond frustrating as well. It's like everyone and everything just annoyed me in this book.

I just don't get why everyone was acting like a damn toddler. It was interesting to see Eric with Vanessa instead of Ariel.. but that feeling went downhill pretty quickly. I just wanted to murder everyone in this book to make it better. All of this just kind of disappoints me since I have the ARC for the next book and I was honestly super hyped up about that one.. but now.. ugh, idk.

Send help.

[Kaitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did you ever read something and think, “This is the biggest load of garbage I’ve ever had the misfortune to read?”

[exploraDora · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 "not great, not terrible" stars.
Rtc.

[Fernwehwelten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe das Buch größtenteils gestern angefangen, weil ich einfach eine etwas leichtere Geschichte brauchte, nicht zu komplex. Da ich gerade in Quarantäne bin und meine Konzentration nicht unbedingt immer da ist, kam ich mit meinen anderen Currently Readings einfach nicht zurecht. "Inmitten der Wasserwelt" hingegen war dafür super: Eine angenehme, schnell zu lesende und leichte Geschichte, die mir trotz der Symptome ein wenig Ablenkung bot und mich nicht überforderte.
Ich muss allerdings zugeben, dass mich die Geschichte trotzdem nicht gänzlich überzeugen konnte. Arielles Entwicklung mochte ich größtenteils und fand sie auch nachvollziehbar, Eric hingegen war mir etwas zu flach und "kindlich" dargestellt. Auch der Schreibstil war zwar wirklich perfekt einfach für meine aktuelle Lage, aber mir allgemein doch etwas zu wenig.

So viel zu meiner kleinen Kurzmeinung hier - alles in allem ein netter Read, aber nicht herausragend.

[Veronique · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars ⭐️

I enjoyed this book way more than the Snow Ehite retelling yet still not quite a difference in the rating.

Review to come (YES I know.... I need to write some more reviews, I have been stalling, I confess)

But I am also so so busy life is living me right now.

[Judithrosebooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️

He disfrutado de la historia. En ella vemos a Ariel cómo Reina del Mar, han pasado cinco o seis años des de que Úrsula los venció a ella y a su padre, quedándose con Éric y con el reino. Pero el Rey Tritón aún está vivo y secuestrado por Úrsula, así que Ariel, pensando que su padre estaba muerto... hará lo necesario para salvarlo.

La historia está bien, engancha y quieres saber qué pasará ésta vez en una batalla contra Úrsula. Esta ha estado viviendo como princesa todos estos años y planeando acciones de guerra... con el príncipe Eric bajo sus dominios.

Creo que hubiera sido una buena segunda parte para el cuento original de Disney.

[Kat Royale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of Disney's Twisted Tales I've read and I'll be seeking out the others as soon as I have the munz. Even if you skipped Liz Braswell's heartfelt introduction to the novel (it's really sweet, seriously read it) you can tell she's a serious fan of The Little Mermaid. She captures everyone's favorite redheaded mermaid to a tea and gives some much needed depth to the character of Prince Eric. Best of all, since this is an alternative ending to the original tale, there is plenty of Ursula and her fabulously wicked sea witch self to go around.

To set the scene, imagine that "The Little Mermaid" ended at Princess Vanessa (Ursula) and Prince Eric's wedding. Vanessa's stylish evil gold shell necklace never breaks and Ariel's voice is never freed. Because Ariel doesn't sing, Eric remains enchanted and follows through with his vows to Vanessa. Ariel loses her wager with Ursula, but before the sea witch can collect, King Triton appears to take her place. Ariel returns to the sea to become the mute Queen of Atlantica while Ursula remains on land to be crowned the Queen of Tirulia with Eric as her husband and King Triton as her captive. So begins this twisted tale.

Keep in mind, this is a continuation of the Disney movie. There are no attempts to tie in anything from the Hans Christian Anderson's tale or any other versions of the story. However, you really need to watch the movie before you start this book. There is a recap of sorts in the beginning, but if you are one of the rare unicorns that haven't seen “The Little Mermaid” and want the full impact of this clever alternative to Eric and Ariel's original happily-ever-after, grab some popcorn and give it a watch....then read “Part of Your World” to see how that happy ending gets ripped to shreds in the first twenty pages. >:)

[Nasty Lady MJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

To see review with gifs click here.

Liz Braswell is far batting 2-0 for me in her Twisted Tale series (otherwise known as Disney sanctioned fan fiction). To the point, where I was at the point of not even bothering with these books anymore. Because they’re all sort of pathetic.

Only thing is, I really was obsessed with The Little Mermaid when I was a kid and as I grew up I couldn’t help but realize how stupid and incredibly lucky Ariel was. This premises sort of was like my ideal fan fiction BUT Liz Braswell was writing it so my hopes weren’t up.

I’ll be frank, it exceeded my expectations but it still wasn’t a good book.

If you’ve seen Linday Ellis’s review of the Disney live remake of Beauty and the Beast many of the things she points out that failed with that movie were similar failures that this book had. Most notably, it tried to correct with much epic failure the problems the movie.

I.E. that Ariel is a lovelorn idiot.

How is this fixed? We are told Ariel is now a powerful queen who wears her hair in braids and that’s pretty much it. Just FYI, Ariel wears her hair up in Little Mermaid 2 and is even a bigger idiot in that movie.


And forget about development with the Eric/Ariel relationship. They pretty much want to just shag each other without getting to know each other. Much like in the movie. Except Ariel wears her hair up….oh, wait Little Mermaid 2.


And speaking of sex, you know being married for at least eight or so years that Vanessa (Ursula) and Eric had to consummate their relationship, but this is never even addressed. But still, I know I couldn’t help but think throughout this entire book how Eric was feeling about having sex with an octopus for the past eight years.

However, there were so many dumbfounded boneheaded idiot parts about this book that I was just shaking my head over.

Like, the ruling of Eric’s kingdom. His parents are still alive, yet Ursula is still able to make all the military decisions and the kingdom just goes for it…Or for that matter, if Eric and his parents are still technically the rulers how is Ursula pretty much usurping the kingdom with no magic and then gets afraid of the marriage contract. Or if Ariel is using the power of the triton why is she still so weak, except putting her hair in a bad ass bun? And why is her punishment to be queen most people want to be mother fucking queen? And for that matter why send the mother fucking queen to clean up the mess, you’d want to protect her surely there’s some sort of mermaid CIA or something? Save for the annoying OC seagull character that Braswell brings on because I guess she wants to make it her own….And again, how come Eric didn’t realize Ursula was an octopus when he had sex with her, because based on the conversation they had about producing an heir you know they had to at least copulate once….

Ugh, writing this paragraph just frustrated me. But as you can see from it, this book was just full of plot holes. I wanted to take Braswell out of the story and rewrite some of the aspects myself. That is how frustrated I got with it.

Still though, a part of me enjoyed it because…nostalgia goggles?

I mean, if you took away the crap plot holes and the bad characterization there was potential here. It was a contender. I just…Braswell just makes me angry.

I really wish Disney would try to hire other YA authors to take some these stories. To be fair, this was an improvement than the previous installments I read. But that’s not really saying a lot.

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know why I keep trying with this series.

[MissBecka Gee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just okay for me.
Not the worst in the series, but not great either.

[Amanda Hupe · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is seriously nothing better than a book that really takes you out of reality. I think we can all agree that our reality isn’t what we would want it to be at the moment. Our book club decided to read a fairytale or fairytale retelling for March, and we selected Part of Your World by Liz Braswell. This book is a part of The Disney Twisted Tale series. This book is about The Little Mermaid if Ariel and Eric didn’t defeat Ursula. Five years after Ariel lost her voice to try to win the love of her life, she is now Queen of Atlantica since her father died in the battle. She now blames herself. However, her old friend, Scuttle discovers that he could still be alive. Ursula or Vanessa is now married to Eric and is waging war on neighboring countries, determined to accumulate more power. Ariel doesn’t want to make the same mistake she did the last time she went to the surface and her sole focus is getting her father back, but her heart still belongs to Eric.

This book just brings on all the Disney nostalgia. It is wonderful to see so many favorite characters again. Ariel in this book is much different than the Ariel we know and love. She is depressed. She is doing a job that she hates but is doing it out of guilt. She misses her father and she misses Eric. The fun, spirited mermaid is gone, but now she is fierce and mature. She already showed development at the beginning of the book, which seems impossible. Then there’s Eric…dear, sweet, handsome, bonehead Eric. I don’t know what happened. He was under a spell. Did that cause him to lose brain cells? He just came across as such an airhead. Definitely not that the Eric that we know and love. If you need an example, he refers to dynamite as “explodey-stuff.” Yep.

This brings me to the next point, the dialogue is very corny. However, I can look past it. I enjoyed the story. Even though it is over 500 pages, I managed to read it pretty quickly. Like I said earlier, it was nice to escape reality for a bit. I did turn on my Pandora Disney station and sang my heart out to Poor Unfortunate Souls—the BEST Disney villain song. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars, but I definitely enjoyed it.

[akacya ❦ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This installment of the Twisted Tales series follows an Ariel who never defeated Ursula, five years after the events of the movie. While still not having her voice, Ariel rules her people as her father is held captive by Ursula. Ursula is posing as Vanessa and marries Eric in her journey to take over the humans.

I love retellings and I love Disney, so this book was my cup of tea! I loved seeing Ariel’s growth throughout the book and getting more time with Ursula.

[Bettina Röckel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In diesem Teil der Twisted Tales wird die Geschichte von Arielle anders erzählt wie man sie kennt. Ursula hat gewonnen und herrscht nun an Land über Eriks Reich. Arielle musste wieder nach Atlantica zurückkehren und den Platz ihres Vaters einnehmen. Sie hat ihre Stimme verloren und versucht nun zurecht zu kommen und ihr Bestes zu geben. Dann erfährt sie das Triton noch leben soll und von Ursula gefangen gehalten wird. Natürlich macht sie sich wieder auf den Weg in die Welt der Menschen um ihn zu befreien. Was dann passiert müsst ihr selbst lesen.
Ich finde es toll das ich so schnell mit der Reihe weiter gelesen habe. Insgesamt hat mir dieser Teil der Twisted Tales auch wieder gut gefallen. Es war cool zu lesen wie Arielle das zweite Mal an Land gegangen ist um dort nach ihrem Vater zu suchen. Das Leben in Atlantica wo Arielle den Platz ihres Vaters einnehmen musste, wurde gut beschrieben. Genau wie die Veränderungen die Tirulia durchmachen musste. seitdem Vanessa es regiert. Es war auch toll wie die Bewohner des Meeres/ die Tiere und auch die Menschen an Land miteinander gearbeitet haben um Ursula/ Vanessa aufzuhalten und Triton zu finden. Leider kam mir der Liebesaspekt zwischen Erik und Arielle den ich in der Geschichte zumindest in Teilen erwartet hatte viel zu kurz. Deshalb ziehe ich einen Stern ab und gebe dem Buch somit noch 4 Sterne. Ich freue mich auf weitere Twisted Tales.

[Sarah Ryder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book though they’re mostly positive. I enjoyed it as it reminded me of why and how much I love Ariel, Eric, and the original movie, but I have problems with it too and I nearly quit it because it was WAY too long.

At first I thought the author was going to make Ariel a grumpy, mad feminist (like she did Aurora 😡) but she didn’t. Instead she showed how Ariel would have acted and changed if this had taken place in the movie. Eric too I thought she was going to treat wrong in the beginning but didn’t, allowing both their movie selves to show through while adding another more war-weary, grownup layer they would have had if this had played out in the film. Even the end between the couple is more hopeful that they WILL be together soon, and I liked that though I wish they had gotten married on page.

I didn’t like the whole “mermaids are half god” unless this is something from mermaid lore—I don’t know anything about that so I don’t know if the author added this just because or not. The beginning took a bit too long to get going, and a lot of parts could have been trimmed as they went on too long. And why did Ursula leave Ariel with the trident? It’s the most powerful object in the ocean, so why would you leave it with someone who could use it to destroy you? That just didn’t seem very smart to me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

The climax was good with everyone doing their part though I wish the author had left in the fact that Eric could hear the animals talk too—it kinda took something away from the story to make it more “real.”

While I wasn’t as gripped by it as I was So This Is Love, it was good and I thought the author wrote the characters well while still staying true to the movie as best she could. I still like the movie better and I probably won’t read this one again.

Content: violence and blood (nothing over PG-13); magic (both good and bad); kissing (not detailed)

[Kayla TM · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m really starting to think these books just aren’t for me. I’ve read three of them (one by each of the different authors), and, although I love fairytale retellings, I’ve been very disappointed each time. This book being the worst. (The other two I’ve read are So This Is Love and Conceal Don’t Feel.)

This book is so boring. I get that Braswell is trying to give the characters more depth and personality, but too much of the book was completely unnecessary. I did like that there is more to Ariel’s character than just some lovesick teenager. But the number of times the story goes back and forth is exhausting, and annoying. Not to mention the odd diction choices throughout that stand out awkwardly.

And I really didn’t like all of the side stuff about an opera or the Greek gods. It felt like Braswell was attempting to completely change the story (rather badly, I might add) from what it is into something more profound.

I just couldn’t get into this one. Maybe part of that is because the story takes place five years after The Little Mermaid, with a loss to Ursula, but I really think most of it is the writing. And I’m not sure I want to continue reading the series now. A disappointing 1 star.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this retelling. I like that Ursula was given more plot time, because she's really an interesting character (and, even with the octopus-to-human magicking, her personality is anything but fiction). Ariel called out Eric on his dumb behavior - "umm, we're like falling in love and you saw me and then you went for this new girl because she had my voice... reall?!" Ariel stood up for herself in the book more; she is no longer mermaid Juliet, a teenager lost in her lust love of someone she just met. Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle were great characters, helping Ariel find her father. What I enjoyed about the story is probably what I would give other stories flack for: there aren't too many twists and turns/ the story can get a little predictable. I don't mind it with this retelling, mostly because the tale of the Little Mermaid is such a classic that too many changes wouldn't be welcome.

[Yeg]

DNF at ~ 70%
So looks like after months this is another dnf
Basically , i had this challenge for myself to read one of the books in this series and this month i read part of your world near halloween (no , it didn't give me that vibe)
But i just couldn't connect with this one so it's a dnf.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

And they lived happily ever after.

4/5. Will definitely look out for other Liz Braswell retellings.

[Cindee · Rating 5 out of 5]

These twisted tales books never disappoint the next one I read is always better than the last one. I loved the characters especially Ariel and Eric the romance started out slowly since there were many other priorities but when the romance finally happened it was magical and one of the best romances that I have read. I loved Ariel for so many reasons but the main one was she grew became a pretty good Queen and she really learned from her mistakes. I loved Eric for many reasons one was how determined he was to save his kingdom and the kingdom under the sea as well and his love for Ariel. I loved the plot I liked how the story explores what would happen if Ursala won and how the story finally manages to get the happily ever after it should of gotten. So overall I loved this book so much going to read more of this series soon.

[Librarian Jessie (BibliophileRoses) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing particularly spectacular. Honestly, much like the characters in the novel I found Eric to be pretty unimpressive, but that’s just how the cookie crumbles.

[Skye Chanel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5


Ending was wack compared to the rest of the book and kinda disappointed about it.


Overall fun read though.

[Courtney ✌ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was super into this! I thought that the twist in this tale was really fun and allowed not only for growth in the characters, but also a brand new story built on the one we already know so well.

This book is part of the Twisted Tale series reimagining Disney’s version of The Little Mermaid. The story here takes place several years after the events of the Disney movie, but with a very different ending. Ursula ended up winning in the end and Ariel is now the mute queen of Atlantica. Information is discovered by her old friend, Scuttle, which changes everything and sets Ariel back on a mission against Ursula to set everything right.

Essentially, this book took all the little things that annoy me about the original movie now as a grown-up Disney fan and tackles them with slightly older characters who have learned and grown since they were teens. Beyond that, it seemed to capitalize on all the elements that I loved in the original Disney movie.

This book just made me really happy and nostalgic. I loved it so much! These Twisted Tales are kind of hit or miss for me, but I was really vibing with this one.

[Kalena ୨୧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars, I don’t know what I was expecting.

That first line makes me sound like I hated this book, I did not. I just didn’t know what to expect going in, maybe like reading a sequel to my favorite Disney princess movie? I kinda had low expectations and this book stayed kinda in line with that, but it wasn’t a bad book.

I did enjoy it, it was a very easy read for a YA book which can be appreciated. But also, it just felt kinda all airy and nice and honestly written toward a younger audience.

It also didn’t read like a sequel to the original movie that I love oh so dearly it is my favorite. Ariel was nice to have back, I guess most of her character transferred through and it was nice to see the bright mermaid again. But Prince Eric, they made him dumb. And this didn’t sit right for me. In the movie, they give lots of focus on him and his character, and he is one of my favorites because he’s NOT dumb. He thinks, he rescues Ariel, he is not some throwaway prince who doesn’t realize everything (like with Ariel rescuing him, he had just passed out give him a break). I did like seeing all my childhood characters again that was very cute.

All the things about the world-building seemed kinda just made up, and I guess it was it’s a story but I don’t feel like it fit exactly with the original setting. It was still a beautiful place, but it just felt a little off.

To me, this book felt like it had its head in the clouds sometimes, but I enjoyed it enough that I want to try the other books in the series as I love fairytales. And to my aunt who bought this for me and wondered if she should read it or not, try it :)

[CorniHolmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 Sterne

Da ich ein großer Disney- und Arielle-Fan bin und mir die bisherigen Twisted-Tales-Bände total gut gefallen haben, habe ich mich auf „Inmitten der Wasserwelt“ wahnsinnig gefreut. Ich war so gespannt wie mir Liz Braswells Neuerzählung von Arielle wohl gefallen wird.

Fünf Jahre sind vergangen seit die böse Seehexe Ursula die Meerjungfrau Arielle besiegt hat. Da bei dem Kampf König Triton ums Leben gekommen ist, ist nun dessen Tochter Arielle die Herrscherin von Atlantica. Ursula wiederum regiert gemeinsam mit Prinz Eric dessen Königreich und genießt als Prinzessin Vanessa und mit Arielles Stimme in vollen Zügen ihre Macht und großen Reichtum. Vaterlos, stumm und weit weg von ihrer großen Liebe führt Arielle ein Leben in Traurigkeit. Doch als sie die Nachricht erreicht, dass König Triton doch noch am Leben ist, macht sie sich sofort an die Meeresoberfläche auf. Ob es ihr gelingen wird, ihren Vater zu retten und Prinz Eric zurückzugewinnen?

Von Liz Braswell kannte ich bereits ihre Adaption von „Die Schönes das Biest“ und da sie mich mit dieser hellauf begeistern konnte, war ich ausgesprochen guter Dinge, dass mir auch ihre Neuinterpretation von Disneys „Arielle“ sehr gut gefallen wird. Ich sollte mit dieser Vermutung dann auch absolut richtig liegen. In meinen Augen hat Liz Braswell mit „Inmitten der Wasserwelt“ eine richtig tolle Neuerzählung des Disneyfilms „Arielle“ aufs Papier gebracht, die deutlich düsterer als das Original ist und eine einfallsreiche Mischung aus Altbekannt und Neu enthält. Ich fand es mal wieder überaus faszinierend zu sehen, wie Vertrautes aus der ursprünglichen Story ihren Platz in der Neuerzählung gefunden hat und mit den eigenen Ideen der Autorin verbunden wurde, sodass letztendlich eine komplett andere Geschichte dabei herausgekommen ist.

„Inmitten der Wasserwelt“ spielt fünf Jahre nach dem Ende der Arielle-Disneyverfilmung und ist sozusagen eine Fortsetzung davon – allerdings wirklich nur sozusagen, schließlich baut Liz Braswells Adaption auf einem anderen Schluss der Vorgeschichte auf. Ursula wurde nicht besiegt und regiert als Prinzessin Vanessa zusammen mit Prinz Eric dessen Königreich. Eric ist immer noch von Ursula verzaubert und besitzt keine Erinnerungen an Arielle. Arielle wiederum ist Königin der Unterwasserwelt, nachdem ihr Vater Triton von Ursula getötet wurde (zumindest denken alle, dass Triton tot ist). Ursula ist zudem weiterhin im Besitz von Arielles Stimme und Arielle somit stumm. An diese Ausgangslage knüpft Liz Braswell nun also an. Wir bekommen es also wirklich mit einer völlig anderen Story zu tun, aber da wir in dieser auf lauter wohlvertraute Figuren aus dem Original treffen dürfen und an bekannte Orte mitgenommen werden, verströmt das Buch dennoch diesen herrlichen Disney-Zauber, den wir alle so lieben und lässt die Herzen aller Arielle-Fans höherschlagen. Bei mir zumindest war es so. Ich fand es einfach wundervoll auf lauter liebgewonnene Charaktere wiederzutreffen und endlich mal wieder in die einzigartige Welt von Arielle eintauchen zu dürfen.

Mit den Charakteren hat mich Liz Braswell auf jeden Fall überzeugen können. In meinen Augen hat sie die Figuren genau richtig ausgearbeitet: Alte Bekannte besitzen nach wie vor ihren einmaligen Charme aus der herkömmlichen Fassung, sind zugleich aber auch irgendwie anders. Arielle beispielsweise ist nach wie vor ganz fasziniert von der Menschenwelt und hoffnungslos in Eric verliebt, nur da sie inzwischen älter geworden ist und als Regentin eine große Verantwortung trägt, wirkt sie deutlich reifer, erwachsener und ernster.
Also mir haben die Darstellungsweisen sämtlicher Figuren total gut gefallen. Und über mein Wiedersehen mit Sebastian und Fabuis habe ich mich ganz besonders gefreut.

Mir hat es insgesamt unheimlich viel Freude bereitet Zeit mit den vielen verschiedenen Figuren zu verbringen und gemeinsam mit ihnen ein Abenteuer voller Überraschungen und Magie zu erleben. Etwas erstaunt hat mich dabei nur, dass der größte Teil der Erzählung auf dem Land spielt. Da der Titel „Inmitten der Wasserwelt“ lautet, hatte ich irgendwie mit mehr Unterwasserweltszenen gerechnet. Dass ich von denen nun weniger als erwartet bekommen habe, hat mich persönlich allerdings nicht gestört. Ich mochte das Setting super gerne. Alle Schauplätze werden sehr bildhaft und stimmungsvoll beschrieben und die märchenhafte und düstere Atmosphäre, die durchweg herrscht, konnte mich vollkommen verzaubern.

Mit dem Schreibstil und der Erzählweise hat das Buch ebenfalls bei mir punkten können. Für mich hat sich der locker-leichte Sprachstil angenehm flüssig lesen lassen und die Wahl, die Handlung im Wechsel von mehreren Personen schildern zu lassen, finde ich rundum gelungen. Wir erfahren die Geschehnisse aus vielen verschiedenen Blickwinkeln wie Arielle, Ursula, Eric und der Möwe Scuttle - jeweils in der dritten Person – und durch diese ständigen Perspektivwechsel wird das Leseerlebnis wunderbar abwechslungsreich und mitreißend gestaltet. Für mich kamen nur leider stellenweise dennoch ein paar Längen auf; ein bisschen mehr Tempo und Spannung hier und da hätte ich nicht schlecht gefunden. Die etwas langatmigen Szenen hielten sich aber zum Glück noch in Grenzen.
Zum Ende hin nimmt die Geschichte allerdings so richtig an Fahrt auf, sodass ich das Buch gar nicht mehr aus der Hand legen wollte. Mir hat das Ende sehr gut gefallen. Es ist zufriedenstellend und schließt die Erzählung prima ab, sodass ich das Buch glücklich wieder zuklappen konnte.

Fazit: Eine originelle Neuerzählung des Disneyfilms „Arielle“ voller Überraschungen und Fantasie!
Dies war mein zweiter Twisted-Tales-Band aus der Feder von Liz Braswell und auch mit diesem hat mir die US-amerikanische Autorin tolle Lesestunden bescheren können. Die Geschichte steckt voller cooler Ideen und Twists und obwohl sie stark von dem klassischen Plot der Disneyverfilmung abweicht, versprüht sie dennoch einen wunderbar heimischen Ariellezauber. Ich kann „Inmitten der Wasserwelt“ wärmstens empfehlen und vergebe 4,5 - hier gerundet auf 5 von 5 Sternen!