Disney’s A Twisted Tale Series Retrospective – Part Two

(Click Here for Part One)

(Note: These mini reviews contain mild spoilers, including revealing a few twists and providing details from the climactic moments of the books.)

6.Mirror, Mirror

Based On: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Author: Jenn Calonita

What If: The Evil Queen poisoned the prince?

Plot: Snow White is the orphaned daughter of the late Queen Katherine, trying to make the best of life under her tyrannical aunt, Queen Ingrid. Acting on the advice of her terrifying magic mirror, Queen Ingrid decides to have Snow White murdered, but the guard she hired refuses to go through with it, and Snow White escapes into the forest. Coming across seven dwarves, the friendly Prince Henri, and an important figure from her past, Snow White resolves to return to her kingdom and reclaim her throne from Queen Ingrid. As Snow White’s resistance movement gains popularity, Queen Ingrid comes up with an especially fiendish strategy to lure her enemy into a trap…

Jen Calonita’s first story in the A Twisted Tale collection, 'Mirror, Mirror' expands the tale of Snow White and fleshes out the characters, but never goes to the same level of excess as 'As Old as Time' or 'A Whole New World'. Calonita’s three books are the shortest in the series, and her simple approach is pretty refreshing in a medium that often tries to go as big as possible. However, this does lead to a sense that she is not being ambitious enough, which is 'Mirror, Mirror’s fatal flaw. 'Mirror, Mirror' adopts a structure similar to the 2015 Frozen retelling 'A Frozen Heart', alternating between a straightforward retelling from the POV of the heroine, and chapters which outline the backstory and perspective of the villain. In 'Mirror, Mirror', the sections focusing on Queen Ingrid end up being the strongest. The tough older sister of Snow White’s purehearted mother Queen Katherine, Ingrid’s jealousy encourages her to seek the advice of the magic mirror, and its malign magic provokes her into destroying the only person that she truly cared about. This provides Ingrid with a tragic dimension whilst making it clear she is still entirely to blame for her own nefarious deeds. The fairytale simplicity of pure evil may be gone, but the idea of seeing Ingrid’s ordinary insecurities fuelling her monstrous actions is equally unsettling.

Aside from this more modern take on traditional fairytale villainy, there isn’t really much to say about 'Mirror, Mirror'. It’s competent, but never has any elements that truly wow. Snow White is a lot more developed and gets to show a more powerful side, but she is still too defined by her goodness and virtue. The much-advertised twist involving the poisoning of Prince Henri leads to a satisfying inversion of "True Love’s Kiss" cliches, but it occurs too late in the story. Calonita tries to address this by revealing Henri’s situation in the opening prologue and spending the majority of 'Mirror, Mirror' building up to this moment. However, this break from the traditional linear structure illustrates that Henri falling into danger does not really affect the direction of the tale as much as a “What If” scenario should. 'Mirror, Mirror' is a solid retelling of Snow White, but not a standout one. It doesn’t help that 'Mirror, Mirror' is the third major Snow White reimagining with that particular name, after the Gregory Maguire novel and the 2012 film starring Julia Roberts (The 2012 version also has a similar twist regarding Snow White’s father). The generic title embodies the fact that whilst 'Mirror, Mirror' is a decent read on its own terms, it doesn’t provide any innovations radical enough to escape the formidable shadow of the original movie.

7. Conceal, Don’t Feel*

Based On: Frozen

Author: Jenn Calonita

What If: Anna and Elsa never knew each other?

Plot: Elsa is the future queen of the kingdom of Arendelle, whilst Anna is the adopted child of bakers working in a nearby village. After the untimely death of her parents, Elsa begins to develop the ability to control ice - using her powers to create an eccentric snowman called Olaf – but finds herself increasingly haunted by memories of a lost sister. Hours before her coronation as Queen, these supressed memories cause Elsa to lose control of her ice powers, plunging Arendelle into an eternal winter. As Elsa runs away to learn more about her missing sister, Anna teams up with local ice harvester Kristoff to head into Arendelle to investigate the eternal winter themselves. During their mission, Anna realises she could have a closer relationship to Elsa than she assumes. Meanwhile, Elsa’s frustrated suitor Prince Hans comes up with increasingly dangerous means of turning the situation to his advantage…

Even the most ardent fans of the A Twisted Tale series won’t consider them “Great”, but they at least have a flair and originality that allows them to stand out. 'Conceal Don’t Feel' lacks this, feeling too enamoured by its source material to do anything truly radical to it. The idea of Anna being raised by loving working-class adoptive parents (and knowing nothing about her royal heritage) is a pleasingly traditional fairytale plot device, but it feels underdeveloped. It’s all very well to give Anna an interest in baking, but it barely plays any role in the story –If her adoptive guardians had any other occupation, every subsequent plot point would have been basically the same. Instead, the focal point of the story is Elsa wanting to know the truth about her lost sister, as she prepares for her royal coronation, deals with attempts to set her up with Prince Hans, and tries to look after Olaf. All the resulting complications mean that Elsa doesn’t trigger the eternal winter until the halfway point of the story, severely reducing the drama and jeopardy it causes. Elsa’s need to learn more about Anna ensures that she has a greater degree of agency in the story, but also diminishes the power and simplicity of the frosty thrills central to Frozen’s appeal.

One of the biggest changes to the source material is the fact that the nature of the "Frozen Heart" curse is altered to ensure that merely being in the same room as Elsa could cause Anna’s heart to freeze. The aim of this is to increase Anna and Elsa’s isolation, but this is undermined by the fact their support networks are expanded. Anna’s adoptive parents are nice enough, but still relatively minor characters overall, and the same is true for Elsa’s various royal advisors and staff. There is also a plot point involving Anna’s adoptive mother having a friend called Freya, who forms a close bond with Anna, has a daughter who Anna never gets to see, and happens to die on the same boat voyage as the King and Queen. The inevitable reveal of Freya’s true nature will cause every reader to groan and roll their eyes. It’s painfully silly, but at least it provides something unique, even though it is another change that adds virtually nothing to the story. The male characters – always the weakest part of the original Frozen – remain underwhelming despite Calonita’s best efforts to give them more to do. In the case of the treacherous Prince Hans, Calonita makes his ulterior motives clear from the moment he arrives, and his villainous arc feels more coherent, but he still comes across as a fairly stereotypical dodgy suitor. Kristoff and Olaf are introduced far earlier than they were in the original film, but we still don’t get many new insights into them and their personalities.

The worst thing about 'Conceal Don’t Feel' is the fact it starts by doing something intriguingly different then narrows down into a pretty redundant retelling of Frozen – the final scenes are almost identical to the concluding moments of the source material. It feels like 'Conceal Don’t Feel' is replicating the most frustrating flaws of Disney’s live-action films, so focused on fixing the weak spots of the original that it merely draws attention to its own problems. Hardcore Frozen fans will probably get the most out of this spin on the tale, but there are plenty of other Frozen books which can entertain them. The fact that it is hard to even recommend 'Conceal Don’t Feel' to committed fans demonstrates that it is probably the weakest story in the A Twisted Tale collection overall.

(*-In the UK, 'Conceal, Don’t Feel' is published under the alternate title 'Let It Go'.)

8. Straight On Till Morning

Based On: Peter Pan

Author: Liz Braswell

What If: Wendy First Travelled to Never Land with Captain Hook?

Plot: Four years after travelling to Never Land, Wendy Darling is still obsessed with memories of her adventures there. When her overprotective parents threaten to send her away to work as a Governess in Ireland, Wendy decides to run away. Impulsively, she makes a deal with the elegant and sinister Captain Hook to take her back to Never Land in exchange for Peter Pan’s missing shadow. However, when she realises life on the pirate ship is not what she expected, Wendy escapes and makes her own way to the island. There, she has to team up with her old nemesis Tinker Bell to find Peter Pan, warn him of impending danger, and prevent Captain Hook from destroying Never Land.

After pushing the “Twisted” elements in her first four books, Braswell moves to a lighter and brighter tone for 'Straight on Till Morning'. There is a good deal of fighting and danger, but only one (relatively minor) death and very little that feels gruesome or unsettling in the same way as 'A Whole New World' or 'Once Upon a Dream'. There are also several instances where Braswell’s narrative voice breaks the fourth wall, adding comments about the descriptions and personally addressing the reader. Sometimes this is intrusive, but there are plenty of times where it benefits the tale – it ensures that 'Straight on Till Morning' is a lively read, even with its somewhat episodic and meandering structure. However, Braswell still retains the deconstructive elements of her earlier books. The misogyny and racism of London in the early 1900s is acknowledged (albeit in rather cursory fashion) and there are some interesting points about how the problems with Never Land reflect the negative aspects of life in the real world. Two of the best scenes in the story – Hook’s pirate ship emerging from the Thames and Tinker Bell going on a tour of London – both show the fantasy of Never Land intruding on the dreariness of city life. The new obstacles Wendy faces in Never Land (A monster that bars adults from entering, a group of bee-like creatures who distract their victims by showing images of the world, a set of mysterious entities called The First) reflect the fact that the difficulties of life can still find their way into this apparent paradise. Even the Lost Boys are affected by this, as one of their newest members is actually a girl disguising herself in order to fit in. These additions are incorporated into the tale effectively, advancing its themes and messages and showing how Never Land can evolve to reflect the dreams of children.

For the most part, 'Straight on Till Morning' is a two-woman story. Wendy is a thoughtful and proactive lead, but one capable of making impulsive and foolish mistakes, such as the Faustian pact that sets the story into motion. Her adventures in Never Land allow her to tap into skills and magical powers which she never knew she could use. Tinker Bell is also allowed to come into the spotlight. We are gain insights into her softer side and her relationship with the other fairies in Never Land, but Tinker Bell is still able to maintain a lot of her signature insolence. The lead duo share a desire to make up for their mistakes that allows them to form a genuinely sweet friendship. Wendy’s brothers are pushed to the side-lines – They have become too focused on adapting to the requirements of being a man in Edwardian Britain, but they still support Wendy’s interest in fantasy deep down. Meanwhile, Peter Pan himself only really appears at the start and end of the story, with his very dated brand of aggressive wholesomeness feeling a lot more tolerable in these smaller doses.

'Straight on Till Morning' is another story which benefits from an effective villain. Captain Hook gets to come up with a more extreme plan this time around, but unlike her upgrading of Jafar, Ursula and Maleficent, Braswell still allows him to retain a degree of villainous integrity – he’s as scheming and flamboyant as ever, but still has his share of standards. Hook and Wendy both spend a lot of time interacting with Hook’s pirate henchmen, who are mostly fairly generic “hardmen with hidden depths” but still have a certain degree of charm and likeability. Hook also receives help from an elderly witch named Madame Moreia, but she only appears for a single scene, which feels like a real waste of potential. One of the more curious changes to the story is the handling of Smee, who provides his usual support for Hook during his private moments, but never when he is interacting with others. The twist is not as ludicrous as 'Conceal Don’t Feel’s Freya twist, but it still feels somewhat silly and artificial.

'Straight On Till Morning' is strongest in the sections that explore Wendy’s growing awareness that the fantasy of Never Land is not the escape from reality she wants it to be, as her encounters with Tinker Bell, The First and The Lost Boys open her eyes to the way the world is affected by forms of pain and cruelty Wendy hasn’t known in her relatively sheltered (but frustrating) daily life. There is something a little bit meta about a series of Disney updates for 12+ readers exploring the idea of revisiting a childhood haunt to find out it is not as innocent as you remembered. The story is light enough to prevent these themes from being a distraction, but serious enough to make them feel perfectly appropriate. Taking out most of the horror elements turns out to be an inspired decision, as it allows 'Straight on Till Morning' to focus on being a coming-of-age story that manages to explore the more problematic aspects of Never Land whilst retaining sufficient amounts of pantomime fun. It is worth going through the slow stretches to see Wendy evolve into a stronger and more confident character with a greater sense of responsibility.

9. So This is Love

Based On: Cinderella

Author: Elizabeth Lim

What If: Cinderella never tried on the glass slipper?

Plot: When the kingdom of Aurelais starts searching for the mysterious girl with the glass slipper who danced with Prince Charming at the Royal Ball, wicked Stepmother Lady Tremaine locks Cinderella in the attic. Cinderella fails to get out, missing the invitation to try on the glass slipper and prove she was Prince Charming’s partner. After an argument where Cinderella destroys her spare glass slipper in order to prevent Lady Tremaine from misusing it, the wicked stepmother responds by trying to sell Cinderella into servitude. However, Cinderella escapes and winds up in the Royal Palace, where she is given a job as a seamstress. This leads to Cinderella being thrust into political intrigues involving the scheming Grand Duke Ferdinand and King George’s feisty sister Genevieve, learning about the terrible secrets behind the monarchy of Aurelais. Will Cinderella be able to thwart a plot against Prince Charming and end the persecution of her fairy godmother Lenore?

It’s surprising that it took so long for the A Twisted Tale team to put a spin on Cinderella, but adapting this tale is harder than it appears. Given that the story of Cinderella has been adapted in pretty much every conceivable way, you have to provide something truly unique and engaging if you want your version to stand out. Fortunately, 'So This is Love' succeeds in this regard. Elizabeth Lim follows up 'Reflection' by moving into a more stereotypical Central European fairytale kingdom, but still manages to retain her skills at characterisation and worldbuilding, proving herself to be the strongest author in the A Twisted Tale line-up.

The story starts in the midst of the first ball, with a sweet depiction of the first meeting between Cinderella and Prince Charming that proves the two share a genuine chemistry. However, things get pretty difficult for the next few chapters, as Cinderella misses her chance to reveal she was the mystery princess at the ball, learns the Fairy Godmother isn’t as effective as she expected, and falls victim to an attempt to sell her into servitude elsewhere. It’s a little disappointing that Lady Tremaine is the one to cut ties rather than Cinderella, but our heroine recovers quickly, and soon the story manages to find its own distinct identity, allowing Cinderella to have a new set of adventures whilst still maintaining the wish-fulfilment appeal of the source material.

The idea of Cinderella sneaking into multiple balls whilst working in the palace is often used in fairytales similar to Cinderella, and Lim makes the most of the premise, with an impressive masked ball providing a particular highlight. Cinderella and her Prince (named Charles in this story) get an opportunity to develop their relationship outside of these, including a scene where they go to a ballet version of The Twelve Dancing Princesses – it’s amusing to see a Disney tale provide a cameo for one of the more notable Brothers Grimm stories to escape their clutches. It’s not exactly the most sophisticated relationship in the A Twisted Tale canon, but it’s a sweet one, and there is a pleasing amount of conflict in it, as Cinderella wonders if her longing for the future king could undermine her attempts to establish a stable and secure new life.

Lim successfully highlights the less glamourous aspects of daily life in the palace whilst still making it a fun place to explore. This world of “Blooms and Looms” and “Cooks and Looks” feels like an actual workplace where Cinderella’s abilities and character can be tested in a variety of ways. When Cinderella is assigned to work for (and spy on) the king’s sister Genevieve, things really come to life. A temperamental and demanding woman with an unexpectedly strong compassionate streak, Genevieve is one of the most memorable original characters in the entire A Twisted Tale series. Lim also does a good job turning Grand Duke Ferdinand into a treacherous antagonist. Making the Grand Duke into the villain of the Cinderella story has become something of a cliché in recent years, but 'So This is Love' is one of the best examples because it avoids caricature –Ferdinand sincerely believes that his reactionary, elitist policies are for the good of the kingdom, and is willing to do all sorts of unethical things in the name of keeping it “secure.”. The prejudice against magical beings is not as thoroughly developed as it was in 'As Old as Time', but feels more effective as a metaphor for racial persecution and the worst aspects of Ferdinand’s approach to ruling. The way magic is used in 'So This is Love' is genuinely intriguing, as we learn that fairy godmothers such as Lenore “can only aid someone’s fate, not change it”, and we find out about how these limited powers can make the fairies scapegoats when the kingdom suffers disaster. This allows Lim to invert the stereotypical “The Fairy Godmother helps Cinderella through all her problems” dynamic whilst still making Lenore’s powers valuable in their own right.

'So This is Love' is probably the most grounded of the A Twisted Tale books, with romance and political intrigue defining the story. However, it does slide into melodrama, with no fewer than two scenes of Cinderella being bound and dragged away by scheming men (although she escapes both times). The climactic chapters feel a little hectic, taking in a poisoning plot, a final appearance from Lady Tremaine, an arranged marriage, secret tunnels, and even Cinderella using mice as a weapon.* This somewhat chaotic feel diminishes the relatively sedate charms of the first two thirds, although it still remains enjoyable to read. 'So This is Love' may not be the most radical reimagining of Cinderella, but it is one of the most charming and engaging stories in the A Twisted Tale collection.

(*These mice are entirely normal - The talking mice from the movie are entirely absent in this tale, and we don’t miss them at all…)

10. Unbirthday

Based On: Alice in Wonderland

Author: Liz Braswell

What If: Wonderland was in peril and Alice was very very late?

Plot: Eight years after her initial adventures in Wonderland, Alice is now a trainee photographer who specialises in taking photos of Kexford’s immigrant community. However, she soon starts to see the residents of Wonderland appearing in her pictures, warning her of a terrible danger that is sweeping the kingdom. When she falls into a lake and returns to the fantasy world, Alice finds it under siege from the Queen of Hearts, who want to hoard all the toys in Wonderland for herself. As Alice travels through various parts of Wonderland with the help of the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and other Wonderland residents, she takes charge of a mission to save Wonderland from the Queen of Hearts before the end of time. Alice’s quest is disrupted by several returns to Kexford, where she has to deal with more mundane acts of tyranny…

At an impressive 512 pages long, 'Unbirthday' is the longest of the A Twisted Tale books, but its extra length turns out to be a weakness rather than a strength. Braswell has a tendency to cram too many ideas and plot points into her stories, and 'Unbirthday' is probably the worst offender. For all the extra additions, 'Unbirthday' shares a lot of DNA with Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland reimagining. Both feature an older Alice returning to Wonderland to find it has become a dystopia under threat from the Queen of Hearts. The story returns to the more violent tone of Braswell’s first two Twisted Tales, with many of the Wonderlanders (and even Alice herself) suffering bloody injuries on several occasions. There is a lot of horror imagery, including furnaces of destroyed scrap and some terrifying appearances from The Card Cutter, a destructive blade-wielding paper skeleton trying to prevent Alice from changing the dynamics of the Queen of Hearts’ bizarre game. One of the main devices in the story is the murder of Mary Ann, a maid to the White Rabbit who is often mentioned in the original Alice in Wonderland and its adaptations, but never seen in person.* Giving such importance to a character we know nothing about is a risk that doesn’t really pay off, with no ability to really show the ways in which Mary Ann is Alice’s mirror self. The characters in Wonderland are as lively as ever, but the sheer number of them means they don’t really make enough of an impression. The Queen of Hearts is little more than the destructive impulses of a spoilt child taken to the ultimate extremes, but a thread involving the White Rabbit and his motives for collaborating with her add a note of depressive tragedy – a rare bit of adult psychology in a world defined by childish impulses. Neither of them appears much in comparison to Braswell’s other villains – whilst this is intentional on some level (The story is primarily about how Wonderland reacts to the threat they pose) it still feels disappointing. Ultimately, 'Unbirthday' would have been improved by making a few significant cuts and toning down many of the excesses.

However, 'Unbirthday' manages to keep more of the eccentricity of Wonderland, even though this can often be played for Gallows Humour - Public executions are followed by “Cricket Day”, and Wonderlanders watch (and bet on) the climactic battle as if it were a sporting event. There are also some creative new locations which include a mysterious hideout called the Grunderground, a mirror version of Alice’s own home, and a very unusual train. The concluding chapters are fairly strong, including a climax involving having to stop and restart time, a clock about to strike thirteen and a couple of genuinely effective messages (about dealing with change and the importance of Nonsense in allowing us to deal with the problems of the real world). The fact that 'Unbirthday' has many of the same plot points as the 2010 film but manages to do them better is proof that for all their issues, sequels and AU stories provide far more opportunities for creativity than a standard retelling. However, a stronger (and less flattering) comparison is with 'Straight on Till Morning', due to the fact both are sequels where a female protagonist now entering adulthood makes a return to a magical world from their childhood. The similarities are inevitable (After all, both of the original Disney films had the same actress voicing the female lead) but 'Straight on Till Morning' is the more enjoyable of the two due to its more restrained approach.

The antics in Wonderland are upstaged by the B Plot in “Kexford”, the village in “Angleland” where Alice lives (Given the mention of Queen Victoria, the use of thinly fictionalised names feels a bit annoying in this case). Alice engages in her work as a photographer whilst dealing with the threat posed by the mayoral bid of Gilbert Ramsbottom, a slimy and bigoted far-right politician in the Nigel Farage mould. Alice dedicates herself to helping the immigrant community of Kexford, and even forms a romantic relationship with a young lawyer named Katz. Given that the Jewish religion and Jewish culture are still incredibly under-represented in Disney media, it’s great to see an openly Jewish character as one of the central protagonists, and Katz’s interest in the stories of Chelm (a town of “fools” from Jewish folklore with lots of logic but no common sense) is a pleasingly distinctive touch that feels incredibly appropriate for this world. Other new characters in Kexford include Alice’s maverick Aunt Vivian, an eccentric communist called Willard, and Mrs Yao, a teashop owner who seeks Alice’s help after being the victim of a hate crime. In true The Wizard of Oz style, all these individuals have parallels with Alice’s friends and enemies in Wonderland, but these are mostly handled with relative care. Seeing openly centre-left politics in a Disney story might annoy some right-wing complainers, but Alice in Wonderland always had a strong element of contemporary social satire, which has already been emphasised by some adaptations (most notably Johnathan Miller’s 1966 version) so it does not feel out of place. The Kexford sections elevate 'Unbirthday' considerably, but not enough to put it in the top tier of Twisted Tales. When it works, 'Unbirthday' is a pretty creative reimagining of the Wonderland mythos with a lot of things to say about its parallels to the wider world, but you have to wade through too much padding to find the best bits.

(*- Walt Disney considered allowing Mary Ann to appear in person in his Alice in Wonderland film early in development, but she did not appear in the finished movie. In 2006, Disney licensed a comic book series called Wonderland, which used a version of the character as its main protagonist.)

11. Go the Distance

Based On: Hercules

Author: Jenn Calonita

What If: Meg had to become a Greek God?

Plot: After thwarting the schemes of Hades and finding his rightful home on Mount Olympus, the heroic Hercules offers to relinquish his immortality in order to be with his new girlfriend Megara. However, Zeus rejects this proposal, due to his distrust towards Hades’ former henchwoman. Zeus’ wife Hera decides that the best way of keeping Hercules and Megara together is to allow Megara to become a God herself by completing a remarkable mission of her own. The gods give Megara ten days to travel to the underworld and rescue Katerina, a woman accidentally killed before her time during Hercules’ final battle with the Titans. Katerina is linked to the most painful moment of Megara’s life, so the mission to save her from Hades’ domain forces Megara to confront her own flaws and vulnerabilities…

After the disappointment of 'Conceal, Don’t Feel', Jenn Calonita redeems herself with 'Go the Distance', which is her best story in the A Twisted Tale series by some margin. It shifts Hercules himself to the sidelines to focus on Megara, which is a sensible idea because she was a more interesting character anyway. Megara’s quest is broken up by several flashbacks that reveal her backstory, as we learn about her relationship with her mother Thea, the difficulties of a childhood spent living on the streets, her former career as a flautist, and the traumas and disasters that lead to her becoming Hades’ henchwoman. We even get a couple of flashbacks to show how her relationship with Hercules developed during the movie. These additions make Megara feel genuinely realistic, and she succeeds in sustaining our attention for a whole full-length novel.

Although Megara retains her sardonic streak at the beginning, this is toned down later on due to the challenges of the story and the emphasis on her internal vulnerabilities – this is understandable, if a bit annoying. Fortunately, her mission is engaging enough for this not to matter too much. Megara is given ten days to complete her quest, but this time passes surprisingly quickly. The most fiendish complication is the fact that time moves far slower in the underworld – a week inside Hades’ realm is two years in the human world. The monsters Megara faces – including a vampire-type siren creature called the Empusa and a flock of deadly birds who guard a set of dangerous trees - would feel right at home amongst the Gerald Scarfe-designed grotesques which Hercules faced in the original film, but the most compelling battles in 'Go the Distance' are character based. The quest also tests her relationship to Hercules – Megara is able to call him for help during her mission, but fears this might cause him to get in the way. Even though their reunion is a foregone conclusion, this still feels realistic enough to create genuine jeopardy. After all, if Megara gets to join Hercules on Mount Olympus, the two could become a couple for eternity, and that is probably the sternest test of any relationship.

Fortunately, Megara receives a good deal of help from the female Greek Gods. Hera, Athena and Aphrodite pop up to support her at key points, but the most interesting of the lot is Persephone. In most variations on the Hades/Persephone story, Persephone can often be a bit of a victim, but here she seeks out Hades willingly, and the Lord of the Dead finds himself equally infatuated. This is the sort of twist that deserves more than a few brief descriptions of Hades’ feelings for her. A bonus chapter exploring Persephone’s POV was included in special editions from the American booksellers Barnes and Noble - It is a shame it wasn’t included in the proper version, as exploring Persephone’s interest in Hades could provide some insightful commentary on Disney villains and why we find them so fascinating despite their despicable deeds.* Hades is still as slimy and manipulative as ever, but he is no longer driven by fiendish grand plans – being forced to continue with his job in the underworld feels like a fitting punishment for his misdemeanours. There is an intriguing thread of destiny in 'Go the Distance', as it raises the idea that Hades’ schemes were part of a wider plan that the gods need to remain attached to. This is one of the main reasons Megara gets assigned her mission, and it allows Calonita to tap into something genuinely mythical. The idea is not overplayed, but it does allow the story to feel like it is genuinely interested in the abilities of the gods and the ramifications of their cosmic powers.

Ultimately, 'Go the Distance' is probably the most focused A Twisted Tale story, and all the better for it. Without going too far into spoilers, the final test essentially turns the story into a feminist spin on the myth of Orpheus. Despite the A Twisted Tale label, this is still fundamentally a Disney story, so Megara is able to gain a much better ending. With its celebration of female sisterhood and companionship, 'Go the Distance' manages to make this feel earned. The male characters get to be depicted with care and respect as well. Philocetes gets a pretty strong arc, as he has to work with Megara despite his previous distrust of her. (His lecherous streak is wisely toned down, and he turns out to be surprisingly good at looking after babies). Zeus is more antagonistic than he appeared in the original film, but Hercules, Hades and even Hermes are portrayed pretty close to their source material. We also meet the old flame who abandoned Megara, and he turns out to be a more nuanced character than expected. Despite the substantial cast, the focus remains firmly on Megara’s arc, as she learns to accept her vulnerability and open herself up to others. 'Go the Distance' takes one of Disney’s most underrated female leads and gives her the moment in the spotlight she deserves.

(*'Conceal, Don’t Feel' and 'If This is Love' also got bonus chapters in their Barnes and Nobel edition, which explain the mythos in a bit more detail, but these don’t feel “essential” in the same way.)

Conclusion

Fanfiction is notorious for being a hit and miss medium, but the A Twisted Tale novels represent a generally successful attempt at cashing in on the popularity of fanfics. At their best, the strongest books in the A Twisted Tale series – 'Once Upon a Dream', 'Reflection', 'Go the Distance' – provide a greater exploration of their protagonists and the insecurities that drive them, whilst others, such as 'Part of Your World' and 'So This is Love', allow us to provide an enjoyable adventure set in worlds worth escaping to. Even the weakest stories have their share of creative and intriguing elements. Fans of the source material will generally enjoy the A Twisted Tale series most, but even those with little interest in Disney will find a few things to engage them.

Those interested in the A Twisted Tale series will be pleased to know there are more stories still to come. Liz Braswell has completed her seventh A Twisted Tale story with 'What Once Was Mine', which will be published next month. This story is a take on Tangled which explores what would happen if Rapunzel’s magical hair came from a “moon flower” with the power to destroy rather than heal. Next year, Farrah Rochon will become the fourth author in the A Twisted Tale stable with a The Princess and the Frog reimagining called 'Almost There'*, and she will provide a second story in late 2023. Furthermore, Elizabeth Lim is promising to provide a Pinocchio reimagining from the perspective of the Blue Fairy. Although the A Twisted Tale team should be beginning to run out of classic Disney films to adapt by now, the well isn’t completely dry - The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame would be well suited to the edgier, more politicised tone of the A Twisted Tale series, and more modern Disney films such as Moana and Raya and the Last Dragon would also lend themselves to strong adaptations. There will still be plenty of opportunities for the A Twisted Tale writers to explore the “What Ifs” and hidden possibilities of the Disney Animated Canon, and hopefully this result in more entertaining stories in the future.

(* Rochon has promised that 'Almost There' will allow Tiana to stay human for the entire story, but it’s still unknown whether it’s an AU retelling or a sequel.)