Sunday, January 24, 2016

Review: The Isle of the Lost by Melissa De La Cruz

The Isle of the Lost by Melissa De La Cruz
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon and made to live in virtual imprisonment on the Isle of the Lost. The island is surrounded by a magical force field that keeps the villains and their descendants safely locked up and away from the mainland. Life on the island is dark and dreary. It is a dirty, decrepit place that's been left to rot and forgotten by the world.

But hidden in the mysterious Forbidden Fortress is a dragon's eye: the key to true darkness and the villains' only hope of escape. Only the cleverest, evilest, nastiest little villain can find it...who will it be?

Maleficent, Mistress of the Dark: As the self-proclaimed ruler of the isle, Maleficent has no tolerance for anything less than pure evil. She has little time for her subjects, who have still not mastered life without magic. Her only concern is getting off the Isle of the Lost.

Mal: At sixteen, Maleficent's daughter is the most talented student at Dragon Hall, best known for her evil schemes. And when she hears about the dragon's eye, Mal thinks this could be her chance to prove herself as the cruelest of them all.

Evie: Having been castle-schooled for years, Evil Queen's daughter, Evie, doesn't know the ins and outs of Dragon Hall. But she's a quick study, especially after she falls for one too many of Mal's little tricks.

Jay: As the son of Jafar, Jay is a boy of many talents: stealing and lying to name a few. Jay and Mal have been frenemies forever and he's not about to miss out on the hunt for the dragon's eye.

Carlos: Cruella de Vil's son may not be bravest, but he's certainly clever. Carlos's inventions may be the missing piece in locating the dragon's eye and ending the banishment for good.

Mal soon learns from her mother that the dragon's eye is cursed and whoever retrieves it will be knocked into a deep sleep for a thousand years. But Mal has a plan to capture it. She'll just need a little help from her "friends." In their quest for the dragon's eye, these kids begin to realize that just because you come from an evil family tree, being good ain't so bad.

My Thoughts:

So I watched the Disney Descendants movie with my kids when it came out. They loved it and talk about it all the time. I enjoyed the movie as well. I can't believe it took so long for Disney to do a movie with the kids of the villains and fairy tale characters that we all know and love. It got me thinking about a book like that. I discovered this book. This book takes place before the movie and then the movie picks it up (there is a Descendants book but the reviews claim that it is word for word the same as the movie).

This book takes you to the island 20 years after the villains were contained there. Mal, Jay, Carlos and Evie are not even friends at this point. They go to school and are taught skills that will help them be evil. Can you imagine taking a selfishness class or an evil schemes class? That is exactly the type of classes that these kids take. These four children of villains end up thrown together on a quest.

Ms. De La Cruz has woven her magic once more. She truly has a gift for storytelling. This book did not disappoint. I loved getting a back story for each of these characters. You could almost feel their loneliness coming off the pages. Are they truly evil like their famous parents ahead of them? Well I will let you read and decide for yourself. For now, I will hand off the book to my daughter who really wants to read this next. Happy reading!!


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