The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel (The Descendants) (original 2015; edição 2015)

Didn’t you know? Villains have kids too.

Twenty years ago when Belle married her Beast they rounded up all the villains and banished them… to the Isle of the Lost. During their banishment these notorious villains have been raising their young, preparing them for the day when they’d escape the magic dome allowing them to finally get their revenge.

This book, being the prequel to the 2015 hit TV movie Disney Descendants, introduces us to the four main villain children – Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos – and gives us a glimpse of what their life was like before the movie. The food is rotten, the houses are shoddy and the parent-child relationships are nothing like the ones in Auradon. What do you expect? They’re villains and they pretty much only see their children as a way to carry on their evil legacies… assuming they get off the island eventually.

The book also gives us a glimpse of Prince Ben in Auradon and his training to becoming King once he turns sixteen. There are not many chapters dedicated to his character, but we do get to see in which ways he takes after his parents, King Beast and Queen Belle.

Meanwhile, on the isle Mal is given an assignment from her mother (Maleficent) to retrieve her treasured scepter, which holds the Dragon Eye, from the other side of the island. However, there’s a catch – the eye is cursed. The first person to touch it and ‘wake the dragon’ will be cursed to sleep for a thousand years (classic Maleficent). Enlisting the help of her three acquaintances (because villains don’t have friends) Mal conducts a plan that will help them retrieve the eye and she’ll be able to prove once and for all that she is as evil as her mother.

So… this book is definitely a great read. I like that we get to see more into the lives of the villain children before they go to Auradon in the movie. However, there are some differences between the book and movie that irk me a little, but isn’t that always the case?

First of all, the villain children are not as close in the book as they make them out to be in the movie, and neither are the parents. In the book we learn that Mal hates Evie for an incident that happened when they were six, and just as well their parents, Evil Queen and Maleficent aren’t exactly fond of each other. In the movie, it’s completely opposite. It seems as though EQ and Maleficent are best friends, along with Jafar and Cruella De Vil.

Now that I think about it, that’s really the only thing that bugs me between the book and movie.

I guess it works out though, because during their quest to find the Dragon Eye we see the four villains-in-training doing something they never thought possible – bond.

In any case, if you are at all interested in reading about the children of some of the most famous villains I’d definitely recommend this book… and the movies of course. It’s up to you of course whether you want to read the book first or see the movie, since you don’t necessarily need to read the book before watching the movie. ( )

This book focuses on the offspring of four of the most notorious neer-do-wells in the Disney universe. Mal is the daughter of the evil Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Evie is daughter of the vain Evil Queen from Snow White, Jay is the son of the wizard Jafar from Aladdin, and Carlos is the son of Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians. These four teens, their parents, and other villains have been eternally banished to the Isle of the Lost by edict of King Beast who rules the United States of Auradon.

A separate plot line involves Ben, the son of King Beast and Queen Belle. As his sixteenth birthday approaches, he prepares to take the crown and become king. But the transition will not be easy, as he inherits his father’s troubles with the Disney sidekicks who feel they have been treated unfairly.

The author definitely knows her Disney neer-do-wells and presents them in a light that doesn’t negate the fact that they’re not heroes but doesn’t make them psychotic and bloodthirsty either.

Mal learns from her mother, Maleficent, that the key to true darkness, the Dragon’s Eye, is located inside her scepter in the forbidden fortress on the far side of the island. The 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.”

This book is very clever and each chapter is written from a different character's point of view. I really enjoyed this story and plan to read the other books in the series. ( )

It was interesting to see what happened when the fairy tales were over. If i was younger i would think it was great. I have seen parts of the movie and thought the music was great. ( )

HATED IT, these pri-madonnas and their bad attitude about parties and just being nasty. It is Disney Meats Mean Girls - Woopie Doo!! This is horrible. ( )

Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon to the Isle of the Lost-a dark and dreary place protected by a force field that makes it impossible for them to leave. Stripped of their magical powers, the villains now live in total isolation, forgotten by the world.

Mal learns from her mother, Maleficent, that the key to true darkness, the Dragon's Eye, is located inside her scepter in the forbidden fortress on the far side of the island. The 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 four kids begin to realize that just because you come from an evil family tree, being good ain't so bad.