Intro
As a writer, of course I also love to read, which I want to do a little more than usual. One book franchise that I really love, is the Disney Twisted Tales books. These are 'What if...' scenarios for Disney Movies. For example: 'What if Cinderella didn't have the glass slipper?' For me, these are great stories, and I haven't found one that I don't like at all yet. Some are of course better than others, but to me none of them are really bad.
So, I have decided to add a review and book analysis of some of these books, starting with the frozen version named Conceal, don't feel. What if Anna and Elsa didn't know each other? I am a fan of Frozen, and this book is definitely one of my favorites. I will not only write out a review for this book, but I will analyze it, like I always analyze the Disney Movies. If you are interested in reading the book yourself, and you don't want any spoilers, I will state when I am starting the analysis, so you can stop reading. But first, let's get into the review, which I will try my best to keep spoiler free, or at least don't show too much spoilers.
Review
Quick, spoiler-free summary
In this book, the same incident of Anna being struck in the head by Elsa's magic happens, but the event with the trolls goes different than in the movie, and Anna gets cursed. The two of them forget about each other, and are forced to grow up apart from each other. They slowly start to remember things about their previous life, feeling a connection to each other.
What I liked about the book
As I said above, this book is one of my favorites in the series, and one that I would re-read again. I feel everyone has just a bit more character in the book than in the movie, but their personality is still similar to the movie.
Hans' role in this book is more active than it was in the movie. He is not simply a sudden twist villain by the end of the book without any foreshadowing, but his intentions are very clear from the beginning. I like this, because it's more close to a classic Disney villain.
I like Anna and Kristoff's story a lot better too. They don't just meet right after Elsa freezes Arendale, but already knew each other before and interacted before the event. Their romance feels a little more developed.
I also liked the dual POV of the book. They tend to do this with the twisted tales, but I feel with this one it was very important. It wouldn't have been the same if it hadn't been written from both sisters' point of views.
What I liked less about the book
To be honest, this is a tough one to answer. The book isn't 100% perfect, because no book is perfect, but from the top of my head I couldn't think of much. So for now I will not list anything in this section, because nothing specifically stands out.
Conclusion & final rating
I highly recommend reading this book, even if you didn't like the movie of frozen. There is more characterization, but still stays true to their original character and partly the plot.
For my rating, I would say a 9 out of 10.
If you are interested in reading this book too, consider buying it through the link below. This is an affiliate link, and I will get a small share of anything that is bought through this link. It won't cost you anything extra, so if you would like to support me, this is one of the ways to do it.
Disclaimer: I will now get into the actual analysis of the book, and share what happens with writer's notes as I always do with movies. If you want to read the book yourself and not read any spoilers, click away now and please let me know what you think of the book when you've read it! Proceed at your own risk.
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The Twist
Technically, their story starts the same way it started in the movie. Anna and Elsa are children, and Anna loves Elsa's magic. She wakes her sister up at night to play in the snow, and gets struck in the head, because she is too excited and Elsa cannot keep up with her. Their parents take them to the trolls, where they decide to heal her head to remove the memories of Elsa's powers.
However, in this version, Elsa panics. Anna is one of the few people that loves her powers and her forgetting will break their bound as well, because she can't control her magic. She doesn't want Anna to forget, even though her parents tell her it is for the best. She finally cannot stop herself anymore and rushes forward, reaching for Grand Pappie to stop him. When she touches him, their magic collides, knocking everyone back and leaving Elsa unconscious. After that, Elsa's magic starts to flair, and Anna starts to freeze, it only stopping when there is a good distance between them. Elsa's magic colliding with Grand Pappie's caused a curse. If Anna is anywhere near Elsa, she will slowly freeze. Grand Pappie makes them both forget each other, and their parents are forced to separate them. They will remember each other someday, and only when they both have their memories back, the curse will be broken. The whole kingdom forgets there was a second princess, and Elsa even forgets about her powers and they do not show up until years later.
Writer's Note: The reason I like this twist, is because it shows inner conflict instantly from Elsa as a child. She has hurt Anna, and she feels terrible. But Anna losing her memories of her magic feels like she will lose the memories of Elsa herself. Elsa knows it won't be the same between them anymore. This is a perfect case of inner conflict that a character shows. A character will have to choose between two technically bad things.
Two Different Lives, But A Strange Connection
Because of what happened, the two sisters live a different life, both not remembering the events of what happened, or each other. Elsa lives as a single child and heir to the throne with her parents. Meanwhile Anna lives her life in a small village, adopted by the baker and his wife. Though both of them are happy, they feel like something is missing.
Anna and Elsa's mother cannot stay away from Anna though, and often visits the village as her adoptive mother's best friend Freya. Anna loves Freya and hearing everything about Arendale. Every time she hears about Arendale and the royal family, she is curious and wants to know more. She really wants to go to Arendale someday, feeling like she is supposed to be there.
Elsa feels a little bit lonely, actually wishing she had a sibling. Sometimes her parents mention things that she used to do, but she doesn't remember them. Though still it feels quite familiar too.
Writer's Note: This is a very good example of foreshadowing and making the reader want to continue reading. Since the memory of the event is about half way through the book, it makes the reader wonder what happened and why they actually don't remember each other, because almost everyone would have seen the movie, or at least know the plot. This is a good way to keep the reader interested. The reader knows something is off and they know something happened. They just don't know what happened. It honestly would have worked if they started with the event as a prologue, but if you ask me, this is a better way. It is always good to sprinkle clues throughout the story, so readers can try and figure out themselves what could have happened. It always feels good to debate and realize you were right after all.
The Inciting Incident And Memories Coming Back
Just like in the movie, the king and queen go on a trip, and end up lost at sea, both dying. Elsa is devastated, and her ice magic reacts to her emotions, returning after years. She is confused and scared, only making it worse. She locks herself in her room mostly, not wanting to show her magic to anyone, since she is afraid of what they will think of her.
Still A Villain, But Clear Intentions
Hans is not really a loved villain, mainly because he just suddenly turns evil by the end of the movie with no foreshadowing or any clue that he could be a bad guy. In this book however, he is shown to be the villain very quickly. Still with the same intentions, but not as a surprise, and he does a lot more than just wait around.
Since Anna is not known as the princess, he first tries with Elsa, and they have a very short romance where Elsa actually seems to like him. At first it seems like they made Hans the good guy in this story, but it is soon followed by a chapter in his POV where he is thinking about his plan to become king. The chapter ends with a chilling line, that when you actually don't know the movie, you would want to know what happens.
"Elsa was smart enough to know what was good for her kingdom. And if she didn't... Well, accidents happened. Aerendale only needed their king to survive..."
A classic line, making it clear that Hans is not the man everyone thinks he is and he is willing to kill someone to get what he wanted. He has been turned into a classic Disney Villain. He still has the desire to become king, but he manipulates both girls. When Elsa sees through him, he goes after Anna, convinced that Elsa won't survive and she will be the next heir to the throne. Anna punching him in the face by the end is honestly just as satisfying as it was in the movie.
Writer's Note: You don't ALWAYS need to reveal your villain right away. It could be a twist villain, but if you do write a twist villain, try to leave at least some clues for it to maybe make the reader second guess the character who seems like a good person and an ally. When it's revealed and the reader thinks by themselves: "Seriously? This person is the bad guy?!" then in my opinion it wasn't foreshadowed good enough. It doesn't have to be obvious. Some readers could not guess it the first time, but if they go back and re-read, it would be more satisfying if they then see the clues in your story.
Building Tension With Memories Slowly Coming Back
Both Anna and Elsa remember some things from their past that they aren't supposed to, and both of them don't even know where that connection comes from. Elsa is the first to remember what happened when she finds a small music box with an 'A' on it, and a letter from her mother after she passed away.
Anna doesn't remember for a long time, but feels connected to Elsa. When the storm hits, she is determined to go to Elsa and find her, feeling like she has to. As she reaches the castle, she senses something familiar. She doesn't instantly remember, but finds herself feeling connected. But as she finds places and connections, she starts to feel sick. She slowly gets worse that Kristoff wants to take her home instead of helping her find Elsa.
Writer's Note: Though the reader does know what is happening to her, this is a good way of building tension. The reader knows that coming closer to Elsa will kill her, but Anna is determined to find her and refuses to stop looking. Kristoff's worries add to the tension, because he has a reason to be worried, but he just doesn't know. The reader knowing something that the Main Character doesn't makes it more emerging. The reader would want to continue and see when the main character is going to find out the truth they already know.
Conclusion
This book has some twists and it's own plot, but stays true to the events of the movie. The whole chain of events still happens. Anna gets hurt, Anna's memories are taken, Elsa causes a snow storm on her coronation, Hans manipulates Anna, trying to get her to fall in love with him... It's all there, but still a different story. This is honestly a good re-telling of a story. Still the same characters and everything you are familiar with, but also a different story.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Are you interested in reading it yourself as well? Let me know in the comments, I would love to hear your thoughts about the post and the book itself.
Anyway, I hope you like this post. I have a lot of these books, so if there is a specific one you'd like me to cover, let me know. I will definitly do them. Since I got 'Be Prepared' for my birthday, it might be the next one to cover. (Can you guess who this covers?) Hope you all have a nice day, and until next time!
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Soooooo, to tl;dr without spoilers because I do not trust Disney....
ReplyDeleteSame plot and romance arcs, but Else basically mind spikes Anna without knowing it and Hans stalks Elsa instead? Yeah that checks out. Good review.