Intro
The lion king has been my favorite movie ever since I was a child. When I learned about the disney twisted tales books, I had been wishing for one about the Lion King. Of course, when they finally wrote one I had to buy it and my husband got it for me for my birthday.
Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. The twisted tales book honestly never disappoint me, but this is one of the best ones. It was fun and intriguing to read and I definetly didn't want to stop reading.
So, let's get into the book of Disney's Twisted Tales - Be Prepared. What if Nala was compelled to team up with scar for a secret reason?
Same as the last one, I will do a review, then place a disclaimer for the analysis. If you don't want spoilers, it will be marked clear when to stop reading.
Review
Quick, spoiler-free summary
This story plays six months after the stampede in Nala's POV. Scar rules the Pride Lands and it has fallen into decay. Nala lives a sheltered life and only has the memories of how things used to be when her best friend was still alive. But when it is rumored that Simba might still be alive it changes everything for Nala. She sneaks off to find him, hoping to bring him back and save the pridelands.
What I liked about the book
I have always wondered how Nala's life was after Mufassa died and Simba disappeared. Her life at the pride lands could almost be a few deleted scenes in the movie between Simba being found by Timon and Pumba and Nala finding Simba as an adult while hunting. It fits seamlessly into the gap.
Nala is well developed, and both Scar and Zazu feel close to the movie. Even though we seen a very slightly softer side of Scar, he is still in character and has his own motives to help Nala find Simba.
There are plenty of new characters, which makes the story more enjoyable as well. Nala is not the only cub in the story and there are plenty of new characters with great and developed personality.
What I liked less about the book
Though I love the story and would read it all over again for sure, it starts a little bit slow. Without going into too much spoilers. Nala sets off on her own, but being followed by one of the other cubs who wants to come. They get pretty far, but then the other cub gets scared and wants to go home, so Nala has to go and bring her all the way back to the pridelands again.
Though I do like the fact that someone decided to come with her, I feel this makes it a little slow, because it takes a long time for her to leave, then she finally does leave, goes back, and then leaves again. That part almost feels like the writer realized the book wasn't long enough and added that part into it to make it longer.
Other than that, I honestly have no complains, and it isn't that bad. But if I had to pick something, it would be that.
Conclusion and Final Rating
I can recommand this book to anyone who likes the twisted tales or just likes The Lion King. It is a fun book and it was not what I expected, in a good way.
For my final rating I honestly would just give this one a 10 out of 10 for sure.
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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Nala's Sheltered Life
After Simba's death, Nala's mother Sarafina has become overly protective over Nala. She is not allowed to go anywhere alone and always will have to be in sight of pride rock so she can see her. Because of this over protectiveness, Nala is far behind compared to the other cubs. She doesn't learn to hunt, and doesn't get to play much with the other cubs.
She is an outsider to the other cubs, and pretty much gets bullied by most of them because she is terrible at hunting. When there is an event called 'the hunting games', no one actually wants her on their team. And her team loses, even though she tries her best to do some hunting.
Though Nala loves her mother, she is annoyed and upset that she never lets her do anything.
Writer's Note: This is a perfect example of fear and trauma. Sarafina is afraid to lose Nala and refuses to end up alone like Sarabi. Is it a good thing she is keeping her daughter sheltered? Not at all. But she is desperate and afraid. Nala already got herself in trouble with the hyena's a few days before Simba disappeared. Who's to say what kind of trouble she gets herself into alone? Everyone is traumatized after Mufassa's death and Simba's disappearence. Even though it didn't happen to them, characters can be affected by something that happened to others. Sarafina sees Sarabi's grief, and doesn't want anything like that to happen to herself.
Everything Changes
After a few events and chapters in Nala's life, we get to the point where everything changes. Rafiki announces that he has seen a vision of Simba. Rumor has it that he is in a place called Garamba. Nala recognizes the name, it being the place she and Simba spoke of going together someday.
After hearing there might be a chance that Simba is alive, Nala makes her decision to leave the Pride Lands and find him. Not just to find her best friend again, but to proof to her mother and the other cubs that she is capable. She is determined to bring him back and save the Pride Lands.
Writer's Note: This is another good example for story writing. The character has a goal, and their own motivation. Of course Nala misses Simba and the fact that he could still be alive makes her happy. But proving herself to her mother also means a lot to her. Both are a big reason for a character to leave. To find a missing person, but also to prove themselves being worthy.
Nala's Character Development
Nala starts out as someone who is not very good at anything like the other cubs. She can't hunt and doesn't play too much. But during the story she develops. While she has always been sheltered and did what her mother said, she does eventually try to stand up for herself and tell her mother to stop babying her.
When she leaves to find Simba, a younger cub follows her and wants to go with her, even though she doesn't know where Nala is going or why she is leaving. Nala allows her to come, and they grow a little bit closer. Nala feels like she actually finally has a friend. She learns hunting from the younger cub, who teaches her the basics. Later during the story, she manages to hunt and kill an animal herself without anyone's help. This is not only a major thing for her, but for me as a reader too. She develops and manages to get better at things.
She also manages to use her quick thinking skills and get herself and her companions out of bad situations. When she and Scar are surrounded by rival lions that want to kill Scar, she is told to leave. But she comes back to save Scar from them before they can actually kill him.
Writer's Note: It is always good to have at least some character development. They don't have to change drastically, they can remain the same as they've always been. But if they don't at least learn SOMETHING, your story might not have a lot of purpose. Of course, sometimes it can be done with the character not learning anything new, but it could be hard to write a story for that.
Scar's Character
Scar gets a little more character and a bigger role in this book other than just being a tyrannic king. He wanted to be king, and he just always thought he would be a better king than Mufassa. In this story he is still manipulative and he still wants to kill Simba when he finds out there is a possibility that he is still alive.
But he also wants the lionesses to respect him and to think he is a good king. Even though he hates it, he tries to make them like him, and he tries to be nice. When there is a food raid done by the Hyena's and then Nala and the younger cub have disappeared, they are suspected to have taken them. Scar at least asks them about it, and clearly is not happy about their raid from before.
He even feels just a little bit sorry for Nala when she tells him she blames herself for what happened at the stampede. He knows very well it wasn't her fault, and though it is very lightly, he feels sorry that she thinks it's her fault. He also praises her when she manages to hunt down a large animal for them to eat and he is grateful that she saved him from the rival lions.
Writer's Note: This lands perfectly on villains not being completely bad and having no heart. What the villains have done is terrible and can't be defended, but that doesn't mean they don't have a heart at all. Scar's relationship with Nala shows this perfectly. He is selfish and only goes with her to kill Simba if he really is alive, and is planning on killing her too. But he doesn't let her get killed, and does see what she is capable of.
Scar's fate
When Scar and Nala arrive at Garamba and find Simba, Scar is shocked and furious, because the hyena's couldn't do the job. He tries to kill Simba, but Nala sees what is happening, and she attacks him. Simba, Nala, Zazu, Pumba and Timon all attack him at the same time until he goes limb. Then they run away, leaving him behind.
They haven't killed him, but just left him wounded. Nala mentions it will be a while before he can walk again if he even will return at all.
At the epilogue of the book, Nala mentions that she heard the rival lions found Scar and finished him off, so they will never have to worry about him again.
Writer's note: In this case, I think they have done it really well. Simba and Nala are children, and it isn't always appropriate to let a child kill someone even if it is a villain. Just attacking him and leaving him behind is a good way to solve this conflict in my eyes. And yes, I know there are books where a child kills a villain (Harry Potter for example), but even though this is a darker version, it is still Disney.
Conclusion
This book is very fun to read and it has a good and compelling story. I love Nala's character, and I can relate to her in some way even though she is a lion. This book shows a good story without even any romance in it. Most of the time a book has at least some romance, but I don't think it always needs it.
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.
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