Evil Thing-Villains, Book 7

Love the book and the series

HOO DARLINGS.......We're back for another Serena valetino villain story; and I got to say I struggled with this book, it wasn't easy for me to get use to the new writing format and the lack of magic and that fairytale vibe our lovely author got us used to. This book I can say without a doubt is different from the others; there's less references to the books before it,and there's less connection or sympathy to the main character, but well get to that later. First I want to say as always that I'll try to be as briefly as possible and obviously bring up those little details with depper meaning that are hidden in the back. SHALL WE BEING?SpoilersI'll be honest theres not much to talk about aside of cruellas psychology and of course the hard time to get to connect with her as a character. Cruella de vil wasn't a villain I had in my mind with passion as the others in the series, it wasn't into recently I watched 101 dalmatians that fell in love with the character; now I got to say even though I love her sass she wasn't the most relatable character. Unlike the other villains I feel cruel was already a evil being since she was young , even though she was surrounded by love ,that was given by the servants. she still treaded them as "not people" or "in-betweens" now she could've been different if she didn't had those earrings but that is for another time lets take our time. What i mean is that I would've like to a more open cruella thats all. I could even say that the second characters like Jackson ms. pricket and Anita were more likeable characters than cruella. UPSS i forgot another thing that got me frustrated was cruellas devotion to her mother , it just made my blood boil.Cruellas thought process was something that I disliked but at the same time gave some kind of interest and entertainment, she was like to people, the evil one ; the cruella that we know and the one that even though has her own problems still has some love in her heart. The earrings, I loved the introduction to them. It was one of the little references to the past books. We were shown a drawing of them in the odd sisters book. We still don't know the purpose of them but I have my theory. I belive those earrings bring the most evil and mad version of the person to control. I dont believe a pure person like Anita would be affected as much as cruella was; because cruella was already cruel without the earrings but at least she had the chance to change. With those earrings that choice banished.I just want to mention how beautiful I thought cruellas and Jacksons relationship was. I those little pages that cruella spended with Jack truly happy which made feel terrible for her when she lost him and all her fortune.At the end cruella was trapped in hell hall by her mother, alone with her short dress ,huge coat , her loves jade ring, and her fathers cursed earrings. Alone with her madness and anger.Note: I loved the self-addition to the book of valentino; it was pretty clever to make herself the reporter that interviewed cruella.Good book not the best but still enjoyed it.

Cruella de Vil has been my long-standing favorite villain from the Disney world. Yes, her actual motives and desires to make a fur coat out of puppies is unforgivably abhorrent, but her character design, flair, smooth animation by animator Marc Davis, and unparalleled voice by Betty Lou Gerson just make her too cool.I have been buying most of Serena Valentino's novels in her Disney Villains series, and for the most part, my complaint has always been the same: I don't really care much for her original characters of the Odd Sisters, for even though they manipulate important events in the stories, they always really slowed things down for me. I want to read about the star villain and get a stronger feel for their thought and feelings, and really get down to what makes them tick. Note that I never bought the Ursula book "Poor Unfortunate Souls" (due to the reviews that Ursula was hardly featured) or the one titled "The Odd Sisters" (because why would I want to know more about the characters that I felt dragged things down?).Enter: "Evil Thing." I have to admit that even if the novel were a letdown, I would still have bought the book for the art on the slip cover and the actual cover. As with the other villain-featured books, the slipcover has a portrait of the villain and the actual cover has an alternate version of said villain. Those never disappoint. In terms of the content, I was very pleased that it serves as a standalone novel that has zero appearances by the Odd Sisters and their lot. Unlike the more fairy tale type villains, Cruella is from a story set in the more mundane "real" world England: a world without magic or witches or meddling fairies. The premise is that our author (Serena Valentino) has visited with a defeated Cruella after the events of the 101 Dalmatians to get her story back from childhood and continuing on to her present predicament. I liked this approach very much, as it kept Cruella as the focus, but also allows us to get into the dizzying and conflicted thoughts in her head. We see her childhood upbringing with two very different parents. We see her experience a tragic loss. We see her struggles with obtaining love and approval. We see the rise and fall of her friendship with Anita. We even see Cruella find love! But then of course comes the fall, and everything collapses into the scheming, obsessed villain that many love to hate.The story had a nice flow to it, which was great. I did not have to get taken out of the story by any interruptions of the Odd Sisters popping in as active characters. ***WARNING: PLOT SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW*** There were a few things, however, which left me a bit puzzled, including what was Perdita's actual age by the time of the main events of 101 Dalmatians; why was Cruella asked to sign a prenuptial agreement when she was coming into her marriage with her own vast inheritance (and why was she not included in her husband's will despite that); why is it never fully addressed that Roger and Anita essentially stole the 84 puppies that Cruella had legally procured; and why was she named Cruella in the first place? I also agree with some other reviews that have mentioned that the Cruella that we see through most of the book does not transform into the well-known villain from the 1961 animated film very smoothly.Overall, I really enjoyed reading this novel. If Ms. Valentino continues with this new approach, I may enjoy her future books as well.

Must read

I loved this book.. I couldn’t put it down! I highly recommend people to read this!

Cruella De Vil has always been one of the more colorful of the Disney villains. I’ve always seen her as heartless, but entertaining. That view has changed since reading Evil Thing.Evil Thing is written in first person, which I love. Serena Valentino gives Cruella the opportunity to tell her side of the story. She tells quite the story.Cruella begins her story in “Hell Hall.” That’s where she lives. There’s a reason for the name, but I will let her tell you that. She quickly jumps back to her childhood so the reader can better understand “what makes me tick,” as Cruella puts it.After reading Evil Thing, I do have a better understanding of Cruella De Vil. The book gives the reader the sense of actually sitting at a table with a cup of tea listening to Cruella tell the story of her life – the good, the bad, and the ugly.To me, Evil Thing is more sad than evil. So many times I wished I could reach out and hug Cruella. There were times in her story when she was so misguided and seemed so lost. One thing is for sure, love means different things to different people. Once you read her story, you will understand love as defined by Cruella, and you will understand why the Dalmatians are so important.I don’t think this is the end of Cruella’s story. Hopefully, Serena Valentina will get another opportunity to sit with Lady De Vil and let us know what happened after their first conversation.

OK, I admit I'm a bit biased to give my opinion due to two reasons.One: I'm a fan of Serena Valentino's Villains series.Two:Cruella has always been my favorite Disney villain, I've cosplayed her and all.Still, whenever I finish reading a book I like, I feel it is my duty to write a good review to the author to encourage more people to give that story a try. As with all previous volumes, Serena was able to tell the character's story since childhood and presents her dreams, her fears, her frustrations to the readers. You will find out how she met Anita, how she became obsessed with fu, how she became frustrated at love and much more. Serena is a mastery storyteller who weaves her stories very skillfully and connects her stories in ways that sometimes is imperceptible to us, readers. I saw some people complaining that Evil Thing, which is the 7th book in the series, is a standalone and not connected to the previous ones. But the author stated that if they are patient enough to wait until book 9 (yes, there are two more on the way!) they will see how books seven 7-9 are connected. I trust Serena and I know she weaves all threads on a tapestry very well and can't wait to read the others!

Love the storyline and how there is still abit of touches with the stories from the previous books. Also the hints of the stories to come. I think I smell pixie dust.. 🤷🏽‍♀️

My daughter (13) absolutely loved these books and series. She had read the full series a couple of times the first time not in order and then once we had the full set she read them in order again.A must for any Disney fan, an intriguing look into another angle of much loved stories.This is book 7 and the latest in the seriesSee below for the full list of villain books and the order they were wrote.[note: there is another boxed set which includes book 1, 5 and 6] and you can purchase Evil Thing separately to complete your full set* The Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen (August 18, 2009)[1]* The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince (July 22, 2014)[2]* Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch (July 26, 2016)[3]* Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy (October 3, 2017)[4]* Mother Knows Best: A Tale of the Old Witch (August 7, 2018)[5]* The Odd Sisters: A Villains Novel (July 2, 2019)[6]* Evil Thing: A Tale of That De Vil Woman (July 7, 2020)* Cold Hearted: A Tale of the Evil Stepmother (July 2021)

I have really loved all the other books in the villain series. I was disappointed that the odd sisters theme is not carried on but the plot itself is still good. I did find it very annoying that the language used is American and not British considering Cruella is from London. She would only call her mother mother or mum. There are many other instances where American English is used and as a British person reading it, I found it distracting and actually quite lazy of the author, it could be easily have been rectified even by the editor. If you can get passed that it’s a good book but not as good as the ones that preceded it.

I love all of Serena Valentino's Villains novels! At first, I was disappointed that there wasn't going to be anything about the Odd Sisters in this book, but now that I've read it I can say I really liked the way they were included in the story, however indirectly. If you've read the other 6 books, then you'll see the hints. I love the author's style, I have always loved it. Once you start reading her books, you just can't put them down! Cruella's story is as interesting as the tales of Grimhilde, Beast, Ursula, Maleficent and Gothel. The storyline is set mostly in and around London, and follows a walk down memory lane, revealing how Cruella ended up the way she did. Nothing is as simple as black and white. 5 stars!