Mother Knows Best (Villain Tales) Book Review

Book six of the Disney Villains collection focuses on “A Tale of the Old Witch” who happens to be Mother Gothel.

This story gives a huge insight into why Gothel needs Rapunzel, how she came to kidnap her, what her real intentions were.

Yet again The Odd Sisters play a huge role without taking over which has happened in past books. As usual there is a link to the other books in the series but this time without our Villain getting lost amongst it all.

I really enjoyed this story, it’s the biggest book so far at 390 pages, it has turned into a darker read with murder featuring through the pages, witchcraft and even an army of the dead.

Gothel wasn’t always evil and a look into her childhood explores her backstory nicely before revealing how it all went wrong for her.

There is a lot of witchcraft which I really enjoyed and it’s made me look forward to book seven which is all about The Odd Sisters.

My only criticism is that it felt rushed when it came to Rapunzel entering the chapters so a lot of it was a case of fill in the blanks from the film so I wish it was a longer book to accommodate for this.

I would definitely recommend giving this a read and as it doesn’t link the other stories too heavily I’d say you could get away with reading it as a standalone.

5/5

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Mistress of All Evil (Disney Villain Tales) Book Review

Book four in the Villain Tales series is all about my favourite villain, the Mistress of all Evil herself Maleficent.

Now if you’ve read my other reviews you’d know I’ve been a bit up and down with this series.

This book is the longest tale so far at 316 pages and is by far the best and I’m not being biased because it’s Maleficent. Yes it heavily features Princess Tulip again as well as the Odd Sisters and Snow White but the story does entwine them without taking away from Maleficent’s tale.

There’s quite a few twists in this story as to why Maleficent is the way she is and there’s even some background on her childhood.

This is by far the strongest book of the series and personally I feel this should have been the first one to start it all off.

It is still full of short chapters but the writing is less juvenile than previous books which is a big positive for me.

It does say on Amazon the reading age is 6-9 but with this book I wouldn’t find it appropriate for that she group.

5/5

Poor Unfortunate Soul (Villain Tales) Book Review

Welcome back to part three of the Villain Tales Book review series.

Poor Unfortunate Soul is all about Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid; I must admit I’m not a big fan of the film so I wasn’t looking forward to this book.

I love all the book covers for this series and whilst I might not be a fan of The Little Mermaid I can appreciate a good villain.

At just 196 pages this is the shortest book yet and the most disappointing… Much of the story was actually focused on the character Princess Tulip Morningstar who is a new original character introduced in The Beast Within.

Whilst Ursula may have made a brief appearance she should have been centre stage so I feel if she is one of your favourite villains then you will be disappointed.

I feel that the book should have been atleast double the length if so much time was to be spent on other characters so unfortunately this is the worst book of the series.

2/5

The Beast Within (Villain Tales) Book Review

Book two in the Villain Tales series is all about how the Prince became cursed and how he transformed into the beast.

I love Beauty & the Beast so I was really looking forward to reading this book, again it’s only short at 215 pages.

Unfortunately I found this one to be a let down, far too long was spent talking about Princess Tulip Morningstar (what kind of juvenile name is that?) Who the Prince tries to use as a diversion to trick the Odd sisters into breaking the curse.

One of the chapters also links in Ursula the Sea Witch who will be book three if you stick to the series. I found this to be a bit unnecessary as the book is short enough let alone going off topic.

There wasn’t actually much on Belle and Beasts relationship or the other lovable characters such as Lumiere and Mrs Potts etc…

It feels like lazy writing when you have to fill in the blanks yourself from the film as too many parts are rushed or skipped completely.

Had this been the first book in the series then I’m not sure I’d carry on but I do have the complete collection to read so maybe it will get better.

I love the book covers and the added additions of the Odd Sisters but I do feel the stories are rushed.

Rated: 2/5

Fairest of All (Villain Tales) Book Review

Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all…

Book one of the Villain Tales series by Serena Valentino focuses on the Evil Queen from Snow White and how it was she became so evil.

First of all this is only a short book at 250 pages so made for a fairly quick read. With the introduction of new characters the Odd Sisters you will have to read the series in order which consists of Fairest of All, The Beast Within, Poor Unfortunate Soul, Mistress of All Evil then finally Mother Knows Best.

Whilst I enjoyed the book I think it’s fair to say it did take a while to actually see why the Queen turned evil (over halfway through) and there’s an interesting twist on her relationship with the magic mirror.

The book consists of a lot of short chapters which could be irritating at times and the writing style is quite basic so it could be read by a younger audience. It also felt like the ending was rushed due to the nature of the shorter chapters but if you have seen the film you can fill in the gaps yourself.

I wish it had been more of a darker read but I am 26 so maybe I’m not the target audience.

I’d rate it 3/5, it’s a nice read for Disney fans but it’s not a must have.

Revolution Precise Brow Pencil Review

As someone who isn’t too great at filling in their brows I’ve finally managed to find the perfect product and it’s only £3!

The Precise Brow Pencil by Revolution is perfect for filling in sparse brows with its tiny nib and the spoolie comes in handy too.

Currently my eyebrows look patchy where I’m trying to grow them and with this pencil I get a perfect even look which doesn’t take too long to do.

Currently on the Superdrug website you can only get the shades light, medium and dark brown which is pretty poor but maybe you can get more shades in the store?

I love how quick and easy the pencil is to use, it’s super affordable, vegan and cruelty free.

Being by Sanctuary Spa Salted Caramel & Macadamia Body Scrub Review

Body scrubs play an important part in any skincare routine and I’m always on the lookout for new ones to try.

I absolutely love Sanctuary Spa so thought I’d give Being a try to see if the sister brand is just as good.

There isn’t much of a scent range to choose from for this brand although they do have a wide range of products such as mask, butters and bath bombs etc…

For £9 you get 250g of the body scrub, mine is Salted Caramel & Macadamia which I have to admit is an interesting choice of scent.

It’s not overpowering with salted caramel definitely coming out on top but I do prefer fruity scents or the classic Sanctuary Spa scent.

The scrub itself had a waxy texture and is that fine you can barely feel it scrub. It did leave my skin feeling smooth but I prefer a deeper scrub which you can feel working.

For £9 I would say it’s more on the pricey side as there are better scrubs on the market you can for a similar price or cheaper.

The brand is cruelty free and a lot of the products are Vegan which I believe this one is.

Primark Disney Lumiere Candle Holder Review

Primark homeware always has a great range of Disney collectables from a range of different films. For the Beauty and the Beast collection I needed Lumiere which I’ve been dying to get my hands on since they were first released.

I was lucky enough to receive one for Christmas and he beats any expectations. You can add your own tealight candles which really brings the piece to life.

This costs £12 and was worth the wait! I know that originally there was a problem with the first Lumiere’s that came out as they had fragile arms but this one is completely sturdy and stands out beautifully.

I absolutely love Lumiere and think he’s the best Disney piece that Primark has done so far.

Sand & Sky Australian Pink Clay Face Mask First Impressions.

Last month I ordered The Nutcracker November Birchbox and inside was a small 13g sample of Sand & Sky Purifying Pink Clay Mask. This Australian Pink Clay mask retails for full price at £39.90.

Admittedly when seeing the sample size I was disappointed at how small it was as it probably won’t last very long.

On first application I did notice it has a smell similar to marzipan but not as strong… The clay is more of a light peach colour than pink and turns white when dry and claims to take around 10 minutes to dry but I found it was drying as I was applying it.

I’d never heard of this brand before and from first impressions it’s not a brand I’d really look into again as I didn’t find it made my skin look any better than if I’d used a cheaper drugstore mask.

Out of all the products I received in the Birchbox this was probably my least favourite.

*Cruelty free

Impulse Sparkle & Shine Gift Set Review

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….

Superdrug kindly sent me some gift sets to review for their Blog Squad and first up is the Impulse Sparkle and Shine Gift Set which is exclusive to them.

This set retails for £10 and comes in a large disco ball which you’ll either love or hate. Personally I think it aims it more at a younger market.

Inside is four of their full size 75ml body sprays including: Hint of Musk, True Love, Tease and Very Pink.

The sprays usually retail for around £1- £1.99 so really you are paying slightly extra for the packaging.

I think the gift would make a great present idea for a Secret Santa.

There are more Impulse gift sets available catering for different price ranges.

#SuperdrugBlogSquad