Unlike my post on the Isle of the Lost, this one will be an actual review of the series overall.

Unlike the Isle of the Lost series, this has some leeway in escaping continuity issues. They are not to set up movie plots or examine the main characters. This focuses on side characters that appear in the adjacent web series (which has its own drama of being considered canon or not). These characters wouldn’t be focused otherwise so Jessica Brody has plenty of space to explore development and the wider geography of Auradon. It’s all very slice of life than fantasy adventure which keeps in tone with a middle grade series.

Brody’s strength is the tone of her books that perfectly match with the Disney medium. In all of them, I felt like I was watching a movie, it has its heartwarming moments, humor, talking animals, adventures and the power of friendship throughout it all. Plus she has great fun with incorporating specific Easter Eggs and cameos in each book. They’re all standalones so it allows readers to pick and choose which book they’d like depending on the property.

CJ’s Treasure Chase: The daughter of Captain Hook is the queen of the seas! At least she hopes to be now that she escaped the Isle of the Lost. But what’s a pirate without a ship and without a compass. CJ is determined to find her father’s compass, long buried since he got banished from the Isle of the Lost. Luckily, she got a map and she got a first mate. . . ahem friend, Freddie, to scour Auradon to find the buried treasure. This was the most interesting as it gives more insight to the neglect of villainous parents yet how heavily the legacy weighs on CJ. She also has many flaws from pride, a perchent for the overdramatic and lone wolf selfishness that make the growth throughout interesting. I also enjoy how Brody makes a point to have her inherit specific Hook tics and to emphasize her disdain for sidekicks comes from hearing stories of Smee’s fopishness, allowing the world to feel a bit more real with children trying not to repeat the mistakes of parents.

Freddie’s Shadow Cards: Freddie is the daughter of Dr. Faciliar who is not determined to shed her villainous roots, in fact she prides herself in being cooler than the Auradon goody-goodies and reject overtures of friendship. But when that prevents her from getting accepted into the acapella group, her true dream, she decides to revamp her image by (ugh!) helping others. So she uses her father’s illicit shadow cards to contact friends from the other side. But as anyone who knows The Princess and the Frog, those cards demand a price and so Freddie reluctantly teams up with Ally, daughter of Alice and Jordan, dauhter of Genie to find Mama Odie and reverse the curse. This one was my favorite of the series as it has a buddy adventure plot through New Orleans that is fun, and the three of them interacting with Ally’s ditziness (or Wonderlandness), Freddie’s street smarts and Jordan’s sass creates an entertaining group dynamic.

Ally’s Mad Mystery: I’ll admit I’m not a Wonderland fan so I kept pushing this book off but Brody clearly has lots of fun in making riddles, and showing Wonderlandian inhibitants that I’m sure others will enjoy. I did enjoy how Ally’s cloudcuckoolander personality seen in other books is turned on its head here. What others see as crazy, in her mind is perfectly logical. Ally is solving mysteries, finding patterns and making up anagrams in her head, often missing what others are saying. The problem is, her imagination tends to run away with her especially in her eagerness to find a mystery to solve. Impossible in the crime free kingdom of Auradon. However, when the White Rabbit arrives, a real mystery is afoot, but everyone believes Ally is causing things herself. Even her best friend. I enjoyed seeing Ally’s unique point of view, celebrating out of the box thinking while also showing the balance of friendship and selfishness, and the importance of communication.

Lonnie’s Warrior Sword: As you might guess, a prevailing theme of the series is the kids trying to step away from the shadow of their parents’ legacies and Lonnie is no exception. She needs a sword in order to join R.O.A.R. (it’s basically parkor-fencing) and while she can buy one, she wants with meaning. She wants Shan Yu’s sword, hidden in the imperial palace and said to choose a worthy owner (why it thought Shan Yu was worthy, who knows? Maybe it was pre villainous Shan Yu). There’s no wars for Lonnie to prove her mettle so she goes for the next big thing, the Auradon’s Next Top Warrior. Yes, it’s a rip off of America’s Ninja Warrior but it is entertaining as Jay (Jafar’s son) puts her through Rocky-esque training and acts as her coach. Her friendship with Jay is truly touching and gives more insight to the former thief than the movies allowed. Plus he provides some sensible suspicion to Lonnie who is so used to the goodness and fair play of Auradon, that she is disbelieving that a fellow competitor would go so far to sabotage her. Oh, and did I mention she is doing all this in disguise due to her deepseated worry that she won’t live up to Mulan much less be worthy of the sword. It’s a solid coming of age tale.

Carlos’s Scavenger Hunt: This is the only book that focuses on a main character from the franchise. But to be fair, he had the least development (alongside Jay) in the movie trilogy so the book does its best to rectify this. In fact, it gives traits and thoughts to Carlos who in competition mode echoes his mother, Cruella De’ Vil. It offers an alternative side to Carlos and his capability towards insanity much like his mother. But that’s not what the book is about. Rather it focuses on his insecurities that he will always be seen as the tech, the helper, the nice guy. Not a leader like his friends. Which is only feeded by his mother’s previous emotional/verbal abuse that he hasn’t quite shaken. So when the school offers a kingdom wide scavenger hunt and he assigned team leader, he is determined to prove himself no matter the cost including the use of a magical dog collar. I enjoyed having some spotlight on this neglected boy, seeing how far he has come and reaffirming the friendship he shares with Evie and the burgeoning crush on Jane.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable read. There is some suspension of disbelief that goes on and inconsistances like the characters not knowing Mama Odie was a good voodoo priestess, not a villainous one even though everyone knows the stories of the Disney characters. Or Lonnie not knowing Yao’s daughter when of course, Mulan would have kept in touch with her army buddies. But that is present in all the franchise so it was probably out of Brody’s hands. A fun read.