The darkly captivating seventh novel in the popular Villains series follows the rise and fall of the deranged and glamorous fan favorite, Cruella De Vil. If it doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will…
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.
Author
alexapostol
2 years ago
First off, I have to say that I absolutely love this series. All the books fit so nicely together into this big pictures story and connect so well. They did a great job of planning the series out it feels like before ever writing even the first one. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the Cruella story, or even how it would fit in since she’s a more modern character while the others are more fairy tale medieval/renaissance time. But I loved this story! By the time I was halfway through I had a really hard time putting it down for the night.
Cruella’s background is such a great one. It’s somewhat relatable for those of us who have mother issues and are daddy’s girls. It also was relatable to me personally because I do have a mother who thinks buying things is how you show love, so I totally understand how that can make a person feel unloved or lacking. It was great the way Cruella teetered between being this great person without her mother, not caring if she pleases her mother or not but just being herself and kind to others and then in contrast to always wanting to please her mother, be like her mother, and be a nightmare to everyone and, well, evil. This story made me feel for her and also wish I could reach into the story, pull her out, and check her into a mental rehabilitation center to get her help. She wasn’t always so terrible and she didn’t have to turn into the monster she ended up being if it wasn’t for her mother’s selfish hold on her.
If you were worried this book would match too much to the new movie there is nothing to worry about there. This is its own individual story and offers a fresh and unique look into a possible background story for the beloved villain, Cruella De Ville. Without giving too many spoilers I do have some questions that I hope will be answered later in the series, like what is up with her jade earrings? They kept bugging her, pinching her, and when that happened she seemed to lose control of herself and turn into her evil self. Her father gave them to her when she was younger and he told her the story that they were from pirate treasure and they were cursed. I’m curious to learn more about them since that was never explained in the book. I did notice on the cover of the next book, Cold Hearted about Lady Tremaine, she is also wearing round jade earrings. Could they be the same? I’m on my way to finding out as this is the next book I’m reading. I can’t stop on this series!
Author
mbenzz
2 years ago
Not being a fan of Cruella or the ‘101 Dalmation’s’ movie, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I considered skipping it, but having read all the other books in the series, I just couldn’t bring myself to do that.
This book is completely different from the previous six in this series as it’s a 100% stand-alone story. You can read this book without reading any of the others and still get the exact same experience as someone who’s read them all.
There’s no Odd Sisters (which was kind of refreshing) and no magic (maybe a little bit of a curse, but that’s up to the reader to decide). Princess Tulip and Prince Poppinjay are mentioned only as characters in Cruella’s favorite childhood fairy tales. Other than that, this is ALL Cruella.
I love what Ms. Valentino did with Cruella’s childhood. The dynamic between Cruella and her mother really sets the stage nicely for her behavior later in life. I really liked the intense and very close friendship Cruella enjoyed with Anita as a child and into their teens. It made their later relationship much more tragic.
The only thing I was a bit bummed about was the ending…it felt very rushed. We go from normal fun-loving Cruella (who has bursts of anger and impatience) to all of a sudden…BAM! Crazy, off-the-rails, straight-up-lost-her-damn-mind Cruella. It was kind of jarring. The Cruella at the end, who was quoting the lines in the movie, felt like a completely different person than the one I had just spent an entire book reading about. Much more dramatic and obnoxious. It was a struggle to picture her behaving that way…but I suppose madness will do that to a person.
Overall though, much to my surprise, this is one of my favorite books in the entire series. It doesn’t have that other-worldly fairy tale vibe to it, but it’s a really good story and gives Cruella a layer of humanity she seemed to be otherwise lacking.
I definitely look forward to whatever comes next in this series. I’ve really enjoyed it thus far.
*** I received this book for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***
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.
First off, I have to say that I absolutely love this series. All the books fit so nicely together into this big pictures story and connect so well. They did a great job of planning the series out it feels like before ever writing even the first one. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the Cruella story, or even how it would fit in since she’s a more modern character while the others are more fairy tale medieval/renaissance time. But I loved this story! By the time I was halfway through I had a really hard time putting it down for the night.
Cruella’s background is such a great one. It’s somewhat relatable for those of us who have mother issues and are daddy’s girls. It also was relatable to me personally because I do have a mother who thinks buying things is how you show love, so I totally understand how that can make a person feel unloved or lacking. It was great the way Cruella teetered between being this great person without her mother, not caring if she pleases her mother or not but just being herself and kind to others and then in contrast to always wanting to please her mother, be like her mother, and be a nightmare to everyone and, well, evil. This story made me feel for her and also wish I could reach into the story, pull her out, and check her into a mental rehabilitation center to get her help. She wasn’t always so terrible and she didn’t have to turn into the monster she ended up being if it wasn’t for her mother’s selfish hold on her.
If you were worried this book would match too much to the new movie there is nothing to worry about there. This is its own individual story and offers a fresh and unique look into a possible background story for the beloved villain, Cruella De Ville. Without giving too many spoilers I do have some questions that I hope will be answered later in the series, like what is up with her jade earrings? They kept bugging her, pinching her, and when that happened she seemed to lose control of herself and turn into her evil self. Her father gave them to her when she was younger and he told her the story that they were from pirate treasure and they were cursed. I’m curious to learn more about them since that was never explained in the book. I did notice on the cover of the next book, Cold Hearted about Lady Tremaine, she is also wearing round jade earrings. Could they be the same? I’m on my way to finding out as this is the next book I’m reading. I can’t stop on this series!
Not being a fan of Cruella or the ‘101 Dalmation’s’ movie, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I considered skipping it, but having read all the other books in the series, I just couldn’t bring myself to do that.
This book is completely different from the previous six in this series as it’s a 100% stand-alone story. You can read this book without reading any of the others and still get the exact same experience as someone who’s read them all.
There’s no Odd Sisters (which was kind of refreshing) and no magic (maybe a little bit of a curse, but that’s up to the reader to decide). Princess Tulip and Prince Poppinjay are mentioned only as characters in Cruella’s favorite childhood fairy tales. Other than that, this is ALL Cruella.
I love what Ms. Valentino did with Cruella’s childhood. The dynamic between Cruella and her mother really sets the stage nicely for her behavior later in life. I really liked the intense and very close friendship Cruella enjoyed with Anita as a child and into their teens. It made their later relationship much more tragic.
The only thing I was a bit bummed about was the ending…it felt very rushed. We go from normal fun-loving Cruella (who has bursts of anger and impatience) to all of a sudden…BAM! Crazy, off-the-rails, straight-up-lost-her-damn-mind Cruella. It was kind of jarring. The Cruella at the end, who was quoting the lines in the movie, felt like a completely different person than the one I had just spent an entire book reading about. Much more dramatic and obnoxious. It was a struggle to picture her behaving that way…but I suppose madness will do that to a person.
Overall though, much to my surprise, this is one of my favorite books in the entire series. It doesn’t have that other-worldly fairy tale vibe to it, but it’s a really good story and gives Cruella a layer of humanity she seemed to be otherwise lacking.
I definitely look forward to whatever comes next in this series. I’ve really enjoyed it thus far.
*** I received this book for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***
Distinguish Yourself.
One Disney villain who has never been given a deeper backstory is Cruella De Vil. Anita’s “dearly devoted old school mate”, in Disney’s 1961 original animated movie, 101 Dalmatians. A majority of this book is about Cruella’s disenchanted relationship with her mother, and her steadfast friend Anita. I just wish there was a little more story about her father, he seemed like an interesting man. This book does explain quite a few things. Such as, where her fortune came from, why she finds Anita’s marriage tedious, why she likes furs, why kidnap puppies, and has she always been evil? Cruella is relatable, and there are even a few points where she is likable. If anything, her descent into dognapping resulted from a neglectful upbringing. This retelling will leave you nostalgic for the movies, and it could have used a bit of the 1996 live action movie. Overall, this is a great coming of age character study, showing that not all little girls grow up to be good.
“The world was such a wholesome place until Cruella, Cruella De Vil” Songwriter Mel Leven, Cruella DeVil lyrics © Walt Disney Music Company