City of Villains (Book One) by Estelle Laure

After loving Mayhem by Estelle Laure I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of her new book City of Villains.

“This dark and edgy YA series explores the reimagined origins of Maleficent, Ursula, Captain Hook, and other infamous Disney Villains like you’ve never seen before.“

About The Book 📚

Publication Date: January 26, 2021

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Suggested Reader Age: Middle-Grade

Genre: Urban Fantasy (retelling), Mystery

About The Author

“Estelle Laure is a Vonnegut worshipper who believes in love and magic and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theater Arts from New Mexico State University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and thinks everyone should have to wait tables or work in a kitchen at least once in their lives. She lives in Taos, New Mexico with her children.” https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8301727.Estelle_Laure

“Estelle Laure (pronounced lore/lor) is the author of critically-acclaimed books for young people, including THIS RAGING LIGHT and MAYHEM. She has five forthcoming young adult novels, including Disney’s City of Villains series, REMEMBER ME with Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s, and PRACTICE GIRL with Viking. She also has two picture books in the works, the first of which will be out with HarperKids in 2021.”

https://www.estellelaure.com/

My Review

› Magic died thirteen years ago. Mary Elizabeth’s parents and sister were killed five years ago. A brand-new 160 story building disappeared two years ago, along with the 3,000 people inside. Water filled the hole, and now it’s known as Miracle Lake. The city is split into two groups: Narrows and Legacy. “Legacy” are direct descendants of magic, born with a black heart on the wrist. Narrows do not have magic. “Magicalists” thought this destruction was a sign that they should try to bring back magic. “Naturalists” thought it was a sign that magic didn’t want fancy new buildings on the magical ground.

› Now, gift-wrapped body parts are showing up all over “The Scar”, signed “Mad Hatter”. Mary Elizabeth is an intern at the police station who ends up helping a detective named Bella with a case after Mary’s friends Ursula and Gia disappear.

› Mary has a boyfriend named James who she met after her parents died. James, Mary and Bella work together to try and figure out what happened to Ursula and Gia. Who’s the Mad Hatter? and how far would someone go for Legacy loyalty?

› I use the CAWPILE method to rate books.
0-3 Really bad
4-6 Mediocre
7-9 Really good
10 Outstanding

› Characters: 5
› Atmosphere: 6
› Writing Style: 6
› Plot: 6
› Intrigue: 7
› Logic: I don’t understand what some of the magic terms mean.
5
› Enjoyment: 7

Average 6

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Rating ★★★

› Final Thoughts
• City of Villains is a really fun, dark fairytale filled with magic, murder, and mystery. I feel like the second book of the series may fill in the gaps I felt with character development and world-building. I’ll definitely be checking out the next book!