Name: Poor Unfortunate Soul
ISBN: 9781484725184

Serena Valentino

The third novel in Serena Valentino's (Fairest of All, Beast Within) "VILLAINS" trilogy, featuring the story of the Little Mermaid from the perspective of the sea witch Ursula

A Tale of the Sea Witch

Poor Unfortunate Soul

The tale of the sea king's daughter Ariel is a beloved one of losing-and then finding-one's own voice. The story has been told many times and in many ways. But always the mergirl wants more than her world can offer, and her father demands that she live within the confines of his domain. Her rebelliousness costs the little mermaid her voice and nearly her soul. But the power of good prevails, and Ariel emerges proud and unchanged. And yet this is only half the story. So what of Ariel's nemesis, Ursula, the sea witch? What led to her becoming so twisted, scorned, and filled with hatred? Many tales have tried to explain her motives. Here is one account of what might have shaped the sea witch into a detestable and poor unfortunate soul.

This book was alright, I think I liked the beast's story more. This one felt a little too short. I liked the plotline of the sisters trying to find Circe, but I felt like there were a lot of details missing. Like why did Ursula have Circe in the first place? Why were the men going crazy like that for Princess Tulip? And who the heck is Nanny? It just felt like the story was too rushed and I didn't get much out of it.

Maggie Hotmer

Riley Bell

I liked the third book of this series quite a lot because we get such a great backstory on Ursula. I only wish we knew a little bit more about her and Triton’s upbringing and their time at court but a lot of questions have been answered either way. The majority of the book was not devoted as much to Ursula as the first 2 stories have been to their respective villains. I don’t mind that very much though because this magical world is growing with every book and I love getting the behind the scenes on how all the stories and kingdoms are connected. I used to dislike the three sisters but in this book I began to like their odd characters. I’m so very curious about Nanny and Maleficent’s story and can’t wait to read it next!!

Melissa Palmer

Book #4 Read in 2017
Poor Unfortunate Soul by Serena Valentino

This is the last book in the Disney villain trilogy. This book focuses on the backstory of Ursula, the sea monster from The Little Mermaid. It deals of her deal with Ariel and how she gets Ariel's voice and why Ursula is so angry. The weird sisters play a role in this book as they have in the other books. A good read, I borrowed this book from the town library.

Omg! I absolutely loved it and it made me feel really bad for Ursula. I would really recommend it if your a disney fan

Sara

Natalia Hernandez

Alexis Schwulst 

** spoiler alert **
           The continued tale of the odd sisters adventures through the story of Ursula was one I enjoyed. We get insight into Ursula, her past and how she became the sea witch. The well written tale made for a great read

Mari Estrada

I read this book front to back as soon as I brought it home! This was the first of the series that I’ve read to try and get the feel of it and now I definitely want to go back and read the rest.

I love the story line and how it incorporates other Disney stories in the process. It can definitely get a bit confusing keeping track of everyone and their connections to each other/ their relevance to the story, so you need to pay close attention.

I was intrigued at how well planned the backstory of Ursula was. It was interesting to see the correlations to the movie “The Little Mermaid” from perspective of the Sea Witch. I especially liked the subtle gruesome details. It was a great Disney twist for young adults, brought my childhood back to life! 

Would definitely read again!

Carol Bailey

I'd really give this 3.5 stars because it was good and engaging but there were a couple of confusing areas were I felt like I was missing a vital piece of information. Regardless, I enjoy fairytale stories that let you see why the villain is the villain.

Tatyana

I wasn't into this story as much. It was okay to read but I would've liked to see more of Ursula in it and read more of her background story than what was put in the book.

Vanessa

Nachdem im vorherigen Band „Das Biest in ihm“ immer wieder Ursula angeteasert wurde habe ich mich schon sehr auf ihre Geschichte gefreut. Im Gegensatz zu den Vorherigen Bänden liegt der Hauptfokus hier nicht auf ihrer Vergangenheit, sondern auf der Zeit, in der sie mit Arielle zutun hat. Zwar erfährt der Leser auch etwas von ihrer Vergangenheit, aber ich persönlich habe im Gegensatz zu der Bösen Königin kein Mitleid mit ihr gehabt. Ihre Vergangenheit ist zwar an sich schon traurig, aber in meinen Augen verhält sie sich wie ein kleines Kind und es „rechtfertigt“ nicht wirklich ihr verhalten.
Wenn man hört, dass sich die Geschehnisse zu der zeit mit Arielle abspielen könnte man meinen, dass wie Ursulas Seite der Geschichte mehr erforschen, das ist aber hier nur bedingt der Fall. Der Hauptfokus liegt hier auf Tulip, welche wir aus dem lesen Band kennen, den drei Schwestern und deren kleinen Schwester Circe. Alles Charaktere die wir in den letzten zwei Bänden genauer kennen lernen durften.
Aus den letzten Bänden habe ich mir schon so meine Meinung zu den Charakteren gebildet und ohne großartig Spoilern zu wollen, kann ich sagen, dass ich teilweise Mitleid mit den drei Schwestern empfunden habe obwohl sie an ihrer Situation selber schuld sind. Was mich wirklich gefreut hat ist, dass Tulip angefangen hat über ihr Leben nachzudenken und nicht das typische Frauenbild in Märchen wie sie es in dem vorherigen Band hatte weiterlebet.
Der dritte Teil der Reihe hat mir wieder mehr gefallen. Ich konnte alles an Emotionen miterleben, was natürlich wieder einmal an der Sprecherin Tanja Geke gelegen hat. Je mehr ich von ihr höre, desto mehr verwandelt sie sich in meine Lieblings Hörbuchsprecherin. Der nächste Band der Reihe erzählt von der Geschichte der bösen Fee und allein aus den ganzen Anspielungen in diesem Band ist dies wohl die Geschichte auf die ich mich bis jetzt am meisten Freue.

The tale of the sea king's daughter Ariel is a beloved one of losing - and then finding - one's own voice. The story has been told many times and in many ways. But always the mergirl wants more than her world can offer, and her father demands that she live within the confines of his domain. Her rebelliousness costs the little mermaid her voice and nearly her soul. But the power of good prevails and Ariel emerges proud and changed. And yet this is only half the story. So what of Ariel's nemesis, Ursula, the sea witch? What led to her becoming so twisted, scorned and filled with hatred? Many tales have tried to explain her motives. Here is one account of what might have shaped the sea witch into a detestable and poor unfortunate soul.

Kayla 

This book was a reread for me I couldn't remember were I last was in the series but I did not mind rereading this book. It really gives you a different perspective on Ursula. 

Paige Green

Disclaimer: My husband bought this for me. Get you a person who buys you books!

Author: Serena Valentino

Book Series: Villains Book 3

Rating: 3/5

Publication Date: July 26, 2016

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 14+ (violence, some gore)

Publisher: Disney Press

Pages: 196

Amazon Link

Synopsis: The third novel in Serena Valentino's (Fairest of All, Beast Within) "VILLAINS" trilogy, featuring the story of the Little Mermaid from the perspective of the sea witch Ursula.

Review: I thought this book was really good. I loved the extra story about Ursula and the author did well to keep the same tone as Ursula had in the movie version. The writing was well done and the pacing was perfection.

However, I did read these out of order so I was confused for a bit (which was quickly fixed but still). I also felt that the world building could have been better and the character development could have been better as well.

Verdict: Under the sea!

Ainhoa🍂

Charlot van Dijk

Ik had ook dit boek eindelijk binnen en dus begon ik gelijk met lezen. Ik wilde weten hoe het verder ging! De rode draad door alle boeken heen is een mooie toevoeging. Ik kan niet wachten op deel 4!

Jesika

This book is about Ursula, but the book didn't have much of Ursula in it. The author included too many side characters that were more about them. I honestly don't care about the characters and I cannot relate to them. I won't continue with this series because the writing is too repetitive, the books are pretty much copy and paste from the Disney movies, the stories didn't keep me invested, and too many side characters took away from the actual villain in each story. The only reason why I read the three books is because they were fast and easy to read.

Poor Unfortunate Soul A Tale of the Sea Witch

Reviews

Highlights