The Disney Book Tag!

I know what you’re thinking, books and Disney in the same sentence? WHAT IS THIS GLORIOUSNESS? AND CAN I HAVE SOME OF IT? Well, yes, yes you can. I was tagged to participate in this by the wonderful Emma at She Reads Books, and because I think this is such an awesome idea, I am tagging anyone and everyone who wants to give this a go themselves! Oh, and make sure to leave me the links to your posts so we can discuss all the fun things. 🙂
So, off we go!

1. The Little Mermaid – A character that is out of their element, a “Fish out of  Water”.

 

This one has to be Cath from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, who I love dearly! Cath is the kind of person that clings to what’s familiar, whether that’s her twin sister, Wren or her love of  writing fan fiction about her favourite book series. So when Cath goes to university she is sent into a spiral when faced with new people and surroundings, even avoiding the dining hall and living off protein bars because she doesn’t know where the hall is or what the etiquette will be. It’s safe to say, her college roommate thinks she’s very strange!

2. Cinderella – A character that goes through a major transformation.

 

David and Leo from The Art of Being Normal. fit this one perfectly! I’m going to focus on David here though in order to avoid spoilery things. In this book the character David is transgender, and has known his whole life that he is a girl trapped inside a boy’s body, yet fears to tell anyone the truth. But when he becomes friends with the new boy in school, Leo, and goes off on a road trip style mission with him, he finally gets the chance to try out what it’s like to be a girl where no one knows him, which gives him the strength and courage to begin transitioning.

3. Snow White – A book with an eclectic cast of characters.

 

For this one I have to pick The Diviners by Libba Bray, no other book suits this headline better! This novel had such a magnificently diverse cast of characters and I’m not just talking about ethnicity but interests, personality, cultural background, sexuality and socioeconomic status. It was so refreshing! And the book was all the more entertaining and enjoyable because of it. MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS PLEASE AUTHORS. KEEP THE AWESOME COMING!

4. Sleeping Beauty – A book that put you to sleep.

 

I picked Matched by Ally Condie up randomly from the library before I had ever heard of the concept of a dystopian society (oh, those were the days). While the book started off well and had an interesting set-up where characters were matched with their perfect partner for life based on some super duper clever computer statistics, the writing was bland. The romance? Yawn. And there’s was loads of random poetry appreciation, and we all know Becky does NOT LIKE POETRY. As the characters blabbered on about appreciating art I found myself dozing off. (Unfortunately, I was not woken up by a chivalrous Prince!)

5. The Lion King – A character that had something traumatic happen to them in their childhood.

 

I’m pretty sure this one should be labeled ‘every YA book ever’, so for the sake of this question I’m going to be a rebel and go for something a little less obvious. I pick Scout and Jem from To Kill a Mockingbird. Not only do this brother and sister lose their mother at a young age, but their idyllic life in the south is interrupted by a controversial trial of a black man which exposes them to the unfairness and horrors of the real world a little too soon.

6. Beauty and the Beast – A beast of a book (a big book) that you were intimidated by, but found the story to be beautiful.

 

As a general rule, I’m not intimidated by big books so nothing immediately came to mind for this category, but the closest thing would probably be It by Stephen King. It’s the biggest book I’ve ever read at 1,376 pages and I was somewhat nervous to pick it up because I had never read one of King’s novels before and I wasn’t sure how scary it would be or if I would like his style! Despite the somewhat bizarre plot points and King’s crass sense of humour, there was a real beauty to the characters and I completely fell in love with all their bizarre nerdy quirks.

7. Aladdin – A character that get’s their wish granted, for better or for worse.

 

I’m thinking Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars. For many years, Hazel was obsessed with the author who wrote her favourite book, An Imperial Affliction, and was desperate to find out what happened to the characters after the book ended. So when Gus uses his wish left over from the cancer Wish Foundation to allow Hazel to meet the author, she’s ecstatic. But the problem with meeting your idol is that they are not always what you expect, and it turns out the answer to her questions isn’t as satisfying as she was hoping. On the plus side, she gets to spend time with the dreamy Gus in Amsterdam, so silver lining?

8. Mulan – A character that pretends to be something or someone they are not.

 

Bree from The Manifesto on How to be Interesting seems like a perfect choice for this question! In an attempt to become more interesting in order to improve her novel writing skills and therefore get published, Bree sheds her ‘loser’ status by getting a new hairdo, wearing makeup and buying new clothes in an attempt to infiltrate the popular crowd at her school. She finds a new found freedom and enjoyment out of life by doing so, but starts to lose who she is along the way.

9. Toy Story – A book with characters you wish would come to life.

 

Woody volunteer’s Peeta as tribute! Okay, okay, I’ll be honest, I mostly just want to steal him away from Katniss so I can have him all to myself, because I’m pretty sure we’re secretly soul mates *Shh, don’t tell anyone*. But Peeta from The Hunger Games also has other key attributes that would be useful if he were real. For starts, he can cook, and I hate cooking. This would be very handy, especially as I love the smell of freshly made bread! Secondly, he’s a great talker and wins over a crowd with ease, so he could help my introverted self navigate parties without wanting to tear my eyeballs out, thirdly, I feel his quiet strength and calming influence would be useful in a crisis!

10. Disney Descendants – Your favourite villain or morally ambiguous character.

 

Although I could probably pick almost any character from the A Song of Ice and Fire series to answer this question, I think Petyr Baelish has earned himself this spot. He’s one of the most morally ambiguous characters I’ve EVER come across. He’s played a role in several big character deaths but doesn’t seem to have an allegiance to anyone but himself, and just when you think you’ve worked him out: BOOM. He suddenly goes and does something unexpected, or is uncharacteristically kind to a character and you start to like him… just in time for him to go and stab one of your favourite characters in the back!

~ * ~

Phew, that was a lot of fun. Now I tag ALL OF YOU!

Did you agree with any of my answers? Is there any specific book or character you would have chosen for one of the categories? What is your favourite Disney movie? 🙂