“Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale Of The Sea Witch” is one of the Disney villain series written by Serena Valentino and adapted in part of the Disney movie “The Little Mermaid”, released on July 26, 2016. Valentino attracts readers with a mysterious and fairy tale setting, unique individual characters, and diverse syntax. 

It essentially explains the backstory of  “The Little Mermaid” – Ursula’s past and the events that led to her eventual banishment. 

Ursula desires power even though she was already the strongest sea witch. Specifically she wants to be just like her brother, Triton,  who is purer and stronger. With this motivation in mind, she decides to use her brother’s beloved daughter, Ariel, as a resource to achieve her goals and earn victory from Triton. 

As I continued reading, I realized the interconnectedness between the original story of the little mermaid and the villain’s origin since few of the characters came from the early books of the series such as “Fairest of All” and “The Beast Within”. If you didn’t read those before this particular volume, it would be difficult to understand the plot and how the setting works. I recommend you read those before you read “Pool Unfortunate Soul” but the internet is always there for you.  

The book itself conveyed the personality and motivation of Ursula with a complex and compelling tone. However, the plot may pose confusion. Valentino describes the character in a rapid and short manner as if they were businessmen in New York, having a busy and important meeting. Their actions and stories seemed unstoppable, which gave the plot a unique personality. 

Even if the plot isn’t well paced, Valentino ends the book by providing sensation to readers. Different from a happy ending, she leads the character in an unthinkable way to readers. 

One of the great qualities of the book is her eloquent diction and tone. Her characters are viewed as powerful and appealing because of her talent in writing. She plays with words as she is the queen of the book (yeah, it’s true). The book is written from a third person’s point of view but as I continued reading, I felt as though I was a part of the story too. Observing the world of the little mermaid from afar gave me flashbacks to those classic bedtime stories, thus making me appreciate this novel more than anything else. 

As the third book of the series, Valentino showcased her talent as a writer, and this series deserves love and attention from all audiences in all age ranges that wish to relive their childhood again from a villain’s point of view.