“Mistress of All Evil” From The Villains Book Series – A Disney Nerds Book Club Review
Mistress of All Evil: The Tale of the Dark Fairy is the fourth installment of Serena Valentino’s incredibly dark and thrilling Villains series. Each of these books focuses on a different Disney “bad guy,” exploring the choices and motivations that ultimately create their evil destinies. In previous Book Club articles, we’ve covered the author’s depictions of the Snow Queen in Fairest of All, Belle’s Prince in The Beast Within, and Ursula in Poor Unfortunate Soul. Mistress of All Evil examines the early life of Maleficent, which you may know as Sleeping Beauty’s (Princess Aurora’s) green nemesis. While you might recognize some of the book’s characters, such as the three good fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) and the Fairy Godmother, Serena has created a slew of original characters as well. With the combination of characters and time jumps between Maleficent’s formative years and the events of the Disney film, Mistress of All Evil paints a harrowing picture of a mistreated and misunderstood young fairy.
Sleeping Beauty
Like all of the Villains installments, it’s necessary to have at least a basic understanding of the source material in order to appreciate the story’s impact. In the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty, we meet baby Aurora at her christening ceremony. While the three good fairies are bestowing lovely gifts upon the new child, Maleficent storms into the castle and interrupts the festivities. Furious at her lack of invitation, the Dark Fairy puts a curse on the girl. Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, Maleficent states, Aurora will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die.
Understandably, the kingdom is a bit upset by this news, but Merryweather is able to weaken the curse’s power. Instead of dying, the girl will fall into a deep sleep that can only be broken by (you guessed it) true love’s kiss. Even with this precaution, the king decides to burn all the land’s spinning wheels (Can you really blame him?), and Aurora is sent to live with the fairies until the curse has expired.
Of course, things don’t go exactly according to plan. Maleficent finds the teenager and lures her to a spinning wheel on the aforementioned birthday. Aurora falls into the sleeping curse just as predicted, and it appears all is lost. On top of this, Maleficent imprisons Prince Philip (Aurora’s betrothed husband and convenient woodland crush) in an attempt to keep her under the spell. After being freed by the good fairies and armed with the Sword of Truth, however, Prince Philip battles a transformed Maleficent and literally slays the dragon. Once the land is safe, Prince Philip finds Aurora, gives her a big kiss, and they all live happily ever after.
Much like Valentino’s other books, we don’t spend much time in the events of the Disney film. Most of the story takes place within Maleficent’s history. However, without a knowledge of the basic Sleeping Beauty storyline, it would be near impossible to appreciate all of the nuances affecting Maleficent’s early experiences.
Mistress of All Evil
After reading Poor Unfortunate Soul, I had been disappointed in the lack of storytime spent with the titular character. We spent much of the book with Valentino’s original characters, only occasionally checking in with Ursula and her misdeeds. Mistress of All Evil does not have this problem. While original characters, such as Nanny and Circe, are important pieces of the story; the vast majority of the text is spent learning about Maleficent’s past heartbreaks. We ultimately meet the Dark Fairy as a tiny child, abandoned in an old tree. Raised by crows, many fairies ignored poor Maleficent because of her odd appearance, horns, and lack of fairy wings. Nanny adopts the child as her own, raising her in a loving home and eventually enrolling her in the Fairy Academy. Unfortunately, we’ll soon learn how cruel the Fairy World can be as Maleficent’s classmates (the three good fairies) and a teacher (the Fairy Godmother) tease, ridicule, and harass the poor girl into withdrawing from formal education in favor of home learning.
–Major Spoilers Ahead–
On her sixteenth birthday (don’t miss that detail), Maleficent has the opportunity to take the all-important Wish-Granting Exam. Though she performs admirably, the three fairies and the Fairy Godmother will not be impressed. In fact, instead of allowing Maleficent to enjoy her success, they play a cruel trick-gone-wrong resulting in immense distress for the Dark Fairy. Consumed with rage, she unwittingly transforms into a dragon and destroys the Fairylands.
After the carnage is over, Maleficent is consumed with guilt and shame at the hardship she’s caused her family and friends. Not knowing whether Nanny is alive, Maleficent begins to live in near-total isolation – until an interesting visit by the Odd Sisters.
Oh, remember them? These powerful sisters are a driving force through the Villains series. Lovers of chaos and instigators of demise, these sisters have inserted themselves in apparently every villain’s backstory. From giving the Snow Queen her cursed mirror to orchestrating Eric’s battle with the Sea Witch, the Odd Sisters are on no one’s side but their own.
In this instance, they offer Maleficent a gift. Knowing how lonely her home has become, they offer her the opportunity to create a daughter. There’s only one catch. In order to create a child using magic, you must use all the best parts of yourself. Maleficent agrees without really understanding what she’s ultimately doing. The Dark Fairy is so totally broken that sacrificing all the best parts of herself really means getting rid of all the good within her heart. After the spell is complete, Maleficent finds herself as a new mom (to Baby Aurora) incapable of loving such a vulnerable creature.
Realizing that she cannot give Aurora the devotion she deserves, Maleficent abandons her in hopes of a better life. The rest, of course, is history.
My Take
I really enjoyed this unique glimpse into Maleficent’s past and origins. Her battle to harness her powers for good, despite all the heartbreak and obstacles in her path, is agonizing to witness – especially since we know how the story ends. However, Valentino manages to weave a glimmer of hope throughout the tale. Right up until the end, you can see Maleficent’s many choices. It’s clear that even after the Dark Fairy has turned and Aurora has fallen under her spell; she can still salvage what’s left of her life. She can still rebuild a better future for herself and her daughter. This constant hope only makes it all the more heartbreaking when she doesn’t.
While I have mixed feelings about Valentino’s original characters, this story was a return to the series’ center: Disney villains. While the Odd Sisters and others play a part in the action, the central focus of the tale remains the Mistress of Evil herself. Watching Maleficent’s demise is painful, of course, but it’s also a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a classic character. I definitely recommend reading Mistress of All Evil. I look forward to enjoying the next book, Mother Knows Best telling the tale of Tangled’s Mother Goethel!
