Published by Disney Book Group, the Villains series contains 7 books (the 8th coming out in June 2021) all written by Serena Valentino. These novels delve deeper into the backstory of various misunderstood villains and provide interesting takes to the Disney stories we all know and love. 

A good thing to note: This series is meant to be read in order. I was not aware of this information and read the fifth book in the series, Mother Knows Best, first. Throughout the story, Gothel’s character development was phenomenal, showing her rigorous path to becoming a villain. It was interesting to see how her intentions were pure, but the action she took to fulfill them were evil.

Another aspect I thoroughly enjoyed was watching Gothel’s journey to Rapunzel (the character) and having the knowledge of Gothel’s goals, as well as the ones Rapunzel portrays in the movies. Seeing how far Gothel came to get to this point, really makes you feel bad that her many years of life warped her view of right and wrong, so she can never achieve her goals in a pure manner. 

All in all, I highly enjoyed this book and recommend all Disney fans to start this series from the beginning, as I will do.