Promchanted by Morgan Matson Book Review

In 2024, a new book written by Morgan Matson was published. The difference between this book and her previous books was this book was published by Disney and is inspired by Disneyland and Disney’s movie, Sleeping Beauty.

The book, called Promchanted, was a book I was very curious about. I didn’t know if I would like it or not, but I decided to purchase a copy of the book and read it.

Since then, a second book was published, Gradchanted also by Morgan Matson. I also purchased and read that book, but, since Promchanted was published first, I decided to write a review about Promchanted before Gradchanted.

The blurb for the book on Amazon is…

Modern-day teens wander into Disney’s Sleeping Beauty in this enemies-to-lovers rom-com from New York Times bestselling author Morgan Matson.

Two modern teens.
One classic fairy tale.
Absolutely no cell service.

Stella Griffin doesn’t believe in fairy tales. Ever since her boyfriend dumped her three weeks before the prom—not ideal timing—she’s convinced every love story is a lie.

She’s ready to skip the prom entirely. But she and her best friend, Nisha, have been planning for years to celebrate at Disneyland before the prom . . . an OG OC tradition. But even being all dressed up at the Happiest Place on Earth isn’t salvaging Stella’s night. Nisha has brought along her friend Reece to join them, and he and Stella do not get along. They’re like oil and water. Cats and dogs. Aladdin and Jafar. And so what if Reece is, fine, kind of cute? Stella’s over it all. Happily-ever-afters, true love’s kisses, princes on white horses. It’s not real.

. . . Or is it?

Because when Stella and Reece push through a hidden door in Sleeping Beauty’s castle, they’re not in Anaheim anymore. They’re in the story. In Sleeping Beauty—with Aurora and Phillip, the fairies, Maleficent, and extremely intelligent woodland creatures.

Unfortunately, they’ve landed right in the middle of the story—which throws things off. Suddenly, Aurora and Phillip are meeting before they were supposed to. The fairies are suspicious of the interlopers, and even Maleficent gets word of their arrival.

Stella and Reece will have to put aside their differences, make sure Aurora and Phillip fall in love, and get the story back on track—because if things don’t end the way they’re supposed to . . . they might never get home.

Will they be able to pull off a fairy-tale ending? And will Stella and Reece get a happily-ever-after of their own?

 

So, after purchasing this book, I have read it at least twice. After rereading it, I’m not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, I like the idea of the story. I think it is a really cute idea with plenty of potential. Yet, I don’t actually like how it plays out in the novel. I also find the story pretty slow in the middle of the book.

There many problems I have with the book, such as I don’t like Stella very much. I also didn’t like how she grew into a better person due to her encounters with Aurora, Phillip, and, especially, Reece. I also didn’t like the portion of the book that takes place in the Sleeping Beauty story. I found some parts, one of which stands out to me, that don’t seem consistent to the movie. I have wondered if the problem actually lies in the difference between how Morgan Matson interprets the movie versus how I interpret it. Yet, I found these inconsistencies to what I see and know the movie to be is a major drawback to the book, causing me to not enjoy it as much as I could have.

Something I want to note about the book is how Stella sees Aurora like Taylor Swift. Although Stella talks about Taylor Swift, she uses Taylor as a reference to how Aurora looks like (Blonde hair, blue eyes. tall, ect.) It isn’t a reference that will make non Swifties roll their eyes, but it is something to know. Especially if you’re like me and have had their fill of young adult novels with fan worthy references to Taylor.

Overall, the book is what I would consider an ok novel to read. Despite my dislikes and complaints about the book, I still think it would be a cute young adult novel for fans of Disney (and anyone who enjoys obvious references to Taylor Swift). It is a clean book without anything dirty in it, so I think it would be great for teenagers and young adults. I also think adults would potentially like it as well, but I think it would be appreciated more by teenagers and young adults.

 

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading!