This is my first time reading one of The Twisted Tales books, and I was so excited! I love retellings, I love fairy tales, and I love mythology, so this book was absolutely perfect for me!

One thing I realized pretty early on is that this book is marketed as YA, but it is definitely more lower YA/middle grade storytelling. I would say the ideal age range for this book is lower teens, which is totally fine, but just a little more juvenile of a book than I was expecting.

The story starts towards the end of the Disney movie version of Hercules, now I love that movie, its one of my favorite Disney movies, but it is so far removed from any semblances of mythology. The most obvious example? The happy, loving family man Zeus. (Not to mention that Hera is not his mother and if I remember correctly, Hercules actually murders Megara at one point. Go Mythology!)

One thing I loved about this book, it stayed in tune with the cutesy Disney-ness, but added a lit bit more of the original stories and character traits into it. Starting with, when the animated Hercules says that he wants to stay with Megara, and becomes a mortal (which not gonna lie, was my only issue with the film, what a shit ending), this time around Zeus says NO. This God stands up and says WE DID NOT DO ALL THIS WORK FOR YOU TO BE A HUMAN, BOY SIT YOUR GOD BUTT DOWN AND BE DONE WITH THIS MORTAL GIRL. (I’m paraphrasing here, but you get the idea). Which honestly, is how the movie should have ended in the first place, but I digress…

Than we have Hera step in with a quest for Megara – if she completes it, she will make her into a God as well, and then she can be with Hercules forever! Which I personally think is a poor decision, she only just got her soul back, has only known Hercules a few days, but you know, true love and all that nonsense.

Speaking of the true love of Megara and Hercules, it was really annoying that she constantly referred to him as “Wonderboy”. I get it – it was the nickname she gave him in the movie but it was CONSTANT and unnecessary. This book really loved its nicknames in general. Megara referred to Pegasus as “Peg”, Phil calls her “Red”. Does no one use full names around here?

Megara’s quest seems simple at first – she has to find Athena’s flute. From there the quest turns and Megara is forced to confront her past, her ex, Hades, and learns many painful truths along the way.

Without spoiling any of the details – I really loved Meg’s quest and how it dove into her past and the moments after she sold her soul. My biggest problem with Meg in this one was how STUBBORN SHE WAS. She took “strong independent female” to an unnatural degree and was determined to do everything alone, even if it put her and others in dangerous situations. It was annoying, and I kept waiting for her to learn from her most recent mistake, but it took her so much longer than I wanted her too.

Since this is a cutesy tale – Megara does eventually learn from her mistakes, heals her past wounds, brings together happiness and joy, and all those wonderful Disney feels.

There is also a subplot involving a different love story, when Megara and Hercules first arrive at the beginning of the story, there are whispers of how harvest season is starting soon, and Persephone is nowhere to be found. I’m not going to spoil it for anyone who doesn’t know, but if you do know the story of Persephone you can probably guess where she is. I loved the inclusion of this story and expanding the Disney world of Gods a little bit.

Overall, this was an adorable story. A little younger feel then I was originally anticipating, but it was cute for what it was. It’s a story about dealing with grief and pain, of learning from your mistakes, but most of all its a story about love and forgiveness.

What can I say each book in this series just gets better and better. I love these what if alternative endings to beloved Disney movies and can't wait to see which movie gets picked next

Well...that was certainly disappointing. I didn't get my hopes up since Calonita seems notoriously bad at writing retellings from the scathing reviews I've seen of the other twisted tales that she has written. But I'm still bummed because this is Hercules we are talking about. One of my favorite childhood movies with a very underrated heroine (yes it's mainly about Herc but Meg is still a heroine in her own right). This book really did Megara dirty. How? by turning her into a glorified Mary Sue.

We all know Megara. Fearless, sassy, and snarky.

Things are pretty much as bad as it can get for her being basically property to the God of the Underworld Hades all because she tried to save your boyfriend's life who turned out to be a two timer. Let's just say things don't miraculously go her way and she does end up being crushed by a pillar in order to save Herc. Pretty as low as it gets.
YET she did what she had to do and did her best and ends up the girlfriend to a god. Not too shabby.

BUT this version of Meg was an insult to her character. This book was her quest to become a god but everything went right for her. When things hit the fan she could fix it. She just knew how to do everything from using a bow to playing a flute so well it put Cerebus to sleep. What irked me most of all too was her reckless behavior. Meg is smart not hot headed and quick to make stupid mistakes.
As for the plot it was just weird and all over the place. The gods helping her out was an interesting touch but the conversations felt so stilted and awkward. Just none of it worked and in truth Meg would have most likely died due to these quests she did and would have never made it to Hades but the plot had deus ex machina after deus ex machina to make everything just fall into place for her in the most unrealistic way possible with no smooth transition.

So your probably wondering why this got stars at all. Well...I had to give it some few good points. It was an interesting premise to have Meg become a god and to have this who redemption arc with her cheating boyfriend and her having to be the better woman in an awful situation. I also liked the whole Hades and Persephone story line was thrown in there since it's one of my favorite story lines in Greek Mythology since for some reason I always liked this version of Hades and it's cute he's got now something to make his dreary immortal existence worthwhile. I'm also glad she did end up a god (even though that's obvious that would happen) and her and Hercules now have a happy ending as immortals together forever. I always have had a sweet spot for happy endings.

Anyway if your a hardcore fan of Hercules I wouldn't recommend it. (less)

Step aside Herc, it's Meg's time!

So, this book series Twisted Tales is entirely hit or miss even within the audience. People either love it, or they don't, and this happens on a book by book level. I love the movie Hercules (and all it's total inaccuracies) and was hoping this one would come to light. And when it did - THANK YOU ITS ABOUT MEG.

That being said, I have so many mixed feelings. Meg's backstory is the usual tragedy - missing dad, mom raised her as best she could, fell in love with music, met her former love, and traded her soul to save him... then get abandoned. Then Hercules happens, yadda yadda, happy ending right? Nope. Zeus tells her she can't be with Herc because she's... mortal. So she has to prove herself worthy by saving her ex's current wife. OUCH.

The premise is great, the story is entertaining, but I feel like Meg deserved better. I might be reading into it too much, but her character seemed a little hollow. It's marketed as YA, but this book is solidly Middle Grade with the writing level and the characterization. As MG it's good, as YA, it's lacking.

I still liked it. But I might be starved for Hercules content.

I absolutely loved going back into the world of Hercules! This book picked up right where the movie left off (with a little twist) and took you on an adventure with Meg and it. was. fantastic.

*Disclaimer I received a free copy of this book, this will not change my thought or feelings towards it at all*

As a fan of the Twisted Tale series, I have to say this one was quite enjoyable especially coming from Jen Calonita who for me typically is way usually a let down often for this series. But it was overall all really good. Some of the things I didn’t like were that the beginning was way to slow and dragged out. The end was very rushed and Phil was quite annoying for me. Some of the things I really enjoyed were the last half of the book, Meg and the lesson that Meg learned I really enjoyed. I also loved the new characters that were introduced. I thought the pacing was very good for the middle of the book while I said earlier the beginning was slow and the ending was rushed. Over all the ending is what really (for me at least) boosted it from a 3.5 rounded up to a 4.5 rounded up.

*This review will be posted on Goodreads March 1st and on Amazon and B&N April 6th*

“Go the Distance” was an amazing twisted tale brought to us by Jen Calonita. I have always loved these books because they showcase the “What if” questions we have always wanted to know at the end of a Disney movie. This book holds true to the story of Hercules and Megara while bringing a brand new story that keeps you entranced the entire time. I cannot wait to see what the next story is about but would absolutely promote this to my class to read. 10/10 goes to this book! :)

Hercules is one of my absolute favorite Disney movies and it's because of Meg. She'll always be my favorite Disney character and I really, really, really like Elsa. But Meg, she's much more like me all the way down to the cheating boyfriend. I think this series is meant for younger readers if I'm honest but I still enjoyed it. There were some inconsistencies I felt with Meg's characterization at times. But, I enjoyed the Hades inclusion in the story. All in all, this was a really fun read. Again, I think younger YA readers would really enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion (Disney Publishing Worldwide) providing an advanced eArc in exchange for my honest review.

When reading the synopsis of the book, I was thrilled. Megara (affectionately known as "Meg" or "Red") has always been one of my favorite, underrated Disney characters. I have always loved her wittiness and "I've got this!" kind of attitude. Also, as someone who LOVES reading Greek mythology, it was a fun adventure encountering the various gods/goddesses that I have read about before.

While Hercules has proven himself to be worthy of taking his rightful place as a god, Meg (with no such inheritance) has to prove her worth by confronting her most challenging task... admitting her love and finding the meaning of it. Meg has to encounter hilarious situations that her impulsive attitude lands her end. With each adventure, she begins to find the meaning of the quest in the first place. By the end, she recognizes her true feelings for her "Wonder Boy" Herc. I actually LOVED the book. Calonita did a PHENOMENAL job of capturing Meg's personality and spinning a story about her.

I was excited for this book, but I seemed to have overlooked the fact that this series leaves me feeling…odd. Something is just off about the characters that makes reading these twisted tales a weird kind of fanfiction experience.

I’ve only read the Frozen twisted tale, and like this one, Go the Distance isn’t bad, but it doesn’t feel right.

Watching these movies growing up, you’re used to one story for so long, and characterization that you’ve seen hundreds of times. The characters in these twisted tales always feel off, like you can tell they have no connection to the source, even if these books are written under the Disney umbrella.

The plot is okay, if not basic. Meg has to prove she’s worthy of becoming a goddess by helping her ex and proving her vulnerability. That sounds like things Meg from the movie needs to work on, but really, in terms of the movie, she actually does accomplish that kind of redemption by dying for Hercules. However, for the sake of drama (and the “twisted” tale) I guess that’s something that needs to be revisited.

The one thing I actually really liked about this book is the fact we get to learn more about Meg’s ex. Why she’s so hurt, what happened between them, why she won’t say she’s in love with Herc. It was interesting, it was new, and the unnamed character from the movie actually provides a clean slate for the author. It’s a good tie in to the movie, but that’s the only part I liked. Meg, Phil, Hercules, even Hades all felt so out of character. At times Hades was the most similar to the movie which was amusing, however I was really uncomfortable at the inclusion of the Hades & Persephone relationship; Disney Hades is definitely not a Hades you want to picture with a young, naive goddess. (It’s skeevy at best.) Hercules was also so bland! Like always screaming “Meg!” and spinning her around. Boy does it one time in the movie and this author just runs with it. He was included in probably 15ish pages and he adds basically nothing. I get this story is about Meg but it’s sad to see such a strong character reduced to the sidelines like an extra.

I know these are called twisted tales, but honestly what’s really twisted about this story? It takes place where the movie leaves off, when Hercules is welcomed back to Mount Olympus; it literally has no bearing on the original Disney story. How can you look me in the eye and tell me this isn’t canon fanfiction? I would have liked to have seen Meg have to accomplish something during the course of the movie. Like Hercules dies when trying to rescue her from the river Styx and Meg has to go on her quest from the point to save herself, since she sacrificed herself for Hercules in the first place. That’s a twisted tale! But of course, it’s Disney- they only kill parents, not love interests.

I would have also liked to have seen more about Meg’s dad. He up and leaves in the prologue, but I feel there was a real chance to include him in Meg’s quest. They included the ex who jilted her, why not her dad? Her quest was so easy compared to what Hercules had to go through to achieve godhood so it would’ve been nice to Meg actually go through more than two steps.

Overall, not the best thing I’ve read. It’s not twisted, technically, and there’s still a happy ending. Kind of boring, really. But I like Meg and she does get some good growth throughout.

This is my second Twisted Tales book I’ve read and my goodness I enjoyed it. I was filled with so many emotions and I kept thinking “these are the same characters from a childhood favorite?”

In this book, the focus is on Megara, and rightfully so. Though while this book feels more like a sequel, the twisted part of this is “what if Zeus didn’t allow Hercules to stay on earth with Meg? And Meg had to do her own heroic quest?”

What I loved about that, is Zeus refusing to let Hercules become mortal again felt more in character of non Disneyfied Zeus and therefore felt more realistic (as realistic as you can get with Greek Gods that is).

I definitely recommend this for fans of Hercules, especially fans of Meg. Even if you’re not and you’re just a Greek Mythology fan in general, definitely recommend giving this a read.

First off, thank you NetGalley and Disney Books for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Second, wow!!! This book blew me away, and I am shook. I like how there was so much tension and drama throughout this. It made it easy to like the Gods of Olympus. Usually, it’s not easy to like them. However, it also made for a more fulfilling story in terms of the main characters progress. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, she had points in which she felt things were too hard, but in the end she persevered. She is a good example of how life isn’t easy, and that’s what I really enjoyed about this book. Meg was determined to be a God to stay with Hercules, almost failed, and still managed to realize that there are greater things in life then being selfish. I really enjoyed how the writing style made this easy to read, the plot was paced nicely, and how the story has great drama to keep a reader reading. Well done, Jen Calonita.

I was really excited to have the opportunity to read an ARC as the underrated Meg as its protagonist. I'm a bit torn on how I feel about, so I will start with the good. I really like that it is a clean read that picks up after the movie ends. It was an intriguing take on what could have occurred after. I enjoyed learning about a more in depth backstory for Meg, and it was pretty faced paced and had engaging adventures. I also thought it had some really nice and positive messages. Meg evolved a lot over the course of the book, even though it is quite a short period of time, as she makes some tough, but selfless choices.

For the not so great...first off, depending on what you are expecting, the writing really read more like a middle grade than a YA book. The speech was fairly juvenile and simple. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but perhaps, something to be aware of going into reading it. I also felt like this Meg was quite a bit different than the one we all know and love from the movie. She certainly doesn't come off as brave and sassy as much. Reading from her perspective and being able to hear the fears and insecurities of her, is very likely a reason for some incompatibilities in personality. Also, the author likely wanted Meg to have more obvious character development through the story, and the contrast of her having weak moments can help this effort.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There were parts I didn't love, and the juvenile speech and oversimplification of some characters annoyed me at times. The interaction with Meg and Hercules was so little that I was rather disappointed. However, I still found the plot to be engaging and appreciated that it was a clean read (this is increasingly harder to find, even in YA books, sadly) with only nondescript kissing a few times. I loved that it was from Meg's perspective, which is a pretty unique take, and the integration of other Greek gods' stories. I would probably rate this lower in terms of YA, but for middle grades I would give it a solid 4.

*****5 Stars!

“Love means opening your heart to another, no matter the consequences.”


First off I would like to thank Disney and NetGalley for allowing me to read an arc of this book, I am so honored to be given a chance to give an honest review for this book.

Go the Distance is a continuation of Disney’s Hercules but with a new twist, what if Zeus refuses to allow Hercules to live out his life on Earth with Meg? Hera comes up with a fair solution and that is to offer Meg a chance to prove her worth and earn a spot among the Gods on Mt. Olympus. This offer sends Meg off on a hero’s quest that will not only prove her worth to the Gods, but it will force her to do some soul searching herself and put her face to face with a past that she wished to keep buried. Now she must see if she has the ability to overcome her past and come to understand the true desires of her heart.

This book is written so beautifully and written with the perfect pacing, I was hooked the moment I finished the first chapter. Hercules had always been one of my all time favorite Disney movies and the start of my fascination with Greek Mythology, I had watched it so many times I had nearly worn out my poor VHS tape. I found that this book was able to answer so many questions I’ve had floating around inside my head for years, which only added to my love for this book. Growing up I always found Meg to be such an interesting character with her sassy and sarcastic attitude, she was so unlike every other Disney heroine. As I grew older I had come to realize how relatable her character truly was, I was always left wondering more about her. What brought her to this point and formed her core beliefs and attitude towards life and love? I absolutely love how this book was able to go into detail about her childhood and how she was brought up and how that upbringing made her into the person she was in Hercules.

Her character development throughout this book was so profound and much needed; her issues of commitment were put on full display and what brought them about and made them take root. Throughout her journey I loved seeing her peel back the layers of these issues one by one and put them on display for the readers--it made her so vulnerable and even more relatable than she had been in the movies. As children love was so straightforward and simple in our eyes, and as we grew older we realized that it was messier and more complicated than we expected, so if you were a fan of Meg when you were younger I think you’d very much enjoy reading this book as an adult. There is something very special about relating to a character you’ve loved so much as a child now as an adult. Like Meg we’re forced to question ourselves in adulthood and come to a similar understanding of what we want in life and what path we should take to get there. The process of understanding our own hearts is a quest in itself, just like the quest Meg had undertaken.

I also loved the author’s ability to really get into each character; everyone was so perfectly written, in my mind I couldn’t help but read all the dialogue in the story in their voices. It felt so authentic to the movie yet also so unique. This brings me to another one of my favorite points of the story and that’s Hades. Not only was he so perfectly written, I couldn’t seem to get James Woods' voice out of my head while reading his parts, I love the character arc she had set out for him. With my love of Greek Mythology came a very intense fascination with the tale of Hades and Persephone, I remember when I was younger I was always a little upset that they never added Persephone into the story. So, when Persephone made her appearance in this book it made me so beyond happy! I loved seeing her love story with Hades play out in this particular universe, it was so unique and fun to be able to read. The way Hades and Persephone seemed to compliment each other so perfectly really brought the moral of this story to light--if someone like Hades could open himself up to love and allow himself to not only be vulnerable around the person he loved, but placed his trust in the palm of her hands, why couldn’t Meg be able to do the same with Hercules? Hades loved Persephone and that didn’t make him weak despite his reputation, it only made him stronger with her at his side. Thus proving that love does not make a person weak, it only makes them so much stronger than they had been alone.

The title of this book, Go the Distance, was such an appropriate choice for this story because everyone has to go the distance in their lives to be able to not only find their true authentic self but to find the place where they belong in this world, just like both Meg and Hercules had done the same. Going the distance might be hard and scary at first, but one must have faith and follow their own individual path to get the answers they seek.

This book was such an absolute delight to read, it brought back so much nostalgia from my childhood and I enjoyed being able to connect to this book and the characters in a new way. This is a book I would highly recommend to everyone, especially if you have a love for Hercules and Greek Mythology. It was such a positive and enchanting read and not one I would be able to forget.

Thanks Disney and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

If I'm being honest, I wanted to like this story a lot more than I actually did. I do think it had lots of potential. Overall I did like the premise of Meg having to go on her own quest to become a god, and getting to explore parts of Meg that I haven't seen anyone explore yet. She had a unique and interesting backstory that I think is fun for readers to get into. However, I didn't really connect with Meg or any of the characters in the story, everyone felt a little flat for me. It's cliche, but I think a big part of why is that the author seemed to rely on telling more than showing, and so I'm told why a lot of Meg's different relationships or interactions are important, and she mentally reflects on them, but I'm not shown it in a way that I found emotionally impactful. I also didn't understand a lot of the characters' decisions as a whole. Every action that moved the plot along either felt weirdly impulsive or a tad too convenient. One thing I will say, I do think Percy Jackson ruined me a little bit for this book, because the gods felt out of character to me because I'm more likely to imagine a PJO version of them than the Disney version. I think this book had a similar goofy humor, but it just didn't hit as well for me. Relatedly, something I didn't like was that this book really relied on the reader having watched the Disney movie Hercules. I haven't read much in the Twisted Tale series, so I don't know if this is true for most of them, but there is a lot in this book that's not going to make sense if you haven't seen the movie. It assumes you will know specific jokes or character names and doesn't take the time to explain any of them. It made it read a little like fanfiction to me. Well-written fanfiction for sure, as the writing itself wasn't bad at all, but if you want to read this it would be helpful to watch or rewatch the movie first.

Overall I wasn't the biggest fan of this book. I'd give it a 2.5 stars. It's not a long or difficult read, though, so if anyone is curious about a take of Meg's history, it could be worth a read. It's more of a middle-grade read to me than a YA read, but especially for someone who really loves Disney's Hercules movie and could use a book to catapult them into reading more, I might recommend it.

*thank you to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review*
Go the Distance follows Megara after Hercules becomes a god. She is given a quest from Hera to become a god in order to be with Hercules on Olympus.But along the way, she has to confront her past in order to achieve her goal.
Megara had such great sarcastic humor in this book which reminded me of the movies so much. I enjoyed her banter with Pegasus and Phil and well as her witty responses. I was surprised how much I would relate to Meg’s struggle with love in her past and truly enjoyed the great humorous retelling of the various gods in this book.
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One of my favorite quotes in this book was:
“Loving someone does not make you any less strong. It means you trust in another and they trust in you—that you can give and you can take.”
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I found this book to be such an easy and enjoyable read because of the witty banter in this book. I would definitely recommend Go the Distance to those who loved the Hercules movie as much as I did. Although there were some slow parts during this plot, I gave this book 4/5 ⭐️!

These Dinsey alternate universe retellings are a huge hit at my library. This Hercules retelling with a all new story will be another great one. I loved it!

Hercules proved he was a true hero and became a god like his parents, Zeus and Hera. Meg is thrilled for him and shocked when he says he wants to stay with her. The problem? Zeus won't let Hercules go back to being a mortal, and Meg can't join him in Olympus because she is a mortal. Hera offers Meg a quest to become a god: she must once again journey to the Underworld and then save the wife of her ex boyfriend, the one she gave up her soul to save. Meg must battle literal demons and her own inner ones if she wants to stay with the god she loves.

As soon as I saw Hercules was next up in Disney's Twisted Tales series, and focusing on Meg at that, I was ecstatic. Hercules is one of my favorite Disney movies, and Meg is my favorite character. There was such joy in reading this book. In GO THE DISTANCE, we get so much more information about Meg. We see what her childhood was like, how her previous relationship developed, and how deep her fear of being abandoned is. For the first time, she has to stop running and face her past in order to move forward. She has to learn hard lessons on accepting help from others, opening her heart, and being vulnerable. Her emotional arc is beautifully written, and I was ready to sob in the last couple of chapters.

Not only do we learn more about Meg, but we also get to see more of the women in the movie who didn't get much screen time: Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, and Katerina, the woman Meg's ex moved on with who isn't originally named in the movie but mentioned. I love how the gods in particular work together and help Meg in her journey, reluctant as she is to accept help at first. Especially in regards to Hera, sometimes someone else has to see something in you that you don't recognize yet in order to find it yourself.

While I love the ending of Hercules the movie, I almost like the conclusion GO THE DISTANCE leaves us with better. A hero's hardest quest is often fought on the inside, with ourselves, and the journey can change us completely.

I will begin by saying I have read a lot of books from the Twisted Tales series. This one by far was my favorite so far. I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars. The writing and plot were amazing.

The story does have some jumping timelines, but you have tell when I happens. Usually I don't like books that do that but this one didn't bother me one bit.

The story starts off with when Hercules is becoming a God with Meg by his side. Zeus doesn't want mortal Meg to stay in Mount Olympus, but Hera offers her a trial to become a God herself. She has two quests she must do to get this within 10 days time. Meg goes through so many emotions and you can feel those emotions with her. She beats so many obstacles and often puts others before herself. She feels love, pain, loss, and happiness all in one book.

This is a book I would for sure recommend to my friends and family especially those who love retellings or even the original Hercules story. It is a great woman empowerment. Women can be just as strong as men.

While a touching tale of overcoming your traumas and fighting for what you want, this novel really hovers the line between middle grade and YA. It isn't what most would consider YA today, minus a few mentions of hell and some marriage included. I am aware that these novels merge the movies with a fictionalized telling of some part of it that was never shown, but there were times I felt I had to double check this WASN'T middle grade. I'm not into middle grade for a reason and, having requested this from the YA category, was a little concerned. The language and the plot were simple, nothing the reader couldn't understand or predict, respectively. There's a part of me that, having read the description, was willing and craving a massive feminist read of Meg and her journey to still remain true to herself, but accept the love she was given. And, while an attempt was made, it just wasn't as moving as you thought it would be. Maybe my expectations were high, but so, it appears, were everyone else's according to the overall rating. It's a good read if you were curious about Meg's life after the end of Hercules.