Cover Image: Go the Distance-A Twisted Tale

Go the Distance-A Twisted Tale

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Member Reviews

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.

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This is the damsel in distress story of Meg we never got in the movie.
I have read a few of these twisted tales and so far this is my least favorite. Much of the story felt predictable. Some parts were incredibly slow moving. However, I can see this having been an idea for a sequel film. I am glad it has stuck to book format though since some things would be difficult to translate onto the screen.

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I learned after reading Go the Distance that it has been a long time since I watched Hercules and that I really don’t know a whole lot about his history. It was fun getting a background on Meg and having her work to become a god to be with Hercules. The one thing that I have really found with Jen Calonita’s writing is that it write much younger than the characters. Both Meg and Hercules are almost adults, taking about true love and marriage, children, but the way Jen writes it seems very middle grade, more childish. I found this same struggle with her Frozen re-write. All that aside, it was a fun read and made me want to watch Hercules again.

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I did not finish this book. I found Meg was annoying, the characters were not as formed as they had been in the morning and the writing style wasn’t my cup of tea. I’m hoping the future instalments are different. Thank you to Disney and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

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Hercules to date is one of my all time favorite Disney movies, and Meg was a force to be reckoned with.
So I was very exited to get my hands on this book, only to be let down.
There was so much potential. A quest for Meg! But then everything and every one just fell flat. Character growth was basically non-existent, if anything at times it felt like a step back from where we were in the movie. Developing relationships... luke warm at best. Challenges were either too easy, or dealt with impulsively, which seemed really out of character.
The writing was juvenile and read like a fan-fic. This really could have been so much more.

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DNF at 103 pages. This just wasn't holding my attention and I'm so sad about it. I didn't jive with the writing style and I felt the story was a little too predictable. Overall this one reads much younger than the other installments in the series.

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I've always loved Hercules (the Greek Mythology obsession started young) and Meg has always been my favorite character from the film. When I heard that the next book in the Twisted Tales series was about her, I had to read it.

Go the Distance takes place directly after the events of the Hercules film, with a slight twist. What would've happened if Zeus said no to Hercules giving up the life of a God to be on earth with Meg? Hera, going against her husband's wishes, offers Meg a deal, if she can complete the quest that Hera sends her on in 10 days, Meg will become a God. This quest takes Meg on quite the journey. We see her reunited with two film favorites, Pegasus (whom she calls Peg) and Phil as they help her on her quest for the Gods.

I think that Go the Distance was extremely well done. The characterization was so well done. It truly felt like a continuation of the film as opposed to something completely unrelated. I could hear Meg saying these things (obviously it was in Susan Egan's voice) and I loved that we got to see a more vulnerable side to her. Go the Distance also had some important messages that I think audiences of all ages can appreciate.

Go the Distance is the perfect read for all fans of the Hercules film.

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Does Megara have what it takes to become a god? Or will she lose Hercules forever?

When faced with the decision to become a god or lose the love of her life, Megara accepts a hero quest from Hera to prove her worth. Meg must fight every instinct she has ever learned in her lifetime and overcome unfathomable obstacles to complete her quest. Megara must clear physical and emotional hurtles along the way, making her stronger and also more vulnerable than she has ever been- but can she complete her quest in time? Will she even survive?
I absolutely loved this twisted tale! I have always been more of a Disney Princess fan girl, but this continuation of Hercules was beautiful and really took my breath away. I clung to every word and found myself rooting for Meg, to the extent of being incredibly anxious as the end of her quest drew near. I shed quite a few tears throughout this story and would recommend it to anyone who loves Disney, even if they are not a Hercules fan. I can't wait to read more Twisted Tales!

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This is the third book in this series that have read. Hercules is one of my favorite Disney movies and I was excited to read the tale. The story flowed and paced well, I didn't feel that the story lagged or was moving too slow. I loved the quest that Meg took and while she was content to try and do it all herself, learned the importance of relying on others. Meg also had to deal with her own issues of trust and her true feelings for Hercules. It was a nice treat to get a bit of Hades and his amazing self in the story as well.
This is a book that I would recommend to my higher level readers who are a fan of Disney.

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I absolutely love these twisted tale books. Hercules is one of my favorite movies.
This story features Megara who is on a quest to become a God. We have all the same characters that we love with new obstacles. Meg really grows as a character and we also get a back story to how she became to work for Hades exactly. I give this book 4 stars!

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I have read most of the books in this series and my favorites always have big changes. Go the Distance is easily in my top 3 of this series. The book starts with Hercules becoming a god. Instead of giving it up and returning to earth with Meg, Zeus forbids it and Hera sends Meg on her own quest to become a god. Everything you could want in a Disney Twisted Tale is in this book. It is close enough to the Disney movie that it feels like slipping into your favorite sweater, but different enough that you can't put it down. I was hooked from page one, I wasn't even through the first chapter when I had already pre-ordered the audiobook.

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An alternate ending befitting epic Greek mythology!

Hercules has conquered the Titans and is on his way to Olympus with Meg by his side. However, Zeus deems their relationship a fling and demands Hercules stay on Olympus as a god and parts ways with Meg. Unable to sway his father, Hercules prepares to lose the woman he loves when his mother, Hera, offers Meg a chance to become a goddess! The quest is no easy feat and requires Meg to confront the traumas of her past which put her in Hade's path. With the help of Pegasus, Phil, and a few gods, Meg journeys to the darkest parts of Greece to help a soul she never hoped to meet.

An enjoyable alternate ending that deserves a movie, if Disney were to be so bold. The themes will resonate with readers who have faced hardship where family and romance are concerned. Meg's journey is very self-reflective and may persuade readers to reflect on their own personal experiences. Fans of the films will be excited to catch the many references to the film and experience new stories with old characters. The romance is mild due to Meg's stubborn ways but is very entertaining nonetheless. The three major plots are exciting and reminiscent of epic greek quests. The emotions portrayed in the story were very organic and older readers are sure to appreciate the detail.

I would readily recommend this to readers interested in strong heroines, Greek mythology, and of course dramatic romance.

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Go The Distance is a different take on what happened in Hercules (the animated movie by Disney, just in case you didn't know). Hera and Zeus (as if they really agree on anything but I guess anything is possible at Disney lol) require Meg to be a God in order to stay with Hercules.

This includes having her face some of the things that contributed to her commitment issues that were really bold and clear in the movie (I thought she was strong for it). We get a closer look at who Meg was before Hercules and who she IS. I had always wished we knew more about Meg when I first saw the movie. I also wondered who she was suppose to represent and who did she sell her soul for exactly? You find out here!

I'm still wondering where Persephone is but... we'll come back to that later.

I usually have a hard time getting into the books in this series for some reason; but this one gripped me from the beginning, and it fed my curiosity about Meg and her past.

This title is definitely making it to my top Greek retelling titles list!

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Wow, what a fun book to read! Such a fast pace and fun adventure book and I think this will get u out of a slump if u are feeling a reading slump....
So in this 11th installment of the twisted tales novel disney have deiced to take a twist of my favorite Disney movie and that is Hurcles! I loved that instead of hurcles pov its from Meg's pov who's Hurcles girlfriend. So if u look at the tag line on the cover it says: "What if meg had to become a greek god?" And so that is excatly what is install in this book. If u are a reader who like greek mothology u would love this adventure quest novel...

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I absolutely adored this book! Megara is by far one of my favorite characters of all time, ever since I was a little girl! I feel that Jen Calonita did a fantastic job with her character and really enjoyed getting to know the character even more. I loved this book and it prompted me to buy all the others in the Twisted Tales Collection of stories! I am so thrilled that this book has a reserved spot on my life's library!

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I was fortunate to be able to be approved to review this book, but unfortunately I didn't have enough time to get to it before it archived. I am a mood reader and I just wasn't in the mood for disney inspired books. I'd rather not force myself to read a book that I'm not in the mood for and end up hating myself for forcing through it. I plan on getting a hard copy of the book in the near future & anticipate when I'm in a Disney retelling mood!

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Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

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This book should be marked as YA. It's definitely middle-grade quality, and on the lower end of it. The plot is incredibly juvenile, and the characters are bland as could be. With both of those aspects being bad, there wasn't much that could've saved this book.

I think my main problem with this has to be the setting. It's supposed to be ancient Greece. Yet somehow, zip codes are referenced, Hades calls Meg babe teasingly, and the word beef is used to describe an argument. This just tried too hard to be trendy and modern. Instead of working, it just felt out of touch, random, and threw me off.

I also really didn't like our characters. Meg is the only one we got to know in any depth, and even she is simplistic. All I can tell you about her is that she makes rash decisions. The only characters I actually liked were Hades and Persephone, which seems to be a common trend among reviewers.

I've been eyeing this series for ages, and despite seeing some bad reviews, I expected to like this one. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
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so I enjoyed this well enough, I liked the storyline, and I liked the twist in this book. I think my only problem was that the writing was really kind of simple, and I just felt like it was too juvenile for me. I hardly ever have that problem with young adult, as someone who is almost 30 years old. But I just felt that this one was just an average book for me,. I didn't find myself drawn to it, I enjoyed Megara and I liked the backstory that we got from Jen Calonita. I do think that things were a bit too convenient for Megara. Things would go crazy but she was able to really fix things so quickly. It was like she suddenly knew everything like how to play a flute or how to shoot an arrow or do random stuff. I just felt like this didn't really give Megara any credit. Overall this was just okay. I'd honestly give it a 2.5 stars.

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Go the Distance by Jen Calonita is the latest installment in Disney’s Twisted Tale series. This time the story focuses on one of my favorites, Hercules, and twists the story at the end of the tale. What if Hercules wasn’t allowed to become human to live with Meg? Instead, what if the gods sent Meg on her own quest and allowed her to become a god? To me, this question needed to be explored. It was something I had wondered as a child. If Hercules parents loved him so much and went through all that to bring him home, why couldn’t they convert Meg as well? Go the Distance fleshes out Meg’s character in a way the original cartoon did not, giving life and depth to the choices she made both prior to meeting Hercules and after.

Told mainly from Meg’s point of view, I found myself rooting for Meg in a way that I hadn’t before. We see her vulnerabilities, the trials she’s already faced in her life, how she wound up working for Hades in the first place, and the way she falls in love even when she really doesn’t want to. My heart broke learning about her childhood, her first love, and how everything is ripped from her. The part that truly broke me is how she expected it to be ripped from her at every turn. No part of Meg’s life had shown her that some people stay. That was heartbreaking.

The plot of this one was muddled, and the pace was inconsistent. I struggled to finish it. Meg is given her task by Hera, first to find Athena’s lost lute and if she can do that, then the rest of her quest will be revealed. At this point of the story, Meg is doubting her love for Hercules, questioning if she wants this opportunity, which makes her determination on the quest ironic. Flipping between past and present with little transition left me lost, thinking I’d skipped a page by accident. Not only that but it distracted from the present plot Meg was facing. Eventually the flashbacks tied into the present day for Meg, making sense and giving clarity to the story.

Overall, while I didn’t love Go the Distance, I did enjoy it enough to finish the story. I’ll admit that I did skim through some chapters, only reading dialogue to find out what I might be missing. Meg is a strong character both in cartoon and on paper. I loved seeing more of her story here. If you enjoy retellings and mischief making gods, you will enjoy this one.

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