Adventure is Out There!

by Liz Braswell

Adventure is out there in Disney’s New York Times best-selling A Twisted Tale series that asks, “What if it was Ellie who went UP to Paradise Falls?”

16-year-old Ellie Mullins is fed up. Sure, for some, life in small town Americana is idyllic. Nothing but picket fences and USO dances and holiday parades. But Ellie has long dreamed of towering mountains and tangled jungles and most of all…traveling to the incredible South American landmark, Paradise Falls.

Ellie thought these dreams made her strange, until she met her sweet best friend Carl (when he promptly broke his leg in her clubhouse). Carl is Ellie’s closest confidante. He’s also the only able to talk her off the ledge. But things between them seem weird lately as Ellie grows increasingly frustrated with his quiet way of doing things. And is it just her, or are there new feelings bubbling up between them?

Then Ellie begins her dream internship at the local zoo, where the flashy millionaire owner organizes an expedition to the Paradise Falls to collect new specimens. But the star newcomer, a bird given to him by Charles Munz himself, doesn’t adjust well to his new home and Ellie is put in charge of its hopeless-seeming recovery. Carl advises Ellie to laylow, to not make waves. But that’s not something Ellie has ever been good at. And when an opportunity comes for a last minute, emergency rescue mission, she decides to take it.

Will Ellie’s impulsiveness finally get the better of her? Or will she get the adventure she always wanted . . . and at what cost?

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings, Adventure, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Audiobook

512 pages, Hardcover

First published April 7, 2026

About the author

After the sort of introverted childhood you would expect from a writer, Liz earned a degree in Egyptology at Brown University and then promptly spent the next ten years producing video games. Finally she caved into fate and wrote Snow and Rx under the name Tracy Lynn, followed by The Nine Lives of Chloe King series under her real name, because by then the assassins hunting her were all dead. She also has short stories in Geektastic and Who Done It and a new series of reimagined fairy tales coming out, starting with A Whole New World—a retelling of Aladdin.
She lives in Brooklyn with a husband, two children, a cat, a part-time dog, three fish and five coffee trees she insists will start producing beans any day. You can email her at me@lizbraswell.com.

Reviews

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the start of this book. Ellie was so much fun because she was so curious and intuitive about the world and especially animals. It was interesting to see her live as a young girl in war time and being stuck in the consequence of the patriarchal society and men coming back for their jobs (🙄).

Her friendship with Carl was so sweet. I adored seeing them as children having adventures and growing to awkward teens.

But this book DRAGGED.

Disney Twisted Tales Ranking (as of May 2026)

1. Brave (5⭐️)
2. Rapunzel (5⭐️)
3. Cinderella (5⭐️)
4. The Little Mermaid (4⭐️)
5. Frozen (4⭐️)
6. Aladdin (4⭐️)
7. Beauty and the Beast (4⭐️)
8. Hercules (4⭐️)
9. Sleeping Beauty (3⭐️)
10. Adventure is out There! (3⭐️)
11. Mulan (3⭐️)
12. The Princess and the Frog (3⭐️)
13. Alice in Wonderland (2⭐️)
14. Moana (2⭐️)
15. Peter Pan (1⭐️- dnf)

[Kara Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️ I just don’t think anything can beat the movie.

I was very excited for this new Disney Twisted Tales release. I feel like everyone loves Up, right? The movie just gave you all the best feelings, warm and cozy. And this book was just very one toned to me.

Here we follow Ellie on her adventures to try to save her feathered friend, Soda-Pop. I like how we got to see her work in the zoo (mentioned in the movie briefly) and how that led to her adventure. Although I just couldn’t connect to the characters enough and felt like things were just repeated. If this was more conscience with maybe 100 less pages, I might have been more invested.

Also, persons preference, but I could have really used some moments of comic relief or just more ebbs and flows in feelings.

Overall, not a bad read, just a bit stagnant for me for the adventure she was on.

[˗ˏˋ christie ♡ ˎˊ˗ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i much preferred the first half about ellie as a teenage girl in 1940s usa than when she actually went to paradise falls

[H R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only because Liz Braswell is super wordy.
I get lost in the extra wordings and descriptions and not in a good way-its quite distracting and takes away from the storyline.

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25. The Twisted Tales rendition of Up, Adventure Is Out There!, takes a character who had a surprisingly prominent emotional role in a movie they were barely even physically present for and fleshes them out in a believable, if bittersweet, way. And while that alone is worth the price of admission, it’s also clear the story could have been much more than it is if it hadn’t stopped short of digging deeper into its own lore, hinting at directions that could have been genuinely rich had it just gone a bit farther.

The character of Ellie Fredrickson (whose maiden name is revealed to be McGill, as she’s not yet married to Carl at the point this book takes place) must have been a fascinating figure to flesh out, even for someone as well-versed in reimagining Disney heroines as Liz Braswell. You essentially start with a near blank slate, save for the emotional weight and context clues packed into those first infamous ten minutes of Up. So, while reading this, I found myself going back to rewatch that opening to see whether she’d done the character justice, and she had. Braswell takes everything briefly said or implied and uses it to great effect, making it entirely believable that Ellie would be well-versed not just in zoology but in conservation and aviation as well (though I’ll admit that knowing how to fly an actual plane after a single simulation session did stretch my suspension of disbelief just a bit).

As for what I didn’t like, there were a few things. One was that Charles Muntz (the main antagonist of the source material) is mentioned again and again throughout, yet never shows up in any capacity. I was genuinely shocked, given how inevitable his appearance felt. I mean, how hard would it have been to give him a quick cameo? Maybe a radio interview where he shuts down Leroy Fontaine’s lies about them being buddies and business partners at the narrative’s end. If I’d gotten that, I’d have been happy. Another thing that got me was that I found the second half (which is really where the bread and butter of this adventure takes place) to be less enjoyable than the first half, which unfolds back in the States. Who knew Ellie’s love life and the workplace sexism she has to navigate, given the post–World War II setting, would be more interesting to me than her adventures stranded in a South American jungle with rich, armed adult nepo babies chasing her down. I couldn’t have imagined that being the case, but here we are.

All in all, this wasn’t a bad adaptation. It benefits a lot from the fact that the character at its center is essentially a blank slate, but ultimately I’ve read better Twisted Tales (and far worse, too). Still, I’d give it a recommendation for the simple fact that, given Ellie McGill/Fredrickson’s penultimate fate in the original, it’s genuinely nice to see her granted a much happier ending here.

[Kyra Sulger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so fun, I love it!

[Madeline]

DNF @ 22% … it just did not feel like a lot was happening from what I read, I wanted to story to move a little faster than it did. Maybe I will revisit it one day

[Daurie Bogart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dare I say my favorite Twisted Tale???

[Hidekisohma · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my fourth book that i've read in the twisted tale series and MY GOD is this the worst one. Hands down. Like it's not even close. The Hercules, Princess and the Frog, and Nightmare before Christmas books were all in the pretty dang good category. but MY GOD was this one bad. I feel like in order to properly describe WHY this is so bad, i need to bring out some bullet points.

1. it's too long. like it's 100-150 pages too long. she spends WAY too much time on nothing that by the time you get to the "adventure" you don't care. and this is a "Y" book don't forget. so you'd even be losing young people. in this 500 page book she doesn't even leave to go to paradise falls until page 250. literally halfway through the book. there's so much filler in the beginning talking about Ellie's hometown and how men who came back after WWII stole the jobs women took over blah blah that you just completely lose interest by the time the actual adventure kicks in.

2. While i'm no stranger to feminism in books, and i have NO problem with female lead stories (as i said, i thoroughly enjoyed the previous 3 twisted tales starring Meg, Sally, and Tiana) the feminism is REALLY in your face. there's no subtlety. the antagonist is a white rich guy who fires the smart kind woman who ran things wonderfully before he came back. The other male besides Carl is a self absorbed pretty boy. Every single woman (with the exception of like 2 henchladies) in the book (in the 40's mind you) is capable, doctorate level intelligence, but only held down by the man. and the only good male really in the book is carl. I don't mind if you want to put a bit of a feminist agenda in your book but when it TAKES OVER THE PLOT, when i'm trying to have a disney adventure, it gets a bit tiring


3. they don't utilitize ANY of the stuff from the movie. because they're doing ellie's story when she's a kid, there's no flying house, no kevin (the bird), and there's not even Charles munz. you know...the VILLAIN of the movie? he gets referenced a bunch but doesn't appear ONCE in the book. Like, how do you even HAVE an Up book with NONE of those things? Ellie isn't old, there's no balloon house. They tease Munz like 100 times but he never shows up. It's really not even an Up book. it has The names Ellie and Carl, but honestly, if you had called the two main characters Jill and Jack, You wouldn't even have known this was an Up book. it could have been any generic adventure book. the connections is superficial at best and nothing at worst.


4. it's incredibly boring. the adventure she's on doesn't have any excitement. it's just the author whinging about how girls don't get a fair shake in the 40's. (she doesn't go on the adventure until page 250 of the 500 page book), she has so many internal monologues about what Carl would say at the moment, how she wants to go on adventure, how the guy at the zoo is unfair. blah blah. it's so distractingly dull for the first 85% of the book you have to fight yourself to not skim through it.


5. there's no whimsy. most of it is just ellie complaining in internal monologues. There's no fun to this book. It's just incredibly dull and it reads like the author has a chip on her shoulder about men. like she just wanted to kvetch about men in the 1940's.

I'm sad this book was so awful. I REALLY wanted to enjoy it. i was thinking "oh. maybe Ellie will be the old lady and fly her house" nope. "okay, well maybe a YOUNG ellie will meet charles munz and-" nope. "okay..um...well maybe ellie will find out about the talking dogs or kevin or-" nope. Nope. if you were hoping there to be ANY connection to Up other than the main characters names, you will be sorely disappointed.

I'm trying so hard to find anything good about this book, and the only thing i can say about it is that..you know, i'm sitting here writing this review trying to think of a positive to not give this book a 1 out of 5, and i'm really struggling. it REALLY is a 1.5 out of 5. but do i round it up to a 2 or down to a 1?

You know, i think more than anything i'm mad about the missed opportunity. so yeah. i'm gonna round it down. I could have had a wacky adventure with an old lady. and i didn't get that. i got whinging. and that i can't forgive.

1.5 out of 5 rounded down to a 1.

[JD Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been craving another Twisted Tale offering from Liz Braswell ever since her last full novel in the series "What Once Was Mine". Braswell is never afraid to go all in, and completely twists the story and fleshes out the world of the animated features that we don't get to even catch a glimpse of, really, in the films she twists... However, admittedly, "What Once Was Mine" was my least favorite of Braswell's stories as it went a little too far away from the canon of Tangled to form a new narrative. However, my favorite Twisted Tale book "Unbirthday", is also from Braswell, and I was hoping that what we got in this novel was something more like that; the original story changed, and laced with extremely high stakes and tension. There is also the added variable that "Adventure is Out There!" is not based off a Disney or Pixar fairy tale movie. All of Braswell's other stories have been from worlds where there is magic, and royal families, and fantasy... But, "Up" isn't like that... So I was so excited to see what this book would be like...
In essence, I loved it! "Adventure is Out There!" is so, so good! The characters feel so on brand, the new characters are really interesting and fit right into the world, and the story overall is very much in the spirit of "Up". Ellie is a wonderfully complex and fleshed out character in this novel, adding new depths to a character who has a miniscule amount of screentime in the original film (for good reason). However, Braswell adds so much life and spunk into the character that is very much appreciated! Not to mention, after having watched the film many times, she took great care in lacing the pre established canon with what we see in the original film (like her family in the wedding scene each having names and character traits). The book is also a very good, and appreciated, length. Many of the Twisted Tales recently have been pretty short, some barely reaching 350 pages. However, with the recent editions from Keala Kendall, and now this, it's so good to get all of that story. Not a single page seems wasted, and the story is ever evolving, which makes the length feel even better! However, I'll keep this review brief. There is actually so much to spoil, so I won't say more, but you have to pick this up!

[Angie Miale · Rating 3 out of 5]

🎈 What if Ellie had been the one to chase the adventure?

⭐️⭐️⭐️½ (3.5/5)

I’ve read most of the Disney Twisted Tales-style books written by Liz Braswell, and this may be my favorite of the bunch. In Adventure Is Out There, Braswell imagines an alternate version of Pixar’s Up where Ellie—not Carl—sets off for Paradise Falls. The result is part adventure story, part historical fiction, and a fresh take on two beloved characters.

Set in the 1940s when Ellie and Carl are sixteen-year-old neighbors and best friends, the book shines brightest in its exploration of the era. While this is technically a YA novel, there’s a surprising amount of historical depth woven throughout the story. Braswell examines how women entered the workforce during World War II, only to be pushed back toward traditional domestic roles afterward. Themes of sexism, workplace inequality, and even a bit of mansplaining feel remarkably relevant despite the historical setting.

The first half of the novel was easily my favorite. I loved spending time with young Ellie and Carl and watching Ellie pursue the kind of adventure she’s always dreamed about. There is a small love triangle element, but Up fans can rest easy—Ellie and Carl remain the heart of the story.

My biggest criticism is the length. At more than 500 pages, the story occasionally feels stretched out, and I think it would have been stronger with a tighter edit. Even so, I had a great time with this one and found it to be one of the most engaging entries in Braswell’s Disney catalog.

You don’t need to have watched Up to enjoy this book, but longtime fans will definitely get the most out of it. If you’ve ever wondered what might have happened had Ellie been the one chasing Paradise Falls, this is a fun adventure worth taking.

[Merel Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the start of this book, with Carl and Ellie growing up and their adventures together. Also Ellies time at the zoo and the different kind of people she worked with.

I loved Soda-Pop and the relationship Ellie build with him. The little tests back in the zoo, but also when she discovers his home and keeps him close at her in the jungle.

From the moment Ellie actually went to Paradise Falls, I started to grow more annoyed with the story. I didn’t bond with the people she met in the jungle and the relationships between them.

I kinda hoped the book would have a plottwist to boost the story. Charles Muntz never even got an apearance, nor any other character from the movie, despite all his mentions.

I must admit this story doesn’t really feel like a twisted tale, because Ellie already went to Paradise Falls when she was young. The book missed out on almost everything in the movie.

The pace was a bit to slow for me.

[Abbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is genuinely one of my favorites from the Twisted Tales series. I absolutely loved getting to read from Ellie’s perspective and learn more about her since we obviously can’t in the movie (😭). She is just so smart and loving to all animals and it’s just a blast to see her perspective of everything. The plot and the actual story was really really well told, it was fun and suspenseful and mysterious and so much more. If you’re a fan of the movie Up, I think you’ll definitely like it. This peek into Carl and Ellie’s early life is absolutely amazing and makes you all the more sad for the beginning of the movie (😭). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

PS
This book is set in the 1940s post WWII so there are A LOT of men underestimating women as was the thing back then. Made me cringe and roll my eyes every time. But still a fantastic read.

[Katelyn Peel · Rating 3 out of 5]

“UP” is just not a personal favorite of mine and one i just never enjoyed. I own the entire series so I knew regardless I had to read it and own it. The ice is great however as a not so much of a fan of the movie it was eh for me. I liked that they broke it up into 2 parts and they incorporated the soda pop purple into it. The second half (260-505) was more interesting to me about her paradise falls adventure and how Carl & Ellie finally got together. The story itself was great but it didn’t keep my interest as much as some of the others due to not being the biggest fan of the movie. Overall a great read if you’re a fan and still a good book even if you’re not.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Up was one of my fave movies as a child so I was very excited to learn that Ellie was getting featured as a main character in the Disney Twisted Tales series. I feel that Braswell got Ellie’s personality spot on, and I loved reading the first half that focused more on Ellie and Carl’s relationship as teenagers as well as Ellie’s time working at her internship at the zoo.

I wasn’t as invested when she gets to Paradise Falls though, which was a slight letdown for me as the characters and setting weren’t as strong as the ones in the first half for me. I still had a good time with it though, hence the 4 star rating.

[Courtney Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellie didn’t get the amount of screen time she deserved in the film, so I was excited to see her take center stage in this book. I think the strength of this book is how little we knew about her to begin with, so it was like starting from a blank slate.

The pacing of this book was ROUGH. 100 pages could’ve been shaved off easily to help with it, but there was just so much description that took me out of the story. Don’t say in 20 words what could take 10.

I really liked watching Ellie go through her own challenges and tackle them head on. The strong FMC the movie robbed us of. I was a big fan of her ending in this book compared to the movie too.

[Emmie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An “Up” adaptation on ‘What if it was Ellie who went up to Paradise Falls?’ It’s cute and hits all the feels the movie does but from teenage Ellie’s point of view. It takes place at the end of WW2 where Ellie deals with sexism while interning at a zoo and fighting for animal rights. Then she goes on an adventure. It gets a little…out there about halfway through but we’re talking about a book based on a movie where the main character flies his house away with balloons. This fits in. Go team Ellie.
4 out of 5 🌟

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. An enjoyable twisted tale. I especially enjoyed learning more about Ellie and her personality. Perhaps we’ll see a film remake with Ellie surviving Carl. However, I didn’t like a couple aspects of the story. Ellie’s relationship with John felt like a bit of betrayal (even though I realize that makes no sense). There was incredibly little in the plot or characters to connect to the film, so I’m not wondering if a revised version of the film will never take place in this timeline. Regardless I did enjoy most of it including the plethora of strong female characters.

[Aussie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What If it was Ellie who went UP to Paradise Fall ?

I waited so long for this to be released and i ate this up in a day ! I adore this movie so much ! I love seeing Ellie's perspective and be able to learn more about Ellie. The story was told so good . My favourite part was the peek in Carl and Ellie’s early life which just made it more beautiful aswell as sad at same time because of the beginning of the movie

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for anyone who loves Disney and historical fiction. They was Liz wrote about the injustice most women received after WW2 after they practically ran the country, then oh thanks now, get back to the kitchen where you belong mentally spot on. I love how Ellie decided. Nope, I'm not going to be the good little submissive little girl and took charge. Another awesome twisted tale can't wait for the next one. I hear it will be stitch.

[Sarah J Stebbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great and interesting addition to this series. Getting to read about Ellie and Carl as they grew up was fun. Ellie being the one who got to go on a crazy adventure, as a 16 year old, was quite the ride. I did like the ending, but also felt it was a little abrupt as well. An epilogue would have been nice, though the book ends on a high note as is.

[Shateau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is sold as a Disney retelling, but it felt like a prequel of a character that is known for their influence in Up, Ellie. That being said, it was a good story. It was structured in a way that made it feel like two separate stories. Ellie's relationship with Carl and then her adventures. The first half was a solid 5 star read. The second half was a bit less grounded.

[Cecilia Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginning in Bloomington USA, at the end of World War II, sixteen year old Ellie McGill works at the local zoo.

When Leroy Reardon arrives with a new acquisition, Ellie is concerned that the bird is home sick.

She steals a plane and flies to Venezuela to take Soda Pop home.

Braswell takes elements from the animated Up, and gives Ellie an adventurous backstory.

[Jeff C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of disappointed with the lack of tying in much of the movie to the book like other twisted tales books. Honestly a long book too and felt drug out. Funny moments here and there, but overall I wouldn’t probably recommend this to a friend. Didn’t really add much to the storyline or have much character development in alignment with the original story.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh this was so fun while remaining true to Up. It’s not as dark as some of the other Twisted Tales have been and I love that because sometimes it can be a bit much. Also I adore that theoretically it all could have happened within the segment of Married Life and both this book and Up can coexist.

[Jessi Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventure is out there! is a wonderful new addition to the twisted tales series. I Loved it! Though for some people the start of the book might feel a little slow, but it builds UP to the adventure part perfectly.

[Emily Prior · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars

I love this retelling, I love the movie UP and it's a great story about what would happen for Ellie to go up to paradise falls her self, and I like the retelling has the balloons and bird and dogs too.

[Tawnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omgggggg 🥹 I thought this was cute! Ellie is that girl.

But can we talk about how absolutely diabolical it was for another character to say to Ellie: “SAVE SOME (lives) FOR WHEN YOU ARE OLDER MAYBE AND HAVE CANCER. EXCUSE MEEEEEEE!?!?!!!! 😭🥺

[kaitlyn]

hey so i actually cried in my public library reading this description

[Jo Quarles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute read! Definitely different from the original UP story, and very unique as far as the Twisted Tales series goes. Enjoyed the ride! Cute!!