Thank you NetGalley for this ARC audio.

If you love Disney and feel-good books, this is right up your alley.

Madison and Laney are best friends. Madison is very driven. She is planning on medical school or so she thinks that's what she wants. Lanie is all Disney all the time. She is a free spirit and has entered a contest to be the first on a Disney Island where you live out your Disney fantasies. It follows the girls through their respected Disney Princess lives.

This book is adorable. I really enjoyed it. Great narrator and it made me feel like I wanted to be a Disney princess.
I would definitely recommend this audiobook.

A trip to Happily Ever Island is the fulfillment of a dream for Madison, the opportunity to be a beta tester for Disney's newest resort experience during spring break--a great respite from the Chicago winter. At the resort, Madison and her companion (no spoilers here!) are able to dive deep into live action role playing their favorite Disney characters. Madison makes a great Cinderella, working hard to keep her step mother and sisters happy, in keeping with the plot of the movie.

As Madison and her companion enjoy the vacation, they each have the opportunity to grow up a bit, figuring out what are their respective goals in life and what they need to do to achieve them.

Though written for kids 12 and above, this audio book is enjoyable to any adult who loved or still loves Disney.

This is a cute read to start your summer.

Two best friends get to go and be Disney princesses of their choice on a Disney vacation? Summer romance? Yes, please!

I did feel Madison could get in a little on your nerves (I say this as a huge fan of all things Disney), it felt a little like she the author tried to hard to make her a huge Disney fan.

Overall sweet, fun read for summer with a dose of Disney!

Thank you NetGalley for a chance to read this advanced copy for an honest review.

Happily Ever Island is the perfect book for Disney lovers!

Madison is a kid at heart, unapologetic Disney lover. When she enters and wins a trip to the inaugural Happily Ever Island, she is LIVING out her wildest dreams. With lands appearing just like Disney landscapes, characters dressing up and playing actual roles, and her best friend attending at her side, Madison is in Disney heaven.

Lanie is the exact opposite of Madison: she's never set foot on a Disney theme park. Yet, she agrees to attend the trip with Madison. This island adventure is the exact opposite of "part of her world" but maybe she'll let go all her outside expectations.

This read/listen is the PERFECT thing for those who love Disney. The chapters are titled by popular Disney songs and match each character's vibe. The narrator is perfect for sharing each magical moment and attending to each character need. I recommend this for anyone who wants to wear their Mickey ears and adventure to Neverland or their local theme park.

THE AUDIO NARRATOR IS WONDERFUL. She did an OUTSTANDING job with the different voices and matching the tone and vibe that I feel one would get while reading.

This is the perfect story for a middle or high school student who LOVES Disney. It is the perfect dream- going to visit an island that is created to look like all the classic and current hits WHILE getting to take on the persona of a character! I loved the incorporation of a LGBTQ+ relationship and a typical straight relationship. Also, I could totally relate to that fact that Madison felt she had no direction and others made her dreams seem childish or silly (and the YA crowd definitely will, too).

Will 100% recommend it to my students who have an interest in Disney/Princesses/unsure of what they should be doing when others are pressuring them.

(Was annoying how much they felt the need to say “Disney.” Like, we got it in the first 10 pages. We get it with the names of the characters- STOP JUST SAYING DISNEY TO PLUG IT.)

What is better than a love story? Two! And that is just what we get with Happily Ever Island. Madison has no idea what she wants to do. She is in college but has no direction. Her best friend Laine is a science geek and is on a solid path to medical school. Lanie has no time for anything but work, study, and class while Madison is more worried about her girlfriend and their breakup. One thing Madison had planed was to win a trip to Happily Ever Island; a new Disney experience where one lives as their favorite character. However, after hearing her now ex-girlfriend say something mean, she knows what she needs to do. She needs to give her second ticket to her best friend instead. Lanie needs a break and is on the edge of burnout. So off they go on this gratis Disney adventure. Madison knows she needs to lay off the “love” but she can’t help herself. There are so many cute girls. And Lanie, has no time for love, but Prince Charming is something else. I half expected the book to try and get the two friends together, but they are allowed to remain friends and find new loves perfect for their personality. So, we the reader, get a traditional love story, and a Sapphic love story in one book. Both stories are so cute. The entire book works well and will have the reader flipping pages to find out what happens next. Because for Disney master Madison, nothing goes as planned (she is Cinderella after all), while Lanie, who barely knows the movies or the characters, has her unknown dreams come true. This book was a joy to read and now I want my own Happily Ever Island Disney experience.

What would you do if you won a trip to a Disney fairy tale Island? The premise of this book was VERY promising, but the characters fell flat for me. Although I preferred Lanie over Madison, I found that the characters lacked depth and I wasn’t cheering for them. The secondary characters are so glossed over that you don’t even know their names until the end of the book. I do love that this book has different relationship types portrayed.

I could see this turning into a series, but I would love to know the characters more, if they do.

Thank you to Disney Audiobooks and Netgalley for the Advanced Readers Copy.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4745640322

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Disney Audiobooks in exchange for an honest review.

So I've watched all the Disney movies, I have a favorite princess (well ok, my answer on that changes, but at any given point I can name one), and I have strong opinions on Aurora's dress (blue, not pink)... but I've only been to a Disney park once in my life and I'll be honest, going back isn't at the top of my list of vacation destinations. With that being said, the idea of a park where I could embody the life of my favorite Disney character and reenact their big hero (or villain) moment sounds like it would be SO much fun. I think Cestari did a really great job with bringing the Disney details to life in HAPPILY EVER ISLAND.

I enjoyed the plot and how the romance aspect played out a little differently than how it looked like it would at the start of the novel. Madison and Lanie are interesting characters on their own and have a good dynamic between them. Their friendship (the good and the bad of it) felt genuine. Overall this was a fun read and a fairly tame romance so it should appeal to a wide range of YA readers - and you don't need to be a super Disney fan to understand or enjoy it either.

It's surprising to see that only one person does the audiobook narration (Reba Buhr) as the voices between Madison and Lanie chapters is SO different... it's a little jarring for example how different Madison's voice is in the Madison POV chapters compared to the Lanie POV chapters I assumed it was two different performers. Given that it was one person I don't understand the director's choice in how each POV was performed.

This is a light-hearted story about a college-age Disney super-fan who wins an all-expenses-paid trip to a test run of a new Disney park centered around reenacting (e.g., live-action role-playing and cosplay) major scenes from the Disney movies.

The story is well written and I believe it will appeal to (younger adult) Disney super fans. But, I’ll concede that this strikes me as a very niche book. I can see it being sold at a Disney park and being read while basking at the pool in Orlando or Anaheim. For what it is, its perfectly enjoyable.

For non-Disney super fans, the plot lacks much-needed tension. I was hoping for a Jurassic-park-Esque unraveling. Obviously, Disney doesn’t want to spoof their own disastrous invitation-only opening day. Sinking boat drama is exactly what this plot needed (but didn’t have). There is no rising or falling action. It’s really light-hearted fan-fic of two best friends who reenact their favorite scenes from Disney at a high-tech Disney park designed precisely for that purpose.

The book is written for a “new adult” audience. There are two romance subplots (one M/F and one F/F). While the main protagonists are college students, there’s nothing past “a first kiss” in the romance plot. Younger teens or tweens may struggle to connect with the older protagonists and their real-life “career drama”, but here’s nothing here content-wise that would be objectionable for ages 12+.

Hello! So I read the book, wrote my review and for fun I listened to the audiobook. The audiobook was so perfect. The voice was one of those that can literally make or break a book, and her voice made the book.

I wanted to become a part of the story. I was wrapped up in it. I love Disney and wish this place existed, even though I don’t do cosplay.

This novel made me a happily ever reader. If Disney ever decides to make a cosplay/immersive island experience, sign me up! I will totally be the first one to sign up and beg to be allowed to go. I think my love of Disney would rival Madison's, but I am not as on point with all the Disney trivia as Val.

Snapshot Summary: Disney created an immersive island filled with various kingdoms for fans to come to and cosplay. They even have "Hero" moments set up throughout the vacation for fans to reenact: iconic scenes like "kiss the girl" from Little Mermaid, the Maleficent dragon fight in Sleeping Beauty and the floating lanterns from Tangled. There are main characters to cosplay, minor characters and villains (on an unsurprising note, people flocked more to sign up to be villains than the heroes). Madison is aching to go to the island with her college fling for spring break and has entered the sweepstakes to be Cinderella. But the girl of her sweepstakes dreams can't make it with her, so Madison invites her bestie Lanie to go and be Brave - literally and figuratively since Lanie is an introvert with social anxiety AND will be cosplaying Merida. Read on to get all the juicy details of Disney's new island and the love potential stored there.

What I loved most: alternating perspectives from Lanie and Madison, the whimsy and magic of Disney, all the Disney trivia parts and inclusions in the narrative, the light-hearted rom-com.

Note on the narrator: LOVED this narrator and the "voices" given to various characters.

Audiobook review - I really enjoyed this book! As a Disney fan I found a lot to love and relate to. The characters are adorable and they navigate this once in a lifetime dream vacation and their love lives. While it is a little too perfect that both main characters found what they were looking for in the end it does fit with your typical Disney ending. Hand this to young adults and new adults looking for a fun summer escape.

Cute concept. Made me want to visit the island. Loved all the fairytale hero moments. Quick listen with a likeable narrator and characters.