Lucy Rayner's reading gets singled out by name in two separate reviews of this audiobook, which is rare enough on this site to lead with. A Villains Collection bundles all three of Serena Valentino's Disney villain retellings into one purchase, published by Disney in October 2016, and running just under thirteen hours across the three self-contained stories, with a rating of 4.6 from 33 ratings backing up what those two reviewers describe.
Valentino's three books each take a familiar Disney villain and build a novel around their side of the story. Fairest of All asks why the wicked Queen is "so nasty, particularly to Snow White," pointing toward "the creepy-looking man in the magic mirror" as more than just a plot device. The Beast Within follows a cursed prince, once "jovial and beloved by the people," now reclusive and feared, and asks whether he can "break the curse that has been placed upon him." Poor Unfortunate Soul closes the set with Ursula's version of the Little Mermaid story, told from the sea witch's own perspective rather than the hero's. Pamela Landry's five-star review captures the appeal of the whole format directly: "I have always wondered about what drove the villains in a story," and this collection is built specifically to answer that question three separate times over. What's notable across all three is the consistency of approach: rather than simply retelling the familiar animated stories from a different angle, each book constructs an origin for its villain, the Queen's obsession with the magic mirror, the prince's fall from a beloved figure into a beast, and Ursula's own path to becoming the sea witch of the third book, giving each character a causal history rather than treating cruelty as an unexplained given.
What Makes A Villains Collection: Books 1-3 Worth Hearing
Annette Gann's five-star review is the strongest piece of direct narration feedback on this listing: "The voice of the reader is enjoyable," Gann writes, adding that the collection is "pretty hard to stop listening to" partway through the second book. Isabel's review backs this up independently: "I got the audio one and the speaker was really good so far," a comment made only halfway through the collection, suggesting the reading holds up across the full runtime rather than just a strong opening. Sheila's review speaks to relisten value directly, calling the series a repeat favorite and noting "I have listened to these several times," plus a plan to keep going, "I can't wait to listen to them all." FJ's shorter review is simply enthusiastic: "I can't even begin to say how much I'm enjoying this audiobook." All five reviews land at or near five stars, giving this one of the more consistently positive review sets covered here, and two of them specifically crediting the narration rather than just the writing. That's a genuinely useful signal for anyone weighing whether to buy the audio edition over print, since it confirms the listening experience itself, not just Valentino's writing, as a reason people keep coming back to this collection.
Things to Know Before Starting A Villains Collection: Books 1-3
One data point stands out immediately: the listing carries a page count of exactly 1, which is clearly an error for a three-book collection running nearly thirteen hours, so don't treat that field as meaningful; the runtime is the only reliable length indicator here. The genre tags span both childrens-audiobooks and teen-young-adult, which is a wide net for content built around villain psychology, including a cursed prince "reclusive and bitter" and a sea witch's manipulations, so use your own judgment on age-appropriateness for younger listeners rather than assuming the tag alone settles it. Parents choosing this for a family listen might want to preview at least the Beast Within chapters first, given the synopsis's own framing of a "reclusive and bitter monster" at that story's center. On the rating itself, all five visible written reviews sit at five stars against a displayed badge of 4.6 from 33 total ratings, so treat the badge as a broader signal than what the five written reviews alone would suggest, since this listing offers no way to see what the remaining ratings said. Also worth a quick note on formatting: the listing's own publisher and ISBN fields carry stray formatting artifacts left over from whatever system compiled this record, harmless in practice, but a sign that this particular record has passed through more than one system on its way here.
Who Serena Valentino Is Writing For
Disney fans of any age curious about villain backstories are the clear audience, especially listeners who want confirmed narration quality going in, since Annette Gann and Isabel both single out Lucy Rayner's reading directly rather than leaving it to guesswork. The three-story structure also makes this a practical entry point if you want to sample the Villains trilogy without committing to three separate purchases. Skip it if you specifically want hero-centered classic retellings rather than the villain's-eye view these three books commit to, or if the page-count error above makes you want firmer print-equivalent details before buying. For anyone weighing whether to buy this or the three books individually, the bundle's nearly thirteen hours at a single price point is worth comparing against buying Fairest of All, The Beast Within, and Poor Unfortunate Soul separately before deciding which fits your budget better, especially since the reviews above suggest the narration quality holds steady across all three stories rather than favoring one over the others.
Quick Take
- Narration: Lucy Rayner reads all three villain tales, and two separate reviewers single out the reading itself as a highlight.
- Themes: Disney villain backstories, fairy tale retellings, sympathetic antagonists
- Mood: Dark and inventive
- Verdict: A strongly reviewed three-book bundle with confirmed narration quality, worth it despite a clearly wrong page-count listing.
Questions Listeners Ask
Do reviewers say anything about the narration in the A Villains Collection audiobook?
Yes, and directly, which is genuinely unusual to find. Annette Gann calls 'the voice of the reader' enjoyable, and Isabel independently says 'the speaker was really good' partway through, giving this collection more concrete narration feedback than most titles covered on this site.
How many stories are in the A Villains Collection audiobook?
Three self-contained novels bundled together into one purchase: Fairest of All, centered on the wicked Queen; The Beast Within, following the cursed prince; and Poor Unfortunate Soul, telling the Little Mermaid story from Ursula the sea witch's own perspective instead.
Is the page count listed for the A Villains Collection audiobook accurate?
No, almost certainly not accurate. The listing shows a page count of exactly 1, which is clearly a data error for a three-book collection running nearly thirteen hours, so treat the runtime as the only reliable length indicator on this record.
Is the A Villains Collection audiobook appropriate for children?
The listing tags it under both children's audiobooks and teen-young-adult categories at once, but the content includes real villain psychology, including a cursed, embittered prince and a manipulative sea witch, so use your own judgment for younger listeners on a case by case basis.
