Go the Distance

By: Jen Calonita

Narrated by: Amanda Troop

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

The 11th installment in the New York Times best-selling A Twisted Tale series asks: What if Meg had to become a Greek god? 

After Hercules proves he's a true hero and regains his godship, all seems right in the world. That is, until Zeus tells Meg that she can't be with Hercules because she's, well, mortal. Luckily, Hera has a solution, offering Meg a chance to prove herself worthy of a spot on Mt. Olympus - as a god. All Meg has to do is complete a mysterious quest. 

The mission? Oh, just to rescue her ex's current wife from the Underworld. The ex-boyfriend she saved by selling her soul to Hades. The ex-boyfriend who immediately moved on to someone else while she was stuck in the Underworld. Can Meg put her past behind her and use her quick-wit to defeat monsters and gods alike, including the nefarious Hades? Will she finally figure out her place and contribution to the world? Or will her fear of commitment have her running away from an eternity of godhood with Herc? 

Written by the author of Mirror, Mirror and Conceal, Don't Feel, Jen Calonita's latest twist is sure to delight and surprise.

©2021 Jen Calonita (P)2021 Disney Hyperion

Disappointing. Who is this character?

I wanted to like this book, especially after hearing so many people say they loved it. Hercules is one of my favorite Disney movies. But this book was just... not good. Considering it's supposed to be a "continuation" of what happened at the end of the movie, the details of Meg's life and her relationships with Hercules and Hades are not consistent with what we know, which bothered me to no end every time something didn't follow the movie. Meg is supposed to be sassy, tough, and resourceful. I don't know who the Meg in this book is; she is not logical or witty, she is impulsive, and she spends way more time focused on Hercules than she does on why she is trying to complete her quest. It does not help that it seems like the narrator saw Hercules once as a kid and went, "Yeah, I can do those voices." Meg sounds like a valley girl, and most of the male characters all sound the same (even the same bad New York accent). For some reason Phil calls her "Red", even though he never called her that in the movie, and she calls Pegasus "Peg". There is also a huge overuse in the beginning of the nickname "Wonder Boy", I was considering taking a drink every time it popped up. I even had to stop listening to this for several weeks before deciding to power through it. I'm glad some people enjoyed this book, but I am not impressed with it at all.

Just Magical

Just the fact there's a story of an alternate ending caught my eye.
You won't be disappointed

amazing

very well read. Love the different voices.
Keeps in interested through the whole story!!
Would listen again and again

fantastic

everything over all was amazing. loved it all. if you love Hercules, you'll love this.

A continuation of a beloved movie

The narrator did a great job making the voices different from one another. I loved the sassiness of Meg you see in the movie come out in the book. If you enjoyed the animated version of Hercules then you will enjoy this too. It was interesting to see how the author created different scenarios. There was clear foreshadowing as you ask yourself why do they keep mentioning that, but that was part of the fun you didn't know what was coming, but could make predictions. I enjoyed it. Good clean fun.

very good!!

This was a fantastic story. The reader is very good and captivating. I was very impressed.

I would recommend.

This was my first book in the series and I really enjoyed it. All the characters were captured well and I'm happy they introduced Persephone and would love to hear more of that relationship.

A magical, beautiful tale ♥️

Omg, I don’t even know where to begin. I honestly loved everyone second of this and my only complaint is that I wish it had been longer! Megara has always been one of my fav Disney heroines and Jen Calonita grasped and expanded on her character so well. I always felt that Meg deserved more attention so I am sooo glad that she was given her own story.

I have never heard this narrator before but she was simply amazing. The voice and inflection she chose for Meg was spot on and the variety of voices she performed was astounding. She managed to make Hades sound both comical and terrifying and the tones she used for the various gods were so commanding and incredible. The voices she did for men and children were impressive as well. I am def going to search for more books by this author and narrator. What a truly great team!

(Spoilers) The plot of this book is so amazing that I am officially declaring it canon in my head lol. It was always kind of off to me that Zeus and Hera so readily accepted Hercules’s decision to remain mortal so this was an apt twist and a much better ending as far as I’m concerned. My heart had always broke for Meg too wondering how her previous lover could have been so cruel that he immediately dumped her for someone else after she lost her soul to save him. It never even occurred to me that Hades had a sinister hand in that! This version makes so much more sense and is all the more heartbreaking.

Asking Meg to save the soul of her ex’s new wife who seemingly stole him away was beyond brilliant. Megara’s journey and evolution is breathtaking. I love when characters are given backstory so I thoroughly enjoyed the insights with her mother and Agius. It shows us what shapes Megara to be who she is before she meets Hercules. And I personally love when women are portrayed as flawed like Meg and Thea bc I feel like far too often negative traits are reserved for male characters.

I am so happy that the writer chose to include Persephone in this story bc she has always been one of my favorite greek gods! Her dialogue with Hades was sparkling and hysterical. It would be great if the writer could make a sequel to this which expands on Megara as a god and maybe more interactions between Persephone and Hades. There is def great potential there.

It was amazing how while Meg was the focal character, they still managed to make you feel so much for secondary characters like Katarina and Layla. I love the twist with Layla and Thea in the end, that was perfect! I also loved the addition of music throughout the story, that was brilliant. The writing was so descriptive that I could def see this tale as its own animated movie! It def gave me a lot of inspiration for my own writing.

I highly recommend this book to any fantasy and disney fans. And fans of greek mythology! I am a full grown woman and I absolutely loved it. Prepare to laugh and cry. The ending had me sobbing lol. I am def going to listen to this amazing audiobook again and again!

So many characters

Go the Distance was both a lesson in living, relative to today, and an introduction to Greek mythology. One of the most amazing aspects was how the reader created distinctive voices for each character—and there were so many characters! It was a very enjoyable listen.

Wonderful!

I love the twisted tale books and this one was amazing! It was very creative and will make me look at this story in a whole new light! Meg was one of my favorites as a child and I loved hearing this. The narrator even sounds like Meg at times and I feel like she is telling me this story herself.

disney

love disney love doing the twisted tales 😍 can't wait for the rest love it 😍

pretty good

Loved the story the plot etc .... could use some sound effects for a better immersion into the story also
It was read quite slowly but turned the speed up so not a problem

Loved it

I absolutely loved this book. The story was amazing and the reading was fab as well as it gave the book depth and personality. Such a great read!!

Not sure how to feel about this

It was OK. The voice over was all over the place with accents and weird inflections, and made it seem far more childish than it needed to be.
The writing itself was questionable with odd bits of phrases taken from the movie and used over and over again in stange ways. Hercules just seems to say 'Meg!' 50% of the time and has no real personality. Still nice to see she has a back story of some sort