Take a photo of a barcode or cover
2.85 AVERAGE
2.85 AVERAGE
At the moment I'm totally into fairytale retellings. I just can't get enough of them, of the promise of a happily ever after, of princesses taking control, of fairytales doing what they do best: Teach us that everything is possible, that we can make our own choices and that a happily ever after is always within reach.
So, when I found this book, I just had to buy it. I didn't read that many Rapunzel retellings, as it's a hard tale to keep interesting, but this book has a nice take on the story. I have to admit that action wise not that much is happening, but I think it's a wonderful description of a girl being locked up, sheltered, away from the world and those she loves.
At times the English used feels a little childish, even for an 18-year old character, but that also made that it was a very nice and easy read. The lay out could be a little confusing at times and I'm not that fond of pages of handwriting, because it really doesn't read that easily, but that didn't ruin the magic and it for sure didn't mean I enjoyed the story any less.
In a way the story stays close to the Rapunzel we know, incorporating the well known elements of her tale. But it also adds its own elements and twists. Some of them unpredictable, some of them very predictable. But if I wanted something totally unexpected, I wouldn't pick up a fairytale retelling, so I personally didn't mind the predictability at times.
The character of Rapunzel was also nicely done. She had a certain passion and fire, although she was also reserved and slightly naive. She was stubborn and strong headed, but not that intelligent, which is totally okay if the character is just meant and portrayed that way. She had something endearing, something cute, something you wanted to protect and root for.
It was not the most challenging or emotional read I read lately, but it was exactly what I needed today.
So, when I found this book, I just had to buy it. I didn't read that many Rapunzel retellings, as it's a hard tale to keep interesting, but this book has a nice take on the story. I have to admit that action wise not that much is happening, but I think it's a wonderful description of a girl being locked up, sheltered, away from the world and those she loves.
At times the English used feels a little childish, even for an 18-year old character, but that also made that it was a very nice and easy read. The lay out could be a little confusing at times and I'm not that fond of pages of handwriting, because it really doesn't read that easily, but that didn't ruin the magic and it for sure didn't mean I enjoyed the story any less.
In a way the story stays close to the Rapunzel we know, incorporating the well known elements of her tale. But it also adds its own elements and twists. Some of them unpredictable, some of them very predictable. But if I wanted something totally unexpected, I wouldn't pick up a fairytale retelling, so I personally didn't mind the predictability at times.
The character of Rapunzel was also nicely done. She had a certain passion and fire, although she was also reserved and slightly naive. She was stubborn and strong headed, but not that intelligent, which is totally okay if the character is just meant and portrayed that way. She had something endearing, something cute, something you wanted to protect and root for.
It was not the most challenging or emotional read I read lately, but it was exactly what I needed today.
I purchased this book for my Kindle simply because I love the Disney movie Tangled and I love the Rapunzel fairy tale. Upon reading this book I soon became disappointed. Grammatical errors dot the entire book and the main character, though she has been alive since the 1700s and self-proclaims she has the wisdom of an old woman, acts like an immature teenager. Her language is not consistent with the time frame she is supposed to be from thus leading to inconsistent characterization.
Poor Tangled references are made, including describing her hair as a "gift from the sun." Each character has poor motives, actions that are not flushed out, and descriptions that are poorly explained.
Rapunzel even gets to be a mother figure in this book, except she does not even tell her adopted son about his biological parents.
The pacing was horrible. At least four chapters are devoted to Rapunzel writing letters to an editor who claims that fairy tales do not exist. Really, it is just her taking an article too seriously and too personally.
And what would a contemporary plot be without a love triangle? Neither love interest, Henry nor John, captured my attention. John was barely interested in Rapunzel at all, and why Henry did not divulge his secret earlier is beyond me. A direct quote from Henry, upon seeing Rapunzel, states, "But I am a man. How can I not look on that face?" As if a man is incapable of controlling himself around a pretty face. Henry also asked her to never cut her hair, and as a he followed and watched her without her knowledge. If she was not in her room by sunset, he would beckon her there in his own way. That is not loving, that is creepy.
Discussion questions are at the end of the book, which are very much unneeded, especially since they ask simple questions about major plot points or obvious scenes.
The ending tied itself together very well, and I was content with the way it ended. It was a comfortable read and overall it felt like a down pillow; comfortable while occasionally poking it's unfortunate sleeper with the sharp end of the feathers.
Poor Tangled references are made, including describing her hair as a "gift from the sun." Each character has poor motives, actions that are not flushed out, and descriptions that are poorly explained.
Rapunzel even gets to be a mother figure in this book, except she does not even tell her adopted son about his biological parents.
The pacing was horrible. At least four chapters are devoted to Rapunzel writing letters to an editor who claims that fairy tales do not exist. Really, it is just her taking an article too seriously and too personally.
And what would a contemporary plot be without a love triangle? Neither love interest, Henry nor John, captured my attention. John was barely interested in Rapunzel at all, and why Henry did not divulge his secret earlier is beyond me. A direct quote from Henry, upon seeing Rapunzel, states, "But I am a man. How can I not look on that face?" As if a man is incapable of controlling himself around a pretty face. Henry also asked her to never cut her hair, and as a
Spoiler
dragonDiscussion questions are at the end of the book, which are very much unneeded, especially since they ask simple questions about major plot points or obvious scenes.
The ending tied itself together very well, and I was content with the way it ended. It was a comfortable read and overall it felt like a down pillow; comfortable while occasionally poking it's unfortunate sleeper with the sharp end of the feathers.
3.5 stars because it was a light easy fluffy read and that's exactly what I needed.
There are many things not right with this story and the plot and telling reads like a middle grader wrote it, but hey, it's a fairy tale, and it has dragons in it, and sometimes I just want an easy escape read and this was one of those times. For a simple fairy tale telling it hits the mark. Don't be expecting George R.R. Martin or anything deeper than a surface shimmer of make believe. This read reminded me of stories read to me when I was a little girl, long before I discovered there was a wonderful world of grit and darker shades of ever after. Sometimes it's nice to be in the midst of something that reminds you of a time when you could believe in sweet ever afters.
If you have little girls under the age of 8 they would probably love this re-telling; it definitely has a G rating.
(I've also discovered I'm a cover whore; it's gorgeous and the reason I was first attracted to this book.)
There are many things not right with this story and the plot and telling reads like a middle grader wrote it, but hey, it's a fairy tale, and it has dragons in it, and sometimes I just want an easy escape read and this was one of those times. For a simple fairy tale telling it hits the mark. Don't be expecting George R.R. Martin or anything deeper than a surface shimmer of make believe. This read reminded me of stories read to me when I was a little girl, long before I discovered there was a wonderful world of grit and darker shades of ever after. Sometimes it's nice to be in the midst of something that reminds you of a time when you could believe in sweet ever afters.
If you have little girls under the age of 8 they would probably love this re-telling; it definitely has a G rating.
(I've also discovered I'm a cover whore; it's gorgeous and the reason I was first attracted to this book.)
Originally posted on Aoibh Reads
2 Stars!
Review contains spoilers
Summary:
Rapunzel is about to get married and run away with the love of her life-Henry. But their plan is interrupted when the witch, Gretta, intervenes and ruins Rapunzel's life forever.
As a young girl she befriended Gretta and promised never to leave her; little did she know the seriousness of this promise. When Gretta sees her try to escape with Henry she curses Rapunzel to immortality- frozen in her current young woman state.
After losing Henry and ultimately her parents, Rapunzel moves into the family castle with Gretta, being guarded by the dragon, and lives hundreds of years in solitude and grievance for Henry.
Then in current day, Rapunzel decides to tell her story to a journalist; John Jenkins. And thus begins the start of a plot-twisting romance and Rapunzel gets a second chance of escape...but it won't be an easy fight.
My Thoughts:
I love fairy-tales and this really sounded like a novel that I'd enjoy. I think the main issue with it for me was that it was more suitable for younger teens more so than young adults.
The story held a lot of promise; Rapunzel's true love, Henry, being banished from the start and subsequently turning out to be the dragon who tried to protect her and then a love-triangle.
However, the story just fell apart, soon after it began and never really got back together.
Rapunzel~ all talk and no action. She constantly moaned or dreamt about escape and how she wanted to leave Gretta but didn't because... ? Gretta would never let her. Well, Gretta's power fell through a lot but I'll get on to that in a moment. Rapunzel reads John Jenkins' sceptical article about fairy-tales and she feels the need to write to him with her "story." And in a "letter" to him that read more like a flashback novel, we find out about Luke, her son (not really but she becomes his guardian) and his story- and by the end we find out the whole story was pointless. There was no purpose whatsoever. It also didn't make sense that Rapunzel, after making it quite clear that she could not go into town for fear she'd be noticed and her secret revealed, writes a letter to a journalist confessing her tale who would ultimately want to publish said story. So her wanting for secrecy fell through here. And considering she sacrificed further love because of Henry, she fell for John way too easily.
Gretta~ the "powerful" witch. As I said, Rapunzel was in fear of her. She had cursed Rapunzel and had to live with her and Rapunzel could never escape because of her. There was a constant threat of Gretta but never any evidence. There were the spells she did at the start, obviously, and the bit at the end... but in the middle? There was no evidence of any brutality or evilness. Rapunzel was able to follow Gretta into town one morning, go out for coffee another, go out with John a few times; but yet she couldn't run away because Gretta would know. How? How could she punish her if she was thousands of miles away?! Rapunzel didn't even try to escape or defeat her. Just accepted her fate and spent 250 odd years complaining about it. If it were me, I would've died trying to escape (if it were possible that I could- if not, well I'd have no excuse for not trying!) There was also no real indication as to why Gretta wanted Rapunzel or her hair, everything was just insinuated and this was only sort of answered in the final few chapters.
Plot~ held so much promise, didn't deliver. Henry was the dragon, okay good idea. But when that was revealed it was a bit too much of a surprise/unbelievable; for 250 years this dragon supposedly "protected" Rapunzel, but we never really got a great idea if he was protecting her or holding her prisoner. He still loved her and claimed that he had hoped their love would stand the test of time but yet never once did he try and explain who he was or what had happened! John made the ultimate sacrifice for the woman he loved, and became her "hero" by taking Henry's place as the dragon. Cute and romantic gesture but then Rapunzel just happily went off with Henry to have their happily ever after. She claimed to love John too and yet didn't even react to him giving up his life as a human!?
Characters~ no development. Rapunzel, Henry, John, Gretta... all of them just lacked. They lacked depth and lacked major development. John wavered between loving and trusting Rapunzel to having speculated her all along and Henry, being honest I didn't trust him at the start and didn't feel his love for Rapunzel despite all the writing about how true and powerful their love was.
Overall, I would recommend this book to much younger readers who don't read too much into books or aren't avid readers. Unfortunately, I have read too many that I cannot overlook all the red flags throughout this book. I expected so much more and it ultimately fell through on poor writing and an under developed characters. There were too many holes in the plot and as a novel with romance, the romance was never believable or heartfelt.
2 Stars!
Review contains spoilers
Summary:
Rapunzel is about to get married and run away with the love of her life-Henry. But their plan is interrupted when the witch, Gretta, intervenes and ruins Rapunzel's life forever.
As a young girl she befriended Gretta and promised never to leave her; little did she know the seriousness of this promise. When Gretta sees her try to escape with Henry she curses Rapunzel to immortality- frozen in her current young woman state.
After losing Henry and ultimately her parents, Rapunzel moves into the family castle with Gretta, being guarded by the dragon, and lives hundreds of years in solitude and grievance for Henry.
Then in current day, Rapunzel decides to tell her story to a journalist; John Jenkins. And thus begins the start of a plot-twisting romance and Rapunzel gets a second chance of escape...but it won't be an easy fight.
My Thoughts:
I love fairy-tales and this really sounded like a novel that I'd enjoy. I think the main issue with it for me was that it was more suitable for younger teens more so than young adults.
The story held a lot of promise; Rapunzel's true love, Henry, being banished from the start and subsequently turning out to be the dragon who tried to protect her and then a love-triangle.
However, the story just fell apart, soon after it began and never really got back together.
Rapunzel~ all talk and no action. She constantly moaned or dreamt about escape and how she wanted to leave Gretta but didn't because... ? Gretta would never let her. Well, Gretta's power fell through a lot but I'll get on to that in a moment. Rapunzel reads John Jenkins' sceptical article about fairy-tales and she feels the need to write to him with her "story." And in a "letter" to him that read more like a flashback novel, we find out about Luke, her son (not really but she becomes his guardian) and his story- and by the end we find out the whole story was pointless. There was no purpose whatsoever. It also didn't make sense that Rapunzel, after making it quite clear that she could not go into town for fear she'd be noticed and her secret revealed, writes a letter to a journalist confessing her tale who would ultimately want to publish said story. So her wanting for secrecy fell through here. And considering she sacrificed further love because of Henry, she fell for John way too easily.
Gretta~ the "powerful" witch. As I said, Rapunzel was in fear of her. She had cursed Rapunzel and had to live with her and Rapunzel could never escape because of her. There was a constant threat of Gretta but never any evidence. There were the spells she did at the start, obviously, and the bit at the end... but in the middle? There was no evidence of any brutality or evilness. Rapunzel was able to follow Gretta into town one morning, go out for coffee another, go out with John a few times; but yet she couldn't run away because Gretta would know. How? How could she punish her if she was thousands of miles away?! Rapunzel didn't even try to escape or defeat her. Just accepted her fate and spent 250 odd years complaining about it. If it were me, I would've died trying to escape (if it were possible that I could- if not, well I'd have no excuse for not trying!) There was also no real indication as to why Gretta wanted Rapunzel or her hair, everything was just insinuated and this was only sort of answered in the final few chapters.
Plot~ held so much promise, didn't deliver. Henry was the dragon, okay good idea. But when that was revealed it was a bit too much of a surprise/unbelievable; for 250 years this dragon supposedly "protected" Rapunzel, but we never really got a great idea if he was protecting her or holding her prisoner. He still loved her and claimed that he had hoped their love would stand the test of time but yet never once did he try and explain who he was or what had happened! John made the ultimate sacrifice for the woman he loved, and became her "hero" by taking Henry's place as the dragon. Cute and romantic gesture but then Rapunzel just happily went off with Henry to have their happily ever after. She claimed to love John too and yet didn't even react to him giving up his life as a human!?
Characters~ no development. Rapunzel, Henry, John, Gretta... all of them just lacked. They lacked depth and lacked major development. John wavered between loving and trusting Rapunzel to having speculated her all along and Henry, being honest I didn't trust him at the start and didn't feel his love for Rapunzel despite all the writing about how true and powerful their love was.
Overall, I would recommend this book to much younger readers who don't read too much into books or aren't avid readers. Unfortunately, I have read too many that I cannot overlook all the red flags throughout this book. I expected so much more and it ultimately fell through on poor writing and an under developed characters. There were too many holes in the plot and as a novel with romance, the romance was never believable or heartfelt.
This was an extremely refreshing take on the tale of Rapunzel and I quite enjoyed it.
Awesome read! I loved it! Wait for my review on December 15, 2013! :)
I was a little concerned about this one. I hadnt heard a whole lot of good things about it but I thought I would give it a try. Its actually pretty good if you like the whole fairy tale thing. Normally I am not very fond of things like that but it was enjoyable to read. Took me longer than most cause I only read it while I was running on the treadmill. Which is actually quite difficult. Haha.
2.5 stars. The idea and premise of the story was interesting.
I really like the idea of retelling fairytales and typically find it to be a pretty refreshing read. I jumped at the opportunity to read My Name is Rapunzel as I haven’t read a lot of tales about her story. I read the synopsis of this one and was intrigued. Unfortunately, after about the first 4-5 chapters, I wasn’t really sure what my review was going to look like so I’m going to write this review a bit differently.
The story starts out well but it honestly lost me a bit of the way in. Rapunzel is eighteen in 1763 and has finally found the love of her life, Henry. The lead in is that he has proposed and they are going to run away together as his parents are not happy that they are together. With their plans in place, they head back to Rapunzel’s home and are confronted by Gretta, the village witch, and that’s where things take a turn for the worse for both of these characters. Gretta has convinced herself that Rapunzel committed her life to her and because of that, she refuses to let her run off with Henry. When they still plan to run, Gretta puts a curse on them. Rapunzel is going to live forever and Henry ends up dying trying to get Rapunzel to run.
Some of my notes:
I thought the way the author showed Rapunzel’s transition from the 1700’s to now living in 2013 was done well. Despite being cut off from society and being pretty remote, she has adapted.
The dialogue between the characters seemed awkward most of the time. I found myself getting whiplash with some of the responses Rapunzel had to the characters around her. One minute it was a normal tone then she would be angry. Also, with John, he believes her story, then doesn't, then does...
For 250 years Rapunzel is living with Gretta and unable to get past her love for Henry. Then all of a sudden she meets John through a newspaper article he wrote and all of a sudden she finds herself feeling things for another person. …it seemed abrupt.
I liked the way the author used Luke to help Rapunzel build a relationship with someone and also have someone important in her life.
I didn’t understand why Gretta wanted to live forever…outside of living forever, what was her motivation?
Overall I thought this one was ok. I wasn’t able to get invested in any of the characters with the exception of one and he wasn’t even in most of the book. There were some twists and turns that kept me turning the pages to see how it would end so that was a plus. Perhaps this is a case of it’s not you, it’s me. If you enjoy a quick read and fairytale retellings, you might enjoy this one.
I really like the idea of retelling fairytales and typically find it to be a pretty refreshing read. I jumped at the opportunity to read My Name is Rapunzel as I haven’t read a lot of tales about her story. I read the synopsis of this one and was intrigued. Unfortunately, after about the first 4-5 chapters, I wasn’t really sure what my review was going to look like so I’m going to write this review a bit differently.
The story starts out well but it honestly lost me a bit of the way in. Rapunzel is eighteen in 1763 and has finally found the love of her life, Henry. The lead in is that he has proposed and they are going to run away together as his parents are not happy that they are together. With their plans in place, they head back to Rapunzel’s home and are confronted by Gretta, the village witch, and that’s where things take a turn for the worse for both of these characters. Gretta has convinced herself that Rapunzel committed her life to her and because of that, she refuses to let her run off with Henry. When they still plan to run, Gretta puts a curse on them. Rapunzel is going to live forever and Henry ends up dying trying to get Rapunzel to run.
Spoiler
…or so we are led to believe.Some of my notes:
Overall I thought this one was ok. I wasn’t able to get invested in any of the characters with the exception of one and he wasn’t even in most of the book. There were some twists and turns that kept me turning the pages to see how it would end so that was a plus. Perhaps this is a case of it’s not you, it’s me. If you enjoy a quick read and fairytale retellings, you might enjoy this one.
Review:
**I received an ARC of this book from the Author**
My Name is Rapunzel is a refreshing take on the popular Grimm Fairytale. Most retellings that I have read are generally the same story but this takes a totally different spin on the classic tale. The character of Rapunzel was very likable and I felt sorry for her plight. I wanted her to have her happy ending, especially when things kept getting in the way!
The rest of this review contains spoilers so please don't read on if you want to remain spoiler free!
I thought I had the story figured out, I had even figured one of the twists out early on, that Henry was the dragon(I am pretty good at figuring things out, so that was no fault on Ms. Hilton), but I was still caught off guard enough times that the story kept me interested. I never guessed that Gretta was Rapunzel's
I did feel as if the ending was a bit rushed. I felt that everything happened so fast, and then it is over. I would have liked it to slow down just a little bit more so I didn't have to backtrack to figure out what exactly happened to the characters. I was satisfied with the resolution and ending to this book though!
I definitely recommend this book! I have been telling my friends to keep an eye out for it as I know that they will enjoy it!
**I received an ARC of this book from the Author**
My Name is Rapunzel is a refreshing take on the popular Grimm Fairytale. Most retellings that I have read are generally the same story but this takes a totally different spin on the classic tale. The character of Rapunzel was very likable and I felt sorry for her plight. I wanted her to have her happy ending, especially when things kept getting in the way!
The rest of this review contains spoilers so please don't read on if you want to remain spoiler free!
I thought I had the story figured out, I had even figured one of the twists out early on, that Henry was the dragon(I am pretty good at figuring things out, so that was no fault on Ms. Hilton), but I was still caught off guard enough times that the story kept me interested. I never guessed that Gretta was Rapunzel's
I did feel as if the ending was a bit rushed. I felt that everything happened so fast, and then it is over. I would have liked it to slow down just a little bit more so I didn't have to backtrack to figure out what exactly happened to the characters. I was satisfied with the resolution and ending to this book though!
I definitely recommend this book! I have been telling my friends to keep an eye out for it as I know that they will enjoy it!