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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mother Gothel was one of those villains you just knew had a backstory and Serena Valentino delivered. Mother Knows Best takes parts of Tangled that you love and add in Gothel’s backs story and why she is the way she is. A fun read!
Wow, this book was very dark. In a good way, but I think it might be a bit too intense for some younger children. It was really, good, though, and really filled in Gothel's back story a lot.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book actually started out as a 4, but the AMAZING ending made it a 4.5 rounded up instead. :)
This story is structured a lot like Fairest of All, instead of starting in the present and flashing back like the other 3 did. This beginning was a tad bit creepy, because it dealt with descriptions of dead people and this "taking blood" ritual to get power that was meh for me. But after it bypassed that and went to focus on Gothel and her sisters, it got less creepy and more interesting.
There were a few choices regarding Rapunzel I didn't much care for because it seemed to clash with the movie—like her living in a cottage for 8 years instead of going straight to the tower, and then being put under a sleeping spell until it broke (which supposedly jump-started the events of the movie). They still made sense, but they just felt very off-putting because what the movie portrayed was very different that what Serena Valentino chose to do.
Gothel's story is long and twisted, but at the very center is her desire to be with her sisters—and I got the sense that that desire made her go a little bit mad, and that's how she became evil. The Odd Sisters were present, but they didn't do much to make her evil; they just helped the movie's events along.
And speaking of the movie: the first half was almost all from the Odd Sisters' POV while they're watching in their little mirrors, which got tiring because 1) it went WAY too fast, and 2) I wanted some of Mother Gothel's thoughts in there too. The second half, after Circe blocks her sisters from watching the story, was all Mother Gothel, and it got SO much better!! "Mother Knows Best (Reprise)" was written out word-for-word, like "Poor Unfortunate Souls" was, but I didn't mind, maybe because it was shorter, and it had some dialogue tags and other descriptions in the midst of it! The parts before the climax elaborated on how Rapunzel got chained up (because the movie never shows that), and how Rapunzel realizes that Mother Gothel isn't her real mother—little details like that I REALLY appreciated.
And the climax—OH, the climax!!! It doesn't seem like much at first glance, but it happens to be one of my favorite parts of the movie, and the way it was written was AMAZING!!!! It was word-for-word taken from the movie (which some people hate but I LOVE), it was not rushed, (which was a relief), and it showed Gothel's thoughts—how all of the previous events of the book led to this, and how they all connected with each other. How all Gothel really wanted was her sisters, and she was prepared to do anything to bring them back. Even when she was turning to dust, her thoughts were on her mother, on how she must have felt. There was never really any thought of "oh no, I'm not going to live forever"; it was more like "I've failed my sisters, and my friends, and I feel terrible because now I know how my poor mother must have felt when she died." It showed some of Rapunzel's POV, too, which I was actually really appreciative of. It just made the death scene so much more riveting. And the epilogue helped with all of that, and probably set up the next book too.
Overall, this is one of the better Villains books. I still like Mistress of All Evil better, but I think this takes second place. Since the next one is all about the Odd Sisters, I'm hoping it's a good one. It looks to be 5-star-worthy from what I've seen of it!!
This story is structured a lot like Fairest of All, instead of starting in the present and flashing back like the other 3 did. This beginning was a tad bit creepy, because it dealt with descriptions of dead people and this "taking blood" ritual to get power that was meh for me. But after it bypassed that and went to focus on Gothel and her sisters, it got less creepy and more interesting.
There were a few choices regarding Rapunzel I didn't much care for because it seemed to clash with the movie—like her living in a cottage for 8 years instead of going straight to the tower, and then being put under a sleeping spell until it broke (which supposedly jump-started the events of the movie). They still made sense, but they just felt very off-putting because what the movie portrayed was very different that what Serena Valentino chose to do.
Gothel's story is long and twisted, but at the very center is her desire to be with her sisters—and I got the sense that that desire made her go a little bit mad, and that's how she became evil. The Odd Sisters were present, but they didn't do much to make her evil; they just helped the movie's events along.
And speaking of the movie: the first half was almost all from the Odd Sisters' POV while they're watching in their little mirrors, which got tiring because 1) it went WAY too fast, and 2) I wanted some of Mother Gothel's thoughts in there too. The second half, after Circe blocks her sisters from watching the story, was all Mother Gothel, and it got SO much better!! "Mother Knows Best (Reprise)" was written out word-for-word, like "Poor Unfortunate Souls" was, but I didn't mind, maybe because it was shorter, and it had some dialogue tags and other descriptions in the midst of it! The parts before the climax elaborated on how Rapunzel got chained up (because the movie never shows that), and how Rapunzel realizes that Mother Gothel isn't her real mother—little details like that I REALLY appreciated.
And the climax—OH, the climax!!! It doesn't seem like much at first glance, but it happens to be one of my favorite parts of the movie, and the way it was written was AMAZING!!!! It was word-for-word taken from the movie (which some people hate but I LOVE), it was not rushed, (which was a relief), and it showed Gothel's thoughts—how all of the previous events of the book led to this, and how they all connected with each other. How all Gothel really wanted was her sisters, and she was prepared to do anything to bring them back. Even when she was turning to dust, her thoughts were on her mother, on how she must have felt. There was never really any thought of "oh no, I'm not going to live forever"; it was more like "I've failed my sisters, and my friends, and I feel terrible because now I know how my poor mother must have felt when she died." It showed some of Rapunzel's POV, too, which I was actually really appreciative of. It just made the death scene so much more riveting. And the epilogue helped with all of that, and probably set up the next book too.
Overall, this is one of the better Villains books. I still like Mistress of All Evil better, but I think this takes second place. Since the next one is all about the Odd Sisters, I'm hoping it's a good one. It looks to be 5-star-worthy from what I've seen of it!!