Scan barcode
mmadill227's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Gaslighting
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
bashsbooks's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
What Once Was Mine is a very fun book. As an avid reader of fanfiction, I love the transformative possibilities that come with the question "what if x was different?" and I felt like this book answered that question for Tangled pretty well. And this whole series gives a pretty positive spin to this kind of fanfiction-adjacent transformative property, so that's cool. I don't know that I fully understand the inclusion of the frame story (although it was really sweet! It just felt kind of unnecessary as well). I also don't know why there was repeated Bathory slander (on one hand, I think it's weird as someone who assumes that most of the vampiric tales about her were lies, but on the other, it's very fanfic core). Will probably read a few other Twisted Tales.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Cancer, Medical content, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Fatphobia
abby_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
📱
This book was alright. I really wanted to like since I liked Tangled and the characters. The characters were good and the changes in their relationships were interesting. The plot was fine, but I struggled to stay interested.
This book was alright. I really wanted to like since I liked Tangled and the characters. The characters were good and the changes in their relationships were interesting. The plot was fine, but I struggled to stay interested.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, and Cancer
Minor: Death
haleybre's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Blood, Gaslighting, Child death, Medical content, Confinement, and Abandonment
princegene95's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, and Kidnapping
acrosstheskyinstars's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Let me start by saying that I love these Disney retellings. I will read pretty much any myth or fairy tale retelling. What I liked about this book: the side characters, exploring the world more, the writing. What I didn't like: the inclusion of Elizabeth Bathory, the framing device of the whole book, the side characters didn't get as fleshed out as I would have liked. I did love the side characters and wished that we'd gotten more time with them and their POVs (Gina and Flynn in particular). The choice to not have Mother Gothel as the main villain was certainly interesting. That being said, the inclusion of Elizabeth Bathory (the real-life murderous countess) felt very out of place to me. Lastly, the framing device made me feel constantly pulled out of the story rather than having it help to further the plot. I did like the sense of adventure and that Rapunzel goes through more character development than the movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Confinement
joisaddler's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship
colorful_lulu's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Queen Ariana (Rapunzel’s mother) drinks the Moondrop flower, resulting in Rapunzel being born with magical abilities that can lead to destruction. Mother Gothel becomes Rapunzel’s adopted mother raising (not really) Rapunzel.
I will recommend it to anyone who loves the original story, honestly, this book is good at comparing good parenting and abusive (emotionally and physically) parenting.
.⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆.
Plot: Queen Ariana (Rapunzel’s mother) drinks the Moondrop flower, resulting in Rapunzel being born with magical abilities that can lead to destruction. Mother Gothel becomes Rapunzel’s adopted mother raising (not really) Rapunzel. Rapunzel can kill chickens with her “murderhair”.
Gothel collects a selected group of rich and deadly individuals to bid for Rapunzel’s hand in marriage or to purchase Rapunzel as a maid. Rapunzel escapes her castle and hires Gina to find Flynn to sneak her into Corona to see the floating lanterns.
Mother Gothel realizes that Rapunzel has escaped making the group hunt Rapunzel down leading her to hide at the Goodwives' home finally learning about her hair and power. She discovers she has the Moonstone flower power, instead of the sun drop flower, and that her power depends on the phase of the moon.
Countess Bathory, a rich serial killer countess who likes to kill young women and bathe in their blood, captures Rapunzel and a fight goes down.
During the final battle, Rapunzel stands up to the abuse by Gothel after realizing that her parenting methods are not usual and that she didn’t deserve to be told that her confinement in the tower for 19 years was punishment for what she supposedly did as a baby.
What I loved: It accurately represents child abuse, especially emotional abuse. I’m very glad that they focused on emotional abuse instead of physical abuse because although emotional abuse is as valid as physical abuse, not many people treat it as such. It’s really nice to see and have the younger audience understand what emotional abuse is while understanding what physical abuse is, as Rapunzel does face physical abuse but it’s not Gothel hitting her.
Flynn is amazing as always and has proven that he is not a dick, so that’s great.
Gina’s character development because she faced so much sexism that she started to believe and expect it from everyone. Until the end when she stopped believing in it and believe in herself.
The Goodwives is such a good example of good parenting which is a great contrast to Gothel.
What I didn't like/wanted different: The final battle at the countess’s castle in the last 50 pages? The pacing at the end of the book was really unnatural. Is it realistic for Rapunzel to accept that her mother is abusive and her parents are very much alive who gave her away to Gothel because they thought she was a good mother? Considering how the book is slow and on the longer side, there should’ve been more pages and Rapunzel’s inner conflict between her wanting to view Gothel as her perfect mother while knowing that Gothel used her for her own benefit.
Also, some things that even Daniel has pointed out but where is Maximoff? There’s a soldier obsessed with horses that even turn into a horse at the end but is still not Maximoff. In the beginning the Sundrop flower but then there is no mention of it except for the part where Rapunzel is confirming that her mother drank the Moonstone flower. Though there will be more mention of it, oh well the book is about the Moonstone flower. But now that I think about it, there wasn’t actually too much about the actual flower except the power the flower gave Rapunzel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Abandonment, Torture, Kidnapping, and Blood
ashleereadsbooks692's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping
shelbyhatley's review
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Animal death, Death, and Murder
Minor: Confinement