Scan barcode
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
fiwwa's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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
4.0
"Who cares what you should do? Life is short. People are cruel. Have fun while the sun shines and let everyone else sort themselves out."
This is so far my favorite Twisted Tale that I've read. Conceal, Don't Feel was more of a bedtime story than an actual twisted tale, and So This is Love has a sloow pace it makes me bored.
First of all, the tension between Rapunzel & Gina >> Rapunzel & Flynn. Gina is my favorite character she's not even the main but oh my God GIRL BOSSSSS I just love her adventurous and brave personality. And Flynn is more softer and sweeter here, it's not a bad thing obvi but I was kinda hoping that there'll be banter between him and Punzie. There's ONE THING I hope will come up as a plot twist that Eugene and Gina are actual siblings after Arianna brought that up.
So Gothel isn't exactly a real villain here. Sure, she's cruel, just... not really like that. She's a real bitch tho, body shamed my girl Punzie and how she killed her parents (which she DIDN'T, Gothel made that up). Then who's the villain, you wonder? The psycho herself, Countess Bathory. And I know Gothel betrayed Rapunzel but still she raised Rapunzel for almost two decades and Rapunzel shoo-ed her like it's nothing IT'S KINDA RUDE TO ME??
Lastly, I know that Rapunzel's hair has magic from Moondrop Flower but honestly I'm still confused what the magic really is?? Is it that complicated or it's my bad that I didn't take notes...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, and Violence
Minor: Cancer
mirandavictoria's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
3.5
I thought this book was a cute spin on Tangled. I am a huge fan of fairytale retellings so I was very excited to read this. However, it was very different than I thought it would be. My main issue is that I found many parts of this book to be lacking in believability and certain plot points felt almost randomly put in. I especially found that Flynn and Rapunzel's relationship felt forced and unnatural, contrary to the movie. Additionally, with the main plot being that Rapunzel has hair that can harm, instead of heal, I expected the story to be a little darker, similar to most other YA fantasies I've read. Overall, it was a cute read but I would say it is definitely geared more toward younger audiences.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, and Torture
Minor: Death, Kidnapping, and Torture
More...