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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
1.5 stars. oh boy, this is gonna be a long review.
first of all, the ONLY reason this isn't a full on 1 star review is because it's a rapunzel retelling, and i'm a sucker for anything rapunzel and can't bring myself to rate it 1 star. it deserves it though. so here are my issues with this book:
THE WRITING
if you told me that this book was written by a middle schooler, i would probably genuinely believe you. the entire book is "telling instead of showing" which is the opposite of what you want to do! also, the pacing is WAY TOO FAST! since we are just being told information, instead of being shown it, the book goes at supersonic speed. also, the amount of grammar mistakes and weird formatting choices make me genuinely question how this got through the publishing process. there are so many random exposition dumps and random character descriptions that are SO UNNATURAL! this book suffers from "white room syndrome" where all the actions could just happen in a white room, due to no setting establishment. there are NO descriptions of the environment or setting, and the events of the story just kind of "happen" with no reasoning to them. on that note, WHAT IS THE PLOT?! i don't even know what the plot was meant to be! the only parts where i was mildly intrigued and held my attention were the dialogue scenes between rapunzel and gothel! there's barely any dialogue in this book too, so i could not get invested at all! my brain will explode if i keep talking about this. next.
THE CHARACTERS
all of the characters in this book SUCK! if you asked me to name 1 single character trait of rapunzel in this book, i cannot do it. same goes for gerek (i had to go back and look his name up, that's how forgettable he is). every other character is useless. i cannot remember a single name outside of the 3 main characters. none of them have any personality, and are just used as plot devices for what little plot this book has. the only MILDLY compelling character was gothel, but she's still cardboard.
again, the only reason this is a 1.5 instead of a 1 is because i can't bring myself to rate a rapunzel retelling 1 star. just know that if i didn't have an emotional attachment to the story of rapunzel, this would ABSOLUTELY be a 1 star!
first of all, the ONLY reason this isn't a full on 1 star review is because it's a rapunzel retelling, and i'm a sucker for anything rapunzel and can't bring myself to rate it 1 star. it deserves it though. so here are my issues with this book:
THE WRITING
if you told me that this book was written by a middle schooler, i would probably genuinely believe you. the entire book is "telling instead of showing" which is the opposite of what you want to do! also, the pacing is WAY TOO FAST! since we are just being told information, instead of being shown it, the book goes at supersonic speed. also, the amount of grammar mistakes and weird formatting choices make me genuinely question how this got through the publishing process. there are so many random exposition dumps and random character descriptions that are SO UNNATURAL! this book suffers from "white room syndrome" where all the actions could just happen in a white room, due to no setting establishment. there are NO descriptions of the environment or setting, and the events of the story just kind of "happen" with no reasoning to them. on that note, WHAT IS THE PLOT?! i don't even know what the plot was meant to be! the only parts where i was mildly intrigued and held my attention were the dialogue scenes between rapunzel and gothel! there's barely any dialogue in this book too, so i could not get invested at all! my brain will explode if i keep talking about this. next.
THE CHARACTERS
all of the characters in this book SUCK! if you asked me to name 1 single character trait of rapunzel in this book, i cannot do it. same goes for gerek (i had to go back and look his name up, that's how forgettable he is). every other character is useless. i cannot remember a single name outside of the 3 main characters. none of them have any personality, and are just used as plot devices for what little plot this book has. the only MILDLY compelling character was gothel, but she's still cardboard.
again, the only reason this is a 1.5 instead of a 1 is because i can't bring myself to rate a rapunzel retelling 1 star. just know that if i didn't have an emotional attachment to the story of rapunzel, this would ABSOLUTELY be a 1 star!
Actually 4.5 stars.
I really enjoyed this even though it had a few slow parts. But overall I really liked this version of Rapunzel. I love how God and Jesus are always talked about through out the book.
I really enjoyed this even though it had a few slow parts. But overall I really liked this version of Rapunzel. I love how God and Jesus are always talked about through out the book.
'The Golden Braid' (Melanie Dickerson) is a retelling of 'Rapunzel'. The year is 1413, in the village of Ottelfelt, southwest of Hagenheim, the Holy Roman Empire. The novel opens with Wendell Gotekens telling Rapunzel of his wish to marry her; which Rapunzel quickly said, 'No'. Her mother had told her no man is worthy of her. Even though this is a modern retake on Rapunzel, I did not like the sexual innuendos in this version.
My favorite character is Knight Sir Gerek. He is more than willing to save Rapunzel, the peasant and her mother, from disaster. In ' The Golden Braid' there is sexual innuendos, as I mentioned, as well as some frightening parts with some violence. So, I would not recommend this novel to a soft-hearted reader. I did like how Sir Gerek prayed to God to forgive him of wanting riches and status more than giving love to a woman.(page 239)
This novel ends much different than the reader might expect and I think it is worth the reading. I do recommend this book to readers who like fiction with mild violence.
Disclaimer: I received an ebook of ' The Golden Braid' from BookLook for my honest review.
My favorite character is Knight Sir Gerek. He is more than willing to save Rapunzel, the peasant and her mother, from disaster. In ' The Golden Braid' there is sexual innuendos, as I mentioned, as well as some frightening parts with some violence. So, I would not recommend this novel to a soft-hearted reader. I did like how Sir Gerek prayed to God to forgive him of wanting riches and status more than giving love to a woman.(page 239)
This novel ends much different than the reader might expect and I think it is worth the reading. I do recommend this book to readers who like fiction with mild violence.
Disclaimer: I received an ebook of ' The Golden Braid' from BookLook for my honest review.
Another good book by this author! Her stories are always very consistent, like a family of tales. Very cute and easy to read.
This book was amazing on so many different levels. A perfect fairytale with a surprising twist! I need more! Can't wait for the next book.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
Love this latest fairytale retelling by Melanie Dickerson. She has become one of my favorite authors. Her stories are fun and difficult to put down. I also appreciate the messages in her stories and definitely recommend this series to my teenage daughter.
This book nicely coincides with The Princess Spy. Both books are describing the same event from a different perspective. Rapunzel is the fairytale that this story is based on and the author does a wonderful job of retelling the story in a new and exciting way. Rapunzel has been raised by a bitter woman who tries to instill in her a fear of men. She tries to make her believe that all men are untrustworthy. Anytime a man gets close to Rapunzel, her mother either scares him off or forces Rapunzel to move to a new town. When Sir Garek saves Rapunzel's life, she begins to question the teachings of her mother and whether she should trust Sir Garek. Garek has is own issues about love and marriage. There are a lot of secrets and hidden motivations, as well as madness and treachery. I had a hard time putting this book down!
This book nicely coincides with The Princess Spy. Both books are describing the same event from a different perspective. Rapunzel is the fairytale that this story is based on and the author does a wonderful job of retelling the story in a new and exciting way. Rapunzel has been raised by a bitter woman who tries to instill in her a fear of men. She tries to make her believe that all men are untrustworthy. Anytime a man gets close to Rapunzel, her mother either scares him off or forces Rapunzel to move to a new town. When Sir Garek saves Rapunzel's life, she begins to question the teachings of her mother and whether she should trust Sir Garek. Garek has is own issues about love and marriage. There are a lot of secrets and hidden motivations, as well as madness and treachery. I had a hard time putting this book down!
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
I loved this retelling of Rapunzel with a Christian twist. It was just a bit lengthier than necessary, but otherwise a charming story.