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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Melanie Dickerson has always been one of my favorite authors since reading "The Captive Maiden" for the first time. Her fairy retellings are always fun to read and "The Golden Braid" was no exception.
The Golden Braid was the sixth book in the Hagenheim series, though it could be read by itself. Dickerson uses many of the characters from the past books in the series as minor characters in following books. Because Dickerson does this, anyone could read any book in this series and understand what was happening, they just wouldn't know the stories behind many of the minor characters. The Golden Braid is a fun retelling of Rapunzel. It's different than many other retellings, in many ways and has some different twists to it, but they just make the book more enjoyable.
The main characters of this book are realistic and delightful to read. People can understand what both Rapunzel and Gerek are thinking and that is what makes it so good.
Melanie Dickerson uses God as a strong influence on these peoples lives. You learn of Rapunzel's love of reading the bible as she begins to read. You can also see God's influence on Gerek life as well. Because of Melanie's use of God through out her books it makes them seem more realistic. Overall, this book was amazing, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good clean romance, or to anyone who is looking for a good fairy tale retelling.
Summary:
Rapunzel is a maiden determined to learn, learn anything that she can. Her mother isn't always open to her ideas though. She is constantly moving them from one town to another, and because of this Rapunzel isn't able to make any friends and have a normal child hood like many other children. At each town they move to her mother has rules for her. She must cover her hair. She must not talk to strangers. But the most important rule of all was to never ever trust a man, no matter what they said, she must never listen to them. Because of this Rapunzel is the oldest maidens in her village to not be married.
Her mother's hatred for men only brings more curiosity to Rapunzel and when her mother forces her to move again because of a man's proposal of marriage she becomes suspicious. Her journey back to the original town her mother lived in is long, and she encounters many hardships. But during this time and as her life begins in the old town her mother and her use to live in, she begins to learn things about herself she never knew before.
I had no idea this was a Christian book going into it, and one of my biggest criticisms of this book was often the random, shallow inserts about Christianity, which added little to the plot (and this criticism coming from a Christian). The characters were very simplistic, with a few exceptions, falling into the categories of good and bad and no one in between. Saying that, I was glad I stuck with this book, as the plot really took me on an exciting adventure and I actually really appreciated the fairy tale being brought to a more realistic level. But I’m getting ahead of myself…
Full review on my blog: https://madamewriterblog.com/2018/09/19/book-review-the-golden-braid-by-melanie-dickerson-a-k-a-another-rapunzel-retelling/
Full review on my blog: https://madamewriterblog.com/2018/09/19/book-review-the-golden-braid-by-melanie-dickerson-a-k-a-another-rapunzel-retelling/
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
a fantastic Rapunzel story! One of my favorite Melanie Dickerson books yet!
Sometimes all you need is a well written, cheesy, happily-ending story, and Melanie Dickerson never disappoints!
GIF review:
Basically me the entire book:
And my other emotions during this book:
Actual review:
{Who am I kidding? There's GIFs in this review as well.}
About this book:
“The one who needs rescuing isn’t always the one in the tower.
Rapunzel can throw a knife better than any man. She paints beautiful flowering vines on the walls of her plaster houses. She sings so sweetly she can coax even a beast to sleep. But there are two things she is afraid her mother might never allow her to do: learn to read and marry.
Fiercely devoted to Rapunzel, her mother is suspicious of every man who so much as looks at her daughter and warns her that no man can be trusted. After a young village farmer asks for Rapunzel’s hand in marriage, Mother decides to move them once again—this time, to the large city of Hagenheim.
The journey proves treacherous, and after being rescued by a knight—Sir Gerek—Rapunzel in turn rescues him farther down the road. As a result, Sir Gerek agrees to repay his debt to Rapunzel by teaching her to read. Could there be more to this knight than his arrogance and desire to marry for riches and position?
As Rapunzel acclimates to life in a new city, she uncovers a mystery that will forever change her life. In this Rapunzel story unlike any other, a world of secrets and treachery is about to be revealed after seventeen years of lies. How will Rapunzel finally take control of her own destiny? And who will prove faithful to a lowly peasant girl with no one to turn to?”
Series: Ignore what Goodreads says, it’s book #6 in the “Hagenheim” series. {Reviews of #1 Here, #2 Here, #3 Here, #4 Here, and #5 Here!} {You do not have to read this series in order to understand it, but I highly recommend that you do read them in order.}
Spiritual Content- Many, many Prayers; Many talks about God & His love; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Many, many Scriptures are read, remembered, & discussed; Learning to & reading (plus talks about) the Holy Writt; Monks & a monastery; Going to the chapel to pray; Mentions of excommunication; Many mentions of books & those in the Bible;
*Note: When mentioning watching a birth, Rapunzel says it feels like she’s in hell; A few mentions of ghosts & evil spirits.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘idiot’, a ‘stupid’, and two forms of ‘shut up’; Mentions of curses said not written; A but of sarcasm; Fighting, kicking, pain, blood & knives (semi-detailed); *Spoiler*
Sexual Content- two check kisses, a head kiss; a not-detailed kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a semi-detailed kiss; Wondering about a kiss; A mentions of a hand & check kiss; Mentions of stolen kisses; Touches & Embraces (up to semi-detailed); Noticing; Dressing an injured man (the top part only, barely-above-not-detailed); Gothel is always telling Rapunzel that men can’t be trusted, are evil, & that they don’t need them; Gothel tells Rapunzel stories about men who convince gullible women to lie with them or take them into a forest; Rapunzel gets paranoid about men after hearing Gothel’s stories; When Rapunzel is almost attacked, she stabs him (nothing happens); Gerek has “a vow never to know a woman before marriage” (that’s the Biblical know); A few mentions of chastity; A mention of a man showing a girl his love; Mentions of men touching & lying with women just to get what they want; Mentions of men taking advantages with women & forcing themselves on women; Mentions of when Rapunzel was almost attacked at age 15; Mentions of child births & labors (barely-above-not-detailed to semi-detailed); Many mentions of & having illegitimate children; *Spoiler*
*Note: A couple mentions of revealing dresses.
-Rapunzel Scheinberg, age 19
-Gerek van Hollan, age 24
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1413 (Medieval)
304 pages
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Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- Two Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Four Stars (and a half)
{Add half a star for those who have already read the previous books in the series.}
I am literally doing a jig right now. Ahh! I just can’t even. I’m trying to push my emotions for these characters down a bit, so I can give a proper review. But really, Melanie Dickerson is a great author. I just adore fairytales and to see them with a Christian twist is fantastic! I wasn’t sure if “The Golden Braid” would top “The Princess Spy” (because Rapunzel verses a Princess Spy .) but, oh. It was close. It was so close! Rating wise, “The Golden Braid” got a half-star higher, but that’s because of who Rapunzel is (ahhh! Still fangirling over that PERFECT plot twist!), I’m more familiar with the story of Rapunzel and this Rapunzel knows how to protect herself—with a knife, which is pretty cool.
I really can’t wait till the next book in this series, The Little Mermaid retelling, which, I am beyond stoked for.
But have to wait till November of 2016 for.
*le sigh*
But I'm still excited. :D
Link to (less GIFs) review:
http://booksforchristiangirls.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-golden-braid-by-melanie-dickerson.html
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Thomas Nelson) through BookLookBloggers for this review.
really sweet! while i'm not jumping to read other books in this series, i can see myself picking one up in the future for a little brain candy. :)
I love this book so much! It is a very inspiring story. It balances out romance and a journey for the main character. Though the book is based on a fairytale it is not little-kiddish.
This was pretty decent. The romance was pretty realistic and slow building, for the series, the drama was ok and the plot was alright. As well, the christian thing was only a couple of prayers and a monastery, not entire chunks of the bible from what I remember. Rapunzel was realistic, naive and nervous but capable and likeable, her love interest respected that.