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A review by onthesamepage
The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a pretty good historical fantasy if you're looking for something that's like Grimm's fairy tales. However, I personally don't think this works as either a villain origin story or a Rapunzel retelling. For one, Rapunzel doesn't even appear until the last 15% of the book, and even then she's more like a side note than a crucial part of the plot. Most of the book is spent on Haelewise's childhood and teen years, and her family's religious and magical heritage.
Nothing about Haelewise really screams "evil", though. She trains as a midwife under her mother's guidance, falls in love, and eventually flees her village and takes refuge in the tower of Gothel after the villagers try to stone her. Time and again, we see how she tries to help people, young women specifically. She faces discrimination because of her use of magic and the religion she strives to practice in secret, which goes against the teachings of the church. Haelewise is portrayed as a misunderstood, good woman, cast as a villain because it's convenient for other people, which isn't quite what I was expecting, but maybe I should have.
One of the major issues I have with the book is how often sexual assault is perpetrated against women. There is maybe one decent man in the entire story, and almost every young, female character gets abused, whether that's physically or emotionally, by a man in her life. I understand that these were dark times, but the use of sexual violence felt like an easy shortcut to let us know a character was bad, even though there are plenty of other ways to do so. Not only that, but the female characters had very little agency. Things happened to them, usually done by men, and they suffered the consequences. This includes Haelewise, who is almost constantly under someone's control, or at the very least guided to her next action by someone telling her what she should do.
If Rapunzel wasn't mentioned by name, I never would have guessed that Haelewise is the wicked witch that locks her up. There are hints of the Rapunzel fairytale here and there; early on, we're told of rumors surrounding Ursilda, a princess, who was stolen by a witch and locked in her tower surrounded by mist. She was rescued by her father instead of a prince, but the setup is very similar. Ursilda is not a substitute for Rapunzel, however, which means this myth is actually used again towards the end, but with the name of the princess changed. Personally, this felt like a strange choice, and one that can easily cause confusion. In fact, based on the characters in the book, it would've made a lot more sense for Ursilda to be Rapunzel, and I would've been interested to learn what happened to the witch after Rapunzel was supposedly rescued.
This is a pretty good historical fantasy if you're looking for something that's like Grimm's fairy tales. However, I personally don't think this works as either a villain origin story or a Rapunzel retelling. For one, Rapunzel doesn't even appear until the last 15% of the book, and even then she's more like a side note than a crucial part of the plot. Most of the book is spent on Haelewise's childhood and teen years, and her family's religious and magical heritage.
Nothing about Haelewise really screams "evil", though. She trains as a midwife under her mother's guidance, falls in love, and eventually flees her village and takes refuge in the tower of Gothel after the villagers try to stone her. Time and again, we see how she tries to help people, young women specifically. She faces discrimination because of her use of magic and the religion she strives to practice in secret, which goes against the teachings of the church. Haelewise is portrayed as a misunderstood, good woman, cast as a villain because it's convenient for other people, which isn't quite what I was expecting, but maybe I should have.
One of the major issues I have with the book is how often sexual assault is perpetrated against women. There is maybe one decent man in the entire story, and almost every young, female character gets abused, whether that's physically or emotionally, by a man in her life. I understand that these were dark times, but the use of sexual violence felt like an easy shortcut to let us know a character was bad, even though there are plenty of other ways to do so. Not only that, but the female characters had very little agency. Things happened to them, usually done by men, and they suffered the consequences. This includes Haelewise, who is almost constantly under someone's control, or at the very least guided to her next action by someone telling her what she should do.
If Rapunzel wasn't mentioned by name, I never would have guessed that Haelewise is the wicked witch that locks her up. There are hints of the Rapunzel fairytale here and there; early on, we're told of rumors surrounding Ursilda, a princess, who was stolen by a witch and locked in her tower surrounded by mist. She was rescued by her father instead of a prince, but the setup is very similar. Ursilda is not a substitute for Rapunzel, however, which means this myth is actually used again towards the end, but with the name of the princess changed. Personally, this felt like a strange choice, and one that can easily cause confusion. In fact, based on the characters in the book, it would've made a lot more sense for Ursilda to be Rapunzel, and I would've been interested to learn what happened to the witch after Rapunzel was supposedly rescued.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Sexual assault
Minor: Rape