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guardianofthebookshelf 's review for:
The Golden Braid
by Melanie Dickerson
Grade: C-
An e-galley was provided by Thomas Nelson via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Tangled is one of my favorite Disney movies ever, so I'm always interested in Rapunzel retellings. I've also enjoyed Melanie Dickerson's past books, so it was a given that I would read The Golden Braid. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as The Healer's Apprentice or The Merchant's Daughter.
The writing was not nearly as smooth as it could've been. It felt fairly basic for a YA/NA story. There was a lot of telling and not showing. Also, everything seemed too easy for Rapunzel and Gerek. I knew they were going to emerge unscathed. There was also a plot twist that I predicted only a third of the way into the book that turned out to be right.
The Golden Braid is set at the same time as The Princess Spy, and a lot of the events overlap so Ms. Dickerson did a lot of summarizing in this novel. I found that boring and awkward. Honestly, I think the story would've been better had it been set later than the events of The Princess Spy.
And if I'm being honest, I didn't really ship the relationship. Like, in Melanie's first three books, I really wanted the couple to end up together. But I honestly didn't care if Rapunzel and Gerek were endgame (which, I knew they would be).
The Verdict: I feel pretty meh about this one.
An e-galley was provided by Thomas Nelson via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Tangled is one of my favorite Disney movies ever, so I'm always interested in Rapunzel retellings. I've also enjoyed Melanie Dickerson's past books, so it was a given that I would read The Golden Braid. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as The Healer's Apprentice or The Merchant's Daughter.
The writing was not nearly as smooth as it could've been. It felt fairly basic for a YA/NA story. There was a lot of telling and not showing. Also, everything seemed too easy for Rapunzel and Gerek. I knew they were going to emerge unscathed. There was also a plot twist that I predicted only a third of the way into the book that turned out to be right.
The Golden Braid is set at the same time as The Princess Spy, and a lot of the events overlap so Ms. Dickerson did a lot of summarizing in this novel. I found that boring and awkward. Honestly, I think the story would've been better had it been set later than the events of The Princess Spy.
And if I'm being honest, I didn't really ship the relationship. Like, in Melanie's first three books, I really wanted the couple to end up together. But I honestly didn't care if Rapunzel and Gerek were endgame (which, I knew they would be).
The Verdict: I feel pretty meh about this one.