Retold fairy tale, Facebook, romance, kidnapping, SCIDs, ghosts, prophecy, sorcery, NetGalley

Rapunzel is a girl locked in a tower; she’s only seen her mother who insists she must stay there for her safety, because she has an autoimmune disease. She’s told she is the fulfillment of a prophecy.
Fane is a young man who lives in the same community as Rapunzel, they meet on Facebook. He’s a nice guy – Rapunzel got lucky.

Imagine you’ve never heard the story of Rapunzel, her greedy mother, Prince Charming, or the strange witch who could trade vegetables for a baby. Now, remember the news stories of missing babies, hopeful parents always searching for those missing children, Facebook, and nice teenage boys next door. That puts a new spin on an old story doesn’t it?

I’ll admit, I love fairy tales, and I love good retellings even better. This is a pretty good modern spin, with the whole Facebook to meet “Prince Charming” kind of fun- stranger danger aside. The thrill of disobeying a parent is there, although consequences hopefully aren’t usually life threatening. I do have some issues with the novel, for example Vedmak – the bad guy isn’t filled out quite as much as he should be. I feel like there could have been more information on him, but we are limited by Rapunzel’s view point in the story, we only know what she knows. I did feel the ending could have had more drama and been longer. (Spoiler) Even though Rapunzel’s real parents are divorced, they don’t want to see her? That’s almost as cruel as Gothel was. So while I liked Rapunzel Untangled, and I plan to buy it, I’d like more from the author, perhaps an epilogue, a prequel short story? Something.
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I thought it was really good. I love retellings of classic stories and this one was set in modern times and was perfect. It was fun, creepy, sinister and I loved it. ( )

My Opinion: I will first mention that I love fairy tale retellings, but it's always a crap shoot as to whether the story will be told well or you will be left feeling a bit let down. I'm very happy to tell you that in this case, it is done very well! Cindy C. Bennett manages to keep the basic elements of the story (Rapunzel has very long blonde hair and is locked in a tower, although in this case the tower is in a huge rambling mansion that is always under construction on one wing or another, and the "prince" who eventually rescues her) while adding her own modern twist to it.

Rapunzel is told by her "mother," Gothel, that she has an extreme immune deficiency and if she were ever to leave the house, the germs that are out in the world would kill her. She is obviously home schooled, but she learns to turn this into an advantage when she discovers that the internet can be used for more than just school. In fact, she discovers Facebook and quickly finds the profile of a local boy named Fane Anderson and sends him a friend request, which he accepts. Since her mother knows nothing about how the internet works, Rapunzel is able to keep Fane a secret, and they proceed to chat regularly and even become friends.

Rapunzel is very careful to keep her situation a secret, but since there is only one rambling mansion in town that is always under construction and constantly growing, the Gothel Mansion, Fane figures out who she is and where she lives, and thus begins there secret courtship whenever Rapunzel knows that Gothel will not be home.

I loved how cute Rapunzel and Fane were together, both on Facebook and then when they met in person. Fane is very protective of Rapunzel and is always careful when coming in contact with her because of her immunodeficiency, but he doesn't coddle or baby her, which is good because Rapunzel definitely doesn't consider herself a damsel in distress.

The story follows them as they try to figure out why Rapunzel is kept locked away, and then, as they investigate further, who she is.

I really enjoyed this book. There was definitely character growth from start to finish, the pacing went along very nicely, and the romance was cute without being too syrupy. I liked the twists and turns as they really got into their investigation of Rapunzel, and thought the ending was perfect.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good fairy tale retelling, and also a cute romance. I'm giving this book a very enthusiastic 5 stars and look forward to reading more of Cindy Bennett's work in the future :D

I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )

Right up until the last 50 or so pages this book was pretty good. Then the last part of the book happened. It was ridiculous. And by ridiculous I mean, it was like all of a sudden, there was magic and the book took a horribly weird and dark turn. I'm all for books being dark; when it makes sense.
I will not be recommending this book. I'm very disappointed. ( )

fun! review to come. ( )