The following may contain SPOILERS. Read at your own risk.

Going into this, I didn't really expect so much detail on Gothel's backstory. We always hear small details about what villains want and what got them there, but I rarely get to see such a detailed backstory laid out that explains what they once were like and what happened to shape them and darken their hearts. I honestly feel bad for Gothel - she got a shitty deck of cards, but that's no excuse to ruin someone else's life.

I hated the odd sisters. Something didn't sit well with me from the moment they appeared, but I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt for Gothel's sake. The farther along the book got, the more I grew to hate them. They truly are witches! Annoying ones at that.

It's cool that the end of the book talked over the events of the movie, Tangled. It's cool to see both points of view instead of just one, you know? Man, this story is full of drama, though.

Jacob is BY FAR the best character, easily my favorite (with Mrs. T close behind). I want a story just around him and his backstory, who he once was and who he was to Manea. Is there one? I'll have to check because he is honestly the best. And OF COURSE, the best character has to die T.T Not gonna lie, I almost cried.

To be honest, toward the end, it felt like a lot of buildup only to fall as flat as a cake when you slam the oven door. It left me feeling unsatisfied and just... meh. The ending evoked nothing from me - no smiles, tears, laughter. Nothing.

Overall, it wasn't bad, especially if you like fairy tails or witches, but it just felt lackluster and disappointing at the end. ( )

FROM AMAZON: The tale of the legendary golden flower is widely known. The story has been told many times and in many ways. But always the flower is coveted by an old witch to keep herself young and beautiful. And always the flower is used to save a dying queen, who then gives birth to a princess with magical hair. Not willing to lose the flower, the old witch steals the princess and locks her away in a high tower, raising her as her own. But the princess always finds out who she truly is and manages to defeat the old witch.

And yet this is only half the story. So what of the old witch, Mother Gothel? Where does she come from? And how does she come across the magical golden flower? Here is one account that recounts a version of the story that has remained untold for centuries...until now. It is a tale of mothers and daughters, of youth and dark magic. It is a tale of the old witch.

So far this has been my favorite of Serena Valentino's "Villains" series. This one follows Mother Goethel, from Tangled. I have never seen the movie. So, I went into this book completely ignorant of the movie storyline or the characters. Mother Goethel is the villain I feel the most sorry for in the series. Of course, the Odd Sisters make their appearance, as ever.

A word of warning: is significantly darker than the others in the series. However, I thought the wording and descriptions were beautiful. Almost on par, but not quite, with Fairest Of All. ( )

A story begins with a baby girl being stolen from a king and queen. Soon to be locked in a tower by Mother Gothel. But what was the true purpose of kidnapping the princess?

Was it to protect her from the world and the people? What all does Mother Gothel know?

This book digs deep in Mother Gothel's past to find out what she knows and why she believes she knows best.

Serena really took the opportunity to make a life of Mother Gothel. Every time I have watched Disney movies I always think what the side of the villain is and why they became the way they did, In this book it really indulges you in the possibilities and understanding as to why Gothel made the choices she did. ( )

An odd prequel, in that it immediately gets a _lot_ weaker once it catches up to the plot of the film on which it is based. One almost gets the sense that the author doesn't like "Tangled" (which begs the question why she picked it for the book -- Gothel is not a popular enough villain that it seems likely Disney forced the choice on her), and does her best to minimize and ridicule its characters and story elements in favour of a quick wrap-up of the original story she instead wants to be telling. The core point of interest in Gothel's movie character, for instance -- her nearly two-decades long abusive relationship with Rapunzel -- is done away with entirely. This is baffling, but perhaps not surprising, given Valentino's clear preference to minimize the established canon in favour of her own inventions in the earlier books in the series. What is new here is that 75% of the novel takes place before she starts undoing the story of the film, and so I quite enjoyed this book until the ending made it only limp across the finish line. Even so, this is probably the best and most evenly written entry in the series since the initial book (which is still by far the best one). There's also a lot of work done here to clear up and streamline the underlying narrative the author's been hinting at since book 2, which is appreciated. The next book up is supposedly actually going to be about Valentino's own characters, so fingers crossed that means she can finally write what she's clearly been wanting to this whole time -- her own thing -- and it'll have fewer of these pointless departures from the established canon that only serve to undermine the reader's interest in the character the cover claims the story will be about. ( )