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by Cameron Dokey
from the Once Upon a Time series!
Hi, everyone! I am Violet of Paper Worlds and Swirls of Ink and today I'm going to be reviewing GOLDEN by Cameron Dokey. This is one of the many fairy tale retellings in the Once Upon A Time series, and I've loved reading these books since I was young. So, when Bonnie mentioned this Rapunzel retelling that I hadn't read from the series, I was really excited to be able to read it! Let me give you the official info:
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| "Once upon a Time" is Timeless... |
Before Rapunzel's birth, her mother made a dangerous deal with the sorceress Melisande: If she could not love newborn Rapunzel just as she appeared, she would surrender the child to Melisande. When Rapunzel was born completely bald and without hope of ever growing hair, her horrified mother sent her away with the sorceress to an uncertain future.
After sixteen years of raising Rapunzel as her own child, Melisande reveals that she has another daughter, Rue, who was cursed by a wizard years ago and needs Rapunzel's help. Rue and Rapunzel have precisely "two nights and the day that falls between" to break the enchantment. But bitterness and envy come between the girls, and if they fail to work together, Rue will remain cursed... forever.
So, this series in general has retellings that immerse you in the world, and even though they are shorter novels, these books are enthralling with wonderful characters and stories. Golden was no exception. Our protagonist, Rapunzel, is wonderful. In the original tales, I was always bothered by how Rapunzel's mother was willing to give anything for her rapunzel, and this book finally addresses that aspect of her mother. Melisande is actually a benevolent figure, and this retelling had a lot of plot twists that I really loved as a change in the story. It made Rapunzel's childhood and development interesting to see how the sorceress was in this version.
The story itself is very rich and engaging, and I found Rapunzel to be an excellent narrator. The pacing was good, and it never felt as if the story dragged. Rapunzel's world wasn't very developed, but it didn't detract from the overall story. Instead, this book focused on the characters and their journey, and I really appreciated that. It immerses you in the lives and struggles of these characters.There was one character I couldn't like or enjoy reading about, and that was Rue. Rue's plight was a twist that kept the story close to the original fairy tale, but her character is really ungrateful. Her struggle and development was very brief, and I never liked how she and Rapunzel interacted. Rue also changed the dynamics between Rapunzel and the other characters, and I found that she didn't care about anyone but herself and her own ideals.
Overall, I loved this retelling. It was rich, and intricate, and a very different interpretation of the Rapunzel tale. I loved how this was very different from the fairy tale, but kept to the same general story line. The characters were excellently developed and wonderful, although I personally didn't find Rue as interesting or likable, and this is another wonderful addition to the Once Upon A Time series. If you want a short yet very well done Rapunzel retelling, I would definitely recommend this book, and the Once Upon A Time series in general has some wonderful fairy tale retellings. I hope you all are enjoying the Week of Rapunzel as much as I am, and thank you to Bonnie for having all of this!
After sixteen years of raising Rapunzel as her own child, Melisande reveals that she has another daughter, Rue, who was cursed by a wizard years ago and needs Rapunzel's help. Rue and Rapunzel have precisely "two nights and the day that falls between" to break the enchantment. But bitterness and envy come between the girls, and if they fail to work together, Rue will remain cursed... forever.
So, this series in general has retellings that immerse you in the world, and even though they are shorter novels, these books are enthralling with wonderful characters and stories. Golden was no exception. Our protagonist, Rapunzel, is wonderful. In the original tales, I was always bothered by how Rapunzel's mother was willing to give anything for her rapunzel, and this book finally addresses that aspect of her mother. Melisande is actually a benevolent figure, and this retelling had a lot of plot twists that I really loved as a change in the story. It made Rapunzel's childhood and development interesting to see how the sorceress was in this version.
The story itself is very rich and engaging, and I found Rapunzel to be an excellent narrator. The pacing was good, and it never felt as if the story dragged. Rapunzel's world wasn't very developed, but it didn't detract from the overall story. Instead, this book focused on the characters and their journey, and I really appreciated that. It immerses you in the lives and struggles of these characters.There was one character I couldn't like or enjoy reading about, and that was Rue. Rue's plight was a twist that kept the story close to the original fairy tale, but her character is really ungrateful. Her struggle and development was very brief, and I never liked how she and Rapunzel interacted. Rue also changed the dynamics between Rapunzel and the other characters, and I found that she didn't care about anyone but herself and her own ideals.
Overall, I loved this retelling. It was rich, and intricate, and a very different interpretation of the Rapunzel tale. I loved how this was very different from the fairy tale, but kept to the same general story line. The characters were excellently developed and wonderful, although I personally didn't find Rue as interesting or likable, and this is another wonderful addition to the Once Upon A Time series. If you want a short yet very well done Rapunzel retelling, I would definitely recommend this book, and the Once Upon A Time series in general has some wonderful fairy tale retellings. I hope you all are enjoying the Week of Rapunzel as much as I am, and thank you to Bonnie for having all of this!
Title: GOLDEN
Author: Cameron Dokey
Release Date: Feb. 28, 2006
Publisher: Simon & Schuster / Simon Pulse
After sixteen years of raising Rapunzel as her own child, Melisande reveals that she has another daughter, Rue, who was cursed by a wizard years ago and needs Rapunzel's help. Rue and Rapunzel have precisely "two nights and the day that falls between" to break the enchantment. But bitterness and envy come between the girls, and if they fail to work together, Rue will remain cursed...forever..
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About Violet:
Today, I'm lucky enough to live in a time where young adult, my favorite genre, has amazing authors and stories, and there's always some truly wonderful books to discover. However, I wanted to share my thoughts about these books. I wanted to talk to other people about them, and so I decided to join the book blogging community. Honestly, I really was inspired to when I was contacted to read a novella. I thought 'Wow, people want to hear what I have to say?' It sounds silly, but I was so excited at the thought of wanting to talk to people about books and hear what they have to say, too.
I was really left wanting more with this book, but I do agree that it was a great fairy tale retelling.
ReplyDeleteI have several of these books but haven't gotten to reading them yet. Now that I know that they are good I'll get to it!
ReplyDeleteI have read a couple of books in the Once Upon a Time series, but not Golden. Before this little celebration I had no idea there were so many rapunzel retellings. It's crazy.
ReplyDelete