Well, I've officially caught up! I've been behind on of this series for years, and now I've finally read the latest book in this series! Hooray! I can't wait for further installments, I just have such a fun time with these tales that are just slightly off-course from the originals, and how wildly different they end up!

First off, this book is just slightly different from all the others. Because it starts with a guy telling this tale to his sister, who's in the hospital with cancer. That's the first time that that's happened in this series, so that was great to read. And touching, because the author's note talks about how her sister had cancer.

I wasn't sure how this one would go, with the Queen drinking from the Moondrop flower, because I'm not sure if we knew anything about it originally. So it was a lot of fun to watch it all play out! Though I felt so badly for Rapunzel, to have the ability to hurt!

This book was a lot of fun, I had a great time watching Rapunzel go on all these adventures with Flynn-but also Gina, who's a new character. The comedy from the movie was here in this book, and I had a great time reading it!

This was another really great read, and I can't wait for the next!

I really can’t say I got into this. I read the first few chapters and it was so dark and non disneyish that I had to put it down. I couldn’t ruin my Disney memories of the real story.

Please read and give the book a try, this is just my personal feelings on Disney story magic.

What Once Was Mine was an interesting read and a re-telling that I wasn't expecting. I liked the characters and plot of the story. It was definitely interesting and enjoyable to read.

OMG! Ok, so the twisted tale is accurate. This story contains two stories side by side. Rapunzel was gifted powers from a Moon Drop flower given to her mother before her birth by mistake thinking it was a sun drop flower, and () a young girl fighting cancer, whose favorite movie is Tangled. All your favorite Tangled characters make an appearance including but not limited to Flynn, Pascal, the ruffians from the snuggly duckling, and some new characters, sinister and cunning villains that would go to any length to obtain Rapunzel’s powers. I know this book isn’t meant for adults so I really had to be objective and pretend I was back in middle school to see if I would enjoy this book. I don’t have an answer. I think it deserves more hype than I feel qualified to give it, I love Tangled, rapunzel kicked Belle out of my “Favorite princess” spot in an instant. I began reading (listening) to this story with preconceived notions and that’s something that should never be done to any story. The ending is really what sold me, those last 20 minutes of the audiobook were very well done.

I love all things Disney. The description made me really want to read this book. I just couldn't get past the first few chapters. It is written great from the chapters I've read but just not my cup of tea. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for the ARC!

I loved the book and it felt like the book was drawing me in. The reason I gave it five stars is because I love this series and would love to read more. I would literally buy a hardcover copy of this book to add to my collection.

This was my first Disney’s Twisted Tales and I am needing more. Tangled is one of my favorite movies so I loved this plot. This twisted story is exactly that, a twisted version of the same story we know and love. There are a lot of historical references throughout this which made it seem like a stretch to a historical fiction story and felt like it didn’t add anything to the plot. The narration was a little immature but it is a YA read.

Reading the retellings of traditional stories is always a fun experience. With this version I liked the way the narration was written and given to the audience; the story within the story was a great means of pulling off this retelling. However, I wasn't overly thrilled with this new version of Rapunzel. Maybe it is because my daughter has been a die-hard Tangled fan since it was released, but something about this other version was a bit off-putting for me. It was written well, and if it wasn't labeled as a Rapunzel shake-up I probably would have enjoyed the story more.

I cannot get enough of these books! Please never, ever stop. I love each and every one and this was no different!! I own and purchase these books for friends and family every year.

Another amazing fairy tale turned upside down. Featuring Rapunzel, this tale explores the "what if" the wrong potion was used to save the queen and her unborn baby. A must have for middle school libraries.

I love Tangled, it is my favorite Disney movie but this book fell short on what it could’ve been, there was so much potential!!
So the first half was really interesting and good! But the second half was not what I expected, the plot was dragged too much making this book longer that it should have and felt that by the end of the book there was little to no character development, everyone was one-dimensional.

What if Rapunzel's mother drank a potion from the wrong flower? 🌼🦎🍳

This book was definitely an interesting twist on the fairy tale and Disney movie. I liked the adventure in the book. However, some of the changes were a little too bizarre in my opinion. It was an interesting read, but it was not love for me. ⭐⭐⭐

This was my first twisted tale and I'm not sure they are for me. I am a huge Disney. fan and since this was published by Disney it was not quite what I expected. I did love the first half and enjoyed the connections to the movies and unfortunately I was thrown off by all the "twisted" stuff, which sounds still given that what the book was. So overall, I just don't think that series is for me. It might not be for anyone who is a die hard Rapunzel fan.

I absolutely loved this twist on Tangled! It was so much fun, and it was filled with all the things that make the movie so good, just in a bit of a different way.

This, for me, did not live up to Tangled, and I think if maybe the story was set up differently my opinion would change. On its own, it is a good book, but it does not live up to a Tangled story, to me,

Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-ARC

If you know me, chances are you know that I. Love. Tangled. I have been looking forward to this book since it was announced.

And boy, was it a let-down.

The first half was okay. The adventuring, learning about her powers... all good!
But when it got closer to the end and the "big bad" was introduced, it went downhill.

To begin with, I was not a fan of it being set in the real world. It was very offputting to be reading about my beloved kingdom of Corona (the name of which is never even USED, might I add) in Renaissance-era Europe.

Eugene feels like a one-dimensional version of himself. Much of what makes him Eugene feels forced. And he's never even called Eugene in the text! ***SPOILER***Even at the end when Rapunzel introduces him as Eugene, the text of the book still says Flynn, and Gina still calls him Flynn. Like. WHAT.***END SPOILER*** He’s not funny or sly or charming. He feels dull and forced. I couldn't find myself actually getting invested in his character, which is sad. Eugene deserved better.

Gina. Gina, Gina, Gina. Gina, my beloved. Probably due to the fact that she's an "original" character, she doesn't feel like a caricature of a person. Now, I have no idea if the author of this ever watched TTS/RTA, but Gina feels, to me, like a new version of Cassandra. If not, maybe the rough and tumble girl who wants freedom and to hold her own in a patriarchal society really is just what Rapunzel needs in her life (if you get the reference to that Chris Sonnenburg tweet, let's be friends).

Now, Rapunzel! The most important character. I do feel like the author had her characterization pretty much down and I love her just as much as I love actual Rapunzel. Wasn’t a huge fan of the whole “witch” portion of her character, when really it’s all just magic, but. Whatever.

Next, we really have to talk about all of their relationships with each other.

First up, all three of them. I loved Eugene and Gina’s banter (again… Eugene and Cass, anyone?). I loved that Rapunzel got to make a female friend first. What I am not a fan of was Rapunzel’s irrational jealousy of Eugene and Gina’s blossoming friendship. Real Rapunzel would NEVER.

New Dream. Eugene and Rapunzel feel SO forced. The author relies upon the idea that they fall in love at first sight, except… that isn’t New Dream’s dynamic at all. I didn’t really understand why their relationship happened. Rapunzel is just enamored by the IDEA of Flynn Rider, not the actual man. Then pretty out of the blue Eugene starts actually caring about her. It just felt like they fall for each other and end up together because that’s what they’re supposed to do. Also, there is NO moment akin to “You were my new dream.” “And you were mine.” which is THE defining moment of their relationship.

Now, my beloved animal children, Maximus and Pascal. In sum? They deserved better.

Ok so! Finally. My BIGGEST ISSUE.

***SPOILER***The Big Bad Is. Not. Gothel. Gothel, actually, barely gets any screentime after Rapunzel leaves the tower and is mostly treated like a side character and not the villain she is.***END SPOILER***

Onto Countess Bathory, my detested!
It's 2021. You'd think we'd be done with blatantly queer coded villains, right?
Wrong.
So, so wrong.
I don't deem this as a spoiler because this type of writing is extremely harmful, so let's go.
Countess Bathory is based on a real-world Countess Bathory who killed many young women. A popular story is that she would bathe in their blood, and she is deemed something of a real-life vampire.
In this story, Bathory kidnaps girls and bathes in their blood to stay young. She is called "unnatural," "insane," and "monstrous" because she has "gone through all of the young women in the village."
See where I'm going with this?

I would've preferred if Gothel had kidnapped Rapunzel again and we had a face-off similar to the one in the movie rather than the actual kidnapping and fight.

All in all, I'm disappointed. At first, I went into the book playfully nitpicking everything that was different from the current Tangledverse canon, but by the end, it wasn't playful because I wasn't having fun reading about these characters. If I hadn't watched the movie a hundred times and had such a deep understanding of them already, they'd feel like strangers still.

While I'm thankful for more Tangled content, I'm not here for it if it's like this.

Still, a huge thank you to Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for an ARC of this.

This was a fun retelling of Rapunzel. I liked that her powers made her appear dangerous instead of heroic.

I listened to the audiobook and the readers were fantastic. A young man decides to retell Rapunzel to his sister during her chemotherapy. What if instead of the sun drop flower that allows Rapunzel’s hair to heal, she is blessed with the moon drop flower that gives her other powers instead? Add in a nice feminist message and you end up with our same amazing Tangled characters with a great twist.

Tangled is my favorite movie ever and Rapunzel is my favorite princess, so when I saw the title of this book I snatched it up so fast! And oh my god, it was so good. Everything about it was perfect. The perfect twist to the perfect story, in my opinion. If you love the movie, this book is for you.

While not my favorite of the twisted tales so far, this was none the less enjoyable. I love Rapunzel in the movie and this characterization fits with my favorite parts of her. The pacing was a little slow at times, but that's what I've come to expect with this series so it wasn't a problem. Love the way they keep using Disney stories to pass on important messages to YA audience!!