overall I was really bored and couldn’t connect with the characters, I thought the book would start to pick up but I was sadly disappointed. I wish I could have liked it and I really tried but it wasn’t for me.

I loved this book so much! Tangled is my all time favorite Disney movie so I of course jumped at the chance to read a retelling of this story. i had heard great thing about Liz Braswell's retellings and this series as a whole but had not gotten the chance to pick any of the books yet before. This made me want to pick them up and potentially read the entire series! The twists to the original were so fun and the writing style kept me engaged from beginning to end. Braswell did Tangled justice with this awesome retelling!

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

The Twisted Tales series is one that I will always come back to, even if I did not enjoy one of the books. I have had hits and misses with this series and I was not a fan of the previous one Liz Braswell wrote, Unbirthday. However, this book was a hit. I think Braswell took a fresh take to the Twisted Tales series by telling a story within a story, which made it so interesting to read.

For the retelling of Rapunzel/Tangled, I really enjoyed it. By adding the witchy elements, it was a new way to tell the story and was done so well. I even took time to read the Author's Note at the end of the book and I think it gave the story and even more personal touch, which was great.

On another note, I am very interested to see how far and how long Disney Publishing can continue this series. I think it is a fan favorite and with bringing in multiple authors and not having any of the stories be connected, I think this series can continue on. I look forward to what other books get published, both by Braswell and other contributing authors.

2.5 stars: I was initially really excited for this book. Sadly it fell very flat for me. I didn't like the idea of this being a story told by a brother to his sister. Some of the stuff was odd in general, but especially when you think of it coming from a teen boy to his sister.. "the hours before her monthly blood began." The pacing felt boring and slow and I struggled to just get through it, especially the first half. I didn't like Flynn and Rapunzel's relationship (or lack of one). There are some cool details in the story that makes me think she could write a better original story instead of retellings. Also some of the stuff just felt out of place and like she had to come up with a reason for things being the way they are, but didn't want to put in any effort (like Rapunzel picking her birthday and it just happens to be her actual birthday...) Overall wasn't too impressed. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyable twist on the Rapunzel story. Rapunzel herself is a *little* flat but overall it was an enjoyable read. Will recommend any in this series.

If you are a Disney fan and you have never read any of the Twisted Tales series, you are missing out. What Once Was Mine is the 12th book in the series. This book is focused on the story of Tangled.

Instead of Rapunzel's mother being given the Sundrop Flower, she is instead given the Moondrop Flower. Needless to say, Rapunzel's story becomes a much different tale than the one that we all know and love. Many of the same characters have been included in the story, but we also meet new characters too.

I would highly recommend this story to any Disney lover, fairy tale lover, or if you are looking for a retelling of a classic story.

Major yikes at how the author chose to write this. The back and forth between the story and a hospital in our reality just wasn’t necessary. And I really don’t love it when authors use a lot of parenthesis to add thoughts or context or whatever

As a huge fan of Tangled, i really loved and enjoyed reading this. i think it captured the magic of Tangled really well while flipping the story on its head. i really loved the plot and honestly i will eat up any Tangled content.

First experience with a twisted tale, over here! My ultimate decision is I’m not sure how I feel about them! I typically enjoy retellings, but honestly, I got a tid bit bored with this one. So much so I took maybe a couple month hiatus from it before finally picking it back up to finish. But hear me out…

Obviously so many of us love Rapunzel & her story. & this was no different, I still love her story! I just felt like it was drawn out way more than it needed to be. At slightly more than 500 pages, this book & the message it was trying to convey could have been condensed by at least 200 pages. Like, let’s just leave Mother Gothel’s perspective behind… who cares about her? Not me! I also felt like some of the beginning, where Rapunzel is trapped in the tower, seemed a little repetitive.

But I want to end things on a more positive note… There were things I loved! I really enjoyed learning about Rapunzel’s moonflower magic along with her, I’m a sucker for any kind of magic! I also really enjoyed Rapunzel’s connection with Gina & Flynn, there’s nothing quite like having good friends to adventure with! & I’ll also say I enjoyed the ending of this Rapunzel story versus the original storyline! & then the author’s note had me literally crying at the end, felt it to my soul! IYKYK!

Thank you @netgalley for the opportunity to read & honestly review this eARC!

2.5/5 Star

I had to admit this one was not my favorite. I really wanted to enjoy this twisted tale but for some reason, It just wasn"t as enjoyable as the others I've read. The writing was still great and I am going to continue reading any other twisted tale books because at this point I'm completely invested in them. I think there was just something about Rapunzel's/ tangled story that I just wasn't a big fan of. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me. I would say if you're interested go for it. Like I said I'm still going to continue with anything else released in this series because for the most part I really do enjoy them.

Tangled is one of my favorite Disney movies so I was super excited to be able to get this title for review.

I have a love/dislike relationship with this series. I love the idea's of them but the ones I've given a try I haven't exactly vibed well with, nevertheless I really wanted to give this one a shot.

It's always interesting to see how authors weave a story. To retell a retelling is something that's always been my reading kink. There are vast differences between this title and the Tangled Disney movie that most of us are familiar with. There were times when I really wanted to see where this was headed and other times where I just felt lost within the story, and not in a good way.

I get you're suppose to go into this with an open mind, but I suppose the fact that the cover and title is pretty much telling you "hey this is a Tangled movie retelling" I was expecting something closer to just that.

What Once Was Mine takes the Disney Rapunzel story and changes almost everything, reimagined into a story of what if the queen had consumed the wrong flower. Instead of magical healing hair, Rapunzel has silver murder hair as she calls it, and is taken away to protect the kingdom. The story still has Mother Gothel, the tower, and some familiar faces but adds in other characters, particularly Gina who I really loved. The story is told similar to The Princess Bride, with back and forth between the story itself and the storyteller, a brother making up the story for his sister undergoing chemotherapy.

It was a nice retelling with some very fun and interesting changes to a classic story.

I’m so glad to have finally been able to read this. This is my oldest Netgalley arc that I received right as we found a house and started the selling/buying of two houses. I’m sorry, it has taken me so long to get to this. With that out of the way, let’s get to the goods.

This is my first Twisted Tale book and I really didn’t know what to expect. I love Tangled the movie and I was really excited when I received an ARC. With that being said, I did feel a bit let down. I really enjoyed a lot of aspects of the book but there are some things that really just had me disconnect. For example, the biggest thing that would take me out of the story were the scenes at Kettering Memorial. I would be into the actual story and then we would just jump right out of it to the hospital. I would have enjoyed it more because I could have been fully immersed in the story. I did understand why she did it after reading her note. I just don’t think it added anything to the actual book.

I really enjoyed the actual “twist” to the tale. Moondrop?! Yes, that was really fun and an interesting take. I really liked the addition of Gina too. She was a lot of fun and she kind of stole Flynn’s thunder. I actually didn’t love him in this book. He didn’t really give me the same vibes that Flynn from the movie did.

The pacing was a bit off but it could be because of the jumps back and forth with the hospital. I do think there’s a lot of things at the beginning that could have been left out. It would have cut the book at some points where it became lengthy. Once we get away from the movie scenes it really took off for me.

Overall, I didn’t love this like I thought I would. I did enjoy it enough that I will keep going. I’m actually reading book one at the moment and I’m loving it a lot more.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changed my rating**

I really wanted to like this one. I wanted to like the series. But I honestly think after the two I read, I'm going to call it here. I didn't dislike the Alice one, but the way the real world problem was wrapped up was very simplistic for the off page world equivalent. I'm having a similar issue here where the story kind of goes off the rails and I made it 43% before DNF-ing. I was having a hard time buying into the whole premise from the get go.

To begin with, the story is being told by the narrator, Brandon, to his sister who is a cancer patient in the hospital. She begs him to watch Tangled with her every day. She constantly reads the book over and over (which, far as I can tell, only exists in early readers chapter books, junior novelizations, and MANY children's picture books). She begs him to tell her the story again. Which sounds like the start of a doting older brother humoring his young sister as she goes through treatment for a hard illness.

Except the sister is 16 or 17. So it's a teenage boy telling his equally teenage sister the story he made up about Tangled, which she has been reading junior novelizations of every day throughout treatment. Unsurprisingly, this makes this teenaged character sounds like she's 8 MAX. She whines about animal characters missing and that he "isn't telling it right". I just have a very hard time suspending my disbelief for a child this old.

Additionally, the parts with Rapunzel make Rapunzel come off as dumb, not naive. She just runs into everything headfirst without thinking at all. Rapunzel in the movie is sheltered but not stupid. She teaches herself how to paint, to navigate by the stars, to cook, sew, create pottery, etc. She is VERY skilled and clearly able to reason as she has figured it all out through reading. Rapunzel in this book reads also like a young child. Very "oooh, look! that thing is shiny!", "Ooooh! look! HORSES!!!!", etc. When you're halfway into the book and not vibing with ANY characters, especially ones you already know and love, that's a problem. It's even more egregious for me that they managed to take a character I know and love and turn her into an unrecognizably unthinking character. I didn't like this characterization at all.

I might pick up another book in this series some point WAY later in the future. I know I own a few more of them. But this has not made me willing to do so anytime soon.

I love these series so much! What Once Was Mine is a perfect Twisted Tale for fans of Tangled and the Rapunzel story.

I loved this retelling of Rapunzel. The premise of this novel is that Rapunzel's mother was cured with the wrong flower, giving Rapunzel the power of death by hair rather than healing. It added some great complications to Rapunzel's journey away from her tower.

Her journey was more realistic as well. The world is more fleshed out with towns and nobility from other kingdoms. Rapunzel doesn't understand much of anything and many things have to be explained to her. The other characters do this, but with a more realistic level of questioning. Mother Gothel is worse as well, but it's addressed in a better way.

Overall, I gave this novel five stars and would most definitely read it again. If you love Tangled or Rapunzel retellings, pick this book up! You won't regret it.

Putting a unique twist on a classic Disney movie (as well as a general classic fairy tale), this novel was very interesting and enjoyable to read.

I love fairytale retellings and love the tale of Rapunzel! I didn't realize this book was written in the perspective of a guy retelling the story of the Rapunzel movie to his sister who is undergoing chemo. It explains a lot about the simplicity of the writing style and how wonky the retelling got at times 😂 I enjoyed this retelling especially the girl power moments and when Rapunzel is learning about her powers. I thought one of the special moments between her and Flynn were a bit rushed, but overall I shipped them. The ending was very satisfying, but I wish there was a little blurb following up about the Snuggly Duckling. Overall, a fun retelling!

3.5/5 Stars

It feels like the worst kind of blasphemy to have a Disney-approved retelling of <i>Tangled</i> that <b>doesn't include the floating lanterns at all</b>. But I'm not bitter about that or anything.

<i>What Once Was Mine</i> is one of the latest in the Twisted Tales series currently being put out by Disney, essentially asking a "What if . . .?" question about a classic Disney movie and then writing out the AU that would happen if that question became reality for those characters. Really interesting concept, although there have been some mixed results, in my opinion, on the books I've read from the series. Obviously, though, I had to read this one, because <i>Tangled</i> is my favorite.

Welllllllll.

I did enjoy the story. The "What if . . .?" question here asks, "What if Rapunzel's mother drank a healing potion made from a moonflower, not the flower that came from the sun?" I haven't finished the <i>Tangled</i> TV series, but I thought at first we'd get similar vibes to that. Not really, apart from giving Rapunzel the opportunity to have a female best friend, which I thought was fun.

From the beginning, the story was a little off for me. This is the first from the series, of what I've read, that's involved the real world. The story is framed by a brother sitting in a hospital room with his sister while she undergoes chemotherapy. Her favorite story is <i>Tangled</i>, so to entertain her he decides to come up with a retelling for her. While I like that concept in theory, every other book so far has retold the fairy tale without, you know, physically having someone in the book doing the retelling. It kept knocking me out of the story, didn't do much for the pacing.

Still not nearly as annoying as <b>not going to see the floating lights no really I'm not bitter</b>.

One of my favorite parts of the book was Flynn Rider. He was written so well, with clever quips and heroic actions - it felt very well-translated from movie to book retelling. Rapunzel was well-written too, but there was so much time spent on her moondrop magic versus her actually getting to explore the world she's literally dreamed about seeing for her entire life.

Overall, not my favorite of the series, and not one I'd plan to reread, but I'd probably lend it out to give Disney fans a chance to read and decide for themselves. (Except I'd also warn them about the floating lanterns).

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. I like these twisted changed tales based off Disney movies. Rapunzel is my favorite Disney Princess. It was fun and interesting seeing a different version of her backstory and Rapunzel not being too different personality wise, but a little different. I enjoy the darker elements of this story, and the new characters. The writing style had a nice flow and was easy to read. A quick read. It was easy to tell what was going to happen in the story, except for a couple magical parts. A good read for any Disney fan. 4 out of 5 stars.