Ren has never left their family homestead for more than a trip to the local farmers market. But at 22, she heads to college for the first time and meets Fitz. Fitz thinks Ren is so weird and innocent and strange and...enticing?
When the results of an ancestry DNA test send them on an impromptu road trip across the country, the two of them find themselves feeling a lot of feelings (and hiding a lot of secrets).

My Thoughts: This is a modern retelling of Rapunzel (but more specifically Tangled) and part of Christina Lauren's Meant To Be series. It's cute, and made a good, cheesy, simple novel. I'll also prefer The Paradise Problem and The True Love Experiment, but this was a cute little filler.

When Ren, who has grown up completely off the grid, goes to college her eyes are opened. When Fritz meets the beautiful, brilliant and naive Ren he is blown away by her. They each harbor secrets that must be revealed before they can commit to each other. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for my honest review.

This was super fun. It's Christina Lauren so you really can't go wrong. I have actually never seen tangled but I know the story of Rapunzel well. This was a fun road trip enemies to lovers romance!

3.5 stars!

This reimagining of Disney's Tangled stayed pretty true to the movie. Ren and Fitz's relationship was very cute and there were a lot of parallels. For the most part, I had a lot of fun with this one. However, there wasn't anything that stood out to me in particular. There wasn't much that happened in terms of plot. I also don't think they explained the significance of her long hair in this book but I'm not entirely sure. Ren and Fitz were cute together but it had a very Disney and YA feel to it. Even the ending was very simple. I also liked Fitz but I feel like his character could have been developed and explored more. Their relationship was pretty abrupt too; I wasn't even sure when they became boyfriend and girlfriend but they still had their cute moments. Overall, I liked this book because it was very similar to the movie but it's very simple and quick.

Holy moly. Seriously loved this book! Tangled is my favorite Disney movie, so when I saw this...you better believe I ran to apply!
lloved so much about this book, but of course it was so fun to see all of the Tangled hidden Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the book. Some scenes felt straight from the movie. I like how they modernized it so it fits perfectly in a contemporary setting.
I love Ren, she's a ray of sunshine. Who can blame Fitz from falling head over heels?!
If you loved Tangled, you'll love this book!
Thank you @NetGalley, @christinalauren, and @hyperionavebooks for this book! It was a joy!

It pains me to say that despite loving this author duo, I did not enjoy this book. I eventually started skimming it just to get to the end but should have just put it in the DNF pile.

I think tackling any modern retelling is probably a difficult task but taking on the Rapunzel story is maybe more difficult than most. I haven’t read all of the Meant to Be books but I did read By the Book and I loved all of the nods to Beauty and the Beast that were sprinkled throughout the story. I was waiting and anticipating those gems in this story but they either fell flat or I just didn’t see them to make the connection to the Rapunzel story. Sure you get the frying pan, the bar scene and of course the hair but the hair of all things really didn’t factor into the story at all.

The main connection between tale and modern retelling was the reason Ren was isolated for twenty some years in the first place. I should have known where this part of the storyline was going and checked out the trigger warnings beforehand because I typically steer clear of this type of plot line where kidnapping or any harm to children is involved. What starts off as a cute story about a girl from a homestead turns pretty dark.

Overall I just didn’t connect with Ren or Fitz. The beginning when she first arrives at college wasn’t that gripping and it just went downhill from there. Their road trip was anticlimactic and didn’t really give enough for me to believe that they fell in love and would stay together forever from that moment forward.

I commend them on trying this retelling but it’s a pass for me. I do think the book club guide is a huge plus for anyone wanting to read it!

Another winner for this duo. Ren and Fitz, in this modern retelling of Tangled, are a cute read that is sure to entertain. I enjoyed the characters and how the story unfolded. A must read for Christina Lauren lovers.

This was basically a modern fan fiction retelling of the Tangled movie, and I adored it. Ren was so sweet and quirky, and Fitz was such a lovable "bad" boy with a troubled past who falls so hard for Ren. There were so many cute references to the movie—Max the car, Pascal the cat, frying pans everywhere, the bar scene—it was so excellent and fun. They also dealt a bit more realistically with the trauma Ren would obviously go through after such a Rapunzel-like childhood, which made the end especially a bit more sobering, but it did take away from the fact that this book was just an overall delight.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinion are completely my own.

I think I built this book up in my head a little too much and let myself down.

This book itself is a good book, cute reimagination of a beloved story. I just expected more, and I have no idea what.

3.5-4 stars. Ren is starting college at 22. She lives in a homestead and runs the whole operation for her parents so they are reluctant to let her go, but they have consented. Fitz is a college senior looking to graduate and remove a felony from his record. He gets paired up with Ren to give her a tour and is taking note of how naive and inexperienced she is regarding the modern world, which is everyday life for everyone else. It also does not escape him how incredibly intelligent she is and that they are both in the same Immunology class. It does not bode well for him if she is competition for him to graduate at the top of the class.

A DNA project yields unexpected results for Ren, prompting her to take a cross country trip and she strong arms Fitz into taking her via blackmail. A road trip in one vehicle and sharing hotels and meals together leads them to spending a lot of time together, getting to know one another. Fitz is the grumpy to Ren’s sunshine and he’s avoided her thus far because she gets on his nerves. But now they have no choice but to be around the other and learn their vulnerabilities. It’s a cute story, like Disney’s Tangled, and Fitz’s cynicism begins to thaw when it comes to Ren, whereas she is learning to discover everything about the world around her. There are some funny scenes and dialogue and I could appreciate Ren as a fearless and smart heroine because she was not easily deterred when she had a goal and seemed oblivious to danger. I was also anxious for her to reach her final destination to get answers to her long awaited questions. For a more adult version of the Disney film, this was entertaining and fun to read.

I know some of what happens in Disney’s Tangled, but I have not watched it (gasp!). I was excited to read another Christina Lauren book, and it happened to be a reimagination of Disney’s fair-haired maiden with the long, golden locks.

Ren begins college at 22, moving away from home for the first time after spending her entire life on a homestead in Idaho. She has met few people beyond Steve and Gloria, her parents. She is doe-eyed going into college, and she is viewed as a phenomenon of sorts by her peers. Ren shatters the ideas about the “sheltered” girl through her intelligence and kind heart.

Ren meets Fitz on her first day at college – he is tasked with showing her around the school. Her roommate has cautioned her about Fitz’s reputation, and Ren slowly breaks past the image of what she thought he was. Ren discovers something unbelievable about her past through a class DNA assignment, and the knowledge causes her to break all the rules that Steve and Gloria set forth when she left for college. Ren joins Fitz on a road trip that changes both of their lives.

Tangled Up in You has YA vibes with well-loved author(s) Christina Lauren. The story kept me reading, and not having seen the movie helped because I wasn’t expecting any plot points. It’s not my top CLo novel, but I will keep coming back for more.

Thank you to Christina Lauren, Hyperion Avenue, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this retelling of Tangled so much and it really surprised me! I was expecting a romance, but I got so much more! There was a lot of depth as Ren and Fitz deal with their individual battles and there was a mystery thread that was REALLY interesting. I enjoyed getting to know the characters as they got to know each other. It was sweet and adorable, but not just your usual cotton candy romance.

TUIY fell into the cute and ok category for me. It was a quick, easy read and while I didn't hate it, it just felt rather meh IMHO. It had a little bit of drama thrown in but not enough to turn it into something more than just ok.

**Received ARC through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed**

My opinion (though it doesn't seem to be widely shared by other advance readers):
This book reads like a bad YA novel, with characters that are stereotyped and inconsistent in their behavior. The plot is very slow to start, and when it picks up in pace, it becomes absurd: exceptionally traumatic events are airbrushed as if in a Disney movie. There is little-to-no emotional chemistry between the two main characters, and it's unclear how two people so different and so damaged will ever build a successful long-term relationship.

Christina Lauren's reimagining of Rapunzel was a fun read. I loved Ren, the main character, who was so naive in her first foray off her sequestered homestead to college, but also a strong and capable young woman in her own right. I enjoyed watching Ren and Fitz grow and also grow closer on their road trip without overstepping too much on the foundation of who Ren was and what she believed about relationships and sex in this story of romance. I look forward to recommending this book highly to those who already know Christina Lauren as well as those who remember the Rapunzel story and to my teen patrons who have a bit of both in them. A big thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the early read in exchange for my honest opinion. 4.5 stars

Rapunzel has never been my favorite story but I liked how this author did the story. Ren is the Golden Girl everyone loves and it's hard not to enjoy her fresh outtake on life. Fitz is completely her opposite but I like how he changes. Still, there was something missing from the story that made this a 4-star read for me.

I didn't ✨love ✨ it, but I also didn't hate it!

It was enchanting (duh, it's a Disney Princess retelling) but it just moved way too slow for me. I did appreciate how close to the plot of the movie it stayed, and how Christina Lauren did an impressive job of balancing the romance and adventure of the road trip! It just felt too YA for what it's supposed to be.

Highly recommend for Rapunzel fans! Thank you, Netgalley and Hyperion Avenue for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Tangled Up In You is a retelling of Tangled. I thought Christina Lauren did an exceptional job capturing the energy and vibe of Disney's Rapunzel, while making the story more modern. Ren was raised off the grid with limited access to anything related to pop culture, the internet, etc. She's fit and capable, and exceptionally bright. As a young adult, she longs to go to college and eventually convinces her deeply skeptical parents that she can handle it. If you love that movie, you will enjoy this book and all of the Easter eggs that you'll find. As a straight-up novel, it's honestly all a little too Disney, but I'm not sure how they could have avoided that! For me, this was 3.5 stars, rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley for early access to this sweet and charming book.

3.5
Adorable. Christina Lauren do a delightful job of taking the sweetness and humor of Disney's Tangled and giving it a modern spin. Ren is a sweet golden retriever of a human and Fitz is a jaded and sardonic and it just works. I love that this is a romance novel I can put in the hands of my older students - it is mature, but gentle (discussions of sex, but no action on page). I did guess why our sweet Ren was raised off-grid pretty quickly, but if you've seen Tangled or are even remotely familiar with the story of Rapunzel you probably will too. That's okay though, I don't need this to be highbrow! There are so many great nods to the movie - the Snuggly Duckling becomes a biker bar, frying pans, the lanterns become fireworks, and I love, love, love that the girls managed to sneak Maximus into the story in such a cute way!

Thanks to Netgalley and Hyperion for a digital ARC.

TANGLED UP IN YOU was a cute story from start to finish. I don't usually like a retelling, but this one didn't disappointed. It definitely kept me entertained. I laughed quite a bit.


Many thanks to Hyperion Avenue and Netgalley for my gifted copy.