Such a fun modern retelling of Rapunzel and I love what the authors created with these characters.

There’s an interesting mystery plot within this romance that had me quickly to get answers. A theme of growth and living in the moment is a big feature throughout and overall it made for a fun read!

Thank you to Netgalley for the early review copy.

4.25

Wow! On so many level wow! This was so not what I was expecting. Truthfully, since we just had a major Christina Lauren release less than a month ago and this was supposed to be a modern fairytale retelling, I didn’t have high hopes.

But first, as an Idaho native, I can’t not address the setting of these off-the-grid conspiracy-theorizing isolationists, otherwise known as Gloria and Steven. I’d like to say that this isn’t a place where they’d fit right in, but in some parts, they’d fit right in, even though their reasons may differ from other nearby extremists. It is pretty unbelievable that they would allow her to go away to college and there are some closer, like the University of Idaho, where she should have been able to get a scholarship too.

This is very loosely a Rapunzel story, but it’s so loose that you wouldn’t guess it if the cover and description hadn’t mentioned it. I liked this. It seems ironic to say it was a unique story, but that’s how loosely it relates to the fairytale. It is a bit of a enemies-to-lovers trope, but is otherwise not your run-of-the-mill story. Okay, I take that back. It is a road trip where there’s often only one room with one bed available. Aside from those things, it’s not your average romcom and has some serious themes that, as you’ve read in “Educated” (also set in Idaho), you know that there are people who isolate their children as much as Ren was. It’s extremely fortunate that she was basically a genius or she really would have had a tough time.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read that keeps you moving and would you believe that it’s not smutty?! It’s not a clean read, but definitely not your typical Christina Lauren.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

This was a fun modern retelling of Rapunzel and I love what the authors created with these characters.

Ren was adorable, quirky, and so book smart! I called her MacGyver at her ability to fix things that were broken, how she absorbed information and learned quickly was fun to follow. When she crosses paths with Fitz we get such cute grumpy/sunshine banter from them, his roadtrip rules and slow thaw towards her was again, adorable!

There’s an interesting mystery plot woven into this romance that had me flipping pages to get answers. It was a little over the top but I much enjoyed that suspense and conclusion. A theme of growth and living life in the moment is a big feature throughout and overall it made for a fun summer read!

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and Netgalley for the early review copy.

"Tangled Up in You" is a modern retelling of Disney's "Tangled". Initially, I struggled to connect with the story and I felt like it might not be for me. However, just as I was about to set it aside, some unexpected twists really enticed me and pulled me into the narrative.

The story primarily takes place following Ren and Fitz on a road trip. This element was quite charming but it did also feel too drawn out for my liking. I didn't think the pacing of their journey felt realistic, which made it feel like a plot device and I hate becoming aware of that sort of thing. Despite this, their adventures were endearing, and it was very heartwarming to see their relationship develop during their experiences.

One of my biggest struggles with book is the inconsistent characterization of Ren. We see a lot of examples of her naivety, which is too be expected because of her upbringing, and often times, I felt like her behavior was kind of childish. Even with all of her knowledge and book smarts, she came off as a very young protagonist and gave this book a YA feeling. I kind of wish it stuck in that direction because the times where she would become more mature, knowledgeable, and... romantically comfortable... didn't feel natural. It was a pretty jarring change and that made it more difficult to connect. While the experience of the road trip could contribute to this a bit, it wasn't enough to justify such a big change and I think some of her aspects were just too cliche, so they didn't end up blending nicely.

On a similar note, the themes in the story become much heavier throughout the story. We learn a lot about Fitz's background and Ren's entire journey makes it clear that there wouldn't be a particularly positive outcome no matter what. But things dive into a darker category than I would have expected for this particular story. The serious elements are not an issue on their own, but they did clashed with the overall light-hearted tone of the book. It was as if two different books were merged, leading to a lack of cohesion. With that, I also felt like the explanation of why Ren was in Gloria and Steve's care felt a bit underdeveloped -- really, most of the elements in that last chunk of the book felt pretty rushed and unsatisfying.

While this review does focus on a lot of issues, I should definitely say that I didn't hate my experience with this book at all. I found it to be an overall cute and fun story that was very easy to read. Though I haven't watched "Tangled," the book seemed to capture the essence of what I know about the adaptation. It had a very lighthearted charm that made it easy to root for Ren and Fitz's happiness, even if I didn't become deeply invested in their characters.

Overall, "Tangled Up in You" is worth picking up if the premise intrigues you.

Tangled Up in You is a modern retelling of Disney’s Tangled, with 22-year-old first time college student Ren as our Rapunzel. She’s lived her entire life off the grid on an Idaho homestead, so attending Corona College is her first foray into the mainstream. When an immunology class assignment yields a surprising result, Ren finds herself on a road trip with a charming young man named Fitz, both of their lives headed in unexpected directions.

The dynamic duo known as Christina Lauren have done Tangled proud with this sweet, funny romance! Ren is the perfect Rapunzel, with long golden hair, wide-eyed naivete, and a surprisingly witty sense of humor. There’s loads of chemistry in the romance between her and Fitz, but in a fade-to-black, spice-free kind of way. I loved the clever parallels to Tangled, and it was so much fun discovering them that I’m not going to list them so I don’t spoil your fun either! I was completely entertained by this delightful story!

If you like fairytale retellings or New Adult rom coms, I think you’ll love this cute and charming tale! Many thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for providing me an advance copy of this book.

3⭐
Genre ~ fairy tale fantasy
Series ~ Meant to Be #4
Others in the series ~ are unrelated and share a theme only
Setting ~ road trip from Washington to Georgia
Publication date ~ June 25, 2024
Est Page Count ~ 320 (38 chapters)
Audio length ~ 9 hours 56 minutes
Narrators ~ Patti Murin, Eunice Wong, Andrew Gibson
POV ~ multiple 3rd
Featuring ~ grumpy/sunshine, slow burn, no steamage

I've watched the movie Tangled a gazillion times and it's one of my favorites, so I had to see what this retelling had to offer.

Ren (22) is our Rapunzel. She's been living on a homestead with her parents for 20 years, never once attending school. Now she has an opportunity to go to Corona College, where she meets Fitz (22), our Flynn Ryder, AKA Eugene Fitzherbert.

An assignment has her submitting her DNA and the results were shocking. She hitches a ride with Fitz to Georgia to get some answers.

I must say that the authors did an excellent job of making this resonate with the movie. I love that Fitz's mustang is named Max to go along with the horse in the movie, Maximus. Ren is as naively depicted as you'd expect, however it gives the story YA vibes. She did tell some good jokes, though.

There were some cute moments, like the detours they took on the road trip, but overall, this was so slow moving and I was quite bored for a good portion of it. I didn't feel the ending on the farm was authentic to the story, but I suppose it's just their spin on things.

I LOVED this book! It was sweet and funny and I love the Ranpunzelish vibe. The main characters are so loveable, it's hard to not love this book. It was such an easy and enjoyable read, I was at the end of the book before I even realized it! I didn't want it to end!

What a fun concept to reimagine "Tangled"! I enjoyed this book and liked how some of the movie's best scenes were included in the story. The first half was better for me than the second half, which seemed to focus more on the physical relationship between the main characters. I feel like that section could have been tightened up a little. But, it's definitely a fun summer read for closed-door romance lovers. Thanks to NetGalley for this advanced copy!

Tangled Up in You is the perfect re-telling of Rapunzel. Christina Lauren's next big hit; they do it again! They take the magical story of Rapunzel and re-imagine it as a college love story. I went in knowing the story of Rapunzel and wondered how they could tell it. I fell in love with the characters and couldn't wait to read how it would all go down.

Thanks NetGalley for the advance audio copy of this book!

I loved this so much! I didn't know this was a Tangled retelling until I read the reviews. I had no idea while reading that that was the case, but I can see the similarities.

I do like the authors writing and enjoyed some of their previous books, but unfortunately, I've had to DNF a few due to content. I was pleasantly surprised that this was CLEAN. There was mention of naked men on a bathroom wall in a biker bar they thought was a restaurant but no descriptions. It contained minimal cursing, less than 10 instances, with no F bombs or GD.

There was a detailed kissing scene at 60%, but it wasn't dirty or overly descriptive, in my opinion. I wish more of their writing was like this. I really want to be able to read more of their work in the future.

Thank you, NetGalley, and Hyperion Avenue for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy.

Tangled Up In You was a fun spin on Tangled. Tangled is one of my favorite movies, so I loved seeing all the ways that Christina Lauren worked aspects of the movie into the book. The storyline was fun, interesting, and a little suspenseful. Ren is a sweet girl who has been sheltered her whole life. There are a lot of things she doesn't know, yet she's one of the smartest people. It was really fun being in her head and seeing the world from her eyes and how she was raised. Fitz is a little bit mysterious. He doesn't like to open up or share with people. He keeps everything close to his chest. He may not always believe it, but he's a good person and cares a lot more about Ren than he'll admit. I enjoyed seeing him come to terms with his feelings for Ren and open up to her. They're quite the cute couple, just like Rapunzel and Eugene. I really enjoyed Tangled Up In You! *I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Tangled Up in You is the fourth book in the interconnected standalone “Meant to Be” series. If you didn’t guess by the title, it is also a Tangled retelling! This novel follows Fitz and Ren as they embark on an unexpected journey across the US with each other, learning more about themselves than they originally bargained for.

This was my first Disney princess retelling, so I honestly didn’t know what to expect going into it! One of my favorite aspects of the book was looking for parallels with the movie, so it’s safe to say I enjoyed the idea. As per usual, Christina and Lauren kept the story interesting. It was extremely fast-paced and just over 300 pages, making this book a very quick read. Working in its favor, neither the story nor the language was exceptionally complex.

Despite these positives, the book lacked depth overall. I enjoyed reading about the characters but ultimately had no real connection to them since the story was very surface-level.

Tangled Up in You earns a solid 3/5 stars from me! While it didn’t end up in my favorites overall, I still thoroughly enjoyed the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for this ARC!

THANK YOU for this Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review. This book was SO CUTE! Aah!

I absolutely love Christina Lauren, and recommend them to anybody who is ever looking for a sweet, light-hearted romance book. This was no exception. I have such a soft spot for Tangled in general, so a retelling of it? Absolutely.

I found the main characters, Ren and Fitz, to fit seamlessly into the world from which they originated but in their very own unique way. I absolutely ADORED them. I found the romance believable, sweet, and caught myself laughing out loud throughout parts of the story. Absolutely adored this, and so excited to recommend it to others.

I loved this Tangled re-telling so much. It was so much fun to see how the different parts of Tangled would play out, but in a modern setting. This was a super adorable rom com and a super quick read. Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for a chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I know this is a modern retelling of Tangled, which is a retelling of Rapunzel, but the authors really went for the extreme off the grid and hidden away storyline. I know people like this exist, but it was hard to even relate to Ren because of this. Also, because this is a retelling, it is extremely predictable throughout, with a Disney happily ever after. I found myself skimming a lot, which is surprising because Christina Lauren are great authors. But I was bored at points and found everything too predictable.

I was very surprised by this book. I wasn't sure how they would make Rapunzel/Tangled work in a real-world setting. However, I thought it worked so well! Instead of living in a tower with her mom, Ren has lived off the grid her whole life with her parents and at 22 is finally allowed to go to college. She has that sticky sweet naive personality but you can't help but love her. Fitz has it all, he's the hot popular guy on campus with a rich dad. But he has a secret past no one knows about. Without giving too much of the plot away, they end up on a road trip to Memphis over spring break and tumultuously fall in love along the way.

This has something for romance readers and nonromance readers alike. The mystery subplot kept me hooked the whole way through and the action towards the end was such a page-turner. Also, Christina Lauren brought back one of my favorite tropes growing up the road trip romance! Read if you like New Adult, Grumpy/Sunshine, and Forced Proximity tropes.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 6/25!

Ren grew up leading an extremely sheltered life off the grid in Idaho. With no traditional schooling, and without ever spending even a night away, she’s now leaving home to go to college (her parents very grudgingly ‘allowing’ this, even though she’s 22)

She meets Fitz when the college Dean arranges for him to give her the intro tour. As confident as he is intelligent, he doesn’t quite know what to make of the new girl who isn’t as impressed as everyone else.

When she stumbles upon him sneaking into a teacher’s office the same night she does, Ren takes advantage of situation to find some answers about her background - not realizing this trip will lead to finding more about Fitz’s secrets as well.

I love Tangled, but I wonder if there’s a good reason it’s best as a fairy tale. As a real world contemporary story there were many times this felt very ‘How To Wind Up On Dateline 101’
*But* if you can suspend enough disbelief on the danger, it’s an exciting adventure of discovery for Ren!
I love road trip stories, and this one was a great way to watch them learn about each other (and, of course, grow closer)
The story gets pretty intense towards the end too. Good thing these fairy tales have a HEA!

Thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the arc!

I got the concept of the series is to be a retelling of a Disney movie classic… The problem is that this reads like a really awkward fanfiction. And I love Christine Lauren.

Read this because it’s entertaining and cute.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own

Sigh. So, so wonderful. Another Meant To Be/Disney retelling, but with that fantastic Christina Lauren flair. (But clean, no spice - it’s Disney, after all!). The subject matter got much heavier than I was expecting for both Ren and Fitz, but I think that just made the story stronger. It was truly a coming-of-age for both of them.

Rounded up from 4.5
At 22, Ren has never been out of her family's homestead. Now that she's going to college, she may be amazingly brilliant, her social skills are lacking. When she learns something mindblowing in her Bio class, she knows she has to go to Atlanta to investigate. Fitz happens to be going that way in his car, Max, and she has an argument that he can't refute even if he finds her annoying. Will he be able to stomach her for 5 days?
This opposites attract, road trip, forced proximity, one bedroom/bed Tangled retelling romance is book 4 in the Meant to Be series, but can totally be read as a standalone. I have to admit that I almost DNFd this one. The start was a bit slow, and both Ren and Fitz got on my nerves. But I started really warming up to it during the while Screaming Eagle scene (which is a very fun retelling of the Ugly Duckling scene in Tangled). And from then on, I just loved it! I loved all the hints to the original story and how the authors twisted them.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.