Yes, it's a re-telling of Rapunzel. Yes, it's really long and it's really hard to get through. Yes, it is absolutely worth it. I will say that because I confess to getting bored with this at several points and wanting to actually give it up. I did not, because I'm kind of a fan of classic stories being re-told and I figured I had already gotten this far, I'm this much invested, I'll keep plugging along. And I'm really glad because though for a good chunk of the book I had no idea how Kate was going to tie three stories (all different time periods, no less) together and make it seem logical to the story of Rapunzel. Somehow, she did it. Do I think chunks could be removed? Yes. Very much so. It's just so boring in parts that I fear a lot of less dedicated readers would give up, especially those who aren't avid readers as it is.

But we have the store of three women: Margherita, the young girl stolen from her family because her father stole bitter greens from Selena Leonellia (La Strega), we have Charlotte-Rose, who is sent away from Louis XIV court because she basically sleeps around a little too much, and then the story of La Strega. The story is actually Charlotte-Rose learning of the actual story of Margherita, and then she compares it to her current situation, which is living in a home for nuns and it's treated like a prison, essentially. And we have La Strega, who is kind of like Charlotte-Rose herself because La Strega was basically forced into her situation and does whatever she can to fight the awful things that have happened to her in her life. I didn't care so much about her story, and I was highly interested in Margherita, but Charlotte-Rose was maybe my least favorite character.

What is highly interesting is that after I finished it, I see how each woman is like Rapunzel. All were taken, all were essentially in a tower, all had injustices done to them, yet all of them remain hopeful. In very different ways. The story itself is extremely complex and I can only imagine the time it would take to not only research French history to get the characters and original story correct, but then to weave in fictional characters so it all feels real- that had to be a mass under taking.

In the end, I actually loved it. It was so hard to read and get through, I wanted to give up but I am so glad that I didn't. I would have missed a really great ending that ties it all together kind of perfectly.