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Golden: A Retelling of "Rapunzel" (Once Upon a Time) Review
"Once upon a Time" Is Timeless Before Rapunzel's birth, her mother made a dangerous deal with the sorceress Melisande: If she could not love newborn Rapunzel just as she appeared, she would surrender the child to Melisande. When Rapunzel was born completely bald and without hope of ever growing hair, her horrified mother sent her away with the sorceress to an uncertain future. After sixteen years of raising Rapunzel as her own child, Melisande reveals that she has another daughter, Rue, who was cursed by a wizard years ago and needs Rapunzel's help. Rue and Rapunzel have precisely "two nights and the day that falls between" to break the enchantment. But bitterness and envy come between the girls, and if they fail to work together, Rue will remain cursed...forever. User Submitted Golden: A Retelling of "Rapunzel" (Once Upon a Time) ReviewsSeptember 27, 2008 Rapunzel Retold This is not a normal story about Rapunzel. We know this within the first several pages of the book because the child named Rapunzel is bald and remains that way. So you know right off that this is no run-of-the-mill child unfortunate enough to get stuck in a tower for most of her life. This Rapunzel starts out normally enough. Her mother had to have a certain variety of parsley/lettuce known as rapunzel and sent her husband next door to gather some. However, since their next door neighbor was a sorceress the devoted husband thought that he would have a better chance of getting the parsley if he stole it. This is where we know the story has gone awry because the sorceress is kind and allows the woman to have all the rapunzel she desired and in return, they must love their child no matter what because if they don't, the sorceress would take the child away. The baby came out completely bald but the mother, so foolish about the rapunzel earlier, saw that the child would never be like herself (vain with beautiful, long, golden hair) and so rejected it. The husband/father was terribly sad at this because he would have loved his daughter no matter what and his wife's foolishness took the baby away from them. :( So the sorceress raised Rapunzel (in a different town, of course) with love and eventually Rapunzel made some good friends despite her looking differently. The best friend she had was the tinker (Mr. Jones) and his adopted son Harry. When she turned sixteen a sickness in a nearby town caused Rapunzel and the sorceress to move out of the area before the villagers came with pitchforks for the sorceress. They traveled with Mr. Jones and Harry to a magicked tower where the sorceress' daughter by blood was held hostage. The two girls were of a similar age but not alike at all; opposites in most ways. For where Rapunzel was bald, the girl, Rue, had beautifully long golden hair that let them climb into the tower. The day is saved (finally) when Rapunzel gives her name to Rue and Rue gives her heart to a passing prince. Of course Rapunzel (now nameless) had already given her heart to Harry. The girl formerly-known-as-Rapunzel took the new name of Susan. And Harry and Susan lived happily ever after. :) This was not my favorite of the 'Once Upon a Time' series by a longshot but then I've never thought that the story of Rapunzel was terribly good either. Why did the mother HAVE TO HAVE the lettuce? I know pregnant women get cravings but geez, have some ice cream instead. It'd be more believable... And allowing people to climb up your hair just never seemed like a smart thing to me. She must have gotten sick of jokes like 'Well that's using your head!' The Rapunzel of fairy tales just never seemed like a smart or worthwhile character. She was a paper princess with not a lot of substance. It's a little bit sad but some of that carried over and into this story too. Rue wasn't a very fleshed out person and were hardly on a first name basis with many of the other characters. Parts of it dragged on while others happened so fast I wasn't sure what was going on anymore. I was truly confused about why Rapunzel had to give up her name. I've got several more of this series to read so I'm hoping there are still a bunch of good ones. June 1, 2008 Rapunzel will never be the same Golden was the first book I read of the Once Upon a Time series. It captured my imagination and now I own all the books of the series. I've always been a sucker for a great fairy tale and Golden did not let me down. The book is mesmerizing right from the first page and character development is remarkable. Cameron Dokey creates a Rapunzel never before seen. She is a stronge heroine and her journey to discover the value of herself is something that we can all learn from. This book is a must read for all ages. February 19, 2008 A Cute, Funny, Romantic Take on the Rapunzel Story When the sorceress Melisande catches her neighbor stealing the herb known as rapunzel for his pregnant wife, she makes a deal: the wife can have as much rapunzel as she likes, but if she cannot love her baby just as she is, Melisande will take possession of the child. Of course, the vain, selfish mother cannot bring herself to love the baby when it is born completely bald, so Melisande takes the child, who she names Rapunzel. Rapunzel never grows hair and is therefore considered something of an oddity by most people, but she is loved by Melisande and is, for the most part, quite happy. Rapunzel also makes friends with a tinker named Mr. Jones and his handsome adopted son, Harry. When Rapunzel is sixteen, a heatwave causes a drought and crop failure and Rapunzel is rightly worried that a mob will take its frustration out on the local sorceress and her oddly bald daughter. After abandoning their home, Melisande reveals her secret to Rapunzel: she has a biological daughter named Rue who has been trapped in a tower and Melisande thinks that Rapunzel is the one who can free her. Although Rapunzel agrees to help save Rue, doing so will not be easy. Fear, hurt feelings and jealousy threaten to come between the girls. Both girls are envious that there is another daughter in Melisande's life and Rapunzel fears that Harry, who has come to the tower to watch over her, has fallen in love with the utterly beautiful Rue, whose perfect golden locks contrast sharply with Rapunzel's bare head. This is definitely one of the best of the Once Upon a Time series, and my favorite after another of Dokey's works, Beauty Sleep: A Retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" (Once Upon a Time). My biggest complaint for this book is the same for most of the Once Upon a Time books: it's too short and needs at least another 50-100 pages to be properly flushed out. However, even given its short length Dokey does an amazing job of bringing the Rapunzel story to life and creating characters to really care about. Melisande is not the wicked witch she is usually portrayed as, but instead is a wise old woman who genuinely cares for both her daughters. Rapunzel is a clever and strong heroine who nonetheless deals with the typical teenage concern that the guy she likes favors the prettier girl. I especially liked Harry, the tinker boy, and his interactions with Rapunzel. GOLDEN is cute, sweet and funny (I laughed out loud at some points) and a great addition to the Once Upon a Time series. For more Golden: A Retelling of "Rapunzel" (Once Upon a Time) reviews click here.
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