Review: Rapunzel Untangled by Cindy C. Bennett

Rapunzel Untangled
by Cindy C. Bennett
Published: February 12, 2013
Publisher: Cedar Fort, Inc.
Available: Amazon

Synopsis:
Rapunzel is not your average teenager.

For one thing, she has a serious illness that keeps her inside the mysterious Gothel Mansion. And for another, her hair is 15 feet long. Not to mention that she’s also the key to ultimately saving the world from certain destruction. But then she meets a boy named Fane, who changes all she has ever known, and she decides to risk everything familiar to find out who she really is.

Filled with romance, adventure, and mystery, Rapunzel Untangled is one story you won’t want to put down. Discover the true meaning of love and friendship in this modern twist to the classic fairytale.

Review:
I have to admit that I love fairy tales and while I was never a Rapunzel kind of girl growing up, I absolutely love the Disney movie Tangled. It made me suddenly wish I had twenty feet of hair to brush and brush and brush and brush some more while wondering when will my life begin. And yes, I did just sing that out loud while ignoring the baffled look my husband gave me. Anyways, I suppose that was my way of explaining just why I immediately jumped at the chance to read Rapunzel Untangled, not to mention the cover is gorgeous!

I figured out pretty quickly that this was going to be a fairly faithful, though modernized, retelling of the age old story. The initial contact between Rapunzel and Fane is fairly contrived and I struggled to believe it. I mean why would a hot, super popular guy suddenly want to hook up with a girl he's not even sure is a girl? Once the two finally meet face to face, I loved their interactions. I thought Fane came across as very sweet and funny, while Rapunzel lost a bit of her over the top naivety.

For me, this was a 5 star read all the way up until the end. This is where I felt like the story just fell apart within a few short pages. Suddenly there was magic and it was very vague and then the story as wrapped up. I felt cheated out of a realistic ending that I had been led by the rest of the story to believe I was going to get. However, I do still think this is a retelling that any fairy tale fan would fall in love with.