Rapunzel

by Jenni James

A kidnapped girl faces insurmountable odds …

On Rapunzel’s sixteenth birthday, her parents are turned to stone by the evil witch, Lady Vactryne, and the girl is taken to be forever hidden away in a tower. The young princess is afraid and all alone, and as the months pass by and her attempts to escape become more desperate, she begins to lose hope that anyone will come to save her.

Prince Jonathan of Balligyrn has loved Rapunzel since they were children and has vowed to battle the witch, bring Rapunzel back, and restore her kingdom, no matter the cost. It has been years since he last saw her and asked her to wait for him to return from school. Now Jonathan only hopes he is not too late.

The cunning witch has other plans for them both, one that does not involve losing her dreams to mere fools. Who will win—the woman bent on revenge, or the young girl determined to overcome it all?

Genres: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Romance, Young Adult, Retellings, Fairy Tale Retellings, Ebooks

95 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

CLEAN ROMANCE FOR TEENS:

*The Jane Austen Diaries*
Pride & Popularity (Aug 2011)
Persuaded (Aug. 2012)
Emmalee (Jan 2013)
Mansfield Ranch (Dec 2013)
Northanger Alibi (Feb. 2012)
Sensible & Sensational (July 2015)
Sand & Sun (2016)
The Wilsons
Queen Sydney

*Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection*
Beauty and the Beast
Sleeping Beauty
Rumplestiltskin
Cinderella
Hansel and Gretel
Jack and the Beanstalk
Snow White
The Frog Prince
Twelve Dancing Princesses
Rapunzel
The Little Mermaid
Peter Pan
Return to Neverland
The Forgotten Princess
The Princess With the Golden Touch
Little Red Riding Hood
(and more...)

MIDDLE GRADE READERS:
Prince Tennyson (May 2012)

EARLY READERS:

*Andy & Annie Collection*
A Ghost Story
Greeny Meany

WOMEN'S FICTION:

*Revitalizing Jane Series*
Drowning
Swimming
Crawling
Walking
Running
Soaring


CLEAN ROMANCE FOR ADULTS:

*Eternal Realm Series*
Eternity
Destiny
Divinity

Reviews

[Jenni James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one has honestly been the most rewritten of any of my books so far. There is an underlying story here of depression that had to be retold and retold very delicately.

I hope you fall in love with my dear Rapunzel and the ever valiant Prince Jonathan. This journey has been very eye-opening for me to express and completely wonderful. I'm just so grateful I have this opportunity to tell the tales as I've always imagined them.

[Addison Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually finished this book in two days. I just forgot to update my status on it.

Anyway! Ohhhh my goodness! I have to say, this one seriously tugs at your emotions. At least it did for me. I LOVE the cover (somehow, it brings back memories of a place my family and I used to go to during the Holidays).
I became angry, dismayed, and joyful while reading this book. The romance is adorable and spot-on. I found myself cheering on the main characters and appreciating the innocence of it all. There is no question on whether or not I would recommend this book or the series in general. Rapunzel's depression really took a hold of me. I felt it and wanted everything to turn out better for her. I won't give anything away though! If you want a magic, romantic, wonderful story with just enough lightheartedness to make it cute, while being balanced out with moral, I say--go for it!!

[Carrie Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The romance in this version of Rapunzel is my favorite kind – two lifelong friends who are in love and refuse to give up on each other. I enjoyed seeing Rapunzel and Jonathan as tweens; their affection for each other was palpable even then. And once they are reunited as young adults – *dreamy sigh* there are some great kisses!

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and cute

[A. Mantonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very YA but sweet. Focus was on having hope and pressing on even under the darkest circumstances.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the tie in from the frog prince

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rapunzel

Rapunzel by Jenni James much like the rest of her Faerie Tale Collection Series is for those who appreciate the morals, innocence and super-sweet clean romance of Disney-style Fairytales.

The main character Rapunzel has to deal with the possible death of her parents as well as potential lifelong imprisonment. She is a happy resilient girl; however after seven months of imprisonment she becomes morose and desperate. The situation and emotions are eloquently presented by the author: “One would literally go mad locked away as she was, feeling shame and guilt and begging for the mercy of death to release her from this torment. Morbid, horrid torment.” For audiences that may be sensitive to such issues, there is the consideration of suicide – the author tackles this well, presenting reasoned thought and does not glorify it; instead sending the encouraging message to “Just stay a small step ahead of the gloom.”

The love interest in this tale is Prince Jonathan; Rapunzel and Jonathan are presented as being childhood friends at the beginning of the tale, which then develops into a romantic relationship when they meet again as adults after years of long distance conversation. This allows the intensity of the relationship to fit better than if they were to have only just met.

The villain of the tale – Lady Vactryne – the witch is incredibly spiteful and violent. It is hard to see her motives throughout the majority of the book, other than wanting some compensation from the royal family; however the motive is explained later in the book.

One gripe I had was with Rapunzel’s parents, mainly due to this quote: “We had hoped that when the time came for you to leave us, we could plead with Lady Vactryne and keep you with us.” I would like to think that if you knew a witch was coming for your daughter and you had sixteen years to think about it, that perhaps you might have come up with a slightly better plan. However I suppose that it is in-keeping with the fairytale flow and therefore it might be me being a tad too cynical.

In summary I enjoyed reading this book, I have read the rest of the Jenni James Fairytale Collection series and this is one of my favourites of them. It is perhaps darker than some of the other tales and the portrayal of despair was very well written. The book is very short and I think that more explanation of what Lady Vactryne would have done if she had achieved her goal would have supplemented the book. It was a good heart-warming read with a nice message of never giving up; therefore I would award this book 4 stars.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5
I'm going to be very honest, I didn't care for this one at all. I usually really enjoy James's fairy tale books. She mentioned that it has a bought of depression in it and she had to rewrite it a few times. I read books for a happy feeling. This one dealt with deep depression, suicidal thoughts and graphic details with those thoughts. While Rapunzel did overcome these morose thoughts, I didn't like reading about it. I know its very real for so many people, I just don't care to read it. I wouldn't recommend for teens...or anyone else for that matter. Sorry Ms. James, I love your other work though!!!


Moral Note: Clean language, clean romance, above stuff, mild/heavy abuse.

[Zoë Ann Book Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: depression, self-harm, suicidal thoughts

[Elentarien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, a book that I can say I enjoyed the concept. . .but not the execution. Another rushed story lacking in many details that could have filled it and made it a rich experience.

I AM very happy to say there was no 'instalove' in here. Once again, the princess and the hero had background and a reason to be in love. Even with a period of not seeing each other, there was still contact mentioned. It mentioned her having a pile of letters *from* the prince. . .and though it never mentioned Rapunzel writing back, I would like to think she did. (Especially with the fact that women tend to be better letter writers than men - in general. Always the exception, of course, and perhaps if the guy actually CARED enough, he would make the effort to write back regularly. It does happen.)

It is interesting that the princess was not taken by the witch until she was 16. This left an interesting development for the character, not only in her imprisonment, but in the fact she was not so naive as she would have been had she been imprisoned her whole life. It was also interesting that the author took the time to explore some of the mental issues a long imprisonment took on the princess, allowing it to run a course from mild to deepest black and coming out of it again. (Though she came out of it a little cleanly)

I did enjoy the introduction of the cat. Cats always make things nicer. And kudos to making the cat intregal to the climax. Much more interesting than having a pet, then 'forgetting' about it.

I can't say I enitrely like the 'resolution'. I enjoyed the fact the prince was there to save her, but much like the 'sleeping beauty' story, he became too useless at the end, leaving the princess to soley rescue herself (with the help of the kitty!) while he did nothing. Again, better if it was a cooperation, so he did his part and she did hers. However, to be fair, he was blinded (much like the original story, though much less traumatic to him or the reader!), and somewhat understandable that he would have been disoriented. But it would have been nice to have him more proactive to that point.

[Ann Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. Typical retelling with no new twists as I was hoping for. No depth to the characters and a bit too much whoa is me from the main character. The villain was overthrown quickly as were her spells. Disappointing read.

[Jalissa Mooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a crazy version of Rapunzel. Turning her parents into stone in order to kidnap a Princess who possesses some mysterious magic is crazy. Obviously, a prince will come to the rescue but it was the prince’s backstory that really got to me in this book. Truly a white knight.

[Diksha Patel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly I would've loved this series 10 years ago and not at this point in life. Just continuing to finish the rest of the books because I don't like leaving series incomplete and I wanna reach my reading goal too

[Lorrie (Clockworkbookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 Reads #669/250
3.75⭐️

Read for the Sights of Sweden Challenge 2024-2025
September 20, 2024 - January 10, 2025

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[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good quick read

[Melanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book went too fast and she could've left out some details that didn't need to be in there.

[Shruti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice sweet retelling.

[Linn Högberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Den var sådär. Det var tråkiga karaktärerna och slutet med att Rapunzels tårar var magiska var konstigt eftersom man hade inte fått reda på att hon ens var magisk.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains very graphic depictions of physical abuse, depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts.

[Rmsooon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ive read " rapunzel " ,, i thought the idea would be better ,, but there was no new plots like the other stories ,, i gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars

[Sarah Ryder · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was, I believe, the first fairy tale retelling I ever read several years ago, and I really, really liked it even if the villain’s motives for all she did were very vague and unclear to me throughout the story. The language of talking the characters use is a bit old stylish and the romance parts CAN get a bit sappy, but overall I do like the story and how the author handled the subject of severe depression and suicide.

The author also nearly incorporated ALL of the original fairy tale elements which I also really liked. So while I wouldn’t buy anymore of this author’s retellings (due to all the sappy romance stuff), I still like this take on Rapunzel and how she handled my favorite fairy tale. A sweet, simple book I’m very fond of.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has such a good message!
I just love reading these books. They're classic and old-fashioned but with the modernness of writing. They make you want to cry and smile at the same time. You want to melt into the book and become a part of it. I wish that was possible.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rapunzel overall was not one of my favorites of Jenni James Faerie Tale Series. I have read so many Rapunzel retellings and as most of you know Rapunzel is by far my favorite fairy tale ever since Disney's Tangled came out I have been obsessed with Rapunzel. You probably could say that I may have had too high of expectations for Jenni James' Rapunzel.

As usual Jenni James' books focus on the original fairy tale with a small or a big twist. I would say the twist in this one was overall small. I have read the Grimm's fairy tale of Rapunzel, so I knew what details she changed. Jonathan and Rapunzel have been friends through their life when Jonathan has to go away to school for four years they make a promise to each other that they will wait for each other and that he will dance with Rapunzel at her coming out ball. But when Rapunzel turns 16, Lady Vactryne comes to settle her debt and Rapunzel is locked away forever.

There were a few underlying themes of this story such as depression, and self harm. Rapunzel isn't happy with her life in the tower. I really liked how this book ended. Overall Rapunzel was a quick read and I would recommend this series. I try to read two or more books from the series every year and that is now complete for 2017. I will be caught be with the series soon and then be able to read the books as they come out. Jenni James write really simple novels, but I don't mind taking the time to read them, since they don't take me long.

[Isabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was slightly better than the others so far. I think it actually showed a lot more potential. I really wish the author hadn’t rushed through writing all these books. Because the book is so short, every interesting plot point is barely mentioned and never seen again. Like Rapunzel inheriting power because her mother drank a mixture of mint and rapunzel which has magical properties. That sounds amazing! But we only hear it once! I also liked how Rapunzel got so depressed that she tried to kill herself. Thats was interesting! Dealing with depression makes sense to the story. But it was so short it was over before you knew it.
It was a little strange that the beginning of the book is 12 year olds promising to wait for each other.
There were also inconsistencies. Like how was Rapunzel able to read the letters Jonathon sent to her over the years? The witch took her away without her stuff...
I am glad this book didn’t have insta-love in it. That was refreshing in a way.

I really think that the author has potential but focuses more on getting it done than actually writing an in depth story.

[Katelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't as good as Cinderella or Twelve Dancing Princesses but it was still good. The romance to me felt like one moment they're friends the next they're declaring they're love. It wasn't the slow developed love from friends to dating that I love. Though they were a cute couple and had their moments. For those looking for a nice cheerful read, don't come here. Rapunzel is suicidal for a part of the book and is often morose and desperate. It's really the realistic version of Rapunzel. Unlike Disney's Rapunzel, who is happy-go-lucky, this one is more human. Overall it leaves with a very good message. Though there were elements I liked about the book there some annoying things. I still look forward to reading Jenni James's other books though! Overall it was all around good, but nothing overly extraordinary.

Moral note: more adult themes (such as suicidal thoughts, abuse, and self-inflicted harm), no cussing, some kissing

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a big fan of Jenni James and her books, this was my least favorite to date. I actually enjoyed the fun and clever twists of the story and even loved all of the characters. I usually finish her books and pass them on to my teenage daughters, but this one I cannot even begin to recommend to teens. The seriousness of depression was dealt with well, but the graphic description of her thoughts of suicide and how she craved cutting herself was difficult for me to read. As a youth leader who has dealt with so many girls that struggle with cutting and self mutilation, it was painful to read of her desire and craving to hurt herself. Although she overcomes it, (yea!!) so many others just can't. :(

[Olivia Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sincerely loved this book! The writing style was amazing and evenly distributed the perspective of the characters, which is very hard to do without breaking the illusion world of the book.

This book is about a young girl who's father and mother stole a flower from an evil witch, then the witch comes back sixteen years later and takes her, in exchange for the flowers. Then the young girls best friend, from nearly birth, comes to rescue her.

I liked this book A LOT! It was most definitely a great book for me because I love suspense, and this one has a lot of suspense! I would recommend this book to anyone and most likely everyone!

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting retelling of Rapunzel with great characters and I loved the beginning when her and the prince were children. They were so cute together. This book did get more serious in the middle but has a happy ending with an epilogue to tell about their future. I plan to read more Fairy Tale Retellings by Jenni James in the future.

[Jamie Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another sweet retelling of a fairy tale! This one stuck a little closer to the story line I'm familiar with which made it a little blah for me, but I still enjoyed it. I liked the wrap up at the end of lessons learned.

[Jacklynn Pragosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I’ve said this a hundred times about Jenni James’ books and I’ll say it again. These books are amazing. Revisiting Rapunzel and Jonathan’s story was exhilarating. Can’t wait to re-read the rest of the series.