#41 - What Once Was Mine by Liz Brazwell
A retelling of Tangled, in this story, Rapunzel's mother didn't drink an elixir made with the Sundrop Flower, but one made with the Moondrop Flower. This gives the unborn Rapunzel a whole set of different powers - the first one displayed in infancy when she becomes upset, cries, and kills a nursemaid with her silver hair. Gothel steps in as a goodwife who will take the baby away (willingly given up by her heartbroken parents) to raise her and teach her until she learns to control her powers. Of course, this is Gothel, so the whole giving her back idea is a lie - instead, Gothel auctions the girl off to some of the cruelest lords and ladies alive, all of whom want Rapunzel for her "murderhair" (as Rapunzel calls it). Flynn Rider/Eugene still appears with a stolen crown and Rapunzel still hires him as her guide to the lanterns (sent up to honor the "dead" princess, as the kingdom knows her to be). Also joining the crew is Pascal and a new character, Gina, an unknown and often overlooked "thug" at the Snuggly Duckling.
I wanted to like this book. I really did. I adore Tangled and I was so excited when I found out a Twisted Tale was coming. And I might have liked it more than I did if the author hadn't done one, super annoying thing. She set the story up as a story within a story, like The Princess Bride. So every once in a while we're dragged out of the story to this hospital room where a boy is coming up with the Twisted Tale to amuse his sister, who is receiving chemotherapy treatments. And I get it - the author's afterword talks about how her own sister went through chemo. But, for me, I loathe being dragged out of a story I'm immersed in to follow some other plotline (I hate the "present day" parts of the Assassin's Creed games for this reason - I don't care about any story but the main one). I also loathe when movies/plays/TV shows/etc break the fourth wall. So that was a huge miss for me and really put a damper on the overall impact of the book.
