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dragonwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Presented as a found medieval German text, The Book of Gothel gives the life of the witch who kidnapped Rapunzel and locked her in the tower. Her name was Haelewise. Throughout her life, Haelewise struggles with fainting spells that makes her father and priests believe she’s possessed by a demon, and they try all sorts of holy remedies to cure her and cast the demon out. Her mother, however, has a different solution in mind. Sacrificing her own life for Haelewise’s happiness, her mother’s death sets Haelewise on a path to find the Circle, a group of women who worship the Mother, as well as embroils her in political machinations and assassinations. Fighting to preserve herself and her love, Haelewise follows the path her mother sets before her, searching for a family who will finally love her as she is.
This story hints at several other fairy tales, such as snow white, yet holds to a fantastical historical nature. It’s quite the clever play between fantasy and history, and I couldn’t help but picture Haelewise’s dress as the same featured in Disney’s Tangled. I thought that was quite the clever nod to the familiar tale. While I wouldn’t call this a ‘cozy’ story, the stakes follow the fates of several women in Haelewise’s life, as she fights to protect those from the cruelty of men. The men in power are frequently as cruel, or uncaring of woman’s plight (the King, Haelewise’s father, Ulrich), while the men who are lower ranked in the political structure are more sympathetic (Daniel and Matthaus). I do like how Mattaus is able to contribute to the ending, how he’s sent away with the baby while Haelewise confronts the wolf, and I really like how sweet he is and how he fights for her, despite her reputation. Their friends-to-lovers dynamic really has you rooting for them throughout the whole book, and while I hate Kunegunde for what she did, I’m glad they got something of a happy ending.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Death of parent
Minor: Miscarriage and Rape
amalyndb's review
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death of parent
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Miscarriage, Torture, and Abortion
prairieraven's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
emmarie's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Torture, and Abortion
This book had such a potential to be great. The concept is amazing, but was not executed in the best way. The plot is SLOW. The royal family dynamics are so confusing it’s nearly impossible to know who is related to who and how. I wish more of the journalist’s perspective was in there. I gave it 3 stars because the last 25% of the book was quite good and the concept was brilliant. It started moving fast then. The first 75% droned on to the point I would accidentally skip lines and have to force myself to reread.qrschulte's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What a fantastic retelling. Takes the well-known story and turns it on its head, shattering expectations. I love a book with a good framing narrative, and this was no exception.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Torture, and Antisemitism
apolloann's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Religious bigotry
onceuponabookcase's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I was sent this proof for free by Orbit Books for the purposes of providing an honest review.
I'd been super excited to read The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne ever since I first heard of it. An historical fantasy prequel retelling of the story of Rapunzel from the perspective of the witch, it was right up my street. However, I finished it feeling really disappointed.
Set in Medieval Germany, the story follows Haelewise, a young girl who has fainting spells, brought up by a mother who secretly keeps to the old ways. I was expecting either a villain origin story, or for a story that completely turns the tale of Rapunzel on it's head. And while to some degree it does do that, the story actually has very little to do with Rapunzel, or what we know of that story. There's a tower, there's a woman who practices magic, and there's a baby girl named Rapunzel in the last fifth of the book, but that's it. I did start off enjoying the book. I loved the Medieval setting, the feminist aspect to how women are viewed, and the patriarchal and controlling church. The old ways, magic from nature, wise women and wort cunning, and goddess worship. It felt like a story that was going to be everything I could want. But it wasn't.
The Book of Gothel is an extremely slow story. Haelewise moves from place to place, and each time you think that's when the story will finally get going, but you just get quite a lot of nothing really happening. She spends time at the tower learning very little from the wise woman in the tower, to seeking assistance from Hildegard, to time amongst royals, to the anticlimactic ending. At each place, there's a lot of not doing very much, and a lot of waiting around. It really dragged, and I lost interest. There wasn't a great deal of magic or action, and the only reason I kept reading was to see how it would relate to Rapunzel, but there's so little. Honestly, you could read this book not knowing it was a retelling. The whole Rapunzel aspect could have been removed. The tower could have been a cottage, the child could have been named something else, they're pretty much the only links to the original story, and as such "a Rapunzel retelling" is actually pretty misleading.
I really don't have any more to say. I think there are certain Christian people who might find aspects of this story somewhat controversial, unrelated to the patriarchal and superstitious aspects. I'm an atheist, and I gasped, because it's so bold. It actually made me cackle, the idea of how overzealous Christians might react to it. Also, I only found out after finishing the story that it features an actual historical figure in Hildegard on Bingen, but I don't think it matters either way, it doesn't really make a difference to the story.
I was extremely disappointed with The Book of Gothel due to being very slow, not much happening, and very little relation to Rapunzel. But maybe if you're a fan of historical fiction, and don't mind slow burn stories, this might be something you'd enjoy.
I'd been super excited to read The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne ever since I first heard of it. An historical fantasy prequel retelling of the story of Rapunzel from the perspective of the witch, it was right up my street. However, I finished it feeling really disappointed.
Set in Medieval Germany, the story follows Haelewise, a young girl who has fainting spells, brought up by a mother who secretly keeps to the old ways. I was expecting either a villain origin story, or for a story that completely turns the tale of Rapunzel on it's head. And while to some degree it does do that, the story actually has very little to do with Rapunzel, or what we know of that story. There's a tower, there's a woman who practices magic, and there's a baby girl named Rapunzel in the last fifth of the book, but that's it. I did start off enjoying the book. I loved the Medieval setting, the feminist aspect to how women are viewed, and the patriarchal and controlling church. The old ways, magic from nature, wise women and wort cunning, and goddess worship. It felt like a story that was going to be everything I could want. But it wasn't.
The Book of Gothel is an extremely slow story. Haelewise moves from place to place, and each time you think that's when the story will finally get going, but you just get quite a lot of nothing really happening. She spends time at the tower learning very little from the wise woman in the tower, to seeking assistance from Hildegard, to time amongst royals, to the anticlimactic ending. At each place, there's a lot of not doing very much, and a lot of waiting around. It really dragged, and I lost interest. There wasn't a great deal of magic or action, and the only reason I kept reading was to see how it would relate to Rapunzel, but there's so little. Honestly, you could read this book not knowing it was a retelling. The whole Rapunzel aspect could have been removed. The tower could have been a cottage, the child could have been named something else, they're pretty much the only links to the original story, and as such "a Rapunzel retelling" is actually pretty misleading.
I really don't have any more to say. I think there are certain Christian people who might find aspects of this story somewhat controversial, unrelated to the patriarchal and superstitious aspects. I'm an atheist, and I gasped, because it's so bold. It actually made me cackle, the idea of how overzealous Christians might react to it. Also, I only found out after finishing the story that it features an actual historical figure in Hildegard on Bingen, but I don't think it matters either way, it doesn't really make a difference to the story.
I was extremely disappointed with The Book of Gothel due to being very slow, not much happening, and very little relation to Rapunzel. But maybe if you're a fan of historical fiction, and don't mind slow burn stories, this might be something you'd enjoy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, Torture, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Abortion
This book features someone late to starting their period, semi-vague sex scenes, morning sickness, childbirth, reference to stillbirths, child neglect, male rape, references to stoning, and violence against women.