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marshmallowbooks's review against another edition
2.0
This book was only ok for me. I liked that Bertie is from Ireland. I was not convinced of either of the romantic interests though. James was obviously a player from the start; I knew for certain he wouldn't be the one Bertie ended up with. But I was by no means impressed with the alternative. Ray/Rudolph was a little creepy. There's no doubt he filled that characterization of Rumplestiltskin very well. But believing in him as any part of the "happily ever after" was not working for me.
colorcrystals's review against another edition
2.0
I have read and enjoyed several of the Once Upon a Time novels so naturally I expected this to be just as good. I was sadly mistaken. The author attempted to weave in historical context and it just didn't work. The characters, motives, and romances were undeveloped. The prologue and epilogue were horrible and unnecessary. Overall, I found it tedious to read.
scribesprite's review against another edition
5.0
This book is the definition of short and sweet. There is no magic but that didn't disappoint me at all. Instead the author has the story set in America during the time when all the immigrants from Ireland (the protagonist and her family are Irish), Germany, Italy and all these others countries come in. You get a sense of what it might've been like. There are hardships at first but you don't lose hope.
I like the characters. There could’ve been more character development but for such a sort book it was enough. My favorite character is the “Rumpelstiltskin” of the story. He is courageous, a bit mysterious, and a lot nicer than I expected him to be. The Protagonist is likeable. She is kind but practical and she makes mistakes but I can understand why she does them.
The story didn’t have any dry areas, you know where the plot doesn’t seem to be moving along and it’s kind of boring, there was always something going on. It’s not a heart pounding, fast pace book but it kept me interested the whole time. The end was great and made me feel all hopeful and happy. I think this book would be perfect for preteens but that doesn’t mean older readers can't enjoy it too.
I like the characters. There could’ve been more character development but for such a sort book it was enough. My favorite character is the “Rumpelstiltskin” of the story. He is courageous, a bit mysterious, and a lot nicer than I expected him to be. The Protagonist is likeable. She is kind but practical and she makes mistakes but I can understand why she does them.
The story didn’t have any dry areas, you know where the plot doesn’t seem to be moving along and it’s kind of boring, there was always something going on. It’s not a heart pounding, fast pace book but it kept me interested the whole time. The end was great and made me feel all hopeful and happy. I think this book would be perfect for preteens but that doesn’t mean older readers can't enjoy it too.
lumos_libros's review against another edition
5.0
This tale is magically spun. Forgive me for the pun. I just wanted to have some fun. Oh gosh I really need to quit that! But more seriously I really did think this was done beautifully.
I have to admit I was kind of surprised about how much I liked this story. Don't get me wrong I love fairy tale retellings, but most of the time I enjoy them I just don't think they are very original. This was different though.
[a:Suzanne Weyn|99836|Suzanne Weyn|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1225668404p2/99836.jpg] chose the perfect setting. Early America during our Industrial Revolution when many immigrants were coming upon the country's shores. Bridget (later called Bertie) O'Malley and her family is one of the many Irish families coming to find a better life. Isn't it a perfect beginning? I liked Bertie right away. A faerie gives the prologue and epilogue of the story. That's the only bit of fantasy of the book. The rest is realistic and I appreciated the change. I love the Rumpelstiltskin of the story. He's probably my favorite character. I was a little wary of the book because of it's length, but I didn't feel I was robbed of any essential details of the story. I did feel that the romances weren't fully developed, but then again in most fairy tales they aren't. Oh I have to mention that I thought how everything weaved togther at the end to the original tale was perfect. I felt myself smile real big at the end.
Hands down this is the best retelling of Rumpelstiltskin I have read.
I have to admit I was kind of surprised about how much I liked this story. Don't get me wrong I love fairy tale retellings, but most of the time I enjoy them I just don't think they are very original. This was different though.
[a:Suzanne Weyn|99836|Suzanne Weyn|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1225668404p2/99836.jpg] chose the perfect setting. Early America during our Industrial Revolution when many immigrants were coming upon the country's shores. Bridget (later called Bertie) O'Malley and her family is one of the many Irish families coming to find a better life. Isn't it a perfect beginning? I liked Bertie right away. A faerie gives the prologue and epilogue of the story. That's the only bit of fantasy of the book. The rest is realistic and I appreciated the change. I love the Rumpelstiltskin of the story. He's probably my favorite character. I was a little wary of the book because of it's length, but I didn't feel I was robbed of any essential details of the story. I did feel that the romances weren't fully developed, but then again in most fairy tales they aren't. Oh I have to mention that I thought how everything weaved togther at the end to the original tale was perfect. I felt myself smile real big at the end.
Hands down this is the best retelling of Rumpelstiltskin I have read.
mercedesjwood's review against another edition
5.0
I started and gave up reading this about a decade ago. I'm so glad that I gave it another chance! It's a fun retelling of Rumplestiltskin. Well worth the short read.
thepaige_turner's review against another edition
3.0
Check out my review here: http://thepaige-turner.blogspot.com/2011/11/crimson-thread-by-suzanne-weyn.html
raemelle's review against another edition
3.0
A “realistic” retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. It starts out well, but halfway through gets weirdly rushed and oversimplified.
taleisin's review against another edition
2.0
It was okay. I think part of the problem was that I am bit older than the intended audience. I was an interesting way of rewriting Rumplestiltskin.
rachel_abby_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting retelling of the Rumplestiltskin fairy tale, set in America in the 1880's, centered on an Irish immigrant family. Likeable, and nicely handles the uncomfortable question of why the miller's daughter would marry a man who threatened her life if she didn't provide the requisite gold.
books2graham's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very easy read and a cute retelling of Rumplestiltskin, however I felt like this novel was lacking in many ways. The author did a wonderful job focusing on Bertie's point of view, but I felt that her being only 17 years old, that she was VERY niiave. There were also a lot of characters that were very underdeveloped... like with Ray, his character was aloof, but I felt that she could have introduced him better. The author could have worked more on developing Berties emotions towards Ray... she literally gave Bertie emotions towards every other character BUT him. I didn't like how the author just cut her family out of the book when Bertie moves to a different state. If you are going to spend time to develop 4 characters, don't just get rid of them, especially when they're so vital to the storyline in the beginning. The author really could have spent a little more time writing this book.