false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170438153m/54356.jpg 54356 6 High in the mountains, Zel lives with her mother, who insists they have all they need -- for they have each other. Zel's life is peaceful and protected -- until a chance encounter changes everything. When she meets a beautiful young prince at the market one day, she is profoundly moved by new emotions. But Zel's mother sees the future unfolding -- and she will do the unspeakable to prevent Zel from leaving her... "Will leave readers spellbound."-- <i>Publishers Weekly</i>, starred review 52998 book 1996 Zel total:913|5:169|4:315|3:274|2:115|1:40| 913 3197 1279 128 2 4 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Feb 23 18:44:30 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 23 18:47:29 -0800 2008 4 1 false false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 17:30:46 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 17:31:05 -0700 2009
I think it's a very dark tale on what it means to be an adolescent, a story of the deepest betrayal. I found it far creepier than Coraline, as Zel's mother turns into the other mother before her very eyes without any warning. I know we've spoken about absentee paren...more...]]> 5 3 false true Sat Mar 07 16:44:34 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 08 16:16:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 06 19:38:14 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 06 19:38:55 -0800 2009
Zel’s mother was the character that seemed most different from the versions of Rapunzel that I read. Instead of simply presenting h...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Sep 03 07:37:39 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 07:37:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 12:25:06 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 18:34:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Oct 28 17:46:33 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 17:46:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 20 20:07:20 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 14:38:49 -0700 2009

I must admit, the Grimm Rapunzel first struck me as choppy and disjointed. I had trouble picking out, “the journey itself, rather than the ending” (Elgoff). Enter Napoli with her expertly crafted first person narrative and behold: Zel explicitly filled in ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Aug 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 19:11:39 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 17:50:36 -0700 2009 Zel is the first book I’ve read by Napoli and it will not be my last. In her unique retelling, Napoli manages to both faithfully keep within most parameters of the original fairy tale and yet at the same time recreate the characters in 16th century Switzerland with their own motivations, personal...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue Feb 19 03:04:40 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 19 03:26:36 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Apr 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 13:50:31 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 13:53:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Dec 05 16:55:16 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 06 09:46:13 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 16:56:11 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 17:39:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Jun 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 14:07:47 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 07:05:02 -0700 2009 here.

This book is a retelling of Repunzel. I'll keep this short. I didn't particularly like it. It wasn't badly written or anything, but I think I've just decided I don't really like fairy tale retellings. I recently tried to start A Curse As Dark As Gold (retelling of Ru...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Oct 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 25 14:33:52 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 25 16:03:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 03 07:28:08 -0800 2008 Wed Jul 16 22:32:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 23 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sat Nov 29 08:01:26 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 08:01:37 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 17:19:22 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 23 14:43:00 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 09:32:19 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 09:36:09 -0700 2009
Zel = diabetic coma; Mother = what Elfriede Jelinek (albeit on SSRIs) would cook up if she wrote in the YA genre; Konrad = Humperdink! Humperdink! Humperdink!; the story as a whole (as far as I got, anyway) = a heavy-handed lesson on medieval Switzerland. But! A + + for ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 22 08:28:31 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 08:33:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=54356