My Name is Rapunzel by K.C. Hilton - Start Date: July 2, 2014 (July 2014 Young Adult)

[Lisarenee]

Clare,

Yes, I hope this one doesn't put anyone off on reading remakes. There are some good ones out there. Too bad this one didn't make the grade.

[Greta]

Still catching up...

8. Part 1 started in 1763 and gave us the back story. Now we are in the present day, 2013. Rapunzel is now 268 years old. I keep getting the Queen song “Who wants to live forever” in my head. Would you want to live forever?
Definitely not. At least this book explains how terrible living forever would be.

9. Rapunzel won’t let go of her past. She still has the wedding dress from her planned wedding to Henry in her room. Why can’t she let go?
I can completely understand why she can't let go of the past. She is stuck in a tower with very few connections to the outside world. I think it would be almost impossible to move on, although she could try to stay with the times a little more. I don't understand why she won't use a shower or a cell phone, but is fine with reading all the magazines about current fashion and current newspapers.

10. Gretta has been taking Rapunzel’s hair since she was a child and has now cursed her to live forever. What’s in it for her? What is she using the hair for?
I just assumed the hair is what keeps her alive. Now that we've been introduced to the sick man, maybe she uses it to help people?

11. Who is that man in the wheelchair that Gretta has been seeing? Friend or another victim?
I really am not sure...I don't know enough about Gretta right now to guess whether she is helping him or has him under her control.

12. Gretta and Rapunzel were both suspects in the witch hunt. Gretta has the typical old crone look, but when they saw a young beautiful Rapunzel, they decided she couldn’t be a witch. I wonder what would have happened if the mob decided they both were witches and tried to kill either of them?
I think Gretta would have had to intervene in some way to stop them from trying to kill her. I think Rapunzel is immortal but I don't think Gretta is.

13. Rapunzel was very isolated. She read a lot of books as a form of escapism and she also got involved in online communities. I bet she would love NBRC! (Rapunzel....are you out there....are you doing this buddy read with us?) Her only real life friend is Pepper – who delivers the mail. Do you think she will meet up with her at the party or for a coffee?
Yes, I think she will decide to go out with Pepper.

15. Chapter 14 is retelling the beginning of Part 1. That must be an important part of the story. It still hasn’t explained where the dragon came from . Did the dragon eat Henry? Or is Henry the dragon? Any other ideas?
I also thought we didn't need a complete retelling of the beginning part but the part about the dragon was interesting. I definitely think Henry is the dragon!

[Renee]

@Gretta
8. It doesn't make living forever seem an attractive option does it.

9. She did keep a few routines to help her maintain her identity such as washing with a bowl of water. I would rather shower too.

13. I think it would be good for her to get out and meet people.

[Kelly]

Renee wrote: "@Gretta
8. It doesn't make living forever seem an attractive option does it.

9. She did keep a few routines to help her maintain her identity such as washing with a bowl of water. I would rather s..."

I thought the Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands did a nice job showing how living forever would be neat. I don't think I'd want to personally but those books present it in a much nicer option though they do deal with some of the leaving loved ones behind type issues.

[Renee]

Kelly wrote: "Renee wrote: "@Gretta
8. It doesn't make living forever seem an attractive option does it.

9. She did keep a few routines to help her maintain her identity such as washing with a bowl of water. I ..."

Just looked up the first one, looks like a fun read. On the tbr list now.

[Renee]

Here are some more fairytale retellings that have been recommended to me.

[Greta]

@Kelly & Lisa- I really agree with your comments for 16-20. She is written as a teenager and not a 260 year old woman. We were in the 1800s and the vocabulary just seemed all wrong. There are just a lot if problems with this book.

[Renee]

I had a look through the authors website. This book was two and a half decades in the making - so she would have started writing it as a teenager. It didn't get picked up by a publisher so was self published. The two main editors were herself and a friend. She did pay for a professional to edit it, but that was spelling grammar etc not content. This might explain a few things...

[Greta]

21. I think Gretta started the fire. I have no one else to pin it on so far.

22. I also think the dragon is Henry, so he is her protector but maybe he doesn't want to see her with others?

23. I think, like Clare, that he is the man from the bookstore.

24. Yes, I thought that all was silly that she couldn't understand why someone wouldn't believe her story. She said she didn't know if he was ready to see the dragon though...so that is why she distracted him.

25. Great answer Clare!

[Greta]

My comments are similar to others. The ending felt rushed to me and I think Rapunzel would have really struggled to forgive Henry for killing Luke. I probably won't read any other books by this author but I would like to read some of the other fairy tale retellings.

[Greta]

Thanks for the recommendations, Kelly and Renee! I've added them to my TBR list.

[Lisa]

I had to take a break from this book before finishing in one go. Be prepared for a rant!


Questions and Comments for Part 2 Chapter 23 - Chapter 30

21. Luke and Anastasia were just killed in the fire. Who started the fire? Gretta swears she didn't, is she lying? Or did the dragon start the fire?
Honestly I wasn't sure what happened or why. It was all so vague and irritating.

22. We are rehashing the prologue again. It seems a bit like a copy and paste to fill a page number quota as it is still left unresolved. We know now that she didn't escape, but why is the dragon following her. Is the dragon her captor or her protector?
I knew from the beginning that Henry was the dragon, so I knew that he was her protector. Why he didn't try to communicate with her or befriend her for 250 years is beyond me. I mean, c'mon, who wouldn't want a pet dragon? Even if she couldn't figure it out, at least they could have had a good relationship.

23. Who is the man spying on the hillside? For a little while I thought, maybe the man is Henry, who is like a werewolf and turns into a dragon at night...But then I thought that Rapunzel would surely recognise her one true love and wouldn't he have made contact insted of spying.
You know, I thought the same thing too. I figured maybe there was some condition of the curse where he couldn't come near her as a human. Still doesn't completely explain his avoidance of her.

24. She is finally making friends outside the castle. Rapunzel has gone out of her way to hide who she really is, then seems surprised and angry that John doesn't believe her. She had her "fists balled in rage" because "You think my story is crazy" It is a crazy story! Rapunzel seems very immature to me - 267 going on 14. Would you belive someone who told you they were a fairytale character? Then when the opportunity for proof comes - the dragon - she kisses John to hide the dragon from him. Why doesn't she want John to see the dragon?
Ugh. This whole plot is full of stupid holes that could have been easily fixed. Rapunzel is a strange combination of whiny teenager, a dumb, obstinate medieval maiden, and an independent modern woman. Seriously, the dragon makes for excellent proof of her story, thus rendering the kiss (a stupid idea to begin with) completely unnecessary.

25. John said he wanted to be the dragon so that he fly and feel free. What character would you like to be? The dragon and fly but be hunted? The maiden who is trapped but lives forever? The Prince, who may or maynot get the happily ever after - depending on which version you read? The witch who has magical powers but is seen as the bad guy? The hero who makes everything better, but may not find true love?
I was actually thinking about that when I read that part in the book. I think it's a tie between immortality and being a dragon, especially if you can change back and forth between forms.

Questions and Comments for July 6th
Chapter 31 - end

26) Sonia was right about Henry, he was the dragon. I think that part was a bit predictable. Did you think Rapunzel would be related to Greta? You'd think she'd have been nicer to her, wouldn't you?
The part about Greta, in retrospect, is not a huge surprise. Still doesn't fully explain the situation, and I'm irritated that the father didn't disclose this kind of important info.
The part about Henry was definitely very predictable. My question is this however: if Henry could still talk to Rapunzel and make physical contact with her, why the heck didn't he talk to her before?!!!! Seriously, huge plot hole that wasn't satisfactorily explained.

27) What did you think of Rapunzel forgiving Henry for her son's death? I felt she was a bit quick about it.
That was waaaay too quick for me. A perfect example of where the author was too lazy to flesh out the storyline.

28) What did you think of all the revelations which were revealed at the end? Did you like it or feel some should have been revealed sooner? To me it all felt a bit jumbled together especially where the reporter was concerned. He made her feel like Henry did with his last kiss?
All these revelations were too quick, too vague, too jumbled. This story needs so many more details, so much more writing, and a plot that doesn't leave the reader confused and frustrated.

29) Overall thoughts on this fairy tale makeover? What were your favorite parts and what will you rate it?
I rated this one star. I was leaning towards 2 stars at first, to be nice, but then the last 100 pages fell apart, and I was too annoyed at the author to be generous. I'm not usually mean when I write reviews (really, I'm not), but this author was incredibly lazy with this story! She freakin' copied and pasted whole chapters! She didn't go into much detail with the important plot points, and she went into too much detail for the things that were really just fluff. If the author had really taken the time to revise, rewrite, and revise again, this could have been a good, 400-page YA fantasy novel that an actual publisher would have taken on. She really could have achieved something great here, but she got lazy and rushed it all out. I am supremely annoyed with her about that.
There were a couple things that I did like. For one thing, I did like the premise. Rapunzel living into the modern day was interesting, Henry being turned into a dragon was also good. I also liked how Henry couldn't actually look at her face; it was an intriguing take on the original tale. There were little things here and there that I wish the author spent more time on, like Rapunzel meeting the Grimm brothers and Goldilocks. Using the curious reporter to help tell the story is also a good thought, but was badly used in the plot and requires some rethinking. There really were some cool ideas in this story. I kind of want to take up writing so I can rework this story into something that could be really good.....but then again I'm a terrible writer, so that probably wouldn't work out so well. I'll just stick with reading the books. :)

30) Do you think you'll read a book by this author again?
Absolutely not. There was just too much to complain about with this book. One book by this author is more than enough.

31) If you're a fan of fairy tale rewrites, do you have any you'd recommend? Alex Flinn, the author of Beastly, has quite a few good remakes out there and Robin McKinley's version of Beauty was quite good.
Oh I have plenty of recommendations! I love fairy tale retellings, which is why I was curious to try this story. I have them organized by age group:

For Children:
1. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, by Patricia C. Wrede (cute, fun, highly amusing, and very quick)


For Young Adults:
1. The Princess Series, by Jim C. Hines (princesses kicking butt, lots of action, works off of the original, darker versions of the fairy tales)


2. Princess Ben, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (another fun one, with a lead girl who isn't your typical beautiful princess)


3. Daughter Of The Forest, by Juliet Marillier (a more serious read, based on one of the more obscure fairy tales, but very well done)


For Adults:
1. Enchantment, by Orson Scott Card (a bit of an epic journey, but very creative, well researched, overall very well done)

[Kelly]

Lisa wrote: "1. Enchantment, by Orson Scott Card (a bit of an epic journey, but very creative, well researched, overall very well done)"

Ooo. I liked that one. I read it probably 15 years ago so I don't remember it well but I've been meaning to re-read it.

[Lisa]

Kelly wrote: "Lisa wrote: "1. Enchantment, by Orson Scott Card (a bit of an epic journey, but very creative, well researched, overall very well done)"

Ooo. I liked that one. I read it probably 15 years ago so I..."

Me too! I plan on owning a hardcover copy eventually.

[Alex]

I got to 56% but couldn't finish. Awful, corny book.

[Renee]

Lisa - I agree! And thanks for the recommendations.

[Renee]

Fair enough Alex.

[Lisarenee]

Alex wrote: "I got to 56% but couldn't finish. Awful, corny book."

Yes, I think we all agree. Did you see all the 2s and 1s?

[Lisa]

Lisarenee wrote: "Alex wrote: "I got to 56% but couldn't finish. Awful, corny book."

Yes, I think we all agree. Did you see all the 2s and 1s?"

Yeah! I'm wondering how other readers could give it more than 2 stars. Did you see on the book's page that 50% of the reviews were 5 stars?!
I guess we just have more critical standards. That and/or the 5 star ratings came from children.

[Lisarenee]

Lisa wrote: "Lisarenee wrote: "Alex wrote: "I got to 56% but couldn't finish. Awful, corny book."

Yes, I think we all agree. Did you see all the 2s and 1s?"

Yeah! I'm wondering how other readers could give i..."

I really don't understand the high rating on Goodreads or Amazon, but the rating systems aren't infallible. There are ways to manipulate the ratings. I don't know if that's what happened here, but it makes one wonder.

[Kristie]

The author had a street team review her book before publication and all the reviews came back with 5 star ratings. People loved it! I was surprised that there were so many low ratings from people on here (and friends, etc). I wonder if she just chose her street team poorly and they didn't want to hurt her feelings or something? There didn't seem to be any constructive criticism posted from the team. I'm going to have to get further through this one today.

[Kelly]

It might score quite a bit higher depending on the type of YA reader you get. YA books tend to vary in quality level a lot.

[Amanda]

Kelly wrote: "It might score quite a bit higher depending on the type of YA reader you get."

I think that's true. I tend to rate YA very critically.