It’s a tale we all know. Boy sees girl locked in a tower. Learns the only way to get to her is climb her braid. He climbs her hair. They fall in love. The old witch of a captor gets mad and says they will never see each other again. Then girl gets left in tower for two weeks and rescues herself by cutting her braid and climbing down her own hair to avoid starvation.

And that’s only the first few chapters.

Jessica Kaye’s “Rapunzel” isn’t a completely faithful retelling. However, it is an interesting take on the classic story. But is it worth the $2.99 it currently costs at the Kindle store.

First I will grade the elements of the book and then give my overall grade.

Cover: C+

The cover does illustrate the content perfectly, but it looks like cheaply made clip art. If Ms. Kaye can afford it, paying an artist to draw a more eye-catching image would be helpful for the next edition.

Title: B-

Maybe a marketing department at a publisher could not have come up with a better title, but when I looked up the book on Kindle dozens of Rapunzels popped up. So the title doesn’t make the book standout.

Okay, I’ll stop judging the book by its cover.

Plot: B-

The first few chapters follow the classic tale. I found them the hardest to get through; however, this book is intended for young girls. Twelve-year-old girls might enjoy the budding romance between Rapunzel and Brendan more than I did. About a fifth way into the book, Rapunzel leaves the tower and the story starts to pick up. The pacing is decent until the end when it jumps to breakneck speeds. Thrilling though the end maybe, it comes out of nowhere and stops abruptly. Perhaps foreshadowing and expanding the end a bit would have resolved this issue. Overall the plot isn’t bad, but Ms. Kaye does need to practice pacing a bit more.

Characters: C

Sadly, the characters are the weakest element of the story.

All of the characters are bland, except Granny Aunt, who I found disturbing.

Let’s start with the narrator and main character Rapunzel. Rapunzel is a sweet girl, who loves sewing, hair care, and reading. She forgives anyone who harmed her, until the end. She is naïve, which makes sense since she has been trapped in a tower for most of her life. Still some of her choices are questionable. She has been taught her whole life that men are evil, but when Brendan climbs the tower and enters her room she doesn’t scream and freak out. She thinks he’s cute and has a nice chat with him. I would have liked to see a bit more of a reaction from her.

Until the end she has very little conflict with anyone. As I mentioned, she gets along great with Brendan from the moment she meets him. When she realizes her Granny Aunt was wrong for locking her up most of her life, she forgives her and never has any resentment. When she escapes her tower, she makes friends quickly and makes her way up through the levels of society, from peasant to lady-in-waiting for a princess, with few problems. There are some characters in brief scenes that turn their noses up in disapproval, but they cause Rapunzel no problems and are soon forgotten.

Another serious issue is Rapunzel’s voice. The story is told in first person point of view. Therefore Rapunzel tells us her story in her own words. In the early chapters of the book, Rapunzel doesn’t have much of a personality. Fortunately, as the book goes along Rapunzel does finally discover a voice, still bland but distinctive. I’m not certain if Rapunzel’s isolated childhood or Ms. Kaye’s lack of knowledge about Rapunzel is the cause of the vague voice of the early chapters. Either way, it would have been nice if the personality of the later chapters had been applied to the earlier chapters as well.

Brendan is a noble hero and all around nice guy. I’m glad he wasn’t the focus of the story, partly because of the theme of the book, and partly because he wasn’t very interesting either. If you have ever watched any of the old Disney movies, think of the personalities of the princes in those movies and you will know what Brendan is like. Having Brendan tell the reader exposition about his family and background in chapter two, does not give him a personality. Jessica Kaye will be publishing a sequel all about where Brendan was during Rapunzel’s story. Hopefully, he will be more engaging in his own book.

Rapunzel has several friends she meets throughout the story who help her along the way. Most of them seem to meld together, all of them squealing with glee at various successes. None of them particularly stand out, but their interaction with Rapunzel is enjoyable. I can see young teenage girls reading this story and imagining themselves hanging out with Rapunzel and friends as they search for the missing Brendan.

The only character I didn’t like was Rapunzel’s guardian/jailor Granny Aunt. Unlike the traditional story, Rapunzel’s captor is not a witch. Instead she is the main character’s great aunt, who took her in when her parents died. I think an attempt was made for the reader to relate and sympathize with the old bat. Perhaps this works for other readers, but not for me. Granny Aunt decided to lock her great-niece in a tower because a person commented that Rapunzel would attract boys one day. Well Granny Aunt couldn’t have that because all men are evil. Granny Aunt feels all men are evil because… her sister got dumped once… maybe? Her motivation isn’t ever really explained. If Granny Aunt truly despised all men, then why didn’t she live in the tower with Rapunzel?

However, that isn’t the reason I disliked the character. So after Granny Aunt shoos Brendan off and tells Rapunzel to never let him up again, she gets sick and leaves Rapunzel trapped in the tower until her niece must save herself. Why didn’t she tell anyone, “My niece is trapped in the woods and running low on food. Could you send her food or perhaps save her?”

And then when Rapunzel comes to Granny Aunt’s death bed, is her Granny Aunt happy to see her alive, well, and with her again? Nope. She flips out and yells at her. Then the next day after smiling at Rapunzel once, never telling her why she imprisoned her most of her life, she dies. I would have been more satisfied with a witch.

World building/Setting: B

Ms. Kaye does an excellent job of drawing the reader into the story. I was in the tower with Rapunzel, in the forest with her, and walking beside her all during her journey from the town to the palace.

The only had an issue with the magic of the story. Now, it’s possible as you read through this story you will wonder where the magic I speak of is. Rapunzel’s captor is not a witch and no one else in the story seems to have magical powers. Oh, Rapunzel does. Rapunzel has magic hair. Not only does she have enough hair to provide a climbing rope, something that it would realistically take a normal woman 178 years to grow. Not only has her Granny Aunt sold enough of Rapunzel’s extra hair over the years to supply the entire royal court with wigs. After Rapunzel hacks her hair short, she is still able to grow it into a long train of hair within months. This magic is never explained. Now one could argue this is a book for young girls. Who cares? Fair enough, but I think it would have been nice to know how Rapunzel’s hair developed this power.

Theme: B

Don’t wait for someone to save you. Save yourself and make something of yourself. I think this is a good lesson for young girls. The theme is the very reason I have recommended this book to my 9-year-old niece.

Grammar/Style/Word Usage: B-

This book was edited, but even still perhaps one more proofread would have caught a few mistakes here and there.

Price/Availability: C+

The book is worth the cost, but it is only available at Amazon on the Kindle or in print. (This grade does not affect the overall grade.)

Overall Grade: B-

Not bad for a first book. If you have a girl in your home, aged 8 to 12, I recommend giving her this book. She’ll enjoy it.