Golden: A Retelling of "Rapunzel" by Cameron Dokey

        

Golden:
A Retelling of "Rapunzel"
by Cameron Dokey

Summary from Goodreads:

"Before Rapunzel's birth, her mother made a dangerous deal with the sorceress Melisande: If she could not love newborn Rapunzel just as she appeared, she would surrender the child to Melisande. When Rapunzel was born completely bald and without hope of ever growing hair, her horrified mother sent her away with the sorceress to an uncertain future. 

After sixteen years of raising Rapunzel as her own child, Melisande reveals that she has another daughter, Rue, who was cursed by a wizard years ago and needs Rapunzel's help. Rue and Rapunzel have precisely "two nights and the day that falls between" to break the enchantment. But bitterness and envy come between the girls, and if they fail to work together, Rue will remain cursed…forever."

Rating:

I can point out a lot of good things about this book. For one, it definitely took after the original tale of Rapunzel but giving it a rather surprising twist. When we hear “Rapunzel” we immediately think EXTREMELY LONG BLONDE HAIR. But with Dokey’s Golden, we find our heroine BALD. Yup, you read it right; Rapunzel is B-A-L-D. I absolutely loved the idea. It was so fresh and the story of how she ended up with the sorceress was cunning.

Another thing I was fond of was Rapunzel herself. She’s spunky and charming. Usually, when I read about princesses or damsels in fairy tales they seem to always be mistreated and distressed. Here I find a girl who, despite having known how her past was, is a lively and strong-willed character who doesn’t have to be all nice and sweet.

I also like the idea that the person who took Rapunzel from her parents was not the villain in the story. Henry and Mr. Jones were also characters that I adored. I love Henry and Rapunzel’s bickering, I find them so entertaining.

I was really into my reading up until I reached the part where Rapunzel had to stay in the tower. It got a little TOO twisted at this part and I was just not getting what Rapunzel’s plan was on how to get out of that tower.

Another let down was the fact that when we finally reached the climax of the story, it was over by a blink of an eye. That fast? I didn’t even get how the story got there.

And then they lived happily ever after… that was it. Just when I thought this was going to be one of those books in the Once Upon A Time series that I’d come to love. *Sigh* So sad.

But I did appreciate how wise Dokey was to still incorporate how the tale we know of Rapunzel now with what she has recreated. That part of the ending was something that made me smile in spite of my displeasure.

Watersong: A Retelling of "The Frog Prince" by Suzanne Weyn

        

Water Song:
A Retelling of "The Frog Prince"
by Suzanne Weyn

Summary from Goodreads:

"Young, beautiful, and wealthy, Emma Pennington is accustomed to a very comfortable life. Although war rages abroad, she hardly feels its effect. She and her mother travel from their home in Britain to the family estate in Belgium, never imagining that the war could reach them there. But it does.

Soon Emma finds herself stranded in a war-torn country, utterly alone. Enemy troops fight to take over her estate, leaving her with no way to reach her family, and no way out.

With all of her attention focused on survival and escape, Emma hardly expects to find love. But the war will teach her that life is unpredictable, people aren't always what they seem, and magic is lurking everywhere."

Rating:

Watersong is a short, quick tale that I find so endearing. 

This is a retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ well known tale, “The Frog Prince,” more or less I should say. It was loosely based on that story anyway. Weyn pretty much played around with the idea of it and although endowed with magic, giving it a more realistic approach. 

The story was set on the brink of World War I. With that I mind, I expected this to be sinking into the depressing state of events. Fortunately, I got a spunky, funny and surprisingly entertaining tale instead. 

What made Watersong a winner for me was how distinctive and appealing the two main characters were. Emma and Jack were witty and virtuous. I love them individually and I also love them together. 

I don’t have much to say about it since this really is just short and if I babble on, I might give it away. It’s a book any fairytale-loving person can appreciate for its rareness, sweetness, and all the other niceness. Okay, I’m not making sense, sorry; just note that this is really a good book to read and I totally recommend it. It’s a simple and hasty tale you’ll get to enjoy. 

The Rose Bride: A Retelling of "The White Bride and the Black Bride" by Nancy Holder

      

The Rose Bride: A Retelling of
"The White Bride and the Black Bride"
by Nancy Holder

Summary from Goodreads:

"When Rose's mother dies, her only comfort is the exquisite rose garden her mother left behind. The purple blossoms serve as an assurance of her mother's love. But Rose is dealt a second blow when her father dies and his greedy widow, Ombrine, and her daughter, Desirée, move in and take over the manor in true Cinderella fashion. 

Fate has been cruel to Ombrine and Desirée, too. So despite their harsh ways, Rose has compassion. But these feelings are bitterly tested when, in a rage, Ombrine tears out the garden. Rose nearly gives up all hope—until a chance meeting with the king. Happiness might be within her reach, but first she must prevail over Ombrine. And then she must determine if she has the courage to love."

Rating:

 

A shrug.

That’s the first thing I did after turning the last page of “The Rose Bride”. Don’t get me wrong; this book had a pretty good start but most of it dragged on. For a supposed short story, this took up quite a lot of pages; and I’m never a fan of slow paced books.

I’m well aware of the original tale of “The White Bride and The Black Bride” and this book has taken in the concept very well. It was mixed in with a little mythology, which I found to be interesting. It also has this Cinderella-like drama where our main character, Rose, goes through the many, many, MANY trials before she finally reaches her happy ending. Well, is that not enough to get you to pick up the book then?

But sadly, the story did not deliver.

As I consume more and more of the pages, the more and more the story gets messy and confusing. My questions just kept piling up without getting much of them answered.

In spite of the effort of creating Rose’s character to be the cliché-kind (kind-hearted, beautiful, hard working, etcetera, etcetera), adding up the fact that she became an orphan after her parents died and being mistreated by her stepmother and stepsister, I didn’t find the heart to pity her. Gosh! I’m so cruel. Forgive me! I guess my problem was that this part was already too expected. There’s nothing new to it.

I also have the question regarding the hierarchy of the gods and goddesses. Most of the time, Artemis was prayed to and called on, now what exactly is Zeus doing? Shouldn’t he be bothered that even the king calls and praises Artemis instead of him? If he has no say in the matter, in spite of being mentioned that men should always sought Zeus out first, this is not quite a solid use of mythology.

I found this book to have too much sorrow and pain. There’s not enough joy and humor that could at least balance it out a bit.

I do have to say that I appreciate the ease of reading this book. It’s light and easy to grasp on but I found it way too dramatic for my taste.

The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights" by Cameron Dokey

              

The Storyteller's Daughter:
A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights"
by Cameron Dokey

Summary from Goodreads: 

"In a faraway kingdom, a king has been betrayed. Deeply hurt and bitterly angry, he vows never to be deceived again. Unfortunately, the king's plan to protect himself will endanger all of the realm's young women, unless one of them will volunteer to marry the king -- and surrender her life. 

To everyone's relief and horror, one young woman steps forward. The daughter of a legendary storyteller, Shahrazad believes it is her destiny to accept this risk and sacrifice herself. 

On the night of her wedding to the king, Shahrazad begins to weave a tale. Fascinated, the king lets her live night after night. Just when Shahrazad dares to believe that she has found a way to keep her life -- and an unexpected love -- a treacherous plot will disrupt her plan. Now she can only hope that love is strong enough to save her."

Rating:

  

I haven’t read of the actual story of “The Arabian Nights,” but being unaware of it was not a hindrance for me to enjoy “The Storyteller’s Daughter” which is a retelling of that tale.

Cameron Dokey’s writing is quite invigorating. I was drawn to story as soon as it started. The plot was simple enough and I like the idea of having a story within a story.

This book started out with a very magical and mysterious prologue. It was such a great way to introduce this story. It was followed by a little background about Shahrayar’s family and himself. Then we move on to our main character Shahrazad, who was every bit of what her mother was before she passed away. She was wise, brave, passionate and a gifted storyteller. But every gift has its price, so Shahrazad, as her mother was as well, is blind. Still, that did not stop her from fulfilling what she believes is her destiny.

I won’t go into any more details at this point so I’ll move on to what I felt about this book.

I’d have to say that I found this story really interesting. Although I will admit, it’s not one of the most memorable tales I’ve read so far from Dokey. I didn’t see myself laugh out loud on the funny parts but rather just smiled. When there was despair I just frowned when I usually ended up crying. There was humor, romance and uniqueness, but not much of a standout.

Rambling #2: Once Upon A Time Collection

When I was a kid, I've always been fascinated with fairy tales. I grew up watching the disney princesses and other mythical cartoons, and I've read a handful of fairy tales too. To this day, it seems that I still haven't outgrown that love for it. 


This leads me to this week's rambling topic: the impulse of trying to collect the entire "Once Upon a Time" series published by Simon & Schuster. It's a collection of books that retell the classic fairy tales we've known when we were kids. 


Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there are 19 Books from this series. The first book I've read from this collection was "Before Midnight" by Cameron Dokey. And after finishing it, I was so hyped up to find the others.


Here are the ones I've got so far:

The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin" by Suzanne Weyn

The Night Dance: A Retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" by Suzanne Weyn

Before Midnight: A Retelling of "Cinderella" by Cameron Dokey

Belle: A Retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" by Cameron Dokey

The Rose Bride: A Retelling of "The White Bride and the Black Bride" by Nancy Holder

Beauty Sleep: A Retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" by Cameron Dokey

Midnight Pearls: A Retelling of "The Little Mermaid" by Debbie Viguie

The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights" by Cameron Dokey

Snow: A Retelling of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" by Tracy Lynn

I've managed to buy 10 of them and I'm still hunting the remaining. I didn't enjoy some of them but I still find that they are great books to collect, plus there are those that stood out than the rest which I found to be truly memorable retellings. 

I do wish that the publication settled with the artwork rather than changed them into human portraits. It would've been nice to have my books with matching covers and I find the artwork really beautiful and unique.