Anyone who knows me knows my favorite Disney Princess is Rapunzel. I can relate to her equal parts joy and fear of the world, her curious personality, and her overall joyful outlook on life. Tangled is the movie I go to when I need a quick pick-me-up and a reminder that my dreams are worth working towards.
The twist of this book was "What if Rapunzel’s mother drank a potion from the wrong flower?" Instead of having the healing power of the sun, Rapunzel's hair is a beautiful silver from the power of a flower infused with the moon. However, this hair has a much darker power: one Rapunzel calls "murder hair." As a baby, her hair accidentally killed a servant, and she was sent away by her parents to keep people safe, raised by Gothel. However, while the story starts similarly to the story we know, the moment that Flynn Rider enters the story, things change dramatically. Everything we knew from the original story no longer matters, and it creates a completely new world with allusions to the movie, while standing on its own two feet.
Now, audiobooks are not my favorite. But the narrator of What Once Was Mine made me forget about my audiobook hatred the moment she started speaking. Rachel Kimsey embodied Rapunzel to the point I forgot she wasn't the one who voiced her in the movie. Her performance of the other characters was also spot on, with a Gothel that was terrifying, and a Flynn Rider who was equal parts awkward and charismatic. It's been such a long time since I was excited to be in the car listening to a book, and there were times I sat in the parking lot of wherever I had driven to because I needed to know what happened next.
The story also provided a unique frame narrative - one I actually didn't expect going into the story. Set in a hospital, a set of teenage twins finished watching Tangled for the third time that day. Daniella, the Tangled-obsessed sister, is going through cancer treatment, while her brother Brendan is tired of the story. He decides to retell the Disney version in his own way. This is complete with different descriptions, historical villains, and a few twists only a teenage boy could come up with. It also allowed Liz Braswell to use plot holes and strange descriptions to her advantage, as Daniella would constantly interrupt her brother to ask questions or make suggestions whenever she felt up for it. This reminded me so much of the history of how fairy tales were created, through oral traditions and audience participation. This part really showed off how fairy tales used to be a community experience, by showing how we can use them as such today.
The idea of making the story more historically accurate was also a fun idea. Lady Bathory, known for creating many of the vampire legends with her habit of bathing in the blood of young women, was the true antagonist of the story. I appreciated the fact that Brendan's characterization resulted in this change, as it was mentioned multiple times how much he loved history. In addition, there were descriptions of places, clothes, and books that were much more likely to have been how the world was during the time Rapunzel would have lived in had she been real.
While I would not say this book was better than the movie, I would put them on equal footing in terms of fun. Each story is unique, with them having different themes and traits. But the one constant was Rapunzel's optimism and her determination to make the world a better place. Whether it's through healing or in the movie, or through the lesson she learns about power in the book, I am confident Rapunzel would be an amazing queen - and it doesn't matter the universe she does it in.