What an enchanting reimagining of Rapunzel! Such an interesting take on a classic fairytale, that somehow read like a historical fiction due to the setting & inclusion of actual historical figures from medieval Germany.

Haelewise is a bright, determined and loving young woman, so unlike the Mother Gothel of the stories we’ve been told. I was so excited to read through her life as she learned more about the folklore that guided her mother and grew into her own power. She fought to always do what she believed was right, consequences be damned.

I also loved the placement of this story in the context of a scholar looking to publish work on the lives of medieval women. While that element of the plot only arose in the prologue and epilogue, I found myself thinking every once in awhile how incredible it would be to be the first to discover and translate something like this.

I feel like I say this about every book nowadays, but truly, I couldn’t put this down. And I’ll undoubtedly be reading any future books Mary McMyne writes.

This book really ended up being a pleasant surprise, and I'm really glad that I read it, despite some initial misgivings. There has been something of a glut of fairy tale retelling focused on the villain, and not all of those have worked for me (specifically Malice and Misrule) tonally. I worried that this would feel like a more disneyfied or girl bossed retelling, but I'm happy to say it avoided any of this pitfalls.

This story takes place during the high medieval ages and covers one of my favorite themes, which is the intersection of Christianity and pagan religion. Haelewise is afflicted with a fainting illness as a child. These spells are a sign that she has a connection to the spiritual beyond what is allowed in a Christian society (in the words of the book, she sense the "thinness" between this world and the next). This, in combination with her lack of menstruation, makes her a village pariah, and eventually she is forced to flee.

There's a lot more here about wise women and superstition, about what makes a woman trustworthy or "normal" and while it will feel familiar to people who've read stories about witchcraft or pagan religion, yet it doesn't feel overplayed. I especially loved the addition of the abbess and the "other side" of things here.

The only reason I'm rating 4 instead of 5 is because the pacing doesn't quite work for me here. This is also a common issue for me with some of these books. At times the narrative feels a bit formless, without a clear structure to guide it. That didn't keep me from enjoying the story though.

100 pages in and I'm just bored. The prose isn't lush or lovely enough to carry what is, for the first third of the book at least, a whole lot of dull misery. It felt really simplistic and predictable, with Haelewise being a very uninteresting protagonist - there was just nothing unique about her personality or desires or goals, or even her suffering. The narrative treats everything, including the hints of magic and goddess-worship, as mundane, taken for granted, so there wasn't any wonder or beauty there either.

Even once I got to the point where Things Were Happening, I just wasn't interested. Every character felt flat, defined by just one or two character traits - the 'great romance' had zero foundation or chemistry - and it all just fell so flat.

Utterly disinterested in reading more/seeing how it ends.

i loved this book! rapunzel is one of my favorite fairytales and i knew i had to read this as soon as i saw it was about mother gothel. seeing her story was so intriguing, especially in this retelling. i did think it would include more content of rapunzel herself but that was my own misconception.

A beautiful reimagining of the classic fairytale Rapunzel, The Book of Gothel follows the life of Haelewise, a young girl who desperately wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a midwife. But with her dark eyes and tendency to have strange fainting spells Haelewise is shunned by her village, with only the comfort of her mother’s stories of magic and princes. In her solitude she begins to realize she has a magic of her own.

When her mother dies of a strange illness, Haelewise is forced from her village and seeks solace in Gothel Tower, a place for women to find sanctuary from the world of men. Here she begins to learn the craft of magic under the instruction of a strange old woman. When another young woman comes to the tower for help, Haelewise is swept into a world of secrets and lies and has to find her own strength to protect those she loves.

This book was beautifully written, and the main character one I found myself constantly rooting for and wishing for a happy ending. The pace never left me wanting more and it would be a perfect read for anyone who enjoyed Circe or The Bear and the Nightingale.

The only part of the novel I didn’t enjoy fully was the beginning prologue which didn’t seem to fully fit in with the story.

I really enjoyed this! It wasn't really what I was expecting, as I thought it would have a little more to do with Rapunzel herself, but the retelling aspect aside, this was a great historical fantasy. I liked the religious aspects a lot, especially the circle Haelewise finds herself involved with. The imagery was wonderful and I think it painted a great picture of 1100s Germany. I never knew where this story was going and I was constantly surprised by the plot twists and often creepy settings. 4.5/5 stars

Wonderful! This is the most original retelling of "Rapunzel" I've read, and I've read a few and I can only think of another that was as creative as this. It was simply marvellous, absorbing, and well-crafted.

I would never have imagined a setting for the story in 12th century Germany, and including elements such as pagan worship, herbalism, the clash between Christianity and a female-centric Mother Goddess ancient religion refusing to go extinct, and to feature none other than Hildegard von Bingen as a character. Yes, <i>that</i> famous abbess who would in time become Saint Hildegard. But, of course, the storyline isn't purely historical as there's enough magic and nature-based healing arts as well as a sprinkling of the supernatural that makes this a historical fantasy creation, one credible and well-defined enough that, if you took away the magical bits, it would be 100% historical. McMyne has done her research into Medieval Germany and traditional medicine and folk beliefs, and it patently shows here.

The main lead and heroine in this story is young Haelewise, an insignificant peasant girl that would've led an equally insignificant life in a small town if not for the fact that she suffers from fainting spells that, this being a superstitious time when nobody had a good scientific explanation for genetic & neurological disorders yet, has her branded variously as a witch, possessed, cursed, what have you, and shunned by the townsfolk. She's so isolated her whole existence revolves around her mother Hedda, a wise midwife with strange abilities and a believer in the old nature-based religion, and Matthäus, her only friend. Through circumstances that turn her world upside down, Haelewise seeks refuge at a place in the woods so secluded and protected it's the stuff of legend. It's the tower of Gothel, the abode whose name is best known for the woman the fairy tale we all know from the Brothers Grimm casts as the villain in "Rapunzel."

Seriously, why had nobody ever thought of telling the side of the witch from "Rapunzel" set in Germany proper, given that it's the German version of the tale the one that names her as Mother Gothel? Just for this stroke of inspiration, I'd have rated this book the highest. Of course, the author also handled the execution well, as many good premises are blown up to pieces in the execution, and she also has researched the culture and period quite thoroughly. I'm very particular with the misuse of foreign languages, the useless showing off of phrases in German that don't add anything to the story, etc. But here, they do make sense and are to the point. When they speak in German, it's because the plot calls for it, and the author doesn't insult the readers' intelligence by repeatedly "translating" words and phrases right next to them being uttered by a character. I appreciate this very much, as a polyglot myself. Oh, and the interpretation of Rapunzel and how she came to be in the tower and what happened to her! I liked that as well, though I'd have loved to see more of that before the ending as well as perhaps a wee bit less magic in this specific portion near the end.

It was a perfect story to me, hard to put down (don't kill me for using this cliché phrase!), and my only complaints are that there wasn't enough of Matthäus and Haelewise in their adulthood as there was in their childhood and youth, and that I sincerely wish Hildegard von Bingen had had more onpage time, because it felt like she had so little time for the amount of talk about her before she appears, and also because I don't think she was depicted as formidable and multiple-gifted as she truly was. She was far more erudite and had more progressive ideas for her time than she's shown here for lack of exposition time.

The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne s an excellent book that has it all: historical fiction, fantasy, twisted fairy tales, mystery, suspense, and was just plain entertaining.

This is just such an awesome book. I love a good fairy tale offshoot. Whether it is a twisted fairy tale, inspired by a FT, or gives us historical background of either the age old tale itself or one of the misunderstood and overlooked characters. This book covers several of those concepts.

The author taps into the treasure trove of the story of Rapunzel. Well we get to learn more about the ill-begotten woman or “witch” that placed our golden-haired heroine into the tower to begin with.

Full of imagery, magic, world-building, strong characters, and a thread (of what I felt) was historical fiction, I loved delving deeper into the mystical and magical world that existed before the world even had heard of a woman with long hair that would become a character known throughout the ages.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Redhook Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 7/26/22.