I loved it from the very beginning. There honestly wasn’t anything I didn’t like about this story. By the end, I was crying and felt so happy because I forgot for a minute that it was fiction.

Books that touch this deep don’t come along every day. It has earned a favored spot on my shelf. I think that all women should read The Book of Gothel to find their hidden power. All men should read it too so they can see why we need balance in the world. Read Mary McMyne’s The Book of Gothel today and let’s bring the mother back into the world!

Full review is available on thecosmiccircus.com

"A woman doesn't have to be pure to be good. Girls get angry. Mothers fight for their children."

Feminist villain retellings are a subgenre that I live for. This one gives Gothel a backstory, a voice, and her humanity. Before she took on the mantle of Gothel, she was a girl named Haelewise growing up in the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th century. In a medieval world that feared pagan religions newly framed as demonic and that villainized the women working outside their narrowly allowed roles, Haelewise has much to fear from society. She was raised by a wise woman and suffers from fainting spells that are often interpreted as signs of possession by the townsfolk. None of her mother's remedies nor the priestly interventions demanded by her father lead to a long-term cure. After her mother's death, Haelewise is run out of town by her superstitious neighbors now that no one remains who will protect her. So begins Haelewise's twisty journey to claim her birthright and find a new future for herself that society never allowed her to imagine.

This is one of those reads that left me with complicated feelings by the end, I think by design. It earned a fair amount of processing time to consider what the book says about being a woman and the ways it empowers Haelewise while also showing how society constricted her. There's interesting commentary on religion and the Church's narrow view of it. Women are especially punished by this controlling worldview, their "virtue" an issue of religious value and their behaviors monitored for propriety and feminine docility. As Haelewise investigates her mother's secret faith, she also comes to question the paths she thought were available to her. There are other ways to get where she wants to go: motherhood, love, and helping other women. I think that beyond the weighty topics keeping my brain turning after the fact, the resolution progresses much faster than the rest of the plot, which added to my lagging response. Like wait, is it really over? The last part of the story is a sort of time-lapse montage where I would have liked more to dig into. Haelewise has significant development throughout the story, but I would have liked to know her more as a grown woman and to feel the emotions in the aftermath of her great adventure.

The bookends of the prologue and epilogue are a nice touch. We see a scholar find and read Haelewise's manuscript with her life story, and it adds a layer of longevity. What does her tale mean in the present and what was her legacy? The Book of Gothel is a thought-provoking fantasy standalone with folklore elements, feminist messaging, and modern relevance. I think the ruminations on gender and religion still hold a lot of meaning (sadly), and luckily, the power of women forming communities and protecting one another also still stands. If that interests you, I highly recommend this book. Thanks to Redhook for my copy to read and review!

I really wanted to enjoy this one. I was intrigued because it was about the origin story of the witch in Rapunzel. I thought that it would be like Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth. Yet, it felt more like the Red Tent than a fairytale retelling.

The Book of Gothel rarely features Rapunzel in the story. I thought that we could have skipped many details of the witch’s life. As for the witch, I could not identify with the one in the fairytale. She seemed mostly like a passive character rather than a well-rounded character. I also did not care for the romance and would have been better if it was eliminated.

Overall, this novel is about motherhood, injustice, and discrimination. I found most of the characters to be very bland. The only character I like was her mother. The story is well-written and filled with beautiful imagery. I wanted more development especially the protagonist. I also wished that it was more faithful to the original tale. Still, I recommend this for fans of villians’ origin tales. I recommend this for fans of Stepsister, Wicked, and Snow!

This was a super intriguing book, definitely a slow start, but wow what a finish. A great play on a fairy tale

I absolutely devoured this book. It’s very atmospheric and cares deeply about the characters within. It was sad and romantic and super charming. It really only has the barest toes to the Rapunzel story and only right at the very very end, I was hoping for more of the fallout of the kidnapping story or maybe something about Rapunzel’s “rescue” or at least the name of the man she marries, but that was all quickly wrapped up in a super fast summary that could have easily been another couple of chapters. Very nice read, thanks netgalley for the copy!

For all that I love my fantasy romance, sometimes I find it beyond refreshing to read a fantasy novel where romance takes a backseat and everything else is allowed to come to the front and show its plumage.

Such is the case with “The Book of Gothel”: while there is romance in the air, it’s far enough in the background you could call it subplot D and get away with it, which allows this character and world-building heavy book to really shine where it wants to shine. Mary McMyne gets to show off an incredible skill at drawing the reader into medieval Germany (or thereabouts) and enmeshing us there with evocative imagery, engaged senses, imaginative prose, and a sheltered young woman’s wondrous, whimsical, and disquieting gaze as she undergoes risky and crucial travels through the land in an effort to learn more about her mother, her magic, where it came from, what it’s for, and how she can learn to use it to help save herself and the kingdom.

This book has a strong, braided theme through all the subplots (yes, even the romantic one) about choice and how women’s choices are constantly taken away by men or how women are sometimes forced to change who they are for the men they love. Men hold all the keys and women are locked behind all the doors. The book seems to want to drive home a message that the only way to not live like that is to be alone: live away from society, never marry, and work for yourself. But even under those terms, you will be deemed a pariah of sorts for your entire life and you will only be able to live somewhere you can hide because the men will never stop searching for you.

Is this beating a dead horse? I think it might depend on the reader. Honestly, I do think that I got sick of it toward the end. I got to the point where I started to roll my eyes a little, “Yeah, yeah. I know. Men are obviously evil.”

Which leads me to my last critique of the book: Predictability and length. There’s a point near the end of the book that I saw coming from far away and I thought our protagonist honestly had to have been really gullible to not see it coming herself. After all she had been through, she honestly hadn’t thought her plan through completely? This unnecessary “plot twist” just added filler to a book that was already a great book.

It’s a great read, but I really wish the author had though through the ending a bit more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books for granting me access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Please note this review is being written as part of an effort to make my way through my ARC backlog whose publication dates occurred earlier in the year; but, for one reason or another, I wasn’t able to get to them in a timely manner.

File Under: Historical Fantasy/Folklore Retelling/Coming of Age/Standalone Fantasy

This was more historical fiction than I was expecting, but I quite liked it. I found the story to be both heartbreaking but hopeful, and the ending especially really pulled everything together. Can't wait to read more from this author.

I love fairytale retellings! The Book of Gothel definitely came in and swept me away with its fantastic magic system and compelling characters. Haelewise, daughter-of-Hedda, takes us through her life from early childhood where she is stricken with fainting spells of unknown cause, through to her journey to the tower of a wise woman named Kunegunde with whom she shares a special bond, and who teaches her much about wortcunnery and midwifery. Throughout the story we see the choices of the woman we know in the Rapunzel story as Mother Gothel, not demonized, but fully humanized and made sensical. I thoroughly enjoyed this villain redemption story, finding it whimsical and fantastic. I was thoroughly hooked within the first few pages by the characters and the plot, and I am very glad to have found this book this year. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

I found myself unable to put this book down! I almost read it in one day. I loved the play on the fairy tales and combining them in different ways. I honestly would love to see more books from her like this!

I enjoyed this retelling of Rapunzel from Mother Gothel's point of view. I'm a sucker for fairy tales from the villain's point of view. What made them do what they did.

*eARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

The English major/academic in me loves the prologue and the epilogue.

Focuses on the pre-Rapunzel part of Gothel's story.

I loved the blending of history and fantasy.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an early copy of this book for review. I feel like I need to start off by saying that for the first half of this book, I constantly thought about putting it down and never picking it back up, but the second half was rather enjoyable. So while the star rating is really low, if you enjoy books with a lot happening, but not heavy on the details, feminist books or fairy tale retellings, you may have a lot more positive reading experience than I did.

I can say that the story definitely felt unique to me. I don't remember ever coming across a villain origin story quite like this one, and for that, I think the author definitely deserves some praise. However, on the other hand, maybe it's just me and I don't remember Rapunzel as well as I thought I did, but this didn't exactly scream "retelling" to me. There is nearly nothing about Rapunzel in here. Which, truth be told, I think if this wouldn't have been marketed as such, I would have read this with a bit of a different mindset and may have given it another star or so.

I do have a couple other reasons that the star rating is on the lower end though. The pacing is odd, the story and world isn't super fleshed out and clear, and the romance was completely unnecessary. There was one point in this book where Haelewise was riding her horse and telling Mattheus about all of the things that she had done since she had last seen him and I was like, "Damn, that really did happen." And it's true. She did ALL of the things that she described to him, but nothing felt like it was important while it was happening. Nothing was given enough space and detail to grow and matter before we were on to the next part of the adventure. Another thing that I didn't particularly care for is her relationship with Mattheus. From the very beginning, I just felt like the author TOLD me that even though the were from dramatically different walks of life, and that the LOVED each other and were meant to be, I never FELT it. It felt like friends. It didn't seem meaningful to me at all. So when they're out here making all these declarations and doing these crazy things to save each others lives, it just felt so awkward to me because as a couple, THEY were weird. I don't know.

Anyway, I would definitely be interested in picking up another book by this author, particularly if there is going to be more reimaginings in the future!

I have been trying to finish this book for two months and I decided to just DNF. I really enjoyed the first half of the book but then it just was boring to me. There was no adventure and it started getting confusing with the different characters. We start following the main character when she is a teenager and the story of her life. From other reviews that I have read, I am glad that I DNF'd the book. This is supposed to be a retelling of Rapunzel but that doesn't come until the very end of the book and it is super rushed. I did enjoy the authors writing and will possibly pick up another book from this author with a different premise.

The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne is a prequel/ fairytale retelling of Rapunzel focusing on the witch that locked Rapunzel away in the tower. I was really looking forward to this one, but unfortunately it didn't quite work out for me. I appreciate that the author seemed to do quite a bit of historical research into that time period, but seriously it seemed like the Rapunzel hook was an afterthought. If I didn't already know that the lead character goes on to become Mother Gothel from the introduction, I wouldn't have guessed it because it's that loosely connected. I also wish Haelewise was written as a straight out villain rather than as a sympathetic figure. Honestly, I might have preferred that.

I am a fan of fairytale retellings and am always excited when a new retelling comes out. I was first drawn in by the cover. I love a redhead in any story (I am a redhead so yeah) and even more the idea of how the sass of redheads would change the retelling. This book is worth the hype. I will be buying a personal copy and suggesting it for purchase for the library.

DNF at 53%

Haelewise is an outcast in the village with her strange eyes and fainting spells. When her mother dies, she must set out to find her destiny.

I was excited for this book because of the slantwise way it was approaching the Rapunzel fairytale, where the tower is not a prison but instead a place of female empowerment. Unfortunately, the story didn't work for me on many levels.

Haelewise is an interesting lead, but I found her naive beyond belief and didn't care much what happened to her. I found the prose rather turgid and the plot incredibly slow. But when we got to the point of Rika keeping secrets from Haelewise, I gave up. While she hints at a grand conspiracy around the old religion but refuses to speak beyond vague confirmations, I found myself rather fed up about the plot's lack of progress.

I also wished the characters and their relationship were stronger. We get told that Haelewise and Matthäus are in love, that Haelewise thinks of Rika as a friend so close as to be a sister, and so on, but the writing did not convince me of this.

While I thought the themes of feminism and the old religions versus the new were interesting, I did not enjoy the execution. For these reasons, I have decided not to read on.

This book isn't quite what I was expecting. The writing was very beautiful, the author definitely knows how to paint a picture with words and the world building was absolutely beautiful. My biggest concern with the book is unfortunately the main protagonist.

This is a story about the witch that locks Rapunzel in a tower, but Rapunzel shows up a very small amount in the book. I thought it was going to be more about her while living in the tower but that plays a very small part of Haelewise's story.

I did enjoy all the parts about Haelewise's youth. To be honest it was the best part of the book. Once the story shifts to where she is on her own and has to make her own choices I started to lose some interest.

My biggest issue wasn't the writing (because that was beautiful), and it wasn't the characters (which were very diverse) but something smaller. There are multiple times in the story where Haelewise feels like someone is hiding something or lying to her, which she is understandably upset or concerned about. Because let's be honest. I wouldn't want to be lied to either. But then almost right away she is doing the same thing. She become secretive or tells a lie. I also don't mind that she does these things. What I did mind was that she was so upset about it being done to her and then she goes and does it back....

Other than that one thing I did enjoy this book. I don't think I would go out of my way to buy a physical copy but I am not sorry I read this book.

I picked up this book because Tangled has always been my favorite Disney movie, and it did not disappoint!

One of my favorite things about this novel is that it was framed in the modern day. The story begins when a graduate student receives a call about a newly discovered illustrated manuscript written by a peasant woman chronicling her own life as she becomes Mother Gothel. As she translates the manuscript, we follow Haelewise’s journey from childhood as Haelewise explains her life and the events that led to the kidnapping she is known for. There’s a touch of magic and an unbelievable journey.

Along those same lines, Haelewise’s friendships are so well written. From her childhood best friend to the princess she meets in the woods, the people in her life play a massive role in shaping who Haelewise becomes. Not every relationship had a positive impact, but each person in her life helps her become the infamous Mother Gothel. I think it is a good reminder that we become the people we spend the most time with.

This story carries the right amount of fairy tale to make it the perfect cozy Fall read. If you are looking to enjoy a little bit of magic, this story needs to be on your TBR.

3.5 stars.
I'm a big fan of fairy tale retellings, especially when they can provide some context for characters we love to hate. In this book, author Mary McMyne gives us the story of Mother Gothel, who imprisoned Rapunzel.

But, here, Mother Gothel is Haelewise. It's 1156 in Germany, where Haelwise is a young girl, prone to fainting spells and headaches. Her mother constantly searches for a cure, while entertaining the girl with stories of child-stealing witches, shapeshifters, a mysterious tower, and other amazing things.

After her beloved mother dies, adolescent Haelwise must make her own way in the world, and eventually finds her way to the mysterious tower where women go to find cures for ailments and refuge. She finds Mother Gothel, a stern, old wise woman who decides to teach Haelwise her cures and lore.

Unfortunately their safety, including all the women who come to them for aid, is compromised when some years later, a girl, Rika, arrives, bringing the very unwelcome notice of an evil noble, and entangling Haelwise, and the young man she loves from her former village, with the politics and murderous schemes of the nobility.


So, I greatly enjoyed this book while I was reading it, loving the picture the author drew of a long ago Germany and its legends and folk tales. I found, however, that very soon after I finished the book that it had not made much of an impression on me, much as I enjoyed spending time with Haelwise. Also, I almost wish this book's marketing had not stressed the connection to "Rapunzel", as she had minimal presence in this story, and all the other elements: the elderly Mother Gothel Haelwise learns from, the vital role herbalists played in helping other women, the surprising presence of Hildegard von Bingen, the transition from pagan and traditional knowledge and practices to the Church's iron rule, all beautifully fleshed out this medieval Germany. I didn't need the tenuous tie to "Rapunzel" to enjoy this book, and to be impressed with the author's research.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Redhook Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Rapunzel and her Witch was never a favorite childhood fairytale for me so I had hoped going into The Book of Gothel would shine some fresh light onto the story for me.

My favorite parts were the beginning and scenes towards the middle but the ending felt rushed and then too neatly tied with a bow. I enjoyed getting to know Haelewise and her all-knowing, mysterious mother. For not liking romance, I enjoyed the scenes Haelewise spent with her beau and wondering how that would pan out.

Towards the middle and end, I felt like the real story was getting lost amid other action scenes and then rushed at the actual ending.

Another issue in one scene in particular that really bothered me was a scene where we were told a character was almost unconscious. But miraculously came to to learn of what had happened, then passed out again. I found this to be absolutely silly and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I did find this to be a more juvenile story than what I gathered from the synopsis, which is not an issue, just something I wish I had known going into it. I thought I'd be darker than what it was. And unfortunately, Rapunzel ending up being an added afterthought.