A compelling version of Tangled redone for a contemporary university setting!

I have been a fan of Christina Lauren since the early days, and when I saw a Rapunzel retelling by them I knew I needed to read it. While the story is pretty predictable - who hasn't seen tangled??- Christina Lauren still managed to do a spin where they leaned into the family expectation themes and the lovable bad boy.

ARC provided by NetGalley and the author in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! What a fun read! This is my first read in the “meant to be” series (can also be read as stand alones) and I think I’m definitely going to be reading the rest!

This story is a modern day retelling of Tangled/Rapunzel. The author did a fantastic job putting in little tangled Easter eggs everywhere and the story kept you on your toes and kept you wanting more!

This was a cute retelling. It read a little young and I didn’t catch all the elements because I’ve never seen Tangled, but I think it was a fun book for Christina Lauren to write.

4 stars.

🦎 The vibes:
- Dual pov
- College romance
- Road trip
- Slow burn
- Enemies to lovers

🎨 My thoughts:
As a Tangled-themed novel, I was so curious about what the set up would be. Ren is heading off to college in her first adventure away from home. Not only was Ren homeschooled on her family’s homestead, she was secluded from society and the public in all ways by her super strict and extreme parents. She goes to college knowing all of their rules: No boys, booze, restaurants, internet, or make up (yes, really).

🎨 This one hit heavier than I expected! My husband reminded me that the storyline in Tangled the movie is super dark with Mother Gothel STEALING 👏🏼 A 👏🏼 BABY 👏🏼. So yes, yes. I should have expected this one to have heavier elements. But dang. Ren’s home situation made my heart so sad. And then Fitz (our Ryder) was also coming from a difficult place.

🎨 When I stared the book- I wasn’t super invested, and I didn’t love Fitz. But as it kept going- I started to really look forward to picking up this book

🎨 Overall, I loved this one. The entire time I was wanting to know what the big secrets were and where this story was going. It was more of a mystery than I would have expected but I loved that.

🎨 I really enjoyed Ren and Fitz together. I thought they were so cute, and I could see Rapunzel and Flynn really shine through their characters and the plot overall.

🎨 The ending felt a bit rushed to me. It happened so abruptly that I wasn’t expecting it to be done, and I was like WHATTTTTTTTT!? NOOOOO! Because I felt like there was just a bit more closure I would have wanted. But overall I really enjoyed this retelling!!

Release date: June 25, 2024

Thank you so much to Hyperion Avenue, NetGalley, and Christina Lauren for the gifted copy.

The fourth book in the Meant to Be series follows its predecessors in adapting traditional Disney fairytales into modern romances. The series is a great way to explore "familiar-ish" romances written by a variety of authors (each book in the series is written by a different romance author). Tangled up in you explores Rapunzel's storyline from Tangled. We follow a young woman as she leaves home on her own for the first time to attend college at the age of 22. After making a deal with her her parents to stick to "their" ways and not use technology unless it is for studies and to not intermingle with her classmates or do anything outside of the classroom or the library, and to always return home tot he family farm weekends to take care of her chores, her eyes start to open up with what she has been missing out during her upbringing.

A confusing test result and an interaction with the campus "golden boy" result in her breaking away for an early Spring Break road trip, which results in her learning more about life and herself than she realized was possible.

Wow, what an unexpected delight this book turned out to be! Let me just be super honest and say that I really did not expect to love this book like I did. I am by no means a “Disney Adult” and while I have seen Tangled, it was years ago; However, I am a big fan of Christina and Lauren’s writing, so I decided to give it a shot.

This book is so heartfelt and the plot was so engaging, I found it difficult to put it down. The main character Ren is written so perfectly that I felt like I immediately knew who she was. That girl who would be annoying if she wasn’t so kind and endearing. The character development of Ren is so masterfully done that you can easily see her progression through the story and feel all of the emotions that come along on her journey. Similarly the authors took enough from the source material of Tangled that I believe people who are reading it for that connection will not be disappointed either.

I will say that anyone who is used to the spicy content of their other novels, you will find only very pg spicy scenes in this book (not a pickle to be found in these pages) but the book was not lacking for this and the romance between the two seemed very genuine. I am excited for the book to come out so I can share it with my teenaged daughter and will definitely pick up a copy for myself as well.

Thank you so much to Netgally and Hyperion Avenue for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for my honest opinion.

Very cute Rupunzel retelling. I loved the nods to the movie, Tangled. Sweet and clean romance. I would love to see a sequel

THE WAY THIS BOOK HIT SO HARD WOW. I was in a horrible book slump for the entire month of February but then I read this masterpiece. Tangled is my favorite Disney movie so hearing there will be a romance novel inspired by it I was initially skeptical. But alas, this book did not disappoint. It was actually very close to the original tangled story, and I say that as a good thing.
Had a lovely time and I will definitely be rereading very soon.

Thank you to Christina Lauren, Hyperion Avenue, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of Tangled Up In You in exchange for my honest review.

Tangled Up in You follows Ren, a 22-year-old girl who grew up on a homestead, completely isolated from society. Ren is a book lover, who has read every book she can get her hands on and has built a working wind power system from scratch. Hungry for my knowledge, Ren goes to Corona College where she meets Fitz. Fitz has a plan, one that involves getting his criminal record expunged. However, his plans are at risk after meeting Ren.

I loved this book. It is no secret that it is a reimagining of Disney's Tangled. Because the book is inspired by the movie, there are elements of it that are predictable, however, that does not take away from the story. Tangled Up in You is a story about taking your power back, and not letting your past define you. Both Ren and Fitz have gone through so much and are struggling to find where they fit in the world. It is with the unexpected help of the other that they are able to start making sense of it all, and as a reader, it was a beautiful thing to witness. The plot might not have been a complete surprise, but it was the themes of resilience and finding yourself that hooked me to this story. I just wish that the story was a little bit longer. Not because it felt short but I would have loved more information on after, maybe in the form of an epilogue. There is so much story that can be told from the plot of this book and so many lessons that readers can take away, Cristina Lauren did an amazing job with this retelling.

4/5 ⭐️

Listen, Tangled is not my favourite disney movie but when I saw this from Christina Lauren I could not not request it.

I will say up to this point Christina Lauren books have been hit or miss for me but J really enjoyed this one!

I LIVE for roadtrip books 👏🏽 there is just so much potential for good plot and Christina Lauren took all of them not to mention other really great tropes (forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine etc.)

Everyone will enjoy this one!

In this brilliant retelling of Disney’s Tangled, main character’s Ren and Fitz have hopes and dreams to accomplish and they were going to be setting out to accomplish them together on a cross country road trip.

When Ren first started at Corona College, she stuck out like a sore thumb. She was from a desolate homestead filled with acres of land, lots of animals and two conniving people who were her “parents.” She had never seen a mobile phone or knew about Amazon. When she went off to college, her parents had strict rules for her to follow: no dating, no booze, no makeup and she wouldn’t be spending any weekends on campus.

As a reader, I assumed Ren’s family might just have different beliefs and that was to blame for her naivety but we soon discovered that was far from the truth. The more we learned, the more my gut wrenched for Ren. What was supposed to be a simple DNA test revealed shocking results and there was only one way to get to the bottom of them — setting out cross country to find her real father.

What Ren wasn’t prepared for was finding out so much more about her life, her childhood and her supposed “parents.”

And can I just say, Fitz was AMAZING! He was so supportive and helpful with Ren and never looked at her naivety as anything that was her fault. Instead, he always made sure to help her understand and show her that she had the freedom to live life how SHE wanted.

This book threw so many unexpected twists! I absolutely fell in love with it as soon as I started reading and couldn’t put it down. I loved all the nods to one of my all-time favorite Disney movies, Tangled. Ren and Fitz were real life Rapunzel and Flynn Rider and I was so here for it!

This was such a fun read! I've really enjoyed getting into this series, with these series of stand alone romance retellings of various Disney movies. This latest one of Tangled, from Christina Lauren, yeah, I just had to read it, and it was so good!

Tangled is one of the more recent movies, though it did come out like a decade and a half ago, it's not one that I grew up with, it came out when I was in high school. So while it doesn't have that nostalgia factor, this story was still such a delight to read!

Ren has lived a very isolated life, which given that this is a modern day retelling, was very interesting how they pulled it off. Fitz wants more for his life, and he knows how he's going to get it. And then they meet each other, and things get a little wild.

Watching them fall in love was so cute and sweet, and I just adored their story! The way that they told this story with their own parts of their writing, bringing the familiar story beats with the journey, with the emotions and similar but updated backstories, it just worked so well! They were a perfect grumpy/sunshine!

I had such a great time reading this book and I can't wait for whatever comes next!

I'm a huge fan of Disney movies and Tangled and this retelling was so heartwarming.

An amazing edition to the meant to be series and a definite reread for me!

This was just the sweetest story!! I loved Ren and Fritz so much and really enjoyed watching them grow as the book went on. Ren was so unique and it was impossible not to fall in love with her. While the book was very predictable it didn’t matter because the journey they took was so much fun to read about. My only complaint was the abrupt ending. I wish there had been an epilogue so we could have gotten more of an idea of where the characters ended up in the future. However, it makes me wonder if there will be a sequel?! I’d like to say thank you to Netgally and Hyperion Avenue Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC. I’m a huge fan of the writers and always enjoy their books!

Just because Christina Lauren is writing for a slightly younger audience doesn't mean they aren't their same trademark Christina Lauren charmers! I thought this spin on Disney's Tangled was absolutely genius. It's not so overt and obvious that it induces eye-rolling or sighs, but anyone who knows the movie will so appreciate and delight in the parallels. I was so in love with Ren by the end, and they managed to capture the utter effervescence in words that the movie does with facials expressions and visuals. This is sure to be a huge hit with readers of all ages!

I loved this book! The characters were so familiar but nuanced for this specific version of the story. I loved the romance and thought it was such a great romance read. Definitely add this one to your list.

First thought: I’m a sucker for fairytale retelling and since Rupunzel is one of my favorites this book was instalove for me! I loved absolutely everything about it. This is a fun roadtrip across the country to find answers and learning to let others in. Highly recommend.

Ren is a 22 year old who has lived her whole life on a homestead where she was kept off the grid from the world. She loved her life, she had no regrets but she wanted to see more learn more. So convincing her parents to let her go to school was no easy feat, but she did it! She will be going to college for the first time, the chance to be normal while still following her parents strict rules. Will she finally get the chance to hold a phone for the first time, leave her 20mile bubble, talk to boys, eat at a restaurant and interact with other people? She was thrilled!

Fitz is a senior in college and everything is going to his plan until a long haired blonde swept onto campus with her doe eyes and innocence and took the place by storm. She annoyed him: she was perfect, smart, naive and he can’t stand her. She was distracting him from his plans and he needed to stay away from her.

But fate had other plans. In her genetics class Ren uncovered confusing information about herself after taking a dna test. Now she had to get to Atlanta to ask questions and get some answers. But she knew she couldn’t do it on her own so when she found Fitz in the professor office up to no good, she used it as a chance to get him to help her. Aka good old blackmail.

That’s how Fitz and Ren end up stuck in a 1970s mustang driving across the country together. Trust me you don’t want to miss this adventure.

Publishing Date of 6/25/24

Literally Themes you’ll find:

* Grumpy vs Sunshine
* Opposites Attract
* Forced Proximity
* Cross Country Roadtrip
* Rapunzel Vibes
* Slow Burn
* Dual POV

I love Christina Lauren and I love Tangled so, I was worried my hopes were too high for this book- but they weren't. Ren and Fitz are a perfect grumpy sunshine couple and I loved all of the nods to Tangled. It was such a smart way to reimagine the story for a modern day romance and I loved it. It had heart, hummer, action and adventure and I loved every second of Ren's story.

Having loved By the Book by Jasmine Guillory, the Beauty and the Beast retelling in the Meant to Be series, I was so excited to get the ARC for the Tangled Rapunzel retelling - Tangled Up In You by Christina Lauren.

While the Disney movie seems difficult to adapt into a modern-day romcom, Christina Lauren does a great job. Instead of a tower, the main character Ren, has been living off the grid with her parents for the past 20 years. She begs them to let her go to college in nearby Spokane and they agree as long as she comes home every weekend and abides by their strict rules. Ren has had 22 years to read masses of books and textbooks, paint, sing etc. - she's whip-smart and super excited about all the new experiences she's having. Her campus tour guide is Fitz. He's smart and charming with a difficult past that he is desperately trying to hide. They end up on a road trip with lots of adventures and forced proximity.

I loved this book and needed it after some of my difficult reads. I still haven't read the other two books in the Meant to Be Series and now I want to! Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for this ARC.

Going into this story I expected a different story line from the authors’ typical writing style, but thoroughly enjoyed the story. Even though the story had elements from Rapunzel it was a good stand alone story. I also enjoyed how there weren’t any sexualized scenes and I could safely recommend this to my high school students. The ending completely took me by surprised and kept me up for hours past my bedtime. I have already recommended this to several people to read this once it’s available.