Pages: 227
Finished: March 2008
Challenges:
**Spring Reading Thing
** Once Upon a Time
** Twisted Fairy Tales
First Sentence: "Oh, Mother, the goose is on her nest again."
This was such a unique re-telling of Rapunzel and I loved it. I loved it so much that I finished it in one day as I just couldn't put it down! I liked Napoli's style better in this one then I did in The Magic Circle. Zel and Count Konrad's stories are told in the 3rd person, while the mother's is told in the first person, which is very effective. The characters are quite likable, even the mother, until the very end. I found the ending to this story much more satisfactory and not so abrupt. All three of the main characters change over the course of the story and her writing style brings to light naturally without bogging the storyline down.
Definitely a delightful read!
And my wish list continues to grow...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely review!
I have read a few reviews of this lately and have it on order as everyone seems to have loved it. She is a new author to me, but definitely someone I think I will really like. Thanks for the recommendation :)
ReplyDeleteThis is like the third review of this I read that makes me really want to read it. I just might have to get it soon.
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you the same thing I told raidergirl3 in her review of Zel, if you are interested in some background to the Rapunzel history I suggest this interesting essay:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrRapunzel.html
Terri Windling writes marvelous essays on fairy tales.
I have this one on my list but haven't bought it yet. However, I did buy "Spinners" by Napoli and am excited to read it. It's good to know that your enjoyed "Zel" more than "The Magic Circle." I found "Circle" to be promising but didn't love it.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link to my review: http://raidergirl3-anadventureinreading.blogspot.com/2008/03/book-zel-by-donna-jo-napoli.html
ReplyDelete