Rapunzel’s Revenge

How many Hales does it take to write a rollicking Graphic Novel? Well, in this case, three. Wife and husband team, Shannon and Dean Hale, have joined forces with another Hale, Nathan Hale (no relation), to produce a fantastical, fantastic new take on the story of Rapunzel. You’re going to love this. It’s adventurous, a tad romantic, and touched with magic too.

I don’t imagine many people would believe that a remake of Rapunzel could be very appealing to boy readers, however, I think Shannon and Dean have managed to create a snazzy new version of this classic tale that will keep boys and girls turning the pages. As in the original story, this Rapunzel was taken away from her mother as an infant and raised in a walled villa by a witch, here named Mother Gothel. Now when Rapunzel discovers the secret of her past, she makes her escape to search for her mother, who now slaves for Mother Gothel in the distant mines. Along the way, Rapunzel joins up with a rascal outlaw, Jack, and the two gallop about the wild west, fighting strange creatures and lowlife cowboy scoundrel types while Rapunzel plans her reunion with her mother and her revenge against Gothel.

Gosh this was fun. One of the best parts about this book for me is that it is such a departure from the original setting and time that I more or less completely forgot that it was built on an old, old tale. It feels super fresh, like an entirely new story. That can’t be easy to achieve when working with a story as well-known and loved as Rapunzel. But of course, we are in the hands of the master fairy-tale refurbisher here: Miss Shannon Hale. This is certainly a girl power narrative, but there is more than enough action to keep boys into it, with strong, bright, detailed art as a complement. Yum.

If you don’t love this one… I’ll grow super-long braids and ride off into the sunset.

Rapunzel’s Revenge will be released in August.

Read a few other reviews:

Reading Rants
The Reading Zone
A Year of Reading
Miss Erin