I checked this book out after reading Bound by Napoli. This is an excellent retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. Because it's meant for younger readers, it was a quick read, but the story offers lots to discuss and think about. I really enjoyed this book and plan to buy several of Napoli's books. ( )

I found this retelling of the Rumplestiltskin story to be very affecting and sort of sweet- but not squeaky clean sweet, which was lovely. I liked having the backstory of all the characters filled in. Napoli's version of those stories was believable in a fairy-tale context. I read an Advance Uncorrected Proof, so I am assuming that the errors in spelling were fixed by the time the final version was published.

If you like fairy tales with a small bit of sex and violence added, you might want to pick this one up. ( )

A retelling of a fairytale but I don't like saying which one as that is part of the fun of reading the book - trying to work out which fairytale it is. Donna Jo Napoli is such a skilled writer filling in so much detail in these tales and making what were flat characters in the fairytale, real people. ( )

Themes: fairy tales, Rapunzel, spinning, family
Setting: small medieval town

I've heard recommendations of this retelling of Rapunzel. I usually like fairy tale retellings, but this one was a disappointment. It started off promising enough, but sort of lost steam and I never really got involved in the story. Saskia is the miller's daughter - or is she? When the miller becomes a drunk, she is forced to take care of her own future. She digs out her mother's spinning wheel and goes to work. So far, so good, but once we get to the castle, I didn't feel much of a connection to Saskia anymore. The spinner, though, was an interesting character. Too bad I hated the ending. It made me sad. 2 stars ( )