The Golden Braid

2.5 stars
First, it took me four tries to get into this story. It's very disjointed in a lot of places, and the first-person POV has an odd distance...“Rapunzel thought that...Rapunzel was sure...” types of sentences felt like momentary lapses into some form of second-person POV. Many sentences don't lead logically from one to the other within a single paragraph.

Because of a challenge, I decided to power through so I could count the title. The last half is more active and interesting, but one thing I really cannot agree with is her continual deception of her mother, even before she realizes her mother stole her instead of taking her in. Is a girl really justified in lying point-blank to her adoptive mother just because she's not a mother by blood? Hm, not sure I want to deal with some of the logistical outcomes of that attitude...

I really enjoyed it once Rapunzel went to Hagenheim. There was more action and more balanced writing, and the ending was truly enjoyable.