What Once Was Mine

In Disney's latest Twisted Tale, Rapunzel's mother doesn't drink from the sunflower: instead, she drinks from the moondrop flower. Instead of healing, Rapunzel now has the power to hurt and kill with her silver hair. Taken away by Mother Gothel who convinces the king and queen it's for the safety of the kingdom, Rapunzel is raised alone in a tower, not knowing who she truly is. On her 19th birthday, after Gothel denies her request to see the floating lanterns, Rapunzel sneaks out of the tower herself, on a mission to find a thief she's heard of who can surely get her to the lanterns without anyone being hurt. Along the way, she'll learn more about herself, her powers, and where she really came from.

What I Loved:

-The magic: In the Tangled movie, we only get a glimpse of the magic possible in Rapunzel's world. In WHAT ONCE WAS MINE, we meet a full witch who helps Rapunzel understand her powers. I loved how the mystery around her hair and it's different powers slowly unravels and how scientifically Rapunzel approached it. Likewise, because Rapunzel's powers are so different in this story compared to the movie, Rapunzel has an additional emotional dilemma over what might happen if she leaves the tower (i.e. she could unintentionally hurt someone).

-The deeper insight to secondary characters: WHAT ONCE WAS MINE finally provides an answer to what Rapunzel's mother was doing while Rapunzel was trapped (other than being sad). We see her grieving, but then we see her take action to help the orphanages in the kingdom and create positive reform. Mother Gothel is also fleshed out a bit, so the reader understands just how much an agent of chaos she wants to be.

What Didn't Work for Me:

-The overarching story structure with Rapunzel's world and the real world: I haven't read every Twisted Tale story, but I've read a good chunk of them, and this is the first one I've read that sets the story up beginning in the real world with a brother telling his sister his version of Rapunzel in the hospital. The interruptions in Rapunzel's story weren't too frequent, but they were jarring every time and took me out of Rapunzel's narrative. However, readers who enjoy stories within stories might not find it as jarring.

-Flynn Rider/the romance: In Tangled, Flynn and Rapunzel spend the bulk of the movie in each other's company as a team of two. They have so many touching moments together, getting to know each other, and falling in love. In WHAT ONCE WAS MINE, Flynn and Rapunzel aren't alone. They have an additional friend, Gina, helping them on the quest. While I absolutely loved Gina's character, the new dynamic did make the Flynn x Rapunzel romance a little stilted and awkward.

Final Thoughts:

WHAT ONCE WAS MINE takes an inventive spin on a fun Disney tale and adds rich magic and great insight into several of the characters.

What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell is the twelfth installment of the series A Twisted Tale that takes a single action in a fairy tale and asks “What if”. This time the question is “What if Rapunzel’s mother drank a potion from the wrong flower?” I quite honestly loved this book. From start to finish, it is engaging, entertaining, and heartfelt, much like the cartoon version it is based on. Braswell does something that I haven’t seen her do before here: she writes a story within a story.

In the same vein as The Princess Bride, the story begins with Brendan at a hospital with his younger sister who has cancer and is receiving treatment. To cheer her up and not read the same story he has read more times than he can count, he decides to tell her his own Rapunzel story. I love Brendan’s version of the story. I also love how Daniella continuously interrupts the story to interject her own thoughts about what should happen next. It brings levity to the story while also bringing awareness to childhood cancer, which is a cause near and dear to my own heart.

In Brendan’s story, Rapunzel’s mother drinks a potion from the Moondrop flower, and so her healing powers are much different. Rapunzel’s hair is now silver instead of gold, and her power is tied to the moon. Instead of healing, her hair can kill. With broken hearts, her parents send her away to learn how to control her magic and hopefully one day return, but Mother Gothel has other plans.

Rapunzel is not quite as naive as she is in the origin cartoon. She is still unused to the world at large, but she is more scared of killing others than of them hurting her. In fact, I’d say she’s quite fearless in that she quickly trusts those around her, knowing that if it comes down to it, she can protect herself. I loved reading how her character grows and learns through her adventure to see the floating lights.

Flynn is not my favorite character though as he is in the source material. While I like him, Gina is my favorite. Gina is a new character created by Brendan for the story. She is like a female Flynn. She’s daring and courageous and wants nothing more than to be a ruffian as Rapunzel calls them. When she crosses paths with Rapunzel, she promises to help her find Flynn Rider in exchange for a bit of gold and notoriety.

Overall, I really enjoyed What Once Was Mine. Rapunzel’s journey is more here than in the cartoon, and it is even more accurate to history at the time the story is set during. I loved the characters and bits of history Braswell adds to the story. Again I loved the story within a story as well. Brendan and Daniella are fun, even if their presence isn’t always seen. If you are a fan of this series or a fan of fairy tales, I highly recommend this one!

*This review first appeared on Mom with a Reading Problem. You can find it here: https://momwithareadingproblem.com/2021/09/review-what-once-was-mine-by-liz-braswell