Twisted: The Girl Who Uncovered Rumplestilskin's Name by Bonnie M. Hennessy Pages: 306
Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform on November 11, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, retelling, Romance, Fantasy & Magic
Source: Paperback from Author
An old tale tells the story of how a little man named Rumpelstiltskin spun straw into gold and tricked a desperate girl into trading away her baby. But that’s not exactly how it happened.
The real story began with a drunken father who kept throwing money away on alcohol and women, while his daughter, Aoife, ran the family farm on her own. When he gambled away everything they owned to the Duke, it was up to her to spin straw into gold to win it all back.
With her wits and the help of a magical guardian, she outsmarted the Duke and saved the day.
Well almost…
Her guardian suddenly turned on Aoife and sent her on a quest to find his name, the clues to which were hidden deep in the woods, a moldy dungeon, and a dead woman’s chamber.
This is not the tale of a damsel in distress, but a tenacious, young woman who solved a mystery so great that not even the enchanted man who spun straw into gold could figure it out.
Not until Aoife came along.
Twisted: The Girl Who Uncovered Rumplestilskin’s Name is a young adult fantasy re-imagining of the story of Rumplestilskin by Bonnie M. Hennessy. Twisted is Bonnie’s debut novel and I have to say I loved it! I found it to be a delightful, and dark twisty tale of not only Rumplestilskin, but also of the young lady, Aoife.
This part of the summary is what initially got me interested in the story was, “This is not the tale of a damsel in distress, but a tenacious, young woman who solved a mystery so great that not even the enchanted man who spun straw into gold could figure it out.” And let me tell you, Aoife was a fierce heroine. I really liked her. I do have to say, I initially thought that Rumplestilskin was going to be the love interest, and as I was reading, I even wanted him to be the love interest. But no, Rumplestilskin is not. There is a romance in Twisted, and it was pretty twisted, just like the rest of the story. And I found the romance to be quite good.
What I loved most about this book was that it turned everything I thought I knew about Rumplestilskin on its’ head. This really was more of a re-imagining of his story, rather than a crafty re-telling. It was also pretty dark, so it is not a light and fluffy read. in fact, parts of this story made me downright sad. But I loved how dark and twisted it was. It was so unlike anything else I have been reading lately, and that in and of itself is pretty cool. Aoife goes through a lot in this book. At times you really feel the weight of everything she is dealing with and you feel awful for her, and at times you want to punch her, but overall I really enjoyed her character.
Bottom line: If you are a lover of dark stories that might not always get a happy ending. View Spoiler » Or if you are a lover of retellings and reimaginings, Twisted: The Girl Who Uncovered Rumplestilskin’s Name is a great book for you to pick up. It is really twisted, as the name suggests and I think it will pleasantly surprise you in more ways than you think. I was super impressed with Bonnie’s writing. I found this book to be well paced, and well thought out and really great. I can’t wait to read more by this author. She is one to keep an eye on.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
I am intrigued by this book because it is a Rumplestiltskin fairytale retelling!
This sounds awesome! I love retellings
Excellent review! I am interested in this book, because of the intriguing and captivating storyline and plots. Also, because of the strong, well developed characters.
This book sounds like it be a good read
My granddaughter would love this. She has always liked fantasies.
It’s just seems so unique to me
This book caught my eye as I always have looked the story Rumplestilskin
Michelle, thanks for the review! 🙂
this story catches my interest basically for the fantasy/magical components
I am a retelling fanatic! This sounds incredible!!
Thanks again for another chance at a great-sounding book!
I love re-tellings. This sounds amazing!
Great review! I love fantasy novels and this sounds amazing, I’ll definitely be checking it out. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi ! This books catches my interest because I’ve always been a fan of Rumpelstiltskin.
Honestly, I kinda judge a book by the cover when I’m browsing for books. This cover caught my eye, and when I saw that it was a fairytale retelling, I HAVE to read it! Thanks for the opportunity to win.
I love when the female leads are the kickass heroes.
I like the plot and the cover.
The Girl Who Uncovered Rumplestilskin’s Name interests me because when my 4 daughters were younger and always calling “Mom,Mom,Mom!” I would tell them I changed my name and they had to guess it. (of course it was Rumplestilskin!) They would get a kick out of reading this novel.
Congrats!
thecover caught my eye then read the review im hooked sounds like an amazing book
Yay retellings!! I’m glad to know there is a good love interest.
I love fairy tale retellings and this one sounds particularly interesting.
I am intrigued because it’s like a fairy tale.
I love fairy tale retellings!
It has a good book cover. I have always been interested in Rumpelstiltskin stories.
Thanks for the great giveaway!
The book looks and sounds very intriguing!