Content levels
Trigger warnings
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Synopsis
Before Rapunzel's birth, her mother made a dangerous deal with the sorceress Melisande: If she could not love newborn Rapunzel just as she appeared, she would surrender the child to Melisande. When Rapunzel was born completely bald and without hope of ever growing hair, her horrified mother sent her away with the sorceress to an uncertain future. After sixteen years of raising Rapunzel as her own child, Melisande reveals that she has another daughter, Rue, who was cursed by a wizard years ago and needs Rapunzel's help. Rue and Rapunzel have precisely "two nights and the day that falls between" to break the enchantment. But bitterness and envy come between the girls, and if they fail to work together, Rue will remain cursed...forever.
Is Golden appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 10 and up.
This Rapunzel retelling explores themes of abandonment, acceptance, and sisterhood with mild magical peril. Appropriate for middle grade readers who enjoy fairy tale retellings with emotional depth.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include child harm, emotional abuse, and abandonment.
Who'll love this
A creative twist on Rapunzel where two sisters must overcome jealousy and work together to break a curse before time runs out.