Review: Zel
Title: Zel
Author: Donna Jo Napoli
Published: 1996
Page Count: 240
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy
My Rating: 3/5
High in the mountains, Zel lives with her mother, who insists they have all they need, for they have each other. Zel’s life is peaceful and protected – until a chance encounter changes everything. When she meets a beautiful young prince at the market one day, she is profoundly moved by new emotions. But Zel’s mother sees the future unfolding – and she will do the unspeakable to prevent Zel from leaving her…
Zel is a dark retelling of the fairy tale Rapunzel. Very dark. Amazon tells me that the book is meant for ages 9-12 but I am not quite sure about that classification, to be completely honest. The book is really not a pleasant fairy tale – it’s sad and kind of scary, not something I’d expect a nine-year-old to really enjoy. Maybe a twelve-year-old, though. Anyway, why don’t I talk about the book?
I liked Zel. I haven’t read too many fairy tale retellings, so I was sort of surprised when I found myself somewhat bored in the beginning. Bored is the wrong word, actually – it was more like anxious. I knew what was coming, since I’d heard the story of Rapunzel a million times, so for the first third of the book I was basically waiting for the “real” story to happen, the one that I was expecting to happen. Which it did, eventually, and it was much darker and meaner than the original… more like the Grimm fairy tale, I’d imagine (which I’ve never read, but I have heard about).
I did like when Zel’s mother revealed her true motivation for keeping Zel with her forever. I was totally not expecting that, and I loved how it made this book so different from the actual fairy tale. In my opinion, that’s what I imagine a fairy tale retelling to be – take a classic fairy tale and add some different elements to it, which turns it into something different but based on the same general story. If that is what YOU think of when you think of a fairy tale retelling, then you’ll definitely like the book. I didn’t love this one, but I think that Napoli did a great job with the book, and I know a lot of other bloggers loved it (see the list below). I would recommend Zel for fans of fairy tales and/or fantasies.
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