"Villain" origin stories will always fascinate me. What we think of as the evil character in a story and the ways in which in Rapunzel, most 'villains' aren't given names. They serve as place holders for a force to be overcome by our main character. The Book of Gothel is Haelewise's story. How she has to mire and navigate through layers of misinformation. When we are alone, we can be so susceptible to influences who don't have our best interests in heart. To information we think is right about the world, our family, and ourselves.

But couldn't be much further from the truth. The Book of Gothel deeply explores these themes. The story of Haelewise as she must figure out her own power and relation to the world. So if you're looking for a story that is mostly origin story and about 10% Rapunzel vibes, then this is for you. That's just the main warning I have in terms of expectations. Once I was able to pivot, I had a much more enjoyable reading experience. To see how she is made a target for blame. Ostracized and alone, how Haelewise must determine her own truths.

If you’re expecting a fairy tale retelling like so many, you might want to pause and reconsider. This threw me a little, starting in the modern day, as a scholar is offered the chance to read a very, very old tome, called The Book of Gothel. We then read said book as she does, learning the life story of a girl called Haedelwise.

Haedelwise does not have a happy life. Her mother is a midwife and hides her worship of ‘the goddess’, while her father is distant, often absent, and a devout Christian, as are most of the townfolk. Haedelwise suffers from fainting spells which, along with her pure black eyes, have convinced half the town that she’s touched by evil. A doomed romance, a family death, abandonment and fear of stoning – it’s not a happy tale, and that’s just the beginning!

Seeking a new life – from requirement – Haedelwise journeys through the forest to find the tower of Gothel and the woman said to help other girls in need. There she discovers that the fairy tales her mother told her are not such fantasy as she supposed. Begging to be apprenticed to the esoteric knowlege of ‘Mother Gothel’, Hadedelwise is soon left chaffing at the lack of information, the commands to stay within the stone boundary. Her rebellious nature soon leads her on even more fantastical paths, including casting her in a fairytale of her own.

This is offered as the ‘real’ story of the witch behind the Rapunzel myth. It’s very much fantasy-steeped historical fiction, both enthralling and something of a tough read. Women were not treated well during these times (if ever, ahem!) and it’s hard reading about Haedelwise’s misery and fears and lack of freedoms. The fantasy elements creep in along with tiny little hints towards a whole host of famous stories, in a blink and you could miss them form. Indeed, you could entirely skip the Rapunzel element and still get a whole lot from this book.

However, as enjoyable as the read was, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending, which seems to skip the bulk of adult life. That’s probably on me looking for more ‘neat bows’ than exist, and this is given as a ‘real’ account of a life, up to a point. Still, loses a mark for a slight petering out ending.

Otherwise, though, it’s a – I won’t say fun, that’s not really it, but definitely an engrossing, well-written story that’s about as far removed from any other fairy tale retelling I can think of. Villain origin story? Sort of, but then again, not. Worth a try if it sounds appealing, for sure.

Hi and welcome to my review of The Book of Gothel!

As a kid I was fond of fairy tales. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of my mum and grandfather reading them to me and I knew a bunch of fairy tales by heart before I could even read or write. Fast-forward to thirty-something years later and I still have a weakness for fairy tales, in particular for fairy tale retellings and reimaginings. In other words: as soon as I spotted The Book of Gothel and its simple yet alluring cover I just knew I had to read it.

The Book of Gothel is an origin story posing those questions that have become quite popular in recent years: what if the infamous villain we all love to hate was just a simple girl trying to live her life and be happy, what if the story we were all told, the one we all know, was not what actually happened?

The Book of Gothel takes its time setting the scene and allowing its reader to get acquainted with its protagonist. I wouldn’t call it action-packed but this is the kind of story that gets away with burning slowly, demands it even. I appreciated the world-building and the many references to other fairy tales and folklore.

There is a feminist angle to the story, a we-girls-gotta-stick-together kind of vibe, with the tower of Gothel being a sort of safehouse when it needs to be. With talk of a coven of sorts, spells and herbal potions and magic, there is definitely also a witchy vibe. And there is also a religious aspect in play. All those different story elements might seem a lot but they form a coherent whole that was a pleasure to read.

The Book of Gothel is a very rich and imaginative take on the origin story of the witch who (allegedly!) locked Rapunzel in the tower. I had a great time with it and I would happily recommend it to fans of fairy tale retellings and/or readers who enjoy historical fantasy.

The Book of Gothel is out on 28 July.

Many thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a gorgeous historical fantasy set in the Black Forest during Medieval times. It is billed as a kind of origin story for Mother Gothel (the witch from the Rapunzel fairy tale) but it is so much more than that and there is actually very little reference to 'Rapunzel. In my opinion this would still be a fantastic story without the girl ever being mentioned. Full of magic (subtle for the most part) and heart wrenching love, this is a wonderfully rich debut novel from Mary McMyne and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book! The writing was beautiful and captivating, really atmospheric and took me right into the world of the book. I also enjoyed the characters, they weren't flat at all and I grew attached to the main character. The whole concept of the book interested me from the start and it really met all my expectations. Every second of this book was enjoyable and I'm looking forward to what the author has in store for her readers next.

The Book of Gothel is a re-imagining of Rapunzel and the witch who put her in the tower. In it we follow Haelewise who heads through the forest to Gothel seeking refuge with a wise woman after she is shunned by her village following the death of her mother, the local midwife who has dark secrets in her past.

The story begins with an American academic discovering an ancient manuscript, which I thougt was an interesting concept, however, once we were immersed in the world of Haelewise we don't have anything else from this timeline until the very end, I think had this been added into the story it would have helped as a lot of the book is very slow in parts. The last three quarters of the book really had me hooked, the author did a wonderful job creating the witchy forest atmosphere, and I enjoyed the love story element too.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit and Netgalley for the chance to read The Book of Gothel.

This is a retelling of the story of Rapunzel, focusing on Mother Gothel and reframing her story. She shifts from the villain we know to a healer, midwife and a woman exploring faith and magic against the powers of men and the church. Her story and journey are complicated and it was this reimagining that drew me in.

I really loved the first half of this book best. It explored young Haelewise’s life, life before becoming Mother Gothel. I really rooted for her from the start, having been shunned by her community at an early age for her peculiar eyes and inexplicable fits and her strange spiritual abilities. Her complicated relationship with her mother, who paints the world a little differently with tales of magic, is where she finds some belonging and begins to unravel some truth about who she is. This part read beautifully and I moved through it quickly, fascinated by her and keen to find out how the story would reconcile with the usual picture we have of Mother Gothel.

As a side note, I also loved how there were glimmers of other fairytales in this book, little hints of well-known stories and their possible beginnings.

However, after such a promising start, I found the second half of this novel more difficult and I struggled to get through it. I lost my love for the protagonist and started to find her irritating, but I can’t put my finger on why. The climax of the story felt lacking and some of the writing felt sloppy, whereas much earlier in the book is was rich and joy to read. Essentially, I got bored. Whilst I was fairly happy with Mother Gothel’s ultimate ending, the run up and the actual find few pages felt really lacklustre.

What was going to be a strong 4.5, is more like a 3/3.5.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There are people for whom The Book Of Gothel will be the absolute Bees Knees I am sure - it's a really interesting take on the Rapunzel story that definitely has elements of popular books such as Circe and The Bear and the Nightingale and has some interesting ideas around the old world meeting Christianity that I thought were interesting. However, I have to say that this book was not for me for a multitude of reasons, some of which are personal and some of which may have a wider application.
Overall my biggest complaint about this book was that it felt unrelentingly miserable. From start to finish I felt as though I was being beaten over the head with how awful life was for 'weird' women in the past. I'm not sure anything nice really happens to the main character for 90% of the book and when it does happen it feels caged in a miserable situation (ooh you get to wear a nice dress but it is in order to attend the wedding of your love who is marrying someone else?). I don't mind a grim book - I was raised on the older versions of fairytales but I find I need that ebb and flow in order for a book to not completely drag me down. I felt as though the other women we meet in the story should have been empowering Haelwise and instead was met with gatekeeping and secrets for the sake of secrecy and it all just felt a bit brutal. I think had there been more of a sense of flow to the story and some more happiness to offset the grey it might have been a more enjoyable and impactful reading experience - contrast is so important!
Of course there will be people who have a higher tolerance for that sort of thing than I do so take that as my versy personal feelings towards books of this ilk. I'll be very interested to read future reviews from people who did enjoy the story to see what their feelings were and I'd definitely read another book by this author if it had a slightly different topic (for me The Bear and the Nightingale is perfect and if I want this kind of story I'll probably just reread that). But the actual writing was lovely to read and definitely painted a picture of the world in my head.
I suspect this was primarily a case of 'it isn't you it's me' - but I don't think I'll be picking up this particular book again in the future.
I receieved a free review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

A tricky one to review for me...this didn't quite live up to my expectations but I can't precisely pin point why 🤔

I did enjoy most of it and loved the concept but I also found some of it a little boring at times. I saw someone's review saying about how this story was all "telling and no showing" and I think that might be why I didn't connect to it or the characters as much as I thought I would. Still a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️ and I can see plenty of people absolutely loving this so I would still totally recommend, particularly for fans of fairytales and retellings.

Thank you Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

A fascinating retelling of Rapunzel.

We learn the backstory behind a when known witch from the story of Rapunzel in which we go back to when she was little, we get to see her upbringing and how she became how we know her today.

We follow the story of Haelewise and what it was like growing up in a world who are moving away from the old gods and instead favouring Christianity. As Haelewise grows up, she starts to realise the dangers of being different and standing out. It doesn't take too long for the townspeople to blame her for the illness for someone in town. On top of this, the man she loves isn't allowed to marry her because Haelewise is from a poor background.

When her mother is no longer around to protect her, Haelewise leaves the town in search of someone who is to call Gothel. Here she learns the old ways and magic, Gothel offers her home as a sanctuary to troubled women, and soon a pregnant stranger joins Haelewise and Gothel. Haelewise finds that there is more to the world of magic than she had previously thought and in her desperation to stay linked to her mother, finds herself caught up in a political mess between a princess and an evil man who she is being forced to marry, to then being murdered by him and then blaming Haelewise. Once she gains favour by the crown, she then is tasked to save a pregnant woman who is at risk of being assassinated.

There is a lot going on in this book, but absolutely loved it! I found the aspects of religion fascinating and the backdrop being germany I thought was a great way to pay homage to the original story

THE BOOK OF GOTHEL is a story inspired by the Rupunzel story but has very little actual Rapunzel in it (in a recognisable way.) It's more a story that asks "why might a woman live in a tower with only a little girl for company?" There's only a few little details that make it a Rapunzel story, instead mostly being a historical fantasy in 13th century Germany about women with power of all sorts that men are trying to supress.

>I really like that. I love historical fantasy and this is a deftly drawn together historical tale about justice and forgotten history and secret female societies. It draws on herblore and folklore, full of women helping one another out, and a heroine determined to help others. She's not out for revenge, even at her most hurt, she is just looking for justice. And she takes pains to make sure others aren't hurt by her actions, shielding them as best she can instead.

That was so nice to see in this story. It's the sort of tale that could so easily be one of consuming revenge that takes a young girl, ostracised for being different, and turns her into a woman of dark, malicious power. And, honestly, that's the story you'd expect to find on shelves at the moment. But Haelewise never treads down that path. Instead the strength of her kindness and willingness of help shines through. It makes this a hopeful story, one about the value and power of kindness.

The story is bookended by a prologue and epilogue in our time, about an academic finding the manuscript, and I'll be honest, I did not enjoy those. It felt like trying to take this story that feels like it both exists within our world and within another, and trying to cram that story into our world by excluding the other. It's just so jarringly different in tone to the main story, and doesn't feel like it adds anything - no additional insight or layer to the story. It just feels very different and like awkward, badly attached decoration. It didn't affect my reading experience much - I'm just choosing to pretend it's not really part of the story (and if/when I re-read this book, I'll just skip them)

Thank you Netgalley and Litlle, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review!

I’ve read a lot of fairytale retellings and this one definitely rates up there with the best of them. The whole story is so well written, following Haelwise from childhood, her journey into young adulthood, first love, loss, grief and her forays into the wider world after her mother’s death and of course her discovery and entry into the tower of Gothel. Just when you think that is it, but you’re not even halfway into the book Haelwise is pulled into huge adventures and discoveries as she journeys further on to adulthood.

Mary McMyne’s debut is captivating and unerringly honest for fiction, acknowledging the tale's German roots, which I haven’t seen done before and digging deeper into the story, unearthing the roots of the story to bring to light truths that are rarely spoken of.

Please don’t let the initial prologue deter you, despite the info dump, it is where the doorway to Haelwise’s wonderful story is thrown open and it’s definitely one you want to go through.

Interesting take on the Rapunzel fairytale. Rooted in a medieval Germany with real life historical figures such as Hildegard von Bingen, it tells the story of the witch who raised Rapunzel ... only this time from her perspective. The prince in this story is an murderous werewolf and the girl with long hair is a queen with golden braids. The tower is a place hidden by magic and a refuge for women who are persecuted for their worship of a nature goddess. It's a very very different Rapunzel story to the one you might expect. Rapunzel herself appears in a very unexpected way. I really enjoyed this very original and bewitching tale.

I loved this book!
The Book Of Gothel was one of my anticipated reads of the year and I'm so happy it lived up to expectations!
This book may even be my favourite Rapunzel retelling!
It was beautifully written and I loved every minute of it.
I highly recommend this book!
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

The style of writing is captivating and I've never read a retelling quite like this one. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys low fantasy or fairytale retellings of any kind. I like the acknowledgements of the tale's German roots, which is not often done. I also really liked that 'Mother Gothel' could see herself in Princess Frederika when she first heard of the Queen's exile because it gave that much more depth to the story. The story itself read like a more in-depth version of a fairytale, which, given the topic, I am sure was its aim.

My main criticism would be that the prologue is a bit of an info dump. If I were busier, I might have put the book down in the first pages and not picked it up again, which would have been a great shame. Before beginning a book, there is no attachment to the characters, which means that there has to be a hook to keep me reading. It felt like more of a scratch. The information about 'Frau Professorin Eisenberg''s job, peers, and tenure didn't seem relevant, and I felt that there might have been less-waffly ways to explain why she was called to translate the text.

Overall, this was a really good read, but it almost lost me in the prologue. I would definitely pay to have this on my shelf.

Thank you Netgalley and Litlle, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is a very well-written, very loved by me, debut about the retelling of Rapunzel, or actually the witch who locked her in the tower. Or is that really what happened?
I have had my eye on this book for some time thinking I would love this and it did indeed not disappoint.

The story follows Haelewise throughout her younger years and her journey into young adulthood. She experiences first love, longing and grief and journeys into the world after her mother dies, Haelewise eventually ends up in the tower of Gothel. From there on the biggest adventures of her life have yet to begin, but if you want to know more about that, you'll have to read the book.

This was a historical fantasy retelling and I am a big fan of those. This book has a relatively slow pace, it speaks of Haelewise her earlier life and the adventures she had during her life. It is written from Haelewise her own perspective, kind of autobiographical. Mary writes in a detailed way that I very much enjoyed. She describes all the scenes expertly and expresses Haelewise her emotions in such a way that it felt very real to me. I have read some different retellings by now, a few from the original 'villains' perspective and almost none did so well.
The last portion of the book, the last part of Haelewise her story, though still very enjoyable, felt a little short to me. I would have liked to read a little more about this part of her life.
Overall, this book is something I will absolutely recommend to everyone who loves fantasy; historic and medieval settings; retellings; and 'villains' perspectives. I am very intrigued to see what Mary McMyne comes up with next and I will definitely keep her on my radar for the future.

Mary McMyne’s debut is a retelling of the fairy tale of Rapunzel. With this, she follows in the footsteps of around 150 authors who did the same thing before her, with Marissa Meyer one of the best known, who told her own version of this tale already in Cress, the third book in The Lunar Chronicles. Compared to Meyer however, McMyne remains closer to the atmosphere of the original. The originality comes from that the story is told from the witch’s point of view. Rapunzel herself is just a secondary character, barely present. Nevertheless, many elements from the fairy tale have been incorporated, but applied to Haelewise. It fits the story perfectly. A fun thing is that a small side step to Snowy White has been incorporated in the book.

Gothel, the witch from Rapunzel, lent here name to the title of McMyne’s book, although Gothel is actually the name of the tower. The witch has a different name of her own, Haelewise. At the start of the book, Haelewise is just another little girl, growing up with her parents. She has a good bond with her mother. With her father, not so much. (And if you want to know why, you have to read the book.) While growing up, she learns about old magic that is passed from mother to daughter. But her mother dies before she can teach her daughter everything about that. Next, she is abandoned by her father and needs to flee her village. That is when her adventure really begins.

The author is in no hurry. These 400 page story is told at a leisurely pace. There is a lot of time and attention for detailed descriptions of the surroundings of Haelewise and for adding background to the story. This actually helps the reader feeling sympathy for Haelewise. This protagonist is nothing like the contemporary evil witch we know about. The Book of Gothel is in essence the story of a young girl who wants to love and be loved. Despite the slow pace, the story is never boring or long-winded. McMyne has enough inspiration to keep the reader’s attention. Small secrets or mysteries keep them occupied, and when some of these get unravelled, others have already been put in place to keep the story going. Like most fairy tales, there is some romance, some good versus evil and some magic. The medieval German setting, including some words that remind of this time and place, contributes to the solid base the story has. Fans of this fantasy subgenre will not be disappointed.

This is a fascinating, alternative retelling of the origins of the Rapunzel story, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Haelewise is a young and at times naive young girl who develops throughout the story and whilst I found myself despairing of her at times, she definitely grew on me.

The story is told in first person - this is her written record - and as such I found the side characters to not be as developed as I would have liked. Whilst a criticism of sorts, it's actually a compliment to the author because the snippets we get are so intriguing. I also would have liked the story to have continued a little further than it did.

An enjoyable read, a solid 4/5

What a lovely Rapunzel retelling! I absolutely loved the writing in this story, it flowed beautifully. A really unique take on the 'witch's' point of view. We follow Haelewise on an adventure to find the magnificent tower, where we all know rapunzel did reside... I am so impressed with this retelling, it had so much action and adventure!! Would highly recommend.

I love retellings but one of the things that I loved most about this retelling is that in all the rupunzel books I have read Gothel is always a minor character, so I was intrigued and I really enjoyed getting to know the woman behind the villainy and her backstory was so interesting.
If I had one criticism I would say that the book is very slow in pace, otheriwse it would have been a five star read for me, but I was enjoying the content so much that overall I didn't actually mind. I cannot wait to get a hard copy of this on my shelf.