Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney as we continue our look at Tangled: The Series. The next review proper of the show was supposed to be Secret of the Sundrop but that episode is very taxing and emotionally draining but I didn't want to leave this retrospective hanging, so I've decided to look at the tie-in novel, Rapunzel And The Lost Lagoon.
Author
Leila Howland
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| Image found on Howland's About Page. |
I will admit that I am not overly familiar with Howland's work as I am not the target demographic that her books are meant for but while reading this book, I have to say that Howland did a fantastic job of capturing the characters of Rapunzel and Cassandra as this book focuses on them and also doing great worldbuilding for the seven kingdoms that are mentioned throughout Tangled: The Series. (I may go into more detail regarding that in the future). As I was reading this I felt as though Howland had a great understanding of who the characters were and that made this feel like an extra one-hour special that was part of the series. Granted because of things popping up in my life, it took me a month to finish what should have been a relatively easy read.
Cover
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| Image found on the DisneyWiki |
I love this cover, this cover perfectly invokes Rapunzel's love of art as it looks like one of her paintings and considering a big plot in the book is Rapunzel wanting to make a painting for Cass, it makes perfect sense that the cover should reflect that.
Narration
One of the biggest things that makes this book work is its use of first-person narration as that puts the reader more in the mindset of our two main characters. That is the one area, where the title is perhaps a bit misleading as the book is about both Rapunzel and Cassandra and we get both of their perspectives as the chapter alternates between Rapunzel and Cassandra. Where a Rapunzel chapter would end, a Cass chapter would start. That really helped to build the relationship and hardships that these two went through in the book.
The Plot
You can click this link here from Disney Books and that'll give you the standard press release synopsis
Now, my book reviews work differently than that of my episode reviews as I don't want to give away everything in the book as reading is a more intimate experience but I will say that while The Lost Lagoon is a huge driving factor in bringing in elements from the show such as characters namely Xavier and that is important as this book uses Corona's history and that is also where the villain of the book is found (though that was rather underwhelming). The book starts simply enough before the events of Tangled: Before Ever After and then takes place during it and that is how we find out how Cass became Rapunzel's lady-in-waiting as she was handpicked by Raps. And the girls start to hang out and get to know each other and warm up to one another and they discover an old Saporian (this kingdom is very important to Corona's history) book in the library with a love poem written in it that references the titular Lost Lagoon and the girls find it and it becomes their secret.
Which, this is important as the book highlights that Rapunzel told Eugene about sneaking off with Cassandra during What The Hair and that one small moment from the first episode is important because when Cass learns this truth, it breaks her because she trusted Rapunzel and felt as though Rapunzel broke that trust. I'll most likely discuss this more in the character section but one of the most important themes of this book is friendship and trust.
Characters
I need to do a preface here. Normally, I would look at the villain in a review like this but considering that the villain of the piece is a twist reveal, I don't want to spoil that and more importantly, the villain doesn't really matter in this book. And that is perhaps my one complaint with this book. It didn't need a bad guy as the friendship between Rapunzel and Cassandra and their journey to discover the Lost Lagoon was interesting enough without a bad guy.
Rapunzel and Cassandra
I am looking at both characters together as they are both equally important to the story as the driving force of the book is their friendship. While reading this book, I was able to see how Rapunzel and Cassandra helped each other to grow as Rapunzel made herself more aware of her surroundings and Rapunzel helped Cass to break out of her shell. And towards the latter part of the book, Cass makes a rash decision because of the feeling that her trust had been betrayed and that makes her feel that she doesn't belong in Corona and that she doesn't have any friends. I will give a slight spoiler here as there is a running element in the book, where Rapunzel is attempting to have the painting made by a young lady named Dhalia but Cass doesn't trust her and thinks that she is trying to steal something from the princess and gets annoyed, whenever she is seen with Rapunzel. Which happens multiple times throughout the book. And yes, this can be chalked up to being a misunderstanding and while that is a common trope, it actually works and makes sense considering how Cass felt ever finding out that Rapunzel told Eugene about them sneaking out together.
My Final Thoughts
I do apologize for how short this review was but again, do keep in mind that I will go more in-depth with my review of the season one finale. This is just meant more as something to keep the retrospective going. If you are a fan of Tangled: The Series, you will love this book as it perfectly captures what is so great about these characters and it provides a really great look into the friendship between Rapunzel and Cassandra. I cannot suggest this book enough. Peace!
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