Book Review: The Lady of Lanaria by Michaela Bush

A kidnapped princess, a promise, and a kingdom cursed with mysterious plagues. 

"Mark my words, Evangeline; if you set foot outside this tower, you will surely die."

Evangeline has spent her entire life hidden in an ancient watchtower, gazing through a window as the world passes her by. She heeds her mother's warning closely, the truth hidden from her always. When a young guard stumbles upon the tower, Evangeline's life is changed forever. As she strikes up a secret friendship with the guard, she learns about the Kingdom of Lanaria and the mysterious plagues that haunt all who live there. But as she delves into the world she barely knows, not everything her mother says adds up. Will they find the truth before it's too late? 

A Rapunzel retelling.

My rating:

To be fair, I'd never read anything by this author, so I wasn't at all sure what to expect...but this wasn't what I expected, haha! 

I wasn't aware that it was a Rapunzel retelling...I obviously didn't read that last sentence in the blurb. *hides* so it caught me off-guard to realize that oh, I know this plot! I love a good fairy tale retelling. But when this one didn't immediately capture my interest and keep me super invested, I wondered why, aaaand I think it's because there wasn't anything super unique about the plot line. There wasn't a whole lot of imaginative creativity in this story (save for the plague and rats, but it was kinda a predictable plot twist), and it just wasn't quite my style.

(also I'm confused as to how the cover fits the book??)

What I did enjoy? I reallllyyyy liked Gabe's character. So thoughtful and kind—and Evangeline's sweet personality matched to make them perfect for each other. *grins* Though, Amaranth?? *shudders* Horrid. She drove me insane. Which, I'm pretty sure, was the point. And Horace! *smirks* Everyone needs a Horace.

I loved hearing about Evangeline's violin, and how she played it, but there were a couple of things that confused me—Evangeline said "I love you" to Amaranth more than once (without it ever being reciprocated), yet she's had absolutely zero contact with the outside world, but somehow she know that this is what people say for affection? And she knows what to ask Gabe about the outside world? And she knows how to act quiet and proper in public? Like, I get that she could've read about it in her books. She loves to read (just another reason to like her) but I wish it would've been specified more where she learned about all of this stuff.

That ending though!! *all the happy feels* So I thought the plot was finally going to be concluded and wrapped up in a bow when YIKES the author couldn't resist throwing in just one more plot twist. (Dude, I totally get that. The urge is reallllllyyyyy strong.) So I was starting to breathe easier, and relax, and then BAM they're in hiding and they're fighting and they're running and then Evangeline shows us what she's made of. *grins* And then she met *censored for spoilers* and it was all good and they lived happily ever after.

*I received an e-copy of this book from the author for promotional purposes. All thoughts are my own.

What's your favorite Rapunzel retelling?