Sparkles and Lightning

****FINAL RATING: 4.30 STARS****CATCHALLI had absolutely no expectations going into this book. I hadn't really heard anything about it, and just decided to take a random chance on it because I wanted a light, fun read after some of the heavier stuff I'd been shouldering. I never, never expected to love it so much. Rapunzel is one of my favorite, if not my actual favorite, fairytale, so of course I was interested to see how it was retold in this book. The result was something I haven't seen before, and I loved the way it turned out.THE HEROINERAPUNZELRapunzel annoyed me at times, but on the other hand I could hardly blame her for some things. She was lied to her entire life, but for so long she had no reason to not believe it. And anyway, Rapunzel is no damsel is distress. She takes care of herself and though she gets help she ultimately makes her own decisions. Even though I didn't always agree with her decisions I could understand why she made them.(Irrelevantly, why does spell check say "Rapunzel" isn't a word? It's the name of a classic freaking fairytale character. Ugh, whatever.)THE LOVE INTERESTFANEWell, hello there. From the very beginning Fane is an intriguing character. Even though he's a perfectly ordinary human being he has an air of otherworldliness about him or something. He says what he thinks, he's funny, and he's not afraid to face the truth. He takes care of Rapunzel and takes several risks for her, even when she tries to push him away. From the very beginning, he tries to protect her, and he's so fabulous and so sweet and so loyal.THE PLOTIn the author's letter, she says that although this story is set in the modern world, there's one difference: in the world this book takes place in, there's no such thing as the fairytale Rapunzel. It has never been told, never existed. It's a small change but an important one.At the beginning of this book, Rapunzel has everything she could possible want. Everything, that is, except for freedom. Luckily for her, her mother has no real idea of how to work the internet. So when Rapunzel claims to use it for school, she leaves her alone. Rapunzel proceeds to discover Facebook and friends some random cute guy from a nearby school. While not recommended for obvious reasons, it works out pretty well for her.There are definitely basic elements of the classic fairy tale. Rapunzel's blonde hair is ridiculously long, and though she doesn't know it yet, the woman who claims to be her mother of course is not. Oh, and she lives shut in in a tower. It's a modern Rapunzel, but it is still recognizable.I loved the way the story unfolded. At first, it just seems like it's all for fun. But eventually, as everything starts to unravel, it grows more serious. Rapunzel was comfortable in her life before, but after meeting Fane, she can't go back and she doesn't want to. She fights back for the first time.Even though I loved this book, I can't ignore the randomness or the inconsistencies, though. I can't say exactly what they are without being spoilery, but let's just say that not everything fits together. Furthermore, there are just some random paranormal elements thrown in that aren't really ever explained and never really go anywhere and yeah. Felt kind of pointless.Still, that didn't keep me from loving this book. Those errors were fairly minor and didn't ruin the book for me. I love Rapunzel's story from beginning to end. It was fun, yes, but there was more to it than that too.THE ROMANCEFrom the very beginning, Rapunzel and Fane have chemistry that eventually builds into something greater. Rapunzel has absolutely no romantic experience, but that doesn't stop her from learning. It is a cute and sweet romance, but it's also strong because of how it develops as the pair piece together Rapunzel's mysterious past and find out who she really is. I love their interactions, and their first kiss is absolutely perfect. He takes care of her, and she trusts him.THE WRITINGSomehow, I really clicked with this writing even though it's not usually the type of style I like. Despite my initial frustrations with Rapunzel the writing really allowed me to understand her thoughts and connect with her character. I loved the way the words were used, and how she put in modern lingo without doing what I secretly call "over-teenagerisation." (Oh, shut up.) The descriptions were a bit lacking and I would have liked more imagery but other than that it was fantastic.THE ENDINGThe ending was so sweet and so perfect. I mean, yeah, it worked out almost a little too ideally. But honestly, I didn't care. I was so, so happy with the ending. I adore HEAs, and though this book suffered from at least one fairly major inconsistency near the end I still managed to get past that. I was really impressed with the way everything came together, and though a lot of the truth seemed to take forever to come out I was still mostly satisfied.WRAPUPI truly enjoyed this book, and I loved it so much more than I would have expected to. It was fun, but it also contained some darker stuff which I loved. I'm definitely going to start keeping an eye on Cindy's work and hope she more fun fairytale retellings like this. I'd love to see Cinderella. Anyway, would I recommend this? You bet. If you're a fairytale or even just a modern contemporary lover, this book is definitely for you.FINE.Find more of my reviews on Sparkles and Lightning!