Book Review: Tangled Up In You
It’s no secret at this point that Disney’s Meant to Be series continually impresses me. We live in an era of remakes and retellings, and fairy tales are ample fodder for these stories. But for a book series to tackle the beloved Disney versions of these stories and to do them so successfully and so consistently is a feat worth recognizing. Some of that success no doubt lies in getting some of the finest romance authors of our day to put their spin on these classic tales, and that tradition continues with Christina Lauren’s Tangled Up In You, an exciting, un-put-downable (it’s a word!) take on Disney’s Tangled.
The story follows Ren, a young woman who grew up on a very sheltered homestead with her overprotective parents, and who finally has the chance to leave her tower, so to speak, and attend Corona College. She might never have been formally educated, but Ren is brilliantly booksmart, and a ray of sunshine human being who charms everyone she meets. Everyone, that is, except Fitz, her booksmart and street smart classmate who thinks the new arrival is messing with his plans for the future. That is, until the two of them embark on an adventure together that brings them closer than either would have expected.
When it comes to adapting Tangled, the biggest challenge to my mind has to be how to adapt the actual story itself to the context of a romance aimed at adults. Because the story elements are heavy in a way that can be excused as “fairy tale tragic” in the animated film, but when put in a modern context require a fair bit of care and examination. In this instance, Christina Lauren manages this beautifully, threatening that needle carefully, and giving the heavier elements all the consideration they need, while never losing sight of the fact that this is a lighthearted romance. There are plenty of those swoony, snarky, slow-burny elements of a love story between a literal ray of sunshine and the grump that falls in love with them.
Most creative and impressive is the way the authors take the beats of Tangled and turn them into a very rom-com premise, giving Ren and Fitz ample opportunity to slowly fall for each other, bridging the gap from one-sided animosity to an all-consuming love that neither of them can imagine living without. There are so many twists and turns in Tangled Up In You that I’m almost afraid to talk about it, lest I spoil the joy of discovery for everyone else. It scratched such a specific itch that I didn’t even know needed to be scrated. Suffice it to say, Tangled Up In You is well worth the read for die-hard Tangled fans, and for those with simply a general appreciation of the story.
Tangled Up In You hits shelves June 25, 2024. Special thank you to Disney Books and Hyperion Avenue for the advance copy for review purposes.