The mystery of Rosamund Hodge’s Crimson Bound meets the romance of the best Beauty and the Beast retellings. An old tale tells the story of how a little man named Rumpelstiltskin spun straw into gold and tricked a desperate girl into trading away her baby. But that’s not exactly how it happened. The real story began with a drunken father who kept throwing money away on alcohol and women, while … and women, while his daughter, Aoife, ran the family farm on her own. When he gambled away everything they owned to the Duke, it was up to her to spin straw into gold to win it all back.
With her wits and the help of a magical guardian, she outsmarted the Duke and saved the day.
Well almost…
Her guardian suddenly turned on Aoife and sent her on a quest to find his name, the clues to which were hidden deep in the woods, a moldy dungeon, and a dead woman’s chamber.
Her feelings for one of the men who tricked her from the start threaten to complicate everything. Not the tale of a damsel in distress, this is the story of a tenacious, young woman who solved a mystery so great that not even the enchanted man who spun straw into gold could figure it out.
Not until Aoife came along.
more
3.5 stars
A very different take on Rumplestilskin from the retellings I have read. I haven’t read much of Rumplestilskin’s original story. I need to because I don’t know how much different this is compared to the original
Normally the retellings I read, the duke is a horrible man and the heroine normally falls in love with Rumplestilskin. Also, Rumplestilskin is a good looking man. In this story, he is ever so much the twisted body that I see in movies and shows as he is depicted.
I really thought this would go a different way than it had. But I still like the story. It kept me entertained. As the first retelling of the year, I found it nice to read through.
An interesting retelling of the Rumpelstillskin story. Enjoyed it!
If you are looking for how Rumplestilskin got his name this was a great twist. I enjoyed this book. Interesting version of this fairy tale.
This was an interesting retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, which originally is a fairly short, simple tale. Here, the characters were fleshed out and given motivations, families, and feelings of their own. An intriguing twist was thrown in to make the story journey less predictable, especially since we already know the basic plot of the fairy tale. A good read, although the grammar mistakes were distracting (passed instead of past, bare for bear, wreaks for reeks, sewn for sown, hardily for heartily, shears for sheers).
Absolutely LOVED this retelling! So many twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting.
A great retelling of the story with well-developed characters and a bittersweet ending.
Very good read. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
I totally love the re-telling of the traditional fairy tales! This one was great.
Loved this take on Rumpstilskin!
Best rendition of Rumplestiltskin that I have read yet!
Really liked the pace and plotting. Nice re-imagining of this tale!
I enjoyed this author’s take on one of the least re-told fairy tales. I think everybody has done Beauty and the Beast, but to take on Rumpelstiltskin takes some creativity and real originality. I rated this 4 stars because it wasn’t the most stellar read, but it was definitely thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining.
A fun twist on the classic sleeping beauty, but has a rather weak finish. The idea had promise but the story line was a bit too weak and a bit corny. All in all, still a nice quick read.
The detail in the book is interesting and makes it come alive. Much like the movie “Maleficent” tells an old tale from a different perspective, Twisted shows the story from an alternate view.
Once again an excellency example of what neglect can do to someone. Everyone needs love from those they love most especially.
I loved the twist on a classic that we all know.
Different take on a fairy tale but I liked the story. There were some parts of the storyline or dialogue I didn’t care for nut overall probably 4 1/2 stars but since that’s not an option I gave it 5
Some of the names were difficult but for the most part it was a better version of Rumpelstiltskin for tween and adults.
Characters could have used a little more depth. The main character fell for Rumple too quickly. The other romance developed better. But characters were a little one sided with one motive each. Still I love takes on fairy tales and this was a very original take so I enjoyed that.
I like retelling of well known fairy tales and Rumplestilskin is a favorite of mine. This is sort of sad but sort of happy too. And it did have a surprise twist.