Tangled Up in You by Christina LaurenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review
Still, she was so ready for the change, she could practically taste it.
Ren's twenty-two but finally about to have her first real world experience, going to college. Raised by parents who lived on a farmstead and off the grid, Ren's found some way to get them to allow her to attend community college classes. When a science course reveals a secret that her parents have been keeping from her, Ren ends up on a road trip with, Fitz, the campus local rich playboy. The trip opens Ren's eyes to all the possibilities life has to offer and the possibility of love. But when her parents find out she's left the state and where she's headed, lies, danger, and love from unexpected places, swirl all around her.
What a surprising thing you are, he thought.
Tangled Up in You was an re-imagining from the Disney movie Tangled. Printed by a Disney publishing company, you get a ton of cute pulled characters and moments from the movie, along with some kisses only moments. Ren started off seeming like a Disney princess, talking to animals, but even though she had that sweet naivety, there was still a common sense core that made a better fitting for a real world setting. There were moments that felt a little overly cheesy for the “real world” but I thought most of the story managed to put these characters in a believable New Adult contemporary plot. Fitz was, of course, captured by Ren's long blonde beautiful hair and big green eyes, but his own character issues had him fighting to keep things on the friend level but when the road trip starts, around 25%, they learn more about one another and develop deeper feelings.
Ren had barely seen anything in the world, and Fitz had already seen too much.
The road trip had them going on adventures like Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug, and a Nashville festival, getting alternating chapters of Ren and Fitz's point-of-view helped immensely in letting the reader into their thoughts and feelings, making it easier to feel and believe in their growing emotions. They open up to each other and it's easy to see why both would be drawn to the other. When the third act black moment happens, some of it I had called and some was a surprise but it will definitely ramp up the tension.
He liked her. Too much, in fact. And she liked him, too. He knew she did. But God, this would be so much easier if she didn't.
The ending delivered danger and high emotion, something that I'm not quite sure fit the more cutesy feeling beginning but it will definitely keep you locked in. If you like golden retriever girlfriends who get their more guarded boyfriends to lighten up and expose their softie side, then you'd definitely enjoy this. The ending danger was a bit jarring but their happily ever after was sweet. I hope Disney commissions more re-imagined stories like this!
