Tangled Up In You Review

Every once in a while, I feel strongly in the mood for the cheesiest, cutest, rom-com available. The more unrealistic, outlandish, and predictable the better. I guess this also explains my love for Hallmark movies. Do you automatically know the ending of each one? Likely. Does it still spark joy? Undoubtedly. The same goes for romance books. If I’m in a reading slump, or I’ve read several thrillers back to back, I love to grab a cheesy romance as a literary palate cleanser. When I saw that Christina Lauren had written a Tangled retelling, I knew it would be the perfect, cheesy romance. Here is my Tangled Up In You review.

The Plot

Ren Gylden has led an unconventional life. Raised off the grid, Ren’s main experience with the outside world has come from the books she’s read. When the opportunity to attend college presents itself, Ren finally gets to experience life beyond the homestead. However, as book-smart as Ren has proven herself to be, her street smarts are seriously lacking.

Enter Fitz, Corona College golden boy. Fitz has spent his college years curating an image of wealth and privilege to hide the secrets in his past. As graduation approaches, Fitz is closer than ever to accomplishing his dream of leaving Spokane forever. But when he and Ren are paired up for a class project, his plans are flipped upside down.

Review

First of all, Tangled is one of my very favorite Disney films. I’m also of the belief that it’s criminally underrated. When I saw that there’d be a romance novel based on the movie, I immediately added it to my TBR.

This book is part of the Meant to Be series, a series with a few different romance authors writing Disney retellings. I haven’t read any of the others, and you needn’t have read them to follow along with Tangled Up in You.

This is a faithful retelling of Tangled, with many of the movie’s key moments creatively translated into modern circumstances. For example, the Snuggly Duckling Pub is the BLANK, and Maximus the horse is a 1970s white Ford Mustang. There are so many little details sprinkled throughout novel that pay tribute to the movie, and it was so much fun picking out each one.

While the plot follows the movie faithfully, Christina Lauren have created characters with complexity and depth that far outshine their movie counterparts. Ren and Fitz maintain the signature charm of a Disney couple, but encounter circumstances and experiences that give them more dimension. The result is a novel with depth in addition to the typical humor and excitement that we can expect from a Disney product.

I also loved how Christina Lauren decided to handle the key conflict of the novel. The dramatic ending and resulting emotional recovery period for both Ren and Fitz added a level of substance to the largely light-hearted story.

Overall, Tangled Up In You is a tender-hearted, sweet novel with a guaranteed HEA. When I was preparing to write my Tangled Up In You review, I knew that I would be giving this novel 4 stars. It was simply a fun, cheesy, heart-warming read perfect to break up all of the thrillers that have been in my rotation.

If you are a Disney lover, a fan of close proximity or grumpy sunshine, or just love a sweet romance, Tangled Up In You is sure to please.

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