Scan barcode
stinsleys's review against another edition
3.0
This story was a lot different than I expected, both in good ways and bad. I felt like the book jacket summary made it sound like Paradise was the setting for the story, though only Jena's bit took place there. I also felt like the POV kept switching just as stuff was getting good and deep for a character. Specifically Skye, who I had just started to like, and then Poof! It's on to another character. I would have liked more first-hand telling of people's lives, because it sounded awkward for Owen to explain how Jena knew Dakota, and for Jena to explain what happened to Skye to Owen in his section. I don't know, it was on the verge of being a really great story, but it felt really choppy.
kaitrosereads's review against another edition
3.0
I have read one of Carolyn Mackler's books in the past and I was really expecting more from Tangled. It was a good book but I don't think it lived up to it's full potential. Also, the summary was a bit misleading, at least it seemed that way to me.
Tangled is the story of four different teens who meet in Paradise. The summary makes it seem like the whole story takes place in Paradise and that the characters are all together throughout the book when really only a tiny part of the book actually takes place in Paradise. After the first fifty or so pages, everyone is back living their normal lives and the time spent in Paradise is only a minuscule part of that. Also, it seems more like the things that happened when they left Paradise had a bigger impact on their lives.
The story is told from four different point-of-views but it's not the typical way. Instead of switching characters by chapters, each section of the book is a different person's story. I didn't see how they had an impact on each other's lives when they barely knew each other.
Also, I felt like as the sections of the book switched characters, the characters kind of got lost. I didn't get to know the characters very well and when they showed up later in the book, they were completely transformed but it just seemed kind of magical. I never found out what made them change or how they changed but they were different. It was just poor character development.
I did like how the author connected these four people but they weren't exactly strangers to begin with. Jena and Skye went to Paradise together as did Owen and Dakota. And it wasn't like it was a coincidence how they met. It all seemed a little to planned out. I think I was expecting it to be more spontaneous.
Overall, Tangled was just okay. I like Carolyn Mackler's writing so I still enjoyed the book, it just wasn't what I expected. It was a pretty fun book and definitely an easy one to read so check it out sometime!
Tangled is the story of four different teens who meet in Paradise. The summary makes it seem like the whole story takes place in Paradise and that the characters are all together throughout the book when really only a tiny part of the book actually takes place in Paradise. After the first fifty or so pages, everyone is back living their normal lives and the time spent in Paradise is only a minuscule part of that. Also, it seems more like the things that happened when they left Paradise had a bigger impact on their lives.
The story is told from four different point-of-views but it's not the typical way. Instead of switching characters by chapters, each section of the book is a different person's story. I didn't see how they had an impact on each other's lives when they barely knew each other.
Also, I felt like as the sections of the book switched characters, the characters kind of got lost. I didn't get to know the characters very well and when they showed up later in the book, they were completely transformed but it just seemed kind of magical. I never found out what made them change or how they changed but they were different. It was just poor character development.
I did like how the author connected these four people but they weren't exactly strangers to begin with. Jena and Skye went to Paradise together as did Owen and Dakota. And it wasn't like it was a coincidence how they met. It all seemed a little to planned out. I think I was expecting it to be more spontaneous.
Overall, Tangled was just okay. I like Carolyn Mackler's writing so I still enjoyed the book, it just wasn't what I expected. It was a pretty fun book and definitely an easy one to read so check it out sometime!
seifknits's review against another edition
5.0
Mackler's best book since "The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things." Four interconnected stories about four very different teenagers who all end up at the same place at the same time.
jacquelinec's review against another edition
4.0
I tend to be wary of stories that have alternating viewpoints between more than two characters - it's so easy for things to get confusing and disjointed. However, I should have known that [a:Carolyn Mackler|27621|Carolyn Mackler|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1246243509p2/27621.jpg] would handle it well. She has a gift for telling young adult stories that feel so natural and real. That's what i remember loving about [b:Love and Other Four-Letter Words|538385|Love and Other Four-Letter Words|Carolyn Mackler|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175629593s/538385.jpg|525794] when I was in high school, and that's what i love this time around about Tangled.
Jena is the lovable girl-next-door type with a generally cheerful disposition and a hold on the last dregs of childhood innocence. Her desire to be liked, as both a friend and a romantic interest, is relatable and makes her one of the characters that you want most to end up happy.
Dakota, on the other hand, was harder to love. His initial ego, attitude and behavior made him close to irredeemable. It's when we see him recognize this for himself, on top of struggling with familial and social issues, that he shows how much more substance there is to him.
Sky is sort of an ice queen, but when her turn to narrate comes it's immediately understandable why. Her problems are the more difficult for her to deal with, thanks to her acting career and a stage mother in denial. Her story is, perhaps, the most poignant of the bunch.
Owen, like Jena, is one of those kids that you want to root for. He just wants to measure up and his difficulty with that causes him to hide behind his computer. When his mom throws him to the wolves at this program for teens addicted to a Facebook-like site, we get the funniest moments in the story and a way for him to bond more with his increasingly less distant brother, Dakota.
Tangled is a very worthwhile read...
To continue reading this review, head to my blog The Eclectic Book Lover.
Jena is the lovable girl-next-door type with a generally cheerful disposition and a hold on the last dregs of childhood innocence. Her desire to be liked, as both a friend and a romantic interest, is relatable and makes her one of the characters that you want most to end up happy.
Dakota, on the other hand, was harder to love. His initial ego, attitude and behavior made him close to irredeemable. It's when we see him recognize this for himself, on top of struggling with familial and social issues, that he shows how much more substance there is to him.
Sky is sort of an ice queen, but when her turn to narrate comes it's immediately understandable why. Her problems are the more difficult for her to deal with, thanks to her acting career and a stage mother in denial. Her story is, perhaps, the most poignant of the bunch.
Owen, like Jena, is one of those kids that you want to root for. He just wants to measure up and his difficulty with that causes him to hide behind his computer. When his mom throws him to the wolves at this program for teens addicted to a Facebook-like site, we get the funniest moments in the story and a way for him to bond more with his increasingly less distant brother, Dakota.
Tangled is a very worthwhile read...
To continue reading this review, head to my blog The Eclectic Book Lover.
anastasiaadamov's review against another edition
4.0
Written in four different points of view. Author makes a very intense emotional scenes.
jerrica's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to like this book, because I loved "The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things" when I read it in fifth grade. I haven't read a single Mackler book since.
"Tangled" is about four typical teenagers (Obsessive Shy Girl Archetype, Beautiful Screwed Up Girl Archetype, Jock Archetype, Computer Nerd Archetype) who meet briefly in Paradise and then live the rest of their lives, as we see how that meeting plays out in their lives. It sounds like an interesting construct, and that's why I picked it up. And though I found it to be an enjoyable story, it wasn't a head over heels, can't put it down kind of love that I do experience with those few wonderful books.
I probably could've liked it more if it hadn't been for Jena. Something about her personality and her "humor" grated on my nerves. And when Owen described her humor as "self-deprecating" it just broke the last straw for me. I hate when characters call other characters funny or describe their style of humor, it's usually always a letdown.
Plus Jena and Owen's blog usernames "Miz J" and "O-Boy", really? Nothing more interesting or less typical came to mind? Much less Jena sharing her namesake with Miss Jay of America's Next Top Model, a cross-dressing runway coach. Jena is of course, nowhere near as fabulous.
I liked Dakota and Skye's storylines a great deal, they definitely delved deeper into their emotions than the other two stories, and they probably could've just had those two stories with their brief brush in Paradise. And that's the thing, I thought the whole thing would take place in Paradise, as the description led me to believe. But I suppose it's about how even just the briefest of meetings can change the course of life, which is a very interesting concept, the butterfly effect, as Owen said. I just wish it had been carried out differently.
"Tangled" is about four typical teenagers (Obsessive Shy Girl Archetype, Beautiful Screwed Up Girl Archetype, Jock Archetype, Computer Nerd Archetype) who meet briefly in Paradise and then live the rest of their lives, as we see how that meeting plays out in their lives. It sounds like an interesting construct, and that's why I picked it up. And though I found it to be an enjoyable story, it wasn't a head over heels, can't put it down kind of love that I do experience with those few wonderful books.
I probably could've liked it more if it hadn't been for Jena. Something about her personality and her "humor" grated on my nerves. And when Owen described her humor as "self-deprecating" it just broke the last straw for me. I hate when characters call other characters funny or describe their style of humor, it's usually always a letdown.
Plus Jena and Owen's blog usernames "Miz J" and "O-Boy", really? Nothing more interesting or less typical came to mind? Much less Jena sharing her namesake with Miss Jay of America's Next Top Model, a cross-dressing runway coach. Jena is of course, nowhere near as fabulous.
I liked Dakota and Skye's storylines a great deal, they definitely delved deeper into their emotions than the other two stories, and they probably could've just had those two stories with their brief brush in Paradise. And that's the thing, I thought the whole thing would take place in Paradise, as the description led me to believe. But I suppose it's about how even just the briefest of meetings can change the course of life, which is a very interesting concept, the butterfly effect, as Owen said. I just wish it had been carried out differently.
hailey_thefairygurl's review
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
copingsince1997's review against another edition
4.0
it was a really good book... it took the story and showed how meeting new people can affect your life and the others that you meet or people that you know... it teaches some people that you can do more than just sit by and wait for the next life to come you can live every day to the fullest with no regrets and the only things that you will regret is the chances that you didn't take.
haewilya's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it, especially the end. I liked that in one point in time, they were all in the same place. I love that the characters are not really what they seem to be at first.