f/f Rapunzel retelling novelette ♥
Ripped Pages by M. Hollis
Young Adult, Retelling, LGBTQ+, Novelette
September 22, 2017
Princess Valentina lives a reasonably comfortable life, but after her mother's death, her father gets tired of taking care of her and locks her in a tower. She spends years on her own, talking to the birds on her windowsill, and reading books with adventures she will never experience. Her plans of running away are usually left for another day because she knows the vast forest surrounding her tower is too dangerous to cross alone.
Until one day, another girl passes by on her horse and Valentina wonders if she’s finally brave enough to seize her chance of freedom.
Ripped Pages is a Rapunzel F/F retelling in the format of a novelette.
TW: emotional abuse; child abandonment; forced imprisonment; minor violence; trauma recovery
"They ran out of the room, hand in hand. Val followed Agnes without fear, knowing that from now on, her life would be an entirely new and wonderful adventure. Things wouldn't always be perfect, and happiness would sometimes feel like a distant fragile thing. But despite everything, she was ready to embrace this new life, glorious and unpredictable and finally hers."
--M. Hollis, Ripped Pages (Loc 993)
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Kingdoms
Kingdom of Pouso Dourado
The home of Princess Valentina.
Belo Vale
Home of Princess Agnes, and Princess Val's new home.
"There were little houses with gray slated roofs all around, and at the end of the road, a large castle."
--M. Hollis, Ripped Pages (Loc 624)
Reasons to read Ripped Pages
- f/f romance between two princesses
- Rapunzel retelling
- Short but cute read
- An undercover princess saves the princess from the tower
- Prince charming doesn't exist here
- One of the princesses is a reader/bibliophile
- Queer main characters and QPOC secondary characters (kind of wish we saw more of them in the story though)
- Accepting and tight-knit royal family (at least from Agnes' side) who welcomes Princess Valentina with open arms
- Justice is served
- Not only did Agnes save Val, but she also saved Val's books. All of them. No, you're crying.
- The princess gets her dream girl
- Adventures, road to healing, new life and happily ever after
Ripped Pages aesthetics
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Favorite Quotes
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"One book caught her attention--a drawing of two women in a loving embrace on the cover. And it wasn't the only one; she found several more like it. Excited and eager, Valentina brought a pile to the floor and opened the first page.
In that story, it wasn't men who had adventures or saved the world, but women themselves. Valentina flipped the pages holding her breath, her eyes widening at every new word she read. There were girls kissing other girls! They could kiss whoever they wanted! And some people in the book didn't want to kiss anyone. There were even those who didn't call themselves men or women, but something else, something entirely their own."
--M. Hollis, Ripped Pages (Loc 161-167)
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"That night, Valentina sat down on her window ledge and gazed at the stars, wondering if she would ever be lucky enough to kiss a girl one day. She knew nothing in the world would ever make her happier--even seeing the world beyond her tower's walls."
--M. Hollis, Ripped Pages (Loc 174)
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"[P]age by page, these precious books were teaching her that she was worthy and the she deserves to be happy."
--M. Hollis, Ripped Pages (Loc 181)
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"Agnes.... Have you ever been in love?" she asked impulsively.
"Once or twice," Agnes answered. "I find people fascinating and easy to love."
"Do you love men?"
"I love men, women, and people who are neither or both at the same time. Why do you ask?"
"Because I think I can only love women. Is that wrong?" Val asked, thinking about how her father had been so insistent on marrying her off to a man.
She felt careful fingers on her chin. Val looked back at Agnes, and her eyes were full of compassion and understanding. "There is nothing wrong with you. Don't ever let anyone convince you otherwise, Val."
--M. Hollis, Ripped Pages (Loc 410-418)
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"I believe our hearts will always grow to love as many people as we can fit into our lives."
--M. Hollis, Ripped Pages (Loc 454)
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"There are so many. I don't think we'll be able to fit all of them in here," Agnes said coming in with another load of books in her arms, then left them on the table and turned to Val, looking insecure. "Was this all right? I remembered you mentioning how much you love them and felt we shouldn't throw them away."
--M. Hollis, Ripped Pages (Loc 929)
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Agnes saved Val's books. My heart! She's a keeper.
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Meet M. Hollis
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M. Hollis could never decide what to do with her life. From the time she was a child, she has changed her ideas for a career hundreds of times. After writing in hidden notebooks during classes and daydreaming during every spare moment of her day, she decided to fully dedicate herself to her stories. When she isn’t scrolling around her social media accounts or reading lots of femslash fanfiction, you’ll find her crying about female characters and baking cookies.
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Interim Goddess of Love by Mina V. Esguerra
Mina V. Esguerra writes contemporary romance novels. Through her blog Publishing in Pajamas (minavesguerra.com), she documents her experiments in publishing.
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