Rating: 
Summary: Very sensual and dark imagery ... nightmares for children?
Review: Till at least three chapters into the book I did not even realise that the book was a retelling of Rapunzel! The language is so sensual it borders on the erotic. The love of the mother borders on unnatural. Given the dark overtones, the graphic descriptions of Zel's imprisonment, I can't help wonder whether the novel might be better targeted for older readers. However, Napoli shines in breathing life into the one dimensional stick figures of fairy tales. The cackling witch, the beautiful bimbo, the handsome prince are all transported to our plane - a plane where nothing is plain nor simple. Every decision unleashes a horde of second thoughts and regrets - and climbing up lovely long golden braids causes the bearer headache!
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: In Zel, Donna Jo Napoli explores the legend of Rapunzel in dark yet lovely detail, with powerful language and fully realized characters. The author masterfully draws on the original tale and the fresh setting to build her haunting story of love that crosses accepted lines. This is an enjoyable novel that will remain with you long after the last page is read.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: This is a wonderful book that fills in many of the logical gaps in the original fairy tale. Napoli has crafted a story that just makes sense, even in its supernatural elements. The voice of Mother is stong and mesmerizing; Zel's gradual descent into madness is both chilling and heart-rending. I loved this book.
Rating:
Summary: I will always be grateful that I read this book
Review: I wavered on the prospect of buying this book for at least a month before finally purchasing it, simply because I wasn't sure if I would be getting a "kid's book" that would interest me or a more mature novel. Because Donna Jo Napoli's books are mostly listed as "young adult," and because some of her other titles, such as "Soccer Shock" and "Shark Shock" looked like "kids' books," I kept putting this recommendation aside. I wanted to read fairy tales, but not Disney-style, written for children with children's themes. I was (and am) interested in the adult side to these tales, but every time I would search Amazon.com for fairy tales, this was one of the first recommendations. Eventually, I succumbed, and I am unbelievably grateful. "Zel" is one of the finest novels I have read, period. Napoli's fierce command over language, tone, content, setting and narrative prose shines so brightly in this book that I re-read it every day for three weeks just to absorb it all. Zel, of course, is the story of Rapunzel, but as with most of Napoli's work, the details have been rearranged. Zel's love of life is corraled by her mother, who loves her daughter so much that she can't bear the thought of losing her to anyone or anything. And besides, Mother is a witch. The character of Mother is a careful, powerful description of a woman in torment, as well as the crushing ability of love. Her internal struggles take root in the very fundamental question of evil: why do bad things happen? In Mother's case, the "bad thing" is her inability to have children. The desire is so intense that her barreness drives her away from God (at one point, she asks how He could make her want one so badly and yet not let her have one). She is unconcerned with selling her soul for the powers that allow her to acquire a child. Mother has a need to both justify her actions and suffer for them. The increasing amount of control she imposes over her daughter - to the point that Zel is locked in a tower - drives both Mother and Zel to madness, but while Zel's madness is born from loneliness and isolation, Mother's is driven from guilt and fear. Mother works to bring her daughter wonderful gifts -- which Napoli describes in a way I've yet to see another author master, through patient mentions of foods, receipes, and other basic goods -- yet knows as she delivers them that Zel doesn't want them. Konrad is the impetus for placing Zel in the tower. Zel's chance meeting with the 15 year-old count arouses all the fear Mother has of her child growing up and leaving her - as well as loving anyone besides her. But Mother can't control Konrad, who seeks Zel out everyday. The alternating views -- between Mother, Zel and Konrad -- keep the book balanced with everyone's viewpoint. Mother is kept from being a black-hat villain because she can tell her story and therefore allow the reader to understand. Of course, you have to cheer for the young lovers, but despite the ending, I could sympathize with Mother's position. Napoli doesn't shy away from adult situations -- including sex -- but she handles them tastefully and powerfully. "Zel" has themes that I don't think younger children or even younger teenagers can entirely grasp. It certainly isn't a novel to keep kids away from, in my opinion, but it is strong in nature. The final paragraph is perhaps the most powerful of the entire novel, and it's probably why I keep rereading. Those are always the best kinds of books, I think; the ones that _make_ you read them again. I would recommend Zel to everyone except the very young. This book has caused me to gobble up nearly every book by Donna Jo Napoli, and for that, I will always be grateful to Amazon.com, who continued to recommend it no matter how many times I ignored it.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting and unique
Review: I just finished this book yesterday and I thought it was very good! The researched setting is realistic yet with magical elements, and the characters have strong, vivid emotions. There was no rambling, the sentences were to the point. This retelling of Rapunzel is very unique, and I loved the character Zel. You can see Zel mature as the book progresses, the words and emotions change beautifully. There were some odd moments, but overall I loved this book.
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Summary: Teen Readers
Review: This was the first book I read that was somewhat romantic. It was probably one of the best books I read, and I would highly recommend it to all you teen readers. Zel was one of the first dynamic characters I read about. Her emotions, thoughts, and reasoning are laid out in such a way that I could relate to her in some manner. It is a book that I like to go back and read every once-in-a-while, and one day, I will pass it on to my children.
Rating:
Summary: Review
Review: I love this book. Zel is Donna Jo Napoli's best book, in my opinion. It is a retelling of the fairy tale Rapunzel, but it is much better. Rapunzel had always been one of my less favorite fairy tales, until I read this book. Donna Jo Napoli creates a vivid story about a mother's love and how far she will go to keep her daughter near her. This book is full of sacrifice, romance, and sadness. Napoli was genius when she wrote showing Zel's mother's point of view, which makes your heart ache for her, while normally "the evil witch" who locks Rapunzel in the tower is to be hated. Napoli also did a WONDERFUL job at depicting the gradual decline of Zel's state of mind while in the tower. Some bits are even a bit gruesome. Buy this book (it is not expensive), and you will be very happy you did because you will read it many times (I have!). After reading this book, I was very pleased because it let me have a good cry, and it left me a good feeling.
Rating: 
Summary: Not enough meat.
Review: This book was easy enough to read and an absolutely great idea. I even thoroughly enjoyed the author's take on the matter. Where it left me wanting was in its own sparseness. If you're going to do it, why not do it all the way? Give us more. But, Mrs. Readwell, you may ask, isn't the book's simplicity due to it being written for a young audience. Peut-être. It is, of course, always vastly better to overestimate one's audience than to under. [Mrs. Readwell's Recommendation: Marginally entertaining but ultimately unfulfilling.]
Rating: 
Summary: I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK
Review: This book is a little scary. The main character, Zel, has an unhealthy relationship with her mother and unconvincing love affair with some prince she met only once. Some of what these characters do just makes me laugh!
The prince meets Zel while she's talking to a horse and instantly falls in love. Then she disappears and he goes on a 2 year quest to find her. When he does, he find her naked in a tower and the first thing they do is have sex!
Then there's the mother who isn't really Zel's mother and rarely lets her daughter out into the world. Plus on top of that, she locks her up and makes her hair grow super long just because she saw a boy.
If you need a good laugh or even a good scare, I suggest you pick up this book and make some popcorn because this is some creepy material worthy of Jerry Springer.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good story, but creepy
Review: The story was good and interesting. Sometimes the characters giving their commentaries became annoying, but overall a pretty good book. You may want to check it out at the library first though because the book is so creepy. Zel, the shero (heroine), is rather mad (as in crazy).
ex.
1. She runs around naked in a tower and waves to strange men who ride by.
2. She grows colonies of ants and lice and loves them until she decides to squish them all.
3. The poor girl is lonely from being in a tower with no one to talk to and the "mother" is taking some kind of perverse pleasure at keeping her up there. She actually thinks she's helping Zel!
The book is pretty good, but overall has some rather perverted characters in it and to be frank, it creeped me out so much that I sent it to my cousin instead of keeping it to re-read later. It was a pretty good redo of Repunzel and more realistic than the original story.
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