Lock (Sinister Fairy Tales). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lock by Kimberly Knight

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Before Zell was born, her fate was sealed.

Held captive in a high-rise overlooking New York City since the age of twelve, she had no friends her own age, no life outside of the penthouse, and absolutely no choices of her own. But what she didn’t realize was the tower where she lost her freedom would one day become her salvation. Her prince would arrive, they would fall in love, and they would come up with a plan for her to escape so they could live happily ever after.

If only it were that easy.

Every girl dreams of her life becoming a fairy tale, even Zell, who’s knowledge of romance was simply from the books she stole from other girls at the brothel.

In a world where sex, drugs, and manipulation is solely the life she knows, the only fairy tale poor Zell would endure would be a sinister one …

Because freedom always comes at a price.
Lock

A dark retelling of Rapunzel done exceptionally well!

I really enjoyed this retelling of the Rapunzel tale for the modern age. It actually makes so much more sense than the original fairy tale. The story revolves around a girl named Zell who grew up in a brothel that uses up three or four floors of an apartment building in Manhattan. Madam who Zell knows is her mother likes Zell to keep her hair long so she only ever gets a small trim from one of the girls that work in the brothel.

Though Zell, like Rapunzel has long hair, she never throws it out the window for some guy to climb up. Because first, her hair would have to grow for much longer than 18 years for that to do much good, and second, that would really hurt the scalp and chunks of her scalp and hair might fall out from the weight of someone on her hair. So I already like this version much better than the Disney version.

This version has mobsters human trafficking, forced prostitution and kidnapping. But it also has a handsome Hero and steamy kisses, romance, family drama and more. The brothel is run by a mobster named Frank Russo and he brings his son Frankie to the brothel on Frankies 18th birthday and says he can choose any girl he wants.

Frankie who can and has gotten with many of the girls that go to his school, would rather not be with a whore and tells his Dad that. Though Frank insists so Frankie picks Zell, who is only there to serve drinks and is still a Virgin. Frankie takes a liking to Zell and when he finds out she hasn’t been able to go outside in the last five years he promises to help her.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

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