#rootbound

[tangledbea]

Rootbound: A Tangled Novel

By Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls

Rapunzel knows nothing about her neighboring kingdom, Astera – and not just because she only left her tower a month ago. The famously reclusive island has limited its contact with outsiders for decades. So when a suspicious invitation arrives welcoming Rapunzel to the Asteran princess’s coming of age ceremony, and offering her a chance to be useful for the first time since she lost her healing powers, Rapunzel accepts – and unwittingly plunges herself and her companion, Eugene, into a tangled knot of political intrigue and magical secrets. Eugene is just happy to get one last adventure with Rapunzel before his criminal background catches up with him and prevents their happy ending. Yet as they’re drawn further into the country’s problems, they uncover truths about Eugene’s parentage that point to deeper unrest in Astera, and suddenly the fate of their own kingdom, not just their personal dreams, is at stake. Thrust into a power struggle between Astera’s beloved princess, Verette, its domineering king, Enver, and a mysterious secret society, Rapunzel and Eugene race to protect their home from an unsettlingly familiar threat and discover that the past can either hold them back, or help them blossom. A cunning king. An devious princess. Best. Week. Ever.

Hardcover | $18.99 Published by Disney Press Oct 07, 2025 | 320 Pages

[what-eats-owls]

Rootbound Cover Reveal!

The cover for Rootbound is finally here! Thank you so much to the inimitable @noorsofiart-blog for this gorgeous cover, and including so many fun little details! I can't wait to see what y'all spot when the book comes out in October.

If you'd like to preorder, Penguin Random House has a roundup of outlets here, and you can preorder from my local independent bookstore (better odds of getting a signed copy) here! Please note an earlier draft of the cover may still populate on some sites with a few minor differences, but this is the final art!

[nerdasaurus1200]

I may do an analysis on the Rootbound cover this week because my god this is BEAUTIFUL!

[oxventure-text-posts]

I wasn't sure what to do when I'm referring to the episode as a whole

[youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal]

So we’re getting new New Dream content in 2025

[oxventurequotes]

morven: what have you got to say leg-shooter?

happen: ahh you remembered that...

[simpofhans]

Our beloved Sunshine Princess for @what-eats-owls, only a month after announcement of Rootbound!!! 😂😂😭😭😭🩷🩷🩷💕💕💕💜💜💜☀️☀️🦎🦎🪷🪷🏮🏮

I wait for this book so much 😭😭😭💕💜

[ekingston]

30 and 8 pls

P. S. I'm gonna have a hard time sleeping thinking about the fic that we never got to see🥲

hi! i have answered both since you first sent me these, but for #30 i’ll give you an excerpt of Rootbound/the Huntsman & the Wolf, a fic that has been stubbornly refusing to go where i want it to:

[siginari]

[keskeaa]

My dad and I got this peace lily some time ago. Its flower things have died, but the green parts looked fine. Or, it did until the other day, when one leaf turned yellow. I saw online It could be caused by soil with too little nutrients or drought stress. So I took a closer look at its soil….

Well, it seems I found the issue. My diagnosis is root bound. I prescribe a bigger pot.

[tagong-boy]

Repotting Syngonium NEON (Aug. 2024)

[tangledbea]

Here's a hi res copy of the cover! 🥰

[what-eats-owls]

Hello! I'm a fan of Tangled and its spinoff series, and I'm curious about your upcoming book "Rootbound."

It sounds like it explores many of the same plot elements that Tangled the Series did (ie Eugene's identity/past, understanding Rapunzel's Sundrop powers, and traveling to a mysterious kingdom). I really like that it also focuses on the awkward phase of personal growth that comes after escaping an abusive situation/surviving severe trauma. (I'm in that phase right now, and I'd really like to see Rapunzel get the chance to work through it herself.)

I was wondering if you could go into more detail about your vision for Rootbound in relation to Tangled the Series. Do you see the book as "your version" of the series (meaning it's what you would have written if you were in charged of the show's plot)? Or do you think of it as a continuation of the movie that's completely different/separate from TTS?

(If you explained this already, I may not have understood due to my Autism. I'm genuinely curious to know what your perspective is tho!)

Hi friend! If this sounds short at all, I promise it's not because I'm upset, haha—I just want to be really clear so readers have the right expectations going into Rootbound! (While also not getting too deep into the fifty pages of publishing context.)

Your second option, that it's more of a continuation of the original movie and separate from TTS, is pretty much right on the money. The one thing I'd like to clarify is that I wouldn't call it solely my vision/version! When I was approached for the project, the lovely folks in charge had an early seed concept for the story, and from that, I was able to build a more detailed outline, and once that was approved, draft the manuscript. This is pretty normal for when you're working with another entity's IP!

That initial seed concept directly followed the original film, but did not draw on any characters/plot/lore introduced in TTS, and explored different takes on some things TTS covers, such as Eugene's history. Now obvs, I'm not an official spokesperson here, but my view on it is that Rootbound is only as canon as you want it to be. TBH, I think that's the better approach—the TTS fandom is enormous and passionate, and I'd rather not tinker with a story already told so well.

(And if anyone's worried that Rootbound will be the basis for a sequel film... let's just say for multiple reasons, no one would be more surprised than I, haha.)

So tl;dr: characters and lore from TTS are not part of Rootbound, I think that's a good thing (why mess with perfection?), I hope y'all enjoy my spin on things while knowing TTS isn't going anywhere.

[g4zdtechtv]

Cinematech's Trailer Park - Rootbound (PC)

The creators of Gothic want you to survive the Void.

[varigoforlife]

Hell nah, Tangled live action wasn't in my bingo card. We should at least get Tangled revival, Tangled the series/Rapunzel's tangled adventure revival and more to do with the Vat7k concept that was scrapped by Disney. Or even better, a Margaret Owen's Rootbound that was scrapped so that Disney would announce another boring live action movie based on their best filmography.

ok so disney is making a tangled live action and its terrible and i hate it and do not support it BUT HEAR ME OUT

tangled revival=tangled the series revival=more people find out about vat7k=MORE PEOPLE WRITE FICS AND OUR AO3 FANDOM GETS CONTENT

so there’s the one singular bright side to this

[youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal]