Genres: Fantasy; Fairy Tale; Romance; YA
My rating: 5 stars
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.09 stars
Pages: 407
This book counts toward my goal for The Fairy Tale Challenge!
Image from Goodreads.com |
Five adventurous sisters...
Four dark creatures...
Three magical gifts...
Two forbidden lovers...
One enchanted frog...
For nine years Jena, her sisters, and
her beloved enchanted frog have visited the Other Kingdom.
Disappearing through a portal in their bedchamber, never have they
felt any sense of danger—until the Night People arrived.
Terrible rumors surround these
creatures, and are given all the more credit when their arrival
wreaks havoc in both worlds. But the Night People aren't the only
ones spelling danger. When the girls' father goes away, their cousin
Cezar arrives to help the girls—but Jena's afraid that he's doing
more harm than good.
Feeling the heavy weight of
responsibilities thrust upon her all at once, Jena has many decisions
to make. Can she trust Cezar? The Night People? Her insticts tell her
no.
What it really boils down to, is can
she protect her family, her world, and the Other Kingdom from
disaster?
My review: This
is not your average fairy tale. Aside from the enchanted frog,
it's a far cry from your favorite Disney Princess movie. Of course,
as much as I love Disney, that's a good thing!
In Wildwood Dancing, Marillier
spins together two familiar tales—The Frog Prince
and The Twelve Dancing Princesses—while
giving them original twists.
In the Author's
Note, Marillier explains some about Transylvanian mythology, which
plays an instrumental part in the book. She did a very good job at
avoiding stereoypes, especially with the villains(that's Night
People, NOT vampires, mind you!), and I really appreciate the
authentic feel her research brought to the book.
The
five stars pretty much lay it out for you. I loved this novel. The
romance was sweet; the villains suitably distasteful. At first I
wasn't sure whether or not to like the controlling cousin,
Cezar(Cheh-zahr). One
moment I was thinking of how he could be redeemed; the other I was
hating his guts. Although, as much as I liked him as a potential “bad
guy,” I do wish there would have been more of a spotlight on the
Night People, particularly Tadeusz and his...er...sister? Still not
clear on that....
If
you're reading this on Goodreads, you might be wondering about that
first part of my review. About me disliking the first page? Well, I
was serious! It was a bunch of names. Tedious and confusing. Though I
must say, technically it was only half a page and, obviously, it
picked up for me after that. The names really aren't at all confusing
to keep up with(although you may have trouble pronouncing some of
them—there is a pronunciation guide). I just wish they weren't all
dumped into that first paragraph.
Enough
of that. This is a positive review! Now go read this book! I
really do highly recommend it. Especially for lovers of
fantasy and fairy tales, and young
adults. But don't be put off if you don't normally read YA. You might
be surprised by how well written and unique this novel is.
Lastly, the cover art. It's beautiful.
Content: Clean!
Author Site / Amazon Link / Goodreads Link
Enjoy my review? Like it on Goodreads!
I loved this one! Great review!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It's a favorite of mine.
DeleteI loved this one! Great review!
ReplyDeleteI loved this one too! I wish all of her books were clean. She's a great writer! Thanks for stopping by, as always. :)
ReplyDeleteTressa @ Wishful Endings
I've heard Daughter of the Forest is a good one.
DeleteI have so much love for Juliet Marillier's work. I thought it was a very clever retelling :)
ReplyDeleteThis is the first I've read of hers! I'll definitely be coming back for more.
Delete