Author's
Book summary:
A tale of twelve princesses doomed to dance until dawn…
Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above.
Do you guys believe in coincidence? I did not, but then it happened. Just a day after I finished this story we started with Sexing the Cherry which in it's base also has the story of 12 Dancing Princesses or well a deconstruction of it. Anyhow my point is that I have never actually read the original story before reading Princess of the Midnight Ball so yeah I couldn't stop wondering...
Speaking of retellings well it took me some time to start seeing them as individual stories rather than creatures from my nightmares that are trying to destroy my childhood. Once I did I couldn't but get addicted so nowadays I'm hunting them down. Luckily I have help and when Rashika told me that I should read this of course I did!
While this series does share the original base with the fairy tale it still builds differently in some ways. We get a story about 12 sisters whose shoes are found every morning worn out and it creates a mystery that their father wants to solve. So of course he calls for help and we get an soldier who just returned from the war. So their journey starts, when the soldier has to find a way to trick the princesses and find the solution to this puzzle.
To be frank I have a really mixed feelings for this book. While it offered me, personally, some thing will not surprise those who have read this fairy tale before, as this story is not much different than original. Also while I did get to enjoy the romance here, it didn't help that there was not much character development. All but the two main character who made this book really interesting. Then there is humor, as I couldn't help but laugh out loud so many times. It made this book really enjoyable at the end of the day and that's what I was looking for.
Basically, if you want to be entertained a bit while struggling with your exams or any stressful thing, go for this one.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Until the next time,
I enjoyed this one too! :D A bit more than you did I think though, but I was 14 when I read it and it was my first 12 Dancing Princess book! Anyhow, I'm glad you found it entertaining and liked the two main characters. I wish we could have seen more of the sisters. They were there, but not all of them had dialogs and some were quite in the background. Can't wait for you to read book 2! Nice review!
OdgovoriIzbrišiI'm so glad this was an enjoyable read for your! I'm super excited about her new book coming out Silver in the Blood :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiI love a good light read every now and then and I bet this would be perfect for that.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI haven't read a ton of original fairy tales, nor re-tellings, but I am becoming more and more interested. Sorry this didn't quote work for you though.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI always love a good retelling but sorry to see that you were mixed about it in the end...
OdgovoriIzbrišiNot all retellings are created equally (obviously), and although this doesn't sound like the worst way to pass the time; I've already read the original fairy tale, and if this one is that similar, well then there's no real point in reading it.
OdgovoriIzbrišiCarmel @ Rabid Reads
I haven't read the original fairy tale either, but I have read another retelling - Entwined by Heather Dixon. I enjoyed that one overall, but it was lacking a touch in the character development as well, but I do think that part of that is due to the fact that there are 12 sisters to start with:) Glad her sense of humor made you laugh though!
OdgovoriIzbrišiThat's disappointing that there's not more character development, that is a big downside. I'm not sure if I'll read this, I'm not really feeling drawn to it.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI've been meaning to read this! Glad to hear there is humor, and since I'm not all that familiar with the original tale, I don't think I'll mind that it's not that different. Wonderful thoughtful review!
OdgovoriIzbrišiAt least it had some solid entertainment even if other was iffy
OdgovoriIzbrišiI'm not a fan of re-tellings which stick too closely to the original. I want aspects of the original in a re-telling with a lot of creativity so I don't think this is for me. Glad it provided some entertainment, though--I definitely know those books are what get me through stressful times.
OdgovoriIzbrišiThis is what I thought all fairytale retellings were like before I got into Cinder, like a rehash of the actual story but in a different setting. Good to know that this one was pretty much what I expected, great review Tanja.
OdgovoriIzbrišiIt's a shame that this one didn't have much originality but this does sound really fun! I'm glad that you enjoyed this one overall despite those few nitpicks.
OdgovoriIzbrišiLovely review, hun <33
Haha, I didn't know The Twelve Dancing Princesses was a fairytale. O_O I'd watched the Barbie film of it when I was younger (I hope you know that I'm embarrassed to admit this fact), which is how I knew of the story, but I never knew it was originally a fairytale! That's interesting! Anyway, I hadn't heard of this book before, and I'm not sure I'll get to reading it. It sounds good enough, and humor that makes you laugh is always the best, but little character development? Bleh. Characters are really important to me, so they carry a lot of weight in terms of how much I enjoy a book.
OdgovoriIzbrišiAll the same, great review, Tanja! :D
I love retellings and the cover for this one really catches my eye. But I understand why retellings can be so tough, because it is hard to surprise the reader if they don't change much. Glad you enjoyed this one for the most part. Great review!
OdgovoriIzbrišiTeresa @ Readers Live A Thousand Lives
I haven't read this yet but my friend did and she liked it a lot. I love the sound of the humor! Have you read Entwined by Heather Dixon? It's also a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, the only version I've read. It was pretty good! :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiI know how you like your fairy tale retellings and this does sound interesting, but for your sake, I really wish it were better. Anyway, it does seem like there were a few positives here and there. Nice review, Tanja!
OdgovoriIzbrišiSarika @ The Readdicts