The Compulsive Reader's Reviews

books:


	• Wildwood Dancing Juliet Marillier Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2008 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 29 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Compulsive Reader's Reviews

Deep within the shadowed and mysterious forests of Transylvania live five sisters; Tati, Jena, Iulia, Paula, and Stela. Each Full Moon the sisters slip through a secret portal into the Other World, where they dance the night away with the place's peculiar but inviting inhabitants. But back in their own world, the sisters' quiet lives are thrown wildly off course as their sickly merchant father leaves for warmer climates during the fierce and bitter Transylvanian winter. Jena is left in charge of the business until he returns. But their cousin Cezar is dubious at Jena's abilities, and begins to strip her of her responsibilities, until the sisters are prisoners in their own home.

And to make matters worst, Tati has fallen in love with a mysterious and dangerous man, one who is in the company of the feared Night people, whose strengths are unknown and must drink blood to survive. Tati insists that he is harmless, but Jena is not so easily convinced, and must take it upon herself to right the circumstances and keep their family together throughout the long winter.

This updated and completely unique take on The Twelve Dancing Princesses will leave you breathless. While not quite as dark as her Sevenwaters Trilogy, Wildwood Dancing holds in its pages wonderfully despicable villains, amazingly strong and motivating heroines, eerie settings, and dark deeds that will make you gasp. Cesar's takeover of the Jena's responsibilities will cause righteous indignation, and her struggles against both her worldly foes and her magical ones are completely engrossing, with new revelations and twists every which way. Both worlds are beautifully depicted and detailed, and the plot itself is an exciting froth of greed, betrayals, dark secrets, strength, courage, and true love that will surprise and enchant readers.

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Dancing Princesses

I enjoyed this new swing on the fairy tale "the 12 dancing princesses." She did a good job of weaving the old tale with the new tale. I would recommend it more for a young adult because the plot is fairly predictable to an adult. However, if you want something light and well written, I would recommend this book.

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great read

i picked up this book because i've read other books by this author, the sevenwaters trilogy and wolfskin and foxmask, and i enjoyed both the author's writing style and subject matter in those books, so decided to give this a chance. and it was good. it's set in a medieval (ish) romania and is a retelling of the fairy tale the twelve dancing princesses (and possibly another but to say which would kind of spoil it). five sisters are given the privilege of being able to go to the fairy realm every full moon for a night of dancing with faeries and dwarves and trolls, and the like.

near the beginning of the story, the girls' merchant father goes away on business, and he has poor health which causes the girls to worry throughout the novel about their future. when he goes he leaves the financial situation of the household to the second daughter, and narrator, jena, and this is somewhat uncommon behaviour as women were not usually doing business at that time in romania. over the course of the book her male cousin forcibly takes more and more of her responsibility away from her and patronizes her and her sisters. that's basically the set up, and i think to go more into the plot might ruin it a bit, so read the book to find out what happens i guess.

jena had a very practical and down to earth grasp on the world, and while i appreciated this quality in her, more towards the end of the novel it frustrated me a bit that she was so stuck in her practicality. not frustrated in a bad way really, but a frustrated that makes you just want to shake her for her obtuseness. i was only this affected at one point in the novel though, for the most part i liked her.

one thing i kind of didn't like about the novel... the close your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears and yell lalalala because you like the rest of the book part of the novel was at the endish of the book, jena's older sister tati's relationship with the guy she liked. she fell in love with one of the night people, which would be similar to a vampire i guess. and i have nothing against who she chose or how they interacted with each other, but with the way she reacted at the end of the novel because she of their uncertain future. it was very 'romantic' and not so much practical... but this was a minor annoyance and i didn't have to focus on it too much because there were other things going on, and the writing was well done.

i enjoy books by this author because she writes well, as i've stated, so the words flow nicely, almost to the point of having an air of sophistication around them, but it's an easy read. also, the author knows what she's talking about subject matter wise. she seems to be well read mythologically, and retells the story knowledgeably. it's a believable rendition of a classic fairy tale, and it's done by a really good author. i say give this one a go.

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Enchanting story

Set in Romania, this novel is about five very different sisters coping with life on their rural estate, Piscul Dracului, when their father goes away for the winter for his health. Uncle Nicolae and Cousin Cezar at the estate next door will be there to help if they need it. No one knows that the sisters have been crossing over into the Other Kingdom, a Fairyworld inhibited by the Fairy Court and other wondrous creatures. The girls have certain rules to protect them in the Other Kingdom. For many years the rules have kept them safe and kept the real world and the Other Kingdom separate. Now, one sister may have broken the rules and put them all in danger and events from the Other Kingdom are spilling over into Piscul Dracului.

The focus of this book is on Jenna, the "sensible" sister and her frog Gogu, who Jenna knows is a creature from the Other Kingdom. She's had Gogu almost from the beginning, when she and her sisters first started going to the Other Kingdom and the frog is her confident and best friend. But who is the frog, really? Do his alliances lie with the girls or with the Other Kingdom? Slowly, things start to happen that make you wonder how it all fits in, Cousin Cezar starts acting all paternal, and Night People show up in The Other Kingdom and haunt some of the sister's dreams.

I enjoyed this book, I like books about Fairylands, and I like the approach of this one, that Fairyland may not be all it seems, but that most people mean you no harm. The approach to the Night People is fascinating. It's Romania, you'd expect Vampires, right? Well, the Night People aren't exactly Vampires....or are they?

The only reason this didn't get 5 stars from me is that I found the characters of the sisters to be just a little stereotypical - the sensible one, the beauty, the brain, the vain one, the baby. Besides that they way the whole plot fits together a little too neatly. But all and all a good read, completely clean, no real violence.

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The 12 Frog Princesses

This book is a combination of the frog prince and the 12 dancing princesses but its not a retelling, i has its own unique story. The writing is a little wordy, but thats not a bad thing, it makes you concentrate on the story more, it makes you apperciate the writing. You knw whenver you're reading a book and sometimes you skip a few words? You can't do that, you'll miss a whole thought. Even with that it is still one of my favorite books. I love the story. :)

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi, live five daughters and their doting father. It's an idyllic life for Jena, the second eldest, who spends her time exploring the mysterious forest with her constant companion, a most unusual frog. But best by far is the castle's hidden portal, known only to the sisters. Every Full Moon, they alone can pass through it into the enchanted world of the Other Kingdom. There they dance through the night with the fey creatures of this magical realm.

But their peace is shattered when Father falls ill and must go to the southern parts to recover, for that is when cousin Cezar arrives. Though he's there to help the girls survive the brutal winter, Jena suspects he has darker motives in store. Meanwhile, Jena's sister has fallen in love with a dangerous creature of the Other Kingdom--an impossible union it's up to Jena to stop.

When Cezar's grip of power begins to tighten, at stake is everything Jena loves: her home, her family, and the Other Kingdom she has come to cherish. To save her world, Jena will be tested in ways she can't imagine--tests of trust, strength, and true love.

From the Hardcover edition.

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