Entwined by Heather Dixon

TL;DR Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling

TBR #195, added Feb 21, 2013

library ebook (no hold) 9/17/16

finished 10/1/16

I had no idea this was on my TBR when I found it in my thorough search of the library's ebooks. Most likely because it was so high up on the list.

Unfortunately, I did have some struggle with trying to finish it. I think part of it is from reading so many fantasy / sci-fi books lately -- I know I'm starting to burn out with my trend. I've also been marathoning through books like they're going out of style, and I've been feeling worn-out from school, so it's definitely not all the book's fault.

The plot did feel somewhat stagnant, or at least not as action-y as I was thinking it'd be (for whatever reason). The stakes didn't feel all that high until the end of the book. The ending was fun and action-y, at least. I enjoyed the final scenes.

Azalea was a nice enough main character but I don't the narration worked for me. I don't remember what exactly it was, but I think most of my problem was the mindset I was in when I read it. It fit the mood and story but wasn't really what I was wanting to read at the time.

(I owe this book an apology tbh. I was not the best reader.)

Azalea's sisters were all interesting and I was able to tell most of them apart, but that did rely a lot on simple characteristics (like Kale chewing on everything). They did have a surprising amount of variety for a set of 12 siblings. I had trouble telling apart the two main guys that weren't Mr. Keeper, the clock guy and the funny one. For some reason I couldn't keep their names straight in my head.

This is a standalone (as far as I can tell), so I definitely recommend this as a contrast to the YA trend of "series galore!! even though we don't need 5 books!!" I'm also trying to think if I've read any other Twelve Dancing Princesses retellings, and off the top of my head, the answer is only Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George. (Also, my only other knowledge of the original fairy tale comes from the Barbie movie, which ....... is probably not good to admit. This seems to be a trend of mine, only knowing fairy tales through children's movies.)

I do hope at some point there's another book set in the same universe as Entwined, because it's kind of a shame we didn't get to see much of it outside of the castle. I think there's a lot of promise to the glimpses of history that we got to see and I'd love to go back and revisit it.

TL;DR I wasn't in the right kind of mood to read Entwined when I did, unfortunately, but I'd still recommend it. It's a good standalone fairy-tale retelling that retains a childhood story aspect rather than being "gritty". Hopefully one day I'll be able to give it another go.

As a final note, I recommend checking out the author's website. She's got some super cute art.