Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: March 29, 2011
From Goodreads:
Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.
The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.
Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.
But there is a cost.
The Keeper likes to keep things.
Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.
Sheri's Review
Well, she danced...
and then she did some more dancing with her sisters...
at which point I just wanted to stop reading BUT then the story got better.
To be frank this should have been a 50 page short story. If it had been, it would have been WONDERFUL! But there was simply not enough plot to keep the reader interested and there were so many references to and descriptions of dancing that I wanted to scream! If you like to think about dancing you will probably find these scenes imaginative and rich but not me!
I would describe this story as a cross between a classic Disney fairytale and a Grimm's fairy tale. Some aspects of the story were sweet and provided the reader with an opportunity to think about the importance of family life, duty to country, etc. Other aspects of the story were downright creepy and slightly twisted.
I also wanted to ask throughout the book, why must the mother always die in order for the father to step up and be an involved parent? While I didn't enjoy yet another fairy tale where the girls are motherless, I did enjoy watching the father-daughters relationship evolve particularly as the girls realized the dad was doing the best that he could under difficult circumstances.
I also really enjoyed the mystery that emerges around the middle of the book. However, the book concludes before answering several of the mysteries. I'm not sure if this was bad editing or if the unresolved mysteries were just meant to throw us off, regardless I found it frustrating.
So at the end of the day, would I recommend this book? Probably not. But I would read another book by this author. Like I said this would have been a FABULOUS short story, so clearly I liked the basic plot I just didn't like all the fluff that went into making it longer.
I haven't heard of this book before but the summary sounds very interesting. I loved how you started off this review! (This is completely unrelated but it reminded me of that mind test where there is a gif of a dancer pirouetting and you guess which way she's spinning). I used to be a dancer but I wouldn't like reading about it the majority of the book. It would get boring. And if you weren't ever a dancer, it would be SUPER boring. I read a book about a country musician a couple of months ago and it was very technical and musically inclined. I don't play the guitar nor enjoy country music so it seemed like these sections of the book dragged on. It lost my attention. I finished the book but didn't necessarily enjoy it. That would probably happen with this book too, unfortunately. So I completely sympathize! Great review, though :)
ReplyDeleteChristine @ The Bookish Daydreamer
I've always loved the cover of this book. But the blurb didn't really captivate me. I like how you finished the review with your recommendation/lack of of one.
ReplyDeleteKate @ whYAnot
Blah. This is one of the books I'd bought in the early days of my blogging when I bought anything with a pretty cover. And now it sounds like, if I were to actually *read* the book, I'd be bored for a majority of it and/or have to DNF the story. Not enough plot is one of my pet peeves, and it's especially surprising that this book, as a stand-alone, would fall prey to that trap. I like the promise of creepy and sweet in the mix of fairy tales, but I think that I would have a similar experience, especially with regard to dancing and all the descriptions surrounding it.
ReplyDelete"why must the mother always die in order for the father to step up and be an involved parent?" <-- I'm surprised that this actually happened, though. Most of the parental deaths I read about in YA actually seem to involve the alive parent moping over the dead one. And as you said, at least the father-daughter relationship was developed and one of the nicer things that you got to read about!
I've been wanting to read this one for awhile now because the cover is so pretty, but after reading your review, maybe I'll skip it. I hate books that have tons of fluff.
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of the father-daughter relationship developing, but I don't know if it intrigues me enough to actually pick the book up. Great review!
Rebecca @ The Library Canary
Hahah the beginning of this review made me laugh. I don't think I will be reading this one but I will take your suggestion and keep an eye out for other work by this author!
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