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readwithria's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I don't know how I feel about this book, but I know that I liked it enough to finish it.
I don't have much to say as a preamble so I'm going to get straight into the lists
Things I liked:
- I like that Craig decided to group up the younger sisters to make them easier to keep track of
- I really liked the setting and how the religious celebrations were linked to location
- I think the spooky/horror aspects of the book
Things I wish were different:
- While I appreciated grouping some of the sisters together, it did make them less individualistic, which I didn't love
- I could not for the life of me figure out how old Morella, Mercy, or Honor were. I know the triplets were 16 and Verity was 6, but the two older Graces are just somewhere in between I guess? And Morella was apparently not much older than Camille and Annaleigh (19 and 18) but had been working as a midwife for 5 years before the beginning of the book? I was very confused
- I wish there had been another chapter or two of resolution between the last chapter and the epilogue. I don't actually feel like I got any closure
- I almost think the last third of the book could have been stretched into a second book. Have book one stop at the lighthouse, or even earlier when the two triplets die and have book two really dive into the madness and the beguilement with the unreliable narrator aspect played up.
- I don't think the world-building was as strong as it could have been. I didn't figure out something major about their religion until almost 75% of the way into the book. I think the book was trying to be too much with the fantasy religion, ghost story, murder mystery, romance/love triangle, and family drama. If it had picked two or three it would have been much stronger.
All in all, this was a 3.5 star read for me. I liked it, but I didn't love it.
I don't have much to say as a preamble so I'm going to get straight into the lists
Things I liked:
- I like that Craig decided to group up the younger sisters to make them easier to keep track of
- I really liked the setting and how the religious celebrations were linked to location
- I think the spooky/horror aspects of the book
Things I wish were different:
- While I appreciated grouping some of the sisters together, it did make them less individualistic, which I didn't love
- I could not for the life of me figure out how old Morella, Mercy, or Honor were. I know the triplets were 16 and Verity was 6, but the two older Graces are just somewhere in between I guess? And Morella was apparently not much older than Camille and Annaleigh (19 and 18) but had been working as a midwife for 5 years before the beginning of the book? I was very confused
- I wish there had been another chapter or two of resolution between the last chapter and the epilogue. I don't actually feel like I got any closure
- I almost think the last third of the book could have been stretched into a second book. Have book one stop at the lighthouse, or even earlier
- I don't think the world-building was as strong as it could have been. I didn't figure out something major about their religion until almost 75% of the way into the book. I think the book was trying to be too much with the fantasy religion, ghost story, murder mystery, romance/love triangle, and family drama. If it had picked two or three it would have been much stronger.
All in all, this was a 3.5 star read for me. I liked it, but I didn't love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75
It took me a while to get into (it only started really picking up for me around pg 123). But once I did get into it, I really did enjoy it.
At first it was hard to keep track of all the names because there were 12 sisters plus more characters (though four of the sisters are dead from the beginning). Although I liked having a large cast of characters, it was a bit confusing for a while.
There were also some cliché romance moments and a bit of instalove which isn’t my favorite but didn’t ruin the whole thing.
It felt like it was trying to be a little too much all at once: a psychological thriller, horror, fairy tale retelling, fantasy, romance, family drama, mystery. I think this might be why it felt a little all over the place and rushed in some areas.
HOWEVER, I really just loved the ~vibes~ of the whole book and I did NOT expect it to get so dark and unsettling but I enjoyed that (despite it being a shock). I had also totally thought I guessed the twists but BOY was I WRONG lol.
The description was lovely and the tension, suspense, and mystery definitely kept me intrigued.
would recommend!
At first it was hard to keep track of all the names because there were 12 sisters plus more characters (though four of the sisters are dead from the beginning). Although I liked having a large cast of characters, it was a bit confusing for a while.
There were also some cliché romance moments and a bit of instalove which isn’t my favorite but didn’t ruin the whole thing.
It felt like it was trying to be a little too much all at once: a psychological thriller, horror, fairy tale retelling, fantasy, romance, family drama, mystery. I think this might be why it felt a little all over the place and rushed in some areas.
HOWEVER, I really just loved the ~vibes~ of the whole book and I did NOT expect it to get so dark and unsettling but I enjoyed that (despite it being a shock). I had also totally thought I guessed the twists but BOY was I WRONG lol.
The description was lovely and the tension, suspense, and mystery definitely kept me intrigued.
would recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: Murder and Self harm
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Vomit
onthesamepage's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Thaumas family is cursed. Everyone says so. What else could explain the sudden deaths of four of the twelve daughters? But the last death feels suspicious to Annaleigh, and she's determined to find out if her sisters were murdered.
This is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and it is pretty dark. The author's writing is very atmospheric, and I was easily sucked into the story. Thinking back on it, the pacing was probably a bit slower than it needed to be, but I barely noticed. I was invested and creeped out and curious to see how everything would play out.
That said, this book is not without flaws. The explanation at the end throws several incidents that happen earlier on into question, because in hindsight, they don't make much sense.Why did we have a love triangle at all when Fisher was never real? What was Kosamaras's purpose in doing that? There's also no way to really guess at the outcome; the foreshadowing is much to sparse for that, and I do think that's a drawback.
There's some really weird characterization of the father, and his personality seems to undergo a radical change out of nowhere. It mostly felt like a way to move the plot along. The main romance is also very insta-love. The world isn't explained much either--there are apparently deities, and they walk among humans at least part of the time, but we don't get much more information about them or about how religion and magic work in this world. Last but not least, the ending wraps up a bit too nicely and definitely makes the book lose a bit of impact.
I really enjoyed the writing however, and I appreciate this type of horror, so I'll definitely pick up more by the author.
This is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and it is pretty dark. The author's writing is very atmospheric, and I was easily sucked into the story. Thinking back on it, the pacing was probably a bit slower than it needed to be, but I barely noticed. I was invested and creeped out and curious to see how everything would play out.
That said, this book is not without flaws. The explanation at the end throws several incidents that happen earlier on into question, because in hindsight, they don't make much sense.
There's some really weird characterization of the father, and his personality seems to undergo a radical change out of nowhere. It mostly felt like a way to move the plot along. The main romance is also very insta-love. The world isn't explained much either--there are apparently deities, and they walk among humans at least part of the time, but we don't get much more information about them or about how religion and magic work in this world. Last but not least, the ending wraps up a bit too nicely and definitely makes the book lose a bit of impact.
I really enjoyed the writing however, and I appreciate this type of horror, so I'll definitely pick up more by the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Gore, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, and Pregnancy
zoepagereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was a wild time, and not in a good way. An author has to know when there are too many plot points in a book and I’m sorry, but a Twelve Dancing Princesses murder mystery retelling set in a newly created fictional world with many murders and ghosts as well as new gods and a (maybe) love triangle with a Monday’s Not Coming styled semi-twist at the end is too much. Way too much. 2.75⭐️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Alcohol and Cursing
directorpurry's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Gore, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Death of parent
madelynfrank's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Much more horror than I was expecting. Lots of twists. I enjoyed the atmosphere but the world building was not done very well or at all. The romance was very meh. None of there characters really had any personality. But it’s was solidly scary so props for that I guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Child death, Body horror, Pregnancy, Gore, and Grief
robin_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Not at all what I expected but the gothic horror fantasy novel of my dreams.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Alcohol, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Vomit
jahodge714's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
afterall's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
I don’t even know where to start! This book pleasantly surprised me.
While at times the writing seemed rushed, like characters were doing one thing and suddenly another with no connection in between, I thoroughly enjoyed the atmospheric description and the seemingly effortless way that words turned to pictures in my mind. I experienced this book with all five of my senses. The environments were beautifully described.
There was so much lore that sometimes I felt like the world had been thoroughly built but there wasn’t enough book to explain enough of it to me. I found myself confused and re-reading some parts just to make sure I understood what was happening regarding the myths, legends, and gods in the story. Despite the confusion at times, I felt like it was all pretty well explained and wrapped up in the end. I guess ultimately I would rather it be this way then be OVER explained. It’s a fast paced story set in a world that is clearly big enough for multiple stories.
The horror aspect of this book was so intriguing. I didn’t expect it to get as dark and frightening at some parts, but I loved the way I could see the scenes play out in my mind.
I felt like the romance was almost unnecessary in this story. Perhaps if it had been more believable, I’d appreciate it a little more. But the couple seemed to fall in love instantly for no real reason other than to have a romance in the story. The love between the sisters was enough to carry the story for me.
This book has the near perfect amount of happy, sad, and purely horrific moments, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was so refreshing to read a unique story like this.
While at times the writing seemed rushed, like characters were doing one thing and suddenly another with no connection in between, I thoroughly enjoyed the atmospheric description and the seemingly effortless way that words turned to pictures in my mind. I experienced this book with all five of my senses. The environments were beautifully described.
There was so much lore that sometimes I felt like the world had been thoroughly built but there wasn’t enough book to explain enough of it to me. I found myself confused and re-reading some parts just to make sure I understood what was happening regarding the myths, legends, and gods in the story. Despite the confusion at times, I felt like it was all pretty well explained and wrapped up in the end. I guess ultimately I would rather it be this way then be OVER explained. It’s a fast paced story set in a world that is clearly big enough for multiple stories.
The horror aspect of this book was so intriguing. I didn’t expect it to get as dark and frightening at some parts, but I loved the way I could see the scenes play out in my mind.
I felt like the romance was almost unnecessary in this story. Perhaps if it had been more believable, I’d appreciate it a little more. But the couple seemed to fall in love instantly for no real reason other than to have a romance in the story. The love between the sisters was enough to carry the story for me.
This book has the near perfect amount of happy, sad, and purely horrific moments, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was so refreshing to read a unique story like this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Pregnancy, Suicide, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content
Minor: Infidelity
cyan_altaria's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
This is one of the best fairytale retellings I've ever read! I love how it takes the original fairytale and twists it into something darker. The mystery was engaging, and it was hard to put the book down. I loved the complex characters. The romance was well done, and I appreciate that Craig avoided making it a love triangle. 10/10 would recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail