Reviews

As much as I adored this book, there were a few problems.

This is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm Twelve Dancing Princess and it was wonderful. The whole story had a dark and eerie tone to it, and it was slow burning. There is darkness, there is possession, and fantasy thrown in? That's where things get a little jumbled.

First, I absolutely adored when this book was dark, eerie, and kept me guessing. But then gods and fantasy was thrown in? And a half god love interest? It was very random. I think this book would have been better with just the demons, possession, and nightmares to make it more horror rather than throw fantasy in randomly just to make it fantasy.

My next problem is the love interest. I love Cassius and the way he treats Annaleigh, but I thought it was very random to throw in his heritage. It was almost like it was a way just to tie him to the demon and be part of the solution. If the fantasy element was going to be put in, I wish it would have been explored more instead of just "hey I'm half god, don't question it or my father and let's get back to the story."

I know that the twist at the end had something to do with the stepmother, but the relationship between Annaleigh and Morella was actually something I really liked in this book. Many many times throughout young adult fiction especially is that the step-parents are almost the villain or portrayed as an evil force against the protagonist. I love how (even though Morella turned out to be the one who summoned the demon) Annaleigh wanted to forge a healthy friendship with her stepmother rather than see her as an evil force that destroyed the family. It is something really healthy that I think needs to be shown more in YA fiction.

With a few tweaks, this book would easily be on my favorites list! I can't wait to see what this author produces next.

momam's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book! It was the perfect mash up of fantasy and mystery. It kept me guessing till the very end.

caelestiore's review against another edition

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3.0

A horror retelling of the 12 dancing princesses? Colour me intrigued! The Barbie movie left me dazzled and dreamy as a child, and even more so beautiful in my nostalgia. This was a trippy, weird and wild experience I didn’t expect, and the eerie atmosphere actually got to me, 3.5!

This book executed the gothic, horror vibes very well, almost perfect in my opinion. Safe to say that this was the first time I genuinely felt spooked while reading a book. The writing was spectacular, I felt it was ideal for the atmosphere and genre of the book.

The twists in the second half of the book made me feel like I was a madwoman. I actually felt fucking insane. I did not know what to believe, who to believe and if that actually happened??? My heart was pounding so hard and I practically flipped through the pages because I couldn’t handle the mystery and feeling of not knowing. Which is even weirder because it was my first time experiencing such a thrill.

Now, while the last parts of the book left me stunned, I cannot remain biassed. There were a lot of things that felt awkward and some things unexplained.

I’m the minority here, it was only after 100 pages that I became interested. I considered to DNF it but decided to give this book a little push (didn’t regret it!). While I sort of expected it, I was still disappointed when the sisters barely had any personality. While important figures for the story, I feel like they didn’t serve any purpose other than targets for death.

I was a sucker for Fisher, in the same way I am a sucker for childhood friends trope. Until

Spoiler

he said, “All my life I thought of you as a sister…a sometimes exasperating but always beloved little sister. But when I came back to Salten and saw you so grown up and beautiful…I didn’t want you to feel like a sister any longer.” Yeesh. I was very disappointed. But later on we found out it was the god controlling him, and my boy didn’t need to die :(

It took me halfway into the book to like Cassius. He was fine, the romance was decent. I wish him and Annaleigh had more chemistry. I could tell why people did not particularly enjoy the romance.

For the last quarter of the book: I didn’t NOT like the plot, but it could’ve soooo much better.

Spoiler

The Gods’ plot was so unexpected. Not in a twisted way but because we as readers didn’t get much information in the first place? So I was perplexed. The Weeping Woman was barely mentioned and now she’s a huge significant part of the book? Yikes. If only the author elaborated more on the lore, the storytelling would've been superior.

I also wish they elaborated more on the sister’s deaths. Again, there are a lot of things left unexplained. Maybe it’ll be revealed in the second book, but I’d have to think if I should read it or not. Not to say I didn’t like this book, it had its promises. The problem is that some of them were not fulfilled.

Anyways, a good and crazy experience! But it could’ve been better.

tarterburn's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5

I really enjoyed this! I lived for the Barbie Movie version of The Twelve Dancing Princesses as a kid and was so intrigued by the idea of a dark, fantasy retelling of the story - and it did not disappoint!

It was such a fast read for me; it kept me on my toes throughout and the way it all came together in the end was so interesting. It even had some spooky elements which i actually really liked within the story!

I saw she has a sequel coming out soon, so I will definitely be picking that up!

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