Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Fun fantasy. The ending wrapped up rather quickly and I found myself wanting more details in the conclusion.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4.5
Read for the Magical Readathon: Herbology exam 🌳🌻
Read for the Magical Readathon: Herbology exam 🌳🌻
This book gives new dimensions to the word UNDERWHELMING.
The cover is gorgeous, but everything else about this book is just the biggest MEH!
There was so much potential and it was soooo obviously wasted. It was a contradictory mess with plotholes bigger than Transylvania.
Maybe because I am not so young any more. I probably would have enjoyed it at 13, but I just cannot buy into this tale 3 decades later.
It probably also did not help that the narrator had such a whiny and saccharine voice that it gave me a permanent toothache.
And what is it with authors trying to sell their heroines as oh-so-very-clever & sensible and then making them painfully dumb and ignorant at every turn because they have no other idea how to move the plot forward?? Seriously!
There is a deep and wide pool of selfish, helpless, imbecile heroines out there in fiction, but the main character’s (Jena) sister, Tati, takes the serious biscuit. She is completely braindead & makes me want to slap her all the way to Transylvania and back just to make her see the slightest tickle of sense. And yet, she was beyond hope, really. And all because of LUV as we are told.
- Tati, you are the eldest, all your sisters, especially your small sis of 5 years, really needs your help & support .... OH NOOOOOOOO, I caaaaaaan’t, I am hopelessly in LUV.
- But your father seems to be dying, your mother has already been dead and your younger sisters truly depend on your love & care .... OH NOOOOOOOO, I don’t care, I am hopelessly in LUV.
- But all your selfishness and your foolish acts actually endanger yourself, your lover as well as your sisters and your whole family .... OH NOOOOOOOO, I don’t care, I caaaaaaan’t, I am hopelessly in LUV.
- You are starving yourself to death, what must your sisters think & feel with you perishing & wasting in front of their eyes (and the youngest one – may I remind you of the fact that she is only 5?) .... OH NOOOOOOOO, I don’t care, I caaaaaaan’t, I am hopelessly in LUV.
- But it would help your lover in his difficult quest to win you if you believed in him and actually stayed alive & strong for him so that he can come for you at the end ... OOOOHHHH, I am soooo much in LUV, but NOT THAT MUCH!
Ah well, I guess it is all right then. Let’s move on.
Jena, the MC, has some saving graces even though most of the time she also acts unbelievably dim-witted and weak for someone who is supposed to be strong & sensible.
But at least when she is told off by her younger sister Paula – the only really clever, sensible and interesting character of the whole story – that she had selfishly abandoned her younger sisters, she has the grace to be ashamed of herself & tries to make amends.
It also irritated me how she tried to sort out everything on her own, like the increasing bullying of their cousin's, Cesar & when it was clear that she is too weak to get anywhere, she just gave up, moping and groaning and waiting for others' intervention.
It never, ever occurred to her to collect all her sisters, tell them about the problems, find solutions together & defy Cesar or even slap some sense into their obtuse older sister.
The cover is gorgeous, but everything else about this book is just the biggest MEH!
There was so much potential and it was soooo obviously wasted. It was a contradictory mess with plotholes bigger than Transylvania.
Maybe because I am not so young any more. I probably would have enjoyed it at 13, but I just cannot buy into this tale 3 decades later.
It probably also did not help that the narrator had such a whiny and saccharine voice that it gave me a permanent toothache.
And what is it with authors trying to sell their heroines as oh-so-very-clever & sensible and then making them painfully dumb and ignorant at every turn because they have no other idea how to move the plot forward?? Seriously!
There is a deep and wide pool of selfish, helpless, imbecile heroines out there in fiction, but the main character’s (Jena) sister, Tati, takes the serious biscuit. She is completely braindead & makes me want to slap her all the way to Transylvania and back just to make her see the slightest tickle of sense. And yet, she was beyond hope, really. And all because of LUV as we are told.
- Tati, you are the eldest, all your sisters, especially your small sis of 5 years, really needs your help & support .... OH NOOOOOOOO, I caaaaaaan’t, I am hopelessly in LUV.
- But your father seems to be dying, your mother has already been dead and your younger sisters truly depend on your love & care .... OH NOOOOOOOO, I don’t care, I am hopelessly in LUV.
- But all your selfishness and your foolish acts actually endanger yourself, your lover as well as your sisters and your whole family .... OH NOOOOOOOO, I don’t care, I caaaaaaan’t, I am hopelessly in LUV.
- You are starving yourself to death, what must your sisters think & feel with you perishing & wasting in front of their eyes (and the youngest one – may I remind you of the fact that she is only 5?) .... OH NOOOOOOOO, I don’t care, I caaaaaaan’t, I am hopelessly in LUV.
- But it would help your lover in his difficult quest to win you if you believed in him and actually stayed alive & strong for him so that he can come for you at the end ... OOOOHHHH, I am soooo much in LUV, but NOT THAT MUCH!
Ah well, I guess it is all right then. Let’s move on.
Jena, the MC, has some saving graces even though most of the time she also acts unbelievably dim-witted and weak for someone who is supposed to be strong & sensible.
But at least when she is told off by her younger sister Paula – the only really clever, sensible and interesting character of the whole story – that she had selfishly abandoned her younger sisters, she has the grace to be ashamed of herself & tries to make amends.
It also irritated me how she tried to sort out everything on her own, like the increasing bullying of their cousin's, Cesar & when it was clear that she is too weak to get anywhere, she just gave up, moping and groaning and waiting for others' intervention.
It never, ever occurred to her to collect all her sisters, tell them about the problems, find solutions together & defy Cesar or even slap some sense into their obtuse older sister.
Spoiler
Is it just me or was the frog (who is just an enchanted man in disguise) spending all the time in the girls’ bedroom, watching them dress, sleeping on the heroine's bed, really creepy?
Enjoyed this book, which was an interesting combo of the twelve dancing princesses, the frog prince, vampires, and, oh yes, Pride and Prejudice. That's right. If you can get past the slow opening, it's a fun read. Try the audiobook for great Transylvanian accents.
I read Wildwood Dancing for my book club, and it probably isn’t something I would have otherwise picked up as I’m usually slightly adverse to fantasy. I have conflicting feelings about this book, probably partly caused by the fact that I’m not the target audience of YA lit, but on the whole I enjoyed it.
The cover illustration is gorgeous and so is much of the prose, especially describing the dancing, the dresses, the magical portal, etc. I appreciated the background information given at the end about the culture and history which inspired the story. The relationships between the sisters are nicely drawn and convey a positive message. The Gogi/ Costi twist and associated romance was convincing and helped to make Cezar a more nuanced antagonist. I also liked the bittersweet nature of the ending, which had a Narnian feel to it.
My main criticism would be the Tati/ Sorrow romance and the potential it has to convey a damaging message to young readers - you don’t need to aesthetically starve yourselves for love, girls! I also felt that some of the characterisation and plot lines could have been more subtly drawn, especially the themes of female empowerment and patriarchy, but again this may be due to me not being the target audience. Overall, I appreciated how this book took me out of my comfort zone, and I would be open to reading additional works by the author.
The cover illustration is gorgeous and so is much of the prose, especially describing the dancing, the dresses, the magical portal, etc. I appreciated the background information given at the end about the culture and history which inspired the story. The relationships between the sisters are nicely drawn and convey a positive message. The Gogi/ Costi twist and associated romance was convincing and helped to make Cezar a more nuanced antagonist. I also liked the bittersweet nature of the ending, which had a Narnian feel to it.
My main criticism would be the Tati/ Sorrow romance and the potential it has to convey a damaging message to young readers - you don’t need to aesthetically starve yourselves for love, girls! I also felt that some of the characterisation and plot lines could have been more subtly drawn, especially the themes of female empowerment and patriarchy, but again this may be due to me not being the target audience. Overall, I appreciated how this book took me out of my comfort zone, and I would be open to reading additional works by the author.
4.5/5 stars
Wildwood Dancing is just another flawless book by Juliet Marillier. It is no secret that I'm an extreme fan of Juliet's book, especially after reading Daughter of the Forest earlier this year. Her writing is lyrical, magical and altogether enchanting. I came into this book expecting greatness and was left feeling spellbound and immensely satisfied.
I would attempt to give a brief run down of what this book is about, but I am struggling to find the words to use. I also think that the blurb on this book was superb (at least on the edition I bought). Basically, Wildwood dancing is about love, magic and adventure. It's kind of a retelling of a classic tale about sisters who enter a magical world to dance and frolic with magic and fantastical beings. Wildwood Dancing was full of magic and enchantment, which ultimately kept me glued to to the book.
I do admit that I unfortunately read a major spoiler about this book prior to finishing the novel (I was about halfway through). Although, I was seriously angry about unintentionally spoiling the book for myself, the revelation allowed me to enjoy the hidden clues planted throughout the book. The author planted hidden truths very well throughout the story that hinted at what's to come but never gave the ending a way. I was able to appreciate this more after knowing what the plot twist was, which I enjoyed a lot.
Like in Daughter of the Forest, Wildwood Dancing was drawn together by a magical romance (in Wildwood Dancing's case, two romances) and phenomenal relationship building. The connection that Jema had with her sisters and Gogu (her trusty companion), just brought this book together. I felt as if I was there and if I knew the characters as well. The romance was subtle, yet beautiful and was a major element for the story. I was fully engaged in both separate romances and couldn't help rooting for theses girls' discovery of true love. These relationships just blinded this whole story together.
Altogether, Wildwood Dancing was enchanting, magical and absolutely addicting. I loved the characters, I loved the romance and I definitely loved the magical and fantastical elements! What a perfect book!
Wildwood Dancing is just another flawless book by Juliet Marillier. It is no secret that I'm an extreme fan of Juliet's book, especially after reading Daughter of the Forest earlier this year. Her writing is lyrical, magical and altogether enchanting. I came into this book expecting greatness and was left feeling spellbound and immensely satisfied.
I would attempt to give a brief run down of what this book is about, but I am struggling to find the words to use. I also think that the blurb on this book was superb (at least on the edition I bought). Basically, Wildwood dancing is about love, magic and adventure. It's kind of a retelling of a classic tale about sisters who enter a magical world to dance and frolic with magic and fantastical beings. Wildwood Dancing was full of magic and enchantment, which ultimately kept me glued to to the book.
I do admit that I unfortunately read a major spoiler about this book prior to finishing the novel (I was about halfway through). Although, I was seriously angry about unintentionally spoiling the book for myself, the revelation allowed me to enjoy the hidden clues planted throughout the book. The author planted hidden truths very well throughout the story that hinted at what's to come but never gave the ending a way. I was able to appreciate this more after knowing what the plot twist was, which I enjoyed a lot.
Like in Daughter of the Forest, Wildwood Dancing was drawn together by a magical romance (in Wildwood Dancing's case, two romances) and phenomenal relationship building. The connection that Jema had with her sisters and Gogu (her trusty companion), just brought this book together. I felt as if I was there and if I knew the characters as well. The romance was subtle, yet beautiful and was a major element for the story. I was fully engaged in both separate romances and couldn't help rooting for theses girls' discovery of true love. These relationships just blinded this whole story together.
Altogether, Wildwood Dancing was enchanting, magical and absolutely addicting. I loved the characters, I loved the romance and I definitely loved the magical and fantastical elements! What a perfect book!
I didn't enjoy this book very much at all. This is more of a 2.5 star review, but I may or may not bump it to 3 just because of the Transylvanian lore throughout.
I didn't connect with any of the characters, my favorite character throughout was Gogu, the main character's pet frog. The characters were drab and one-sided and I found them all pretty boring.
We follow Jena and her four sisters through their lives in a castle called Piscul Dracului. There is a wildwood behind their house and in that wildwood is a fantastical party every full moon. The girls have kept this a secret since they found it seven years before the story. Their father is a merchant and during the story he leaves for the winter and their cousin Cezar comes to Piscul Dracului and tries to take full control of the estate and cut down the Wildwood to prevent Night People from wrecking any more havoc, as he blames them for his brother's death.
Overall, the world building was phenomenal, during the parties, I felt like I was there. It was lovely and fantastic. Her writing is beautiful. The scenery felt real. This was the only part I liked about the book.
The characters lacked depth for me, and some parts of Cezar and Jena's arguments felt like filler pages, used to kill time between scenes. It felt anti-climatic, overall as well. There was no real action or incidents. I just didn't enjoy the plot which is disappointing because this is my first fairy tale retelling. (It's a retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses".)
This just fell flat for me but Gogu is what made me give it the extra .5 star.
I didn't connect with any of the characters, my favorite character throughout was Gogu, the main character's pet frog. The characters were drab and one-sided and I found them all pretty boring.
We follow Jena and her four sisters through their lives in a castle called Piscul Dracului. There is a wildwood behind their house and in that wildwood is a fantastical party every full moon. The girls have kept this a secret since they found it seven years before the story. Their father is a merchant and during the story he leaves for the winter and their cousin Cezar comes to Piscul Dracului and tries to take full control of the estate and cut down the Wildwood to prevent Night People from wrecking any more havoc, as he blames them for his brother's death.
Overall, the world building was phenomenal, during the parties, I felt like I was there. It was lovely and fantastic. Her writing is beautiful. The scenery felt real. This was the only part I liked about the book.
The characters lacked depth for me, and some parts of Cezar and Jena's arguments felt like filler pages, used to kill time between scenes. It felt anti-climatic, overall as well. There was no real action or incidents. I just didn't enjoy the plot which is disappointing because this is my first fairy tale retelling. (It's a retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses".)
This just fell flat for me but Gogu is what made me give it the extra .5 star.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes