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emilyreads15's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Omg. I’m literally at a lost for words right now. This book was the weirdest and creepiest book I’ve ever read and I enjoyed it very much.
I randomly just decided to start this book one day, since I had recently gotten it in a giveaway and oh my gosh. I just didn’t expect this at all. Tbh it’s been so long since I read the synopsis, so I kinda just went in blind.
It was just the most interesting plot I’ve ever read. To start off the story is a creepy retelling of The Brother’s Grimm fairytale, ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses.’ We read the story from Annaleigh’s pov and she is the 6th born of the 12 girls. Since I’m not too familiar with the fairytale, I didn’t know what to expect so ofc I looked up the original and it was already crazy itself. But the author took this twisted story and twisted it even more. I had no clue this book had horror elements to I was so shook while reading it.
On top of this, the author is a phenomenal writer. Like the level of writing and planning it takes to write a book like this is insane. So I definitely applaud her on that. There were so many twists and turns and I just kept being surprised. While I had my suspicions, I truly didn’t know who to trust and at times I didn’t even trust Annaleigh even though I was reading from her perspective. This book truly took gaslighting to another level.
Overall I really enjoyed this read! At times the world building lost me a little bit. Also because there were so many sisters, I sometimes lost track and often couldn’t remember what they were supposed to look like. Some of the characters also got on my nerves *cough* Camille and Morella 👀 *cough*. However, I still really loved the book and in the end I definitely recommend this read. It was truly unlike anything I’ve ever read before!
Read this book if you want some mysterious fantasy gothic vibes with a little bit of horror.
I also recommend this book to anyone who loves Belladonna by Adalyn Grace.
I randomly just decided to start this book one day, since I had recently gotten it in a giveaway and oh my gosh. I just didn’t expect this at all. Tbh it’s been so long since I read the synopsis, so I kinda just went in blind.
It was just the most interesting plot I’ve ever read. To start off the story is a creepy retelling of The Brother’s Grimm fairytale, ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses.’ We read the story from Annaleigh’s pov and she is the 6th born of the 12 girls. Since I’m not too familiar with the fairytale, I didn’t know what to expect so ofc I looked up the original and it was already crazy itself. But the author took this twisted story and twisted it even more. I had no clue this book had horror elements to I was so shook while reading it.
On top of this, the author is a phenomenal writer. Like the level of writing and planning it takes to write a book like this is insane. So I definitely applaud her on that. There were so many twists and turns and I just kept being surprised. While I had my suspicions, I truly didn’t know who to trust and at times I didn’t even trust Annaleigh even though I was reading from her perspective. This book truly took gaslighting to another level.
Overall I really enjoyed this read! At times the world building lost me a little bit. Also because there were so many sisters, I sometimes lost track and often couldn’t remember what they were supposed to look like. Some of the characters also got on my nerves *cough* Camille and Morella 👀 *cough*. However, I still really loved the book and in the end I definitely recommend this read. It was truly unlike anything I’ve ever read before!
Read this book if you want some mysterious fantasy gothic vibes with a little bit of horror.
I also recommend this book to anyone who loves Belladonna by Adalyn Grace.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, Violence, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Death
Minor: Death of parent, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Animal death
scatteringashes's review
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
I honestly thought I was losing my mind in the climax of this book, entirely unsure what was real. Fantastically crafted.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death of parent
eviemayhem's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This was a book I started unsure if I would like it or not. The premise is interesting: a different world, with different gods (some of which still interact with mortals), where 12 sisters are slowly dying one by one. By the time the book starts, the sisters are somewhat shellshocked and are just accepting that they're going to die one-by-one. Only Annaleigh seems to notice that something is just not right with the deaths.
The world-building is fantastic, and the author really drags you in to the torture the sisters are going through as they await to see who will be the next to die. There are so many twists and turns that at a certain point even the reader is unsure of what is real and what is not.
The world-building is fantastic, and the author really drags you in to the torture the sisters are going through as they await to see who will be the next to die. There are so many twists and turns that at a certain point even the reader is unsure of what is real and what is not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Self harm, and Suicide
Moderate: Suicide, Gaslighting, and Mental illness
cpachet's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Gaslighting, and Animal death
mizzy406's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, War, and Vomit
braveprincess11's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It’s a solid horror retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. There was a lot going on, and a lot to keep track of, but it did its job well enough. It really picked up around the halfway point with the death of Edgar. That was exactly what I needed to get me hooked back into the plot, and from that point forward, it was really well paced.
I was able to guess a couple of the twists as information was revealed (though I never got anything exactly correct), and the romance seemed unnecessary, but overall a fun time.
I was able to guess a couple of the twists as information was revealed (though I never got anything exactly correct), and the romance seemed unnecessary, but overall a fun time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child death, Pregnancy, Blood, Miscarriage, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Murder and Infidelity
Minor: Death of parent and Vomit
sarahweyand's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
3.75
It's been about a month since I've read this so my memory is fading slightly, but I really enjoyed this read! I really liked the atmosphere, felt very reminiscent o f The Wicked Deep. I've never read the original Twelve Dancing Princesses, so I didn't know what parts of this were original to this author and what was adapted, but I thought the plot and twists were very compelling!
Some of the characters felt a little flat and underdeveloped, and I wish there had been some more worldbuilding when it came to explaining the religion and beliefs of the island. I felt a little confused at the end of the book because I felt some tings could have been explained better about the world beforehand.
Overall, I enjoyed this read and I'm excited to read the sequel next month!
Some of the characters felt a little flat and underdeveloped, and I wish there had been some more worldbuilding when it came to explaining the religion and beliefs of the island. I felt a little confused at the end of the book because I felt some tings could have been explained better about the world beforehand.
Overall, I enjoyed this read and I'm excited to read the sequel next month!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Child death
Moderate: Death of parent
nevaraven's review
dark
emotional
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
4.0
There's nothing quite insane as this book. I thought it was just an ordinary fantasy, fairytale retelling but then things got WILD. It's so crazy and random that it makes sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Body horror, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Sexual content and Rape
This is not a book to read if you suffer from paranoia or derealization. The mc is made to doubt reality and overall being driven to madness is a major theme in the book.alyvia_jeane's review
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Child death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Animal death, Grief, and Pregnancy
It kept me guessing and wanting more. I was just as confused as the main character and that is hard to do. Didn’t guess the end but omg that was crazy!! Loved the atmosphere and imagery. Verity is my new baby and poor fisher/Hanna! Is that a spoiler? Nah. Was worried I wouldn’t like this but definitely wrong. Not a 5 star bc there was a little thing that happened that I didn’t like. But otherwise great.jorbe's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Went into this fairly blind. Overall, it was a decent read! The story was fast paced and kept me wanting to know what was next, but the character's beliefs and actions often fell flat for me. A couple of examples: Annaleigh thinks she hallucinated Cassius but never questioned if she was just genuinely losing it, or when Camille jokes about killing Annaleigh in a family that is marred by continuous death...feels like lazy or not very well fleshed out writing to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence and Child death
Minor: Sexism and Death of parent