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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
sah's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Grief
antimony's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
in this retelling of the twelve dancing princesses, annaleigh is the sixth daughter of twelve. four of her older sisters have died, one after another, and rumors abound about her family being cursed. annaleigh becomes increasingly sure eulalie, the most recent of her sisters to die, was murdered, and she also becomes increasingly plagued by maddening visions. as she and her sisters sneak out to dance the night away, annaleigh begins to wonder if there is something more sinister hidden behind these balls...
ok first of all to start off the setting of this was IDEAL. spooky windswept, salt-encrusted, waterlogged islands above cliffs and a sea that is not really actually evil at all but it is the sea so it must be and i mean that in the most positive way. AND theres a lighthouse. five stars for the world i would love to live in it. and the ENDING was absolutely insane. oh my god. i finished this right before bed last night and then i just had to turn off the light and stare at the wall and go to sleep without any time to process .... there was so much there. maybe this afternoon i will have to go back and reread the last couple of chapters. because they were so insane.
THAT BEING SAID i did have a couple issues. the romance was so very ya but to be fair this is a ya book. so what do you expect. also annaleigh had better chemistry with fisher SORRY. i don't care that he was not actually fisher because fisher was dead i am glad that at least the romance didn't overpower the main story it was just a little annoying. kinda instalove and the reveal about cassius's mom's identity was. i dont know it felt like nonsense. and i still don't understand how he came back at the end. like i know it was his wish and annaleighs wish but wasn't he dead? or did he only half die because he's half god? ugh i don't know. i also wish i'd gotten a little more explanation on what was real after all -- like did the other sisters also think they were dancing? did the confrontation when annaleigh got back from the lighthouse happen at all? etc etc. ALSO it kind of felt like some of the 12 dancing princesses elements were thrown in just to keep it a retelling like the balls didn't show up for a while and was the contest for suitors even real?
that also being said i loved that annaleigh's dream was to be a lighthouse keeper and that her happy ending was getting to work at the lighthouse after all :) im a lighthouse fan !!!
ok first of all to start off the setting of this was IDEAL. spooky windswept, salt-encrusted, waterlogged islands above cliffs and a sea that is not really actually evil at all but it is the sea so it must be and i mean that in the most positive way. AND theres a lighthouse. five stars for the world i would love to live in it. and the ENDING was absolutely insane. oh my god. i finished this right before bed last night and then i just had to turn off the light and stare at the wall and go to sleep without any time to process .... there was so much there. maybe this afternoon i will have to go back and reread the last couple of chapters. because they were so insane.
THAT BEING SAID i did have a couple issues. the romance was so very ya but to be fair this is a ya book. so what do you expect. also annaleigh had better chemistry with fisher SORRY. i don't care that
that also being said i loved that annaleigh's dream was to be a lighthouse keeper and that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
elysenicole213's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Grief
spookysierra's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Holy Sh*t. Holy Sh*t. Holy Sh*t.
Look. I don't typically write reviews unless a book is amazing or truly terrible.
This book is fantastic.
Going in, I knew it was going to be a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses, but I wasn't sure how closely it was going to follow the fairytale. I also didn't realize this book was going to be a spooky murder mystery. Because I went into this not realizing the full scope of the book's premise, the beginning was kind of slow for me; HOWEVER, as soon as I started to realize there was more to this than just a group of girls wandering off into the forest to dance the night away, with dashing young men I. WAS. IN.
My assessment of the book went from a 3 to a 4 immediately and before I was 75% through the book, I could just feel that I was going to rate this 5 stars
This book had me mistrusting EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER. I would go back and forth on some, I would second guess everything everyone was saying. This book is masterful.
Look. I don't typically write reviews unless a book is amazing or truly terrible.
This book is fantastic.
Going in, I knew it was going to be a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses, but I wasn't sure how closely it was going to follow the fairytale. I also didn't realize this book was going to be a spooky murder mystery. Because I went into this not realizing the full scope of the book's premise, the beginning was kind of slow for me; HOWEVER, as soon as I started to realize there was more to this than just a group of girls wandering off into the forest to dance the night away, with dashing young men I. WAS. IN.
My assessment of the book went from a 3 to a 4 immediately and before I was 75% through the book, I could just feel that I was going to rate this 5 stars
This book had me mistrusting EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER. I would go back and forth on some, I would second guess everything everyone was saying. This book is masterful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Medical trauma, Child death, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Death of parent, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Alcohol, Death, Body horror, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Suicide and Terminal illness
chloenrogers's review against another edition
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
4.0
Gothic horrors crusted in sea salt. Like a scary Little Women set against the dark ocean. Rich, evocative language kept me enthralled through every mysterious twist and lingering kiss. I even lost some sleep, unable to shake the ghostly visions from my mind. While the main character feels somewhat flat and inactive, the story is tumultuous enough to keep things engaging. I shed genuine tears throughout so many points of this mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, and Body horror
Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Child death, Self harm, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Animal death
tays_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Death of parent, Self harm, and Miscarriage
Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, Rape, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship
stephanieluxton's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I don't read a lot of YA but this is definitely a good one! The gothic, haunting atmosphere of a castle by the cliffside of an island was *chefs kiss*. This book is equal parts fantasy and mystery, but slides towards horror as the story progresses.
Annaleigh was one of 12 princesses living on the island, but after the unfortunate accidental deaths of a few of her older sisters, and her mother, the townspeople believe her family to be cursed. Annaleigh believes the most recent death was a murder rather than a suicide and begins trying to unravel the mystery, with some help from her childhood crush and a handsome stranger she meets in the market. The plot thickens when the sisters go searching for a portal used by the Gods to travel to other regions in hopes of finding love with people who are unfamiliar with the curse. Annaleigh struggles to unravel the mystery of what's happening. Is there really a curse? Who can she trust? Wtf is going on? Also, there's ghosts.
The world-building was well done in this book. We learn about their religion and customs organically without a ton of exposition. It's definitely a world you can get lost in. The only thing that makes this book YA is the lack of smut, which feels authentic to the time period where marriage came first. One thing that wasn't old-timey was the fashion for the balls that the princesses attend. Everything is described in a beautifully cinematic way. As the book slips further into horror, the descriptions are grotesque and you genuinely feel scared for our characters who we've grown to care about.
I'd recommend this book to people who like gothic, ghostly, psychological horror and don't need smut to enjoy themselves.
Annaleigh was one of 12 princesses living on the island, but after the unfortunate accidental deaths of a few of her older sisters, and her mother, the townspeople believe her family to be cursed. Annaleigh believes the most recent death was a murder rather than a suicide and begins trying to unravel the mystery, with some help from her childhood crush and a handsome stranger she meets in the market. The plot thickens when the sisters go searching for a portal used by the Gods to travel to other regions in hopes of finding love with people who are unfamiliar with the curse. Annaleigh struggles to unravel the mystery of what's happening. Is there really a curse? Who can she trust? Wtf is going on? Also, there's ghosts.
The world-building was well done in this book. We learn about their religion and customs organically without a ton of exposition. It's definitely a world you can get lost in. The only thing that makes this book YA is the lack of smut, which feels authentic to the time period where marriage came first. One thing that wasn't old-timey was the fashion for the balls that the princesses attend. Everything is described in a beautifully cinematic way. As the book slips further into horror, the descriptions are grotesque and you genuinely feel scared for our characters who we've grown to care about.
I'd recommend this book to people who like gothic, ghostly, psychological horror and don't need smut to enjoy themselves.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Classism, Suicide, Child death, Pregnancy, Blood, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent
This book is more psychological that violent and we generally see the aftermath of violence more than we see violence. There's a few scenes that feel like nightmare sequences that are a bit more intense. The horror sequences were pretty epic for a YA book, but it's definitely not splatterpunk or anything.carrasreadsandthings's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
This was an amazing book! I loved every chapter and couldn't put it down. It was so unpredictable! I highly recommend
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Child death
Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury
aurumia's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I went in to this book, expecting a traditional fairy tale retelling, and was glad to expect a light hearted book.
Boy, I could not have been more off-base.
From scene one, this book was sad, then a little scary, then maddening, then frightening, before reaching the happily ever after epilogue (after a fashion).
The retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses was absolutely expert. There were details woven in that I recalled from the original fairy tale and made my heart happy, which is why it was so incredible the author was able to work in such darkness. There are horror movie tropes which made me have to stay up to finish the book, just to make sure I wouldn't have nightmares.
Annaleigh as a main character was fantastic. I could follow her line of thinking, her emotions were mild to others, but as we didn't much time in her head, you could learn and grow with her as those emotions became increasingly important to share and show.
The happily ever after was woven in beautifully and did not even remotely feel like a deus ex machina, even if it maybe was just a little bit.</spoiler haunting>
Despite having a lot of things I didn't enjoy (just in mood), it was expertly written and I really did like it in spite of myself, and it will definitely be a book I remember. I look forward to more!
Boy, I could not have been more off-base.
From scene one, this book was sad, then a little scary, then maddening, then frightening, before reaching the happily ever after epilogue (after a fashion).
The retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses was absolutely expert. There were details woven in that I recalled from the original fairy tale and made my heart happy, which is why it was so incredible the author was able to work in such darkness. There are horror movie tropes which made me have to stay up to finish the book, just to make sure I wouldn't have nightmares.
Annaleigh as a main character was fantastic. I could follow her line of thinking, her emotions were mild to others, but as we didn't much time in her head, you could learn and grow with her as those emotions became increasingly important to share and show.
Despite having a lot of things I didn't enjoy (just in mood), it was expertly written and I really did like it in spite of myself, and it will definitely be a book I remember. I look forward to more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Body horror, Blood, Violence, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Alcoholism, and Gore