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A review by latad_books
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
4.0
Juliet Marillier brings together the tales of the twelve dancing princesses, and the princess and the frog (and the five Bennett sisters, I think) in this wonderful story. Not that I'm really surprised. Marillier is accomplished at weaving the fantastic, the historical, and the folkloric together into beautiful tales of young women finding their strength and their way through trying and difficult circumstances.
Here, second eldest sister Jena is left in charge by her ailing father (he’s off to dryer climes to heal his lungs); Jena has a good head for business and has been managing the books for her father’s business and is good at it. Almost immediately, cousin Cézar makes off with her books and strong boxes because he thinks a woman can’t deal with business or money. He tells her he'll dole out funds when Jena asks. Omigoodness. This is Cézar's first grab for power over the sisters, and over Jena in particular, which does nothing to endear him to the reader. Coupled with his intense hatred for the fae living in the woods that he wants to eradicate for the murder of his elder brother, and yup, Cézar is horrible. His curtailing of the sisters’ funds, and gradually, their freedom to go anywhere, including their once-monthly visits to a clearing in the woods they’ve been going to for years to dance the night away with the fae.
Marillier ratchets up the tension as Jena becomes increasingly furious as Cézar gaslights her, removes her ability to run her own house, then begins hinting, very heavily, that she’s his future wife. He’s utterly odious, and if it weren’t for Jena’s pet frog Gogu, she probably would have lost it. Gogu and she have a many years long friendship (Gogu is obviously not a regular frog) and Gogu's many funny, angry and soothing comments help Jena plan and cope her way around her cousin’s restrictions.
Jena’s a wonderful character, I loved watching her learn to let go a little and trust her instincts, which helps her help herself and her sisters.
I will say that despite enjoying this story a lot, I was totally frustrated with Jena’s older sister Tati, who walks around in a daze because she’s in love with a stranger from the wood. Despite wanting to be sympathetic to Tati, I mostly wanted to give her a good slap. She’s the one sour note for me in an otherwise lovely story.
Here, second eldest sister Jena is left in charge by her ailing father (he’s off to dryer climes to heal his lungs); Jena has a good head for business and has been managing the books for her father’s business and is good at it. Almost immediately, cousin Cézar makes off with her books and strong boxes because he thinks a woman can’t deal with business or money. He tells her he'll dole out funds when Jena asks. Omigoodness. This is Cézar's first grab for power over the sisters, and over Jena in particular, which does nothing to endear him to the reader. Coupled with his intense hatred for the fae living in the woods that he wants to eradicate for the murder of his elder brother, and yup, Cézar is horrible. His curtailing of the sisters’ funds, and gradually, their freedom to go anywhere, including their once-monthly visits to a clearing in the woods they’ve been going to for years to dance the night away with the fae.
Marillier ratchets up the tension as Jena becomes increasingly furious as Cézar gaslights her, removes her ability to run her own house, then begins hinting, very heavily, that she’s his future wife. He’s utterly odious, and if it weren’t for Jena’s pet frog Gogu, she probably would have lost it. Gogu and she have a many years long friendship (Gogu is obviously not a regular frog) and Gogu's many funny, angry and soothing comments help Jena plan and cope her way around her cousin’s restrictions.
Jena’s a wonderful character, I loved watching her learn to let go a little and trust her instincts, which helps her help herself and her sisters.
I will say that despite enjoying this story a lot, I was totally frustrated with Jena’s older sister Tati, who walks around in a daze because she’s in love with a stranger from the wood. Despite wanting to be sympathetic to Tati, I mostly wanted to give her a good slap. She’s the one sour note for me in an otherwise lovely story.