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A review by holley_cornetto
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
4.0
I enjoyed this book. This is the first book that I've read by Juliet Marillier, and I will definitely be reading more of her work. This book does a wonderful job of building a setting - you feel a distinct sense of time and place. I find that I really enjoy books that are atmospheric, where you feel transported when reading, and this book does that very well. The characters are also pretty well developed (at least the main characters. Some of the younger sisters are not fleshed out very well, but this isn't their story, so it is to be expected).
Less than half of the way through the book, I knew what the plot twists were going to be. The author doesn't try to hide this from you - there is foreshadowing, and reason for the reader to suspect what the twists will be. This may be because the book is technically considered a YA book (which I will come back to in a moment), but even knowing what was going to happen, I still couldn't put the book down. I read this in a day. One day. Because I could not put it down.
I said I would come back to the topic of YA. I find most YA very hit or miss. I have read some YA that I love, but most of it I don't. I usually feel that I am missing something, or the plot lines aren't complex enough, or the setting isn't detailed. I usually find the dialog not to my liking. And that is fine, I am not a young adult anymore, so I am not the target market for YA books generally. You may wonder why I am bringing that up now. I am bringing it up because this book has NONE of those issues. None of the things I generally dislike about YA are to be found here. The characters are rich and complex, the world is beautifully built, and the setting is beautifully rendered.
So, why four stars and not five? A couple of reasons. There is a plot hole surrounding a certain quest that one of the characters has to go on. I won't elaborate here because of spoilers. There were also some inconsistencies about the intentions of Tadeusz.
All in all, I really liked this book, and I look forward to reading more from this author.
Less than half of the way through the book, I knew what the plot twists were going to be. The author doesn't try to hide this from you - there is foreshadowing, and reason for the reader to suspect what the twists will be. This may be because the book is technically considered a YA book (which I will come back to in a moment), but even knowing what was going to happen, I still couldn't put the book down. I read this in a day. One day. Because I could not put it down.
I said I would come back to the topic of YA. I find most YA very hit or miss. I have read some YA that I love, but most of it I don't. I usually feel that I am missing something, or the plot lines aren't complex enough, or the setting isn't detailed. I usually find the dialog not to my liking. And that is fine, I am not a young adult anymore, so I am not the target market for YA books generally. You may wonder why I am bringing that up now. I am bringing it up because this book has NONE of those issues. None of the things I generally dislike about YA are to be found here. The characters are rich and complex, the world is beautifully built, and the setting is beautifully rendered.
So, why four stars and not five? A couple of reasons. There is a plot hole surrounding a certain quest that one of the characters has to go on. I won't elaborate here because of spoilers. There were also some inconsistencies about the intentions of Tadeusz.
All in all, I really liked this book, and I look forward to reading more from this author.