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A review by brittney_tyler
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
4.0
Star Rating: 4 stars
After loving Marillier’s adult historical fantasy works, I decided to pick up some of her YA works, and the one I decided to start with is Wildwood Dancing. I have to admit that I prefer her adult work, although this was a really good read. This tells the story of 5 sisters, - Tatiana, Jenica, Iuila, Paula, and Stela- and their adventures at their father’s woodland estate of Piscul Dracului. They are perfectly happy exploring the woods and having adventures until their father gets ill and leaves to go to the coastal town of Constanta over the winter in order to heal. He believes that his girls will be okay by themselves because he has taught them skills that many women didn’t learn in this time period. He had not anticipated that their cousin, Cezar that lives in the neighboring fortress of Varful cu Negura would, through a series of schemes seize control of every aspect of the girl’s lives due to his obsession with Jenica, our main character. However, Jenica has unseen allies, as she and her sisters have been visiting the Wildwood, also known as the land of the fey, since they were children through a portal that they found in their room. As well as the fey, Jenica has a pet frog named Gogu who may be more than he seems, but I won’t spoil that. Will Jenica overcome her evil cousin without having to sacrifice what makes her unique?
The best thing about this book is the main character of Jena or Jenica as she is a person that I aspire to be. First off, she is educated in a time that is unusual. Although, we don’t know exactly what time period this book is set in, we can tell that it is set in a time in which women don’t have much of a voice, and I think it is quite admiring that Jenica had the courage to pursue education, even when everyone is telling her that she should just let the men handle it. Also, she is very out-spoken, opinionated, and not afraid to stand up for herself, even when everyone is telling her to shut up and take whatever is being dished out to her. Repeatedly, Jenica is told that she weak and has no right to fight for her and her sister’s well-being. Instead of sitting down and giving up, she comes up with a plan to get past her evil cousin and get the best future she can for her family. Very admirable!!
I also loved the fairy-tale elements that are woven throughout this story. There are allusions to The 12 Dancing Princesses, The Frog King, and Midsummer’s Night Dream to just name a few. The 12 Dancing Princesses allusions are obvious with the fact that Jenica has 4 sisters and they are all expert dancers due to the practice they get from their monthly visits to the fey kingdom. The kingdom that the sisters’ visit is clearly the Summer Kingdom as it is always warm even in winter and all the fey that live there are all bright in disposition and clad in colorful garments. In the book, we get visitors from and even visit the Night Kingdom where darkness reigns and everyone has evil intent. If you have ever read Midsummer Night’s Dream, then you will be able to see the allusions. Finally, there is an enchanted frog in this story that needs a kiss from his true love in order to become a real person. Princess and the Frog or The Frog King (These are essentially the same tale, but they have different titles. This one takes more from the Frog King than Princess and the Frog, though.), anyone?
There were some things in this story that didn’t work for me, though. First off, I understand that Cezar was supposed to be this misogynistic idiot, but after a while his comments and actions really started to grate on my nerves. I wanted to step into the story and smack him, which I guess was the reaction Marillier was going for, but he really started to irritate me after a while. Also, I don’t think that Tatiana’s storyline was necessary for the story. Although, it was interesting, I felt like the book focused on Jenica more. In my opinion, it would be cooler if she had taken each sister and given them each a fairy-tale romance in their own book in the series, instead of trying to cram all of them into two books. I do appreciate that the 2 main characters are the 2 sisters, Jenica and Paula that I relate to the most.
After loving Marillier’s adult historical fantasy works, I decided to pick up some of her YA works, and the one I decided to start with is Wildwood Dancing. I have to admit that I prefer her adult work, although this was a really good read. This tells the story of 5 sisters, - Tatiana, Jenica, Iuila, Paula, and Stela- and their adventures at their father’s woodland estate of Piscul Dracului. They are perfectly happy exploring the woods and having adventures until their father gets ill and leaves to go to the coastal town of Constanta over the winter in order to heal. He believes that his girls will be okay by themselves because he has taught them skills that many women didn’t learn in this time period. He had not anticipated that their cousin, Cezar that lives in the neighboring fortress of Varful cu Negura would, through a series of schemes seize control of every aspect of the girl’s lives due to his obsession with Jenica, our main character. However, Jenica has unseen allies, as she and her sisters have been visiting the Wildwood, also known as the land of the fey, since they were children through a portal that they found in their room. As well as the fey, Jenica has a pet frog named Gogu who may be more than he seems, but I won’t spoil that. Will Jenica overcome her evil cousin without having to sacrifice what makes her unique?
The best thing about this book is the main character of Jena or Jenica as she is a person that I aspire to be. First off, she is educated in a time that is unusual. Although, we don’t know exactly what time period this book is set in, we can tell that it is set in a time in which women don’t have much of a voice, and I think it is quite admiring that Jenica had the courage to pursue education, even when everyone is telling her that she should just let the men handle it. Also, she is very out-spoken, opinionated, and not afraid to stand up for herself, even when everyone is telling her to shut up and take whatever is being dished out to her. Repeatedly, Jenica is told that she weak and has no right to fight for her and her sister’s well-being. Instead of sitting down and giving up, she comes up with a plan to get past her evil cousin and get the best future she can for her family. Very admirable!!
I also loved the fairy-tale elements that are woven throughout this story. There are allusions to The 12 Dancing Princesses, The Frog King, and Midsummer’s Night Dream to just name a few. The 12 Dancing Princesses allusions are obvious with the fact that Jenica has 4 sisters and they are all expert dancers due to the practice they get from their monthly visits to the fey kingdom. The kingdom that the sisters’ visit is clearly the Summer Kingdom as it is always warm even in winter and all the fey that live there are all bright in disposition and clad in colorful garments. In the book, we get visitors from and even visit the Night Kingdom where darkness reigns and everyone has evil intent. If you have ever read Midsummer Night’s Dream, then you will be able to see the allusions. Finally, there is an enchanted frog in this story that needs a kiss from his true love in order to become a real person. Princess and the Frog or The Frog King (These are essentially the same tale, but they have different titles. This one takes more from the Frog King than Princess and the Frog, though.), anyone?
There were some things in this story that didn’t work for me, though. First off, I understand that Cezar was supposed to be this misogynistic idiot, but after a while his comments and actions really started to grate on my nerves. I wanted to step into the story and smack him, which I guess was the reaction Marillier was going for, but he really started to irritate me after a while. Also, I don’t think that Tatiana’s storyline was necessary for the story. Although, it was interesting, I felt like the book focused on Jenica more. In my opinion, it would be cooler if she had taken each sister and given them each a fairy-tale romance in their own book in the series, instead of trying to cram all of them into two books. I do appreciate that the 2 main characters are the 2 sisters, Jenica and Paula that I relate to the most.