Friday, June 17, 2011

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

You know I normally write my own summary, but I like the one from the dust jacket and want to include it, too.

From the dust jacket:

Five adventurous sisters...
Four dark creatures...
Three magical gifts...
Two forbidden lovers...
One enchanted frog...

Cross the threshold into the Wildwood, and enter a land of magic, daring, betrayal...and true love.

My summary:

Jena, the second oldest of five sisters, has established herself as protector while their father is away for the winter. Jena musty guard her sisters with only her faithful friend Gogu the frog in this work and the other realm. Every full moon, the sisters travel through a hidden portal to the Wildwood, where the Queen of the fairies holds dancing. The sisters enjoy their secret excursions until darkness comes. The night people are visiting the Queen's court. One oft heir party has caught the eye of Jena's sister Tati. Meanwhile, their cousin Cezar is slowly usurping their father's place and he means to raze the forest. Is Jena strong enough?

What I thought: I really liked this retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. (I've also read Princess of the Midnight Ball and The Night Dance.) I like how the girls aren't cursed. They simply have fun at the Full Moon Dances. Cezar definitely gets the award for the most unlikeable villain. Even before he went crazy over the power/control, he wasn't a nice person. Jena and Gogu were my favorite characters. I just knew Gogu was more than a frog. I don't read fairy tales for nothing, after all! I didn't however guess who he was. Nice nod to the Frog Prince. I look forward to reading more books by Juliet Marillier.

(Knopf, 2007)

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