Review by Lisa T. Bergren
From the goodreads.com summary:
Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it’s taken away. All of it.
The Keeper understands. He’s trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.
Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.
But there is a cost.
The Keeper likes to keep things.
Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.
My Two Cents: This was a total escape read, delving back into a literal fairy tale (“The Twelve Dancing Princesses”) in a fresh new way. Azalea, the protagonist, was mesmerizing, struggling with issues of grief and anger in a believable way. The antagonist was fascinating, as magically attractive as Azalea first found him to be. And I loved the family dynamics so vividly described and drawn out…as well as the resolution in the end.
The only thing I found jarring were occasional modern phrases from the girls, yanking me out of the story. I wanted to stay submerged in this fairy tale land and their unique way of speaking only took me under further; when they broke from it, so did I.
All in all, a delightful read that’s stuck with me for days after finishing the last page. Thanks, Heather!
Mama Bear Warnings: Few, if any! A little violence (fighting). VERY clean read!