Into the Book

7

Princess of the Midnight Ball - Jessica Day George

Recommended
The twelve princesses of Westfalin have a secret, and the King cannot guess what it is. He only knows that every morning, regardless of what precautions or guards he sets in place, his daughters all wake up with their shoes worn through from dancing. In an effort to get to the bottom of this mystery, King Gregor announces that to the prince who discovers the reason behind the worn dancing shoes, he will give to them one of the princesses in marriage and he will become heir to the throne. However not all is what it seems, and this mystery holds more danger than first meets the eye...

Galen, a young soldier back from the war, is a new under-gardener for the King's castle grounds. Upon hearing the stories about the princesses' dancing shoes and chancing upon the beautiful eldest princess, Rose in the garden, Galen decides to ask the King if he himself could have a chance at uncovering the princesses' secret. With a purple cloak a mysterious beggar woman had given him, and the wisdom of an old gardener, Galen begins to unravel the mystery behind the worn dancing shoes, and realizes that this quest may lead to his fate.

I was fascinated with this book. It is such a vivid retelling of the twelve dancing princesses fairytale, and I am always partial to a fairytale retelling! The setting had a very real medieval Europe feel to it, whilst still having the magical element and charm of a typical fairytale. The story opens with an easy-to-read pace, sucking you into the story by first capturing the essence of the setting before you fall in love with the characters. Galen is an admirable hero, full of energy and passion for what is right and good in the world. The author did admirably well creating twelve princesses that each had their own personality and air. Rose makes a wonderful older sister, so concerned for the welfare of all her sisters, and distraught by the fact there is a secret between themselves and her father. King Gregor is a wonderful king; though not without his flaws, he loves his daughters greatly and the protective kindness he shows for them is often touching.

The antagonist, King Under Stone, is lord over an underworld city. Once human, he had become too wicked above ground for the people to withstand, so the good magicians of the country imprisoned him underneath the surface of the earth. It is here the wickedness caused him to become much like living stone; a cold hearted and merciless ruler, living in his black underground castle with his twelve statue-like sons. It was a very interesting concept that the character is so evil that he turned literally into stone in comparison to the metaphor of "a heart of stone". Under Stone is a twisted character that doesn't keep his word, and doesn't care who he crushes. He is a stark contrast to upstanding heroes and heroines of the story and it portrays the evil of selfishness quite well.

The magical element of the story I thought was done quite well. It wasn't overwhelming, but there was enough there for it still to be a fairytale. There was also the fun element of Spoiler: a cloak of invisibility, which played well with my imagination! End Spoiler. There was nothing at all that I felt uncomfortable with, but found the book as a whole to be very entertaining and enjoyable. Of course, being a fairytale there was not a great many moral lessons you can take away from it, but the integrity and go-get-em-ness of the hero, and the sweet femininity of the princesses was refreshing to read. I give it over all 5 out of 5 for being an all round good read!

7 comments:

  1. Ooh, thanks for the review! I love retellings of fairy-tales and this sounds really good :D

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  2. This sounds very interesting, thank you!

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  3. I absolutely love this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is such a good book. The Story is so captivating. I suggest reading the sequel "Princess of Glass" It doesn't have Rose as the main sister. This Time it is Poppy.

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  4. I wish I had time to read this. It sounds like an awesome book!

    Lady Katharina

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  5. You're welcome, folks. :D

    @Sweetiepie: I have heard of the sequel, but haven't read it. Is it as good as this one?

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  6. @Bush Maid: The sequel is good. It is a spin off of cinderella. I enjoyed. It is not quite as good as the first book but it is still a very good book. Jessica Day George is currently writing the next book which is said to be out this fall.

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