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The Firethorn Crown

(Firethorn Chronicles #1)

Lea Doué (Goodreads Author)

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 621 ratings · 109 reviews

Princess Lily, the eldest of twelve sisters and heir to a mighty kingdom, desperately seeks a break from her mother's matchmaking. Tradition forbids marriage with the man Lily loves, so she would rather rule alone than marry someone who only wants the crown.

Fleeing an overzealous suitor, Lily stumbles into a secret underground kingdom where she and her sisters encounter a ...more

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Paperback, 300 pages

Published October 7th 2015 by Butterwing Publishing

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Lists with This Book

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

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64 books — 82 voters

Twelve Dancing Princesses

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really liked it Average rating 4.00 ·

Rating details

· 621 ratings · 109 reviews

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Mar 07, 2017 Shantelle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, five-star, fantasy, fairytale-retellings, romance, young-adult, own-on-kindle, read-in-2017

Eeeeeee! I loved it! SO MUCH!

You all know how much I love retellings of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, right? Well, I realized I've read eight retellings of this classic fairy tale, and The Firethorn Crown by Lea Doue definitely ranks as one of my favorites. (It actually reminded me somewhat of Entwined by Heather Dixon, which is my favorite ~~The Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling~~ fairy tale of all time!)

Lily is the crown princess of Ituria, a land filled with dragons (big and small), overeager ...more

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Oct 31, 2016 Kristen Kooistra rated it it was amazing

For years Princess of the Midnight Ball has been my favorite retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses. This weekend, that book finally met its equal. I say equal because it's impossible for me to decide which is better. So they're tied for my favorite retelling of this tale.

This story is simply amazing and I could probably gush about it, but I was up too late reading it!!! And now I won't be my most eloquent self.

I loved, loved, loved this story. The characters were amazing, the plot felt new eve For years Princess of the Midnight Ball has been my favorite retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses. This weekend, that book finally met its equal. I say equal because it's impossible for me to decide which is better. So they're tied for my favorite retelling of this tale.

This story is simply amazing and I could probably gush about it, but I was up too late reading it!!! And now I won't be my most eloquent self.

I loved, loved, loved this story. The characters were amazing, the plot felt new even though it was a retelling. The descriptions . . . hoooly frogfish. I mean, Doué knocked them out of the park. I don't know if I've ever seen such beautiful descriptions. So vivid that I'm actually upset that I can't buy paintings of her world. I'd cover my walls in pictures of this place.

Love the connection between the sisters and how there's more than just one male character. I like that there's was a new take on the oldest sister, her parents, and the love interest. I liked that there were a couple of decent men that I could imagine having their own stories in the future as well as several of the princesses.

I know, I'm just saying I love everything and that's not helpful. But if you've ever read my reviews, you know I'm never so lost as to just skip around going Love, love, love, and have no words for why. So hopefully the fact that I can't even begin to describe in detail what I liked about this says how much I like it.

I'm buying myself the paperback for Christmas. And when book 2 comes out, I'm buying the paperback of that without reading the ebook first . . . so there.

If you love retellings or fantasy, or deep stories with a rich cast of characters READ THIS!!! Read it, love it, don't read it if you don't have time to read it in one sitting, because you will miss whatever important thing you had to do to finish this. I should know. I missed out on half a night of sleep on two nights surrounding a party I was hosting(so already dead tired) because I couldn't put this down. ...more

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Jul 14, 2017 Serethiel Sequoia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fairytales, princesses-unicorns-dragons, romance, fantasy, peeps-in-the-blogosphere, ya-market-all-encompassing, kindle, amazing-worldbuilding, period-medieval-renaissance, stories-i-love

4.5 stars

Well, this book is ridiculously and utterly spectacular. <3

I can't wait to start The Midsummer Captives! ...more

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Jun 22, 2019 Coco.V marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: freebie

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (6/22/2019)! 🎁

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Mar 16, 2020 Tricia Mingerink rated it really liked it

Shelves: general-market-fantasy, fairy-tale-retellings

This is a really inventive, very loose retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale with a few other fairy tales mixed in for good measure. It was somewhat darker and creepier than I was expecting, but in a good way. The fairy tale definitely has room for a little creepiness, and this book pulled it off really well.

Eben and Lily were awesome together. I adored them and was cheering them on through all the obstacles in the way.

Lily's father was just the best. In the Twelve Dancing Prin ...more

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Feb 09, 2017 H.L. Burke rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I like a good romantic fairy tale retelling and this one provided just enough new to the story while keeping aspects I like (I'm a sucker for the wounded warrior hero, for instance). There are a lot of characters in this and for the most part they remain distinct. Yeah, sometimes it is hard to keep track of all 12 princesses, but the ones who carry the plot definitely stand out and I think that's what matters. I'm glad it didn't get busy trying to give them equal "screen time."
Minor complaints: ...more

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Sep 13, 2017 Jemma rated it really liked it

Twas pretty good :) I quite enjoyed it.

The story and plot were very interesting, and they had good characters to move them along. Most of the major characters were fairly well fleshed out.

The writing was also pretty good, there were a couple of moments were the logic didn't follow, and the climax was a little odd, but overall not to bad.

Very fun :) ...more

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Feb 14, 2017 Deborah O'Carroll rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, myth-legend-fairytales, retellings, own, bookclub, 4-stars-great, epic-character-i-love, owned-ebooks, romance, fantasy

Ten Thoughts on The Firethorn Crown
(read for February 2017 bookclub read in the Fellowship of Fantasy book club)

1. THE COVER. It is awesome. Excuse me while I stare at it forever.

2. TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES! I’m totally here for a retelling of my favorite fairytale. (Which may mean I was pickier about how I wanted the book to be than I should have been, but oh well.) It was so fun to read this retelling and I greatly enjoyed seeing how it was done. :)

3. Eben the guard was awesome and my favorit ...more

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Oct 29, 2015 C.P. Cabaniss rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

This was a really enjoyable read. I haven't read many adaptations of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, if any, but I really like how this was done. The fantasy elements through the Prince's sorcery gave it an extra spark.

One of the best things about this was the relationship between the sisters. Lily, the oldest, is the main character, but every sister has a vital role. And they all loved each other so much. Keeping track of 12 of them was a bit tough, but the author distinguished them beautifully ...more

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Dec 11, 2016 Hayden rated it liked it

Shelves: indies, fairy-tale-retellings

Even though The Twelve Dancing Princesses fairytale is not an absolute favorite of mine, I have somehow or other managed to read several retellings of it. I wasn't looking to find another, but I caught this one when it was free, and I liked the color scheme of the cover, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try The Firethorn Crown.

Overall, it was a pleasant read. It wasn't in some ways as original in its take as I had hoped, and there were some instances of jarringly modern language that I felt didn ...more

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Nov 22, 2016 Elise Edmonds rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult-fantasy, book-club-reads

Loved this retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. A great read.

A few details surrounding the curse and the sorcerer confused me a bit.

Fair play to the author for making many of the 12 main characters stand out as individuals. I thought that was done extremely well.

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Jun 29, 2018 Amber rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. There was a part of me that wants to give this book a more positive rating. There were some aspects of it that I did enjoy. In particular, I appreciate that the author was trying to give all of the princesses a more active role in this story and trying to have a story with strong female agency, but ultimately the story was not satisfying in those areas and was very frustrating to read for a number of reasons.

Let me list the positives first:

The author takes pains to make each sister distinct from ...more

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Jan 21, 2018 Jill added it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own, young-adult-and-up, fantasy, fairy-tale-retelling, kindle

What a fun read this book is! I've never before read a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses in which the author effectively gave distinct personalities to each princess. Some of the characters in this book are more distinct than others, of course, but I really viewed each girl as a separate person. And the hero and the princes are likable and distinct too. None of the characters are deeply drawn except the heroine, but I didn't mind that.
The mystery was intriguing, the magical world both thril ...more

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Sep 21, 2019 Moony (The Burglar Baggins) MeowPoff rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I loved this take on the retelling of the 12 dancing princesses. Not that i'd heard about the story before, but Lea Douè captured me with every word. Can't wait to buy the next book from her! ...more

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Apr 19, 2017 anjuli rated it did not like it

Shelves: gave-up-on-book, meh-series, will-not-continue-with-the-series, not-interested

DNF
It just wasn't for me. I tried. But, I got a little bored and haven't had a chance to get back to it. ...more

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Jan 13, 2018 Coralie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Ahh, and I have stumbled across another 12 Dancing Princesses! Score!

Okay, first my complaints: the world-building. I feel like the setting and world-building had so much potential! I mean, this could have been GREAT! But, for me, it was just good. I loved the ideas presented: the dragons--apparently there are different kinds--the history of the kingdoms with the Dragon War, which we still know practically nothing about by the end of the book; the tension in the society between the people and s Ahh, and I have stumbled across another 12 Dancing Princesses! Score!

Okay, first my complaints: the world-building. I feel like the setting and world-building had so much potential! I mean, this could have been GREAT! But, for me, it was just good. I loved the ideas presented: the dragons--apparently there are different kinds--the history of the kingdoms with the Dragon War, which we still know practically nothing about by the end of the book; the tension in the society between the people and sorcerers; the significance of the Soldier-king and of the firethorn crown? These are all questions I had and loose ends that I didn't feel were even attempted to be tied off. Maybe it'll be cleared up in the subsequent novels? I'll certainly keep reading, but the presentation was hard to swallow. I was thrust into the deep-end of the pool, not in the good way. It was just so much that it was hard to grasp and it even hindered my reading in the beginning of the story. I wanted to know what all of the terms meant, the special kinds of trees and dragons and other things, but I finally had to accept that I wouldn't understand and just move on.

The good: everything else! The characters were sweet, though in the classical 12 Dancing fashion, a little difficult to keep up with all of the sisters. That said, they were the only characters I struggled to keep up with and only some of them at that. The rest of the cast were all a brilliant pop of color on the story's canvas and I look forward to seeing more of them in the second and third books. The plot was very well done. I really enjoy this fairy tale anyway, but I've seen it done well and I've seen it done not-so-well. Doué did it well. I loved how she captured the darkness of the underground realm and of the curse, but without making it despairing or hopeless to the reader. I also really enjoyed the necklaces. Not gonna say more than that, other than that I thought that was...well-done. From their physical formation to what they represented and how they operated throughout the story. That was a piece I truly admired. (Though, to be perfectly honest, I was a little disappointed in the way that ended. It had such a great build up and then felt almost like a cop out. Borderline.) I liked the interpretation on the tale and how some of the classic elements, such as invisibility, the underground realm, the slippers, the boy, and the mystery were handled. It was paced pretty well, not exactly a page-turner, but it didn't drag by any means.

This was a dynamic piece. It was a good read, truly, but I do feel that it just...fell a little short at times and had the potential to be epic.

Subtle romance, no swearing, mild violence. Some mild thematic material, though, involving a kind of disturbed character and a little sorcery, though nothing explicit. Totally clean. Personally, I'd probably recommend high school and up. ...more

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Jan 23, 2018 J.M. Stengl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: i-own, fantasy, fairy-tale-retelling, medieval-fantasy, twelve-dancing-princesses

A lovely retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, filled with action, adventure, and romance.
The villain was particularly interesting, and I look forward to reading about several of the sisters and their princes.

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Dec 08, 2017 E. Writes rated it it was amazing

The Firethorn Crown brings a uniquely nuanced take to the classic problem of who opens the door into which the Twelve Dancing Princesses troop, and become enmeshed in the problem that wears out their shoes.

As the story follows the eldest sister in first person point of view, the other girls all add a delightful mix of characters to the tale, but the truly most compelling persona here is the prince trapped in a web he grew up in, and how that has warped his perspective on life; and how it will co The Firethorn Crown brings a uniquely nuanced take to the classic problem of who opens the door into which the Twelve Dancing Princesses troop, and become enmeshed in the problem that wears out their shoes.

As the story follows the eldest sister in first person point of view, the other girls all add a delightful mix of characters to the tale, but the truly most compelling persona here is the prince trapped in a web he grew up in, and how that has warped his perspective on life; and how it will continue to play out across his life from the instant the webs are finally snapped, is the most fascinating question this delightful tale presents.

An introduction to the series that continues with tales of the other sisters (a tempting morsel for any author to undertake! ;-) ) Lea Pike Doue has a compelling premise on her hands for many books to come. Her world building is fun and fantastical without relying too heavy-handedly on the dragon-y elements to do any real problem solving, she manages to harmonize a complex and completely different fairytale world with character driven plots that call for princesses to rescue themselves if they hope to find true love… or let it find them, as the case may be.

I do hope this author will continue her efforts in giving all the girls a tale, because they were each warm and real in a way that made me want to get to know them better. Particularly Ivy, even though she was only briefly featured here and not at all featured in the second book, Midsummer Captives, or the third, Red Dragon Girl. Ivy particularly stole my heart, and I hope that by the time Lea reaches her tale she captures the sorrow tinged girl with a great head on her shoulders and terrific judge of character with the complexity Ivy’s tale is certain to deserve.

In fact, if I could advise the author at all, I’d request for more sisters to show up in each other’s books, because although fewer characters makes it easier to follow for both writer and readers, I feel a grave lack when the warmth of their happy, loving relationships are not included in a prominent way.

...more

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Dec 31, 2018 S.G. Willoughby rated it really liked it

This was fun. I loved the characters (or hated them, depends on the one XD). The author did a great job with a huge cast. Each one was easy to follow and I didn't get confused. (And that's saying something.) I did feel like I was missing a bit of the history behind the soldier-king and the firethorn crown, but perhaps I just need to reread the beginning again now that I have my footing (and more mental clarity). My favorite characters were Orin and Holic. So chivalrous and... I agree with Lily: ...more

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Dec 24, 2019 The Captain rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy

Ahoy there mateys! This be a twelve dancing princess retelling. I really wanted to like this one. The main highlight of this book is that all twelve sisters are unique and have personalities. It was clear that they loved each other. I also loved that they worked together to help beat the curse. I enjoyed two of the princes too - the goose prince and the one who liked art. The maze and the enchanted world were fun. How the villain's past is resolved at the end worked. What didn't work was ...more

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Aug 08, 2019 Kelsey Bryant rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, indie-authors

3.5 stars. I truly enjoyed this fast-paced read. I think this was my first Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling. As is typical, it was hard (especially at the beginning) to keep the sisters all straight, and I still don't have their birth order memorized. But I could tell each sister was supposed to have a unique personality, which is better than lumping them all together, which is what often happens with stories about lots of siblings. I also liked the male side characters; the good guys were de ...more

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Nov 23, 2017 Bonnie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was a good read. Happy to have read it. Wasnt sure what would happen with the twist and turns. But it went good. I was happy with the ending. Wouldnt mind reading more in the series as well.

I give it an A or 4 stars.

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Jun 03, 2020 Leah Good rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020, fantasy, young-adult, fairy-tales

Lily and her eleven sisters aren't your ordinary, fairy-tale princesses. They go for morning runs, help at the orphanage, are regulars in the kitchen, learned self-defense from their governess, and love playing cat and mouse in a huge maze. It's during one such game of cat and mouse that Lily's attempt to escape an overbearing suitor causes all twelve girls to stumble into a kingdom beneath their castle.

Tangled in a curse, the girls must return to the underground kingdom each night. Only Lily ca ...more

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Feb 21, 2017 Laurie Lucking rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-with-romance

I LOVED this book! I think I finished it in three days, when I really didn't have time to read it that quickly... Who needs sleep anyway, right? :) Lily is an easy heroine to relate to as she deals with the pressures of being the oldest sister and a society that wants her to hurry up and choose a husband, when the guy she wants doesn't seem to be one of her options. The interactions between Lily and her younger sisters were fun and sweet. Even when their different personalities clashed, it was c ...more

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Dec 21, 2016 Claire Banschbach rated it really liked it

4.5 Stars

This started out kind of slow for me. My tiny brain got really confused with all the names of the twelve princesses and the occasional servant being thrown around with abandon. But then I started to recognize names or just stopped trying to remember everyone. Either way I got completely sucked into the story.

Twelve Dancing Princesses has always been an interesting fairy tale to me and I enjoy retellings of it. This one had the added bonus of spells and curses and a groups of guys who g 4.5 Stars

This started out kind of slow for me. My tiny brain got really confused with all the names of the twelve princesses and the occasional servant being thrown around with abandon. But then I started to recognize names or just stopped trying to remember everyone. Either way I got completely sucked into the story.

Twelve Dancing Princesses has always been an interesting fairy tale to me and I enjoy retellings of it. This one had the added bonus of spells and curses and a groups of guys who get together and decide they're going to help the princesses because they're good guys (and also crushing on some of the princesses :) ). I loved all the team ups. The bits of romance were adorable. The bad guy was a little weird, but he had been underground all of his life, so what do you expect? The other lord who was chasing Lily was so smug and annoying. I loved it. I also loved the sisters' scheming to try and avoid him.

Loved the little twist at the end regarding the curse! And I loved how the king basically was shipping his daughter with one of the guys! :)

I read the rest of the book pretty much in one sitting. Like I said, completely sucked into the story. I loved the world where there's tiny dragons flying around, mazes in the garden, secret passages underground, a prince tending the geese, and freaking awesome girl characters. I loved all of the girls (even though I had difficulty sorting all of them and their different hobbies through the entire book - that's pretty much what the half star was knocked off for).

The romance was fantastic. I loved how both characters obviously liked each other but were actually going to do their duty and not say anything to the other because it wouldn't be proper or whatever. But it all works out.

I'll stop going on and on, but to recap - I loved this book. I laughed, I was on the edge of my seat, I was about ready to strangle some characters, and pretty much got the second book right away. Highly recommended for anyone who loves fairy tales, awesome characters, fast paced stories, and awesome plots! ...more

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Apr 05, 2016 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: a-whole-new-world, fantasy, old-tales-revisited, here-there-be-dragons, it-s-a-love-story, read-this-already-alana

An excellent retelling of one of my favorite fairytales! The Firethorn Crown can't top Entwined (literally my favorite fairytale retelling ever), but I still very much enjoyed it! I like the sisters and their love interests, and Thurian and his Undergarden were properly creepy. (Not sure what else to think about Thurian; part of me says "ooh, fascinating" and part of me says "dude, you're a creepy spoiled brat.") Also, there's dragons. Like, so many types of dragons. Like butterwing dragons ...more

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Jan 30, 2018 Helena George rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2018

I honestly can't remember how I got my hands on this book, but I originally was a little hesitant to read it. In fact, I was prepared to stop reading it if anything I didn't like popped up.

That did not happen. Nope. Not in the least.

I was drawn into a world of dresses, mazes, and tiny dragons. I fell in love with the Princes, and danced all night with the Princesses. And I scratched my head as I tried to figure out how in the world Lily was going to save herself and her sisters.

There /was/ magic ...more

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Jul 03, 2019 Bess rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed, fantasy

3.5 stars
This is my second attempt at reading this. This attempt was far more successful.
I liked the story. Although it was hard to keep track of all the sisters, even having read their descriptions prior to beginning the book again.
I agree with some of the other readers, Lily is likable if not a bit uncertain of herself. (view spoiler) ...more

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Aug 04, 2016 Laurel Garver rated it really liked it

A charming story of sisterhood and magical misadventures. A really enjoyable read. Despite the large cast of characters, I didn't feel overwhelmed, simply caught up in the wonderful chaos of a big, loving family that has the kind of sibling chemistry I love in Madeleine L'Engle's stories.

There are plenty of wonderful details, from the tiny dragons that flutter about like insects, to the delicious descriptions of royal clothing, that make you want to linger in this fantasy world. The plot moved ...more

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May 27, 2016 Katy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-keepers

4.5 stars for an imaginative fantasy loosely based on the fairy tale "The 12 Dancing Princesses." The 12 sisters were wonderfully drawn, though it took a while for me to keep them straight. The setting feels real, and I love the dragons of all sizes, though we only "hear" about the big scary ones. The plot had as many twists and turns as the maze featured in the story, and once I neared the climax, I could NOT put this book down. If you like fairy tales, fantasy with suspense, romance, and drago ...more

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