From the Bookshelf of Pop Sugar's Annual Ultimate Reading Challenge…

The Girls at the Kingfisher Club

Genevieve Valentine

Start date: January 2, 2019

Finish date: January 8, 2019

Discussion: List brainstorming

Why we're reading this: I think book is really good. I liked the imagary the author painted and the themes. Very good
[close] I think book is really good. I liked the imagary the author painted and the themes. Very good

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List brainstorming

Google Spreadsheet
By Michelle · 15 posts · 154 views

last updated Oct 26, 2022 12:22PM

Much better than a spreadsheet
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last updated Apr 30, 2021 09:29PM

What Members Thought

Apr 29, 2019 Ali rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fairytale, 2019

read for OWLs Magical Readathon 2019: Ancient Runes, a retelling

I'm not sure when it happened, but I've developed a huge soft spot for the 12 Dancing Princesses fairytale. It wasn't my favorite as a kid, in fact I don't even really remember anything about it from being little. But now that I'm older, something about a bunch of girls put in seclusion from the world who sneak out to dance every night just perfectly fits my aesthetic.

I feel like the first 20 pages of this book was a bit hard to get read for OWLs Magical Readathon 2019: Ancient Runes, a retelling

I'm not sure when it happened, but I've developed a huge soft spot for the 12 Dancing Princesses fairytale. It wasn't my favorite as a kid, in fact I don't even really remember anything about it from being little. But now that I'm older, something about a bunch of girls put in seclusion from the world who sneak out to dance every night just perfectly fits my aesthetic.

I feel like the first 20 pages of this book was a bit hard to get into as you adjust to Valentine's writing (she uses so many parenthesis that it did remind me of some form of fanfiction writing) and adapt to how the story is set up. But once I was in, I was in. I thought Valentine did an excellent job adapting the fairytale, keeping the key elements while also putting her own twist on the plot. Plus setting the story in the 1920's was a great way to incorporate the dancing - and she did not leave out the dancing!

Having 12 sisters means you have to do a lot of character work, and I thought Valentine pulled it off wonderfully. The eldest sister Jo, aka "the General", is doing her best to protect her sisters from their father and the world at large. She's hard and cold, but has a deeply complex interior life. As the lead, we spend most of our time in her perspective, but we occasionally get to visit the other sisters who all stand out in my mind as different characters, which is not an easy feat to pull off. One of the sisters is also not straight (huzzah!) which makes sense because 12 girls? One has to be gay! The bond amongst the girls is incredibly complicated in the way that sisters are. They love each other but also have a lot of tension due to their constrained circumstances. They all get the chance to grow up and thrive, and I'd absolutely read a sequel following any of the girls.

Also the romance was very charming and devastating. Ugh watching Jo wrestle with her feelings she attempts to repress, this is exactly my brand. I think the 'soldier' character is often the focus of retellings, but I like that the attention remains on the girls solidly. He's an excellent love interest without dominating the whole story.

I finished this in one sitting and I'm just so thoroughly charmed by it. Valentine is an excellent writer, and I was so taken with her prose. I'll definitely be picking up her other novel. ...more

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