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The Princess Curse

Merrie Haskell

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Jun 26, 2011 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: old-reads, mt-bookpile-2011-2015

What a great blending of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and "Beauty and the Beast"! Set in Sylvania, an Eastern European country places near the borders of Turkey, Moldova, Hungary and Transylvania, Reveka's life has changed from studying in a convent to being the herbalist's apprentice in a castle. Here, she tries to win the dowry promised by the Prince to the one who solves the curse his daughters are under: why do they have bloody, blistered feet every morning, why do those that see them at ...more

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Feb 24, 2014 Wealhtheow rated it liked it

Shelves: ya, fantasy

Don't let the cover art fool you! This is a smart, thoughtful, and highly enjoyable fairy tale. Although the main character is thirteen, she's a medieval thirteen--old enough to be apprenticed, to have survived wars and famines and make her own plans for the future. Reveka wants nothing more than to be an herbalist, and has the perception, curiosity, and logical frame of mind to become a good one. With her as the main character, and a well-researched, fully-grounded medieval Europe as the contex ...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Debbie is on Storygraph rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fairy-tales, 2012, middle-grade

This was different. This started off as the Twelve Dancing Princesses and quickly turned into a Persephone story with hints of Beauty and the Beast. There were a number of things I really liked about this - the first was the setting, which was a fictional country in Eastern Europe. It was very refreshing to read a fantasy book that wasn't set in France or the British Isles.

I also appreciated the darker aspects of the story. As a child, I was always a bit ambivalent towards the Dancing Princesse ...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Liz rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-star, middle-grade-fiction

Really fantastic historical, middle grade retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses! Had one minor issue with the end of this but a great read overall.

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