Entwined in Into the Forest

Jul 25, 2010 Cara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: siblings, 2011, to-re-read, fairy-tales

This story had a recipe for success in my book. It's a fairytale retelling, has an enchanting cover, siblings, magic, and dark secrets. I mean I think it would have been impossible for me not to love this story.

I'll try to make the rundown quick of the premise. There are quite obviously twelve princesses who unfortunately lose their mother with the birth of the last baby girl, Lily. Before their mother dies she gives Azalea, the oldest daughter, a handkerchief embroider with silver letters. What This story had a recipe for success in my book. It's a fairytale retelling, has an enchanting cover, siblings, magic, and dark secrets. I mean I think it would have been impossible for me not to love this story.

I'll try to make the rundown quick of the premise. There are quite obviously twelve princesses who unfortunately lose their mother with the birth of the last baby girl, Lily. Before their mother dies she gives Azalea, the oldest daughter, a handkerchief embroider with silver letters. What can that mean? But Azalea does know is that she promised to take care of her sisters and she will do that at all cost. The king is notably upset but he demands that anything that brings any joy is shut out from the castle. To make matters worse the king goes off to war right after their mother's death. As much as the girls mourn for their mother they all loved to dance, and one night they find a way so they can dance all the nights they want. But of course it comes at a price; they meet a mysterious man called the Keeper. Soon enough the girls find out that they are in a tangled mess they must unravel, but how?

This book may seem slow in the beginning but I can vouch that it does pick up pace and it gets pretty nail biting at the end. I loved all the girls: from the strong first born, Azalea, to their smallest member, Lily. Since Azalea is the narrator of the story we get to know her the best, and feel the weight of bitterness and anger she has towards her father. That anger affects her judgment, and gets the sisters into trouble. She knows in her gut that her father should do better to be there for them, but she learns that compassion goes both ways. There are some sweet romances that bloom for the oldest sisters, but the story centers around the sisters and their struggle to cope after their mother's death.

One of the coolest aspects of the tale, I didn’t know I would like so much, was the dancing itself. I’m not much of a dancer (well I can freestyle like a giant dork but that doesn’t count) but I could see the dances in my mind and feel how much they loved it. My feet itched to float about to the luscious music, but unfortunately my feet aren’t very cooperative. Anyways, there is a nice touch of mystery to the story and how the bits and pieces come together is pretty fantastic. The best setting is where the sisters dance. It has that eerie but gorgeous feel to it. I didn't even get into the other adorable and strong characters in this book, but I assure they are there. Ok ok so I'll say the guys are sweet and... unique. Oh you guys will just have to read it and discover them for yourselves!

I have read other retellings of this tale: Princess of the Midnight Ball,The Thirteenth Princess, and The Night Dance: A Retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" but this one is the best retelling of the twelve princesses that I have read. So I urge other fairytale junkies like me to pick it up and get entwined. ...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Carrie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rrrc, fairy-tales, random-book-list-challenge, based-on-another-re-tellings, the-twelve-dancing-princesses

Azalea, is the eldest of the twelve princess, it is up to her to look after her sisters when their mothers dies. She makes this promise to her her mother, a promise on silver, an oath. After the death of her mother, her father,the king has to go off to war and they are confined in the palace for a year, in mourning. The palace, which was once owned by an evil king, had enchanted the whole place. Some things still held there magic, even after the palace was disenchanted. A tea pot and sugar tongs ...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Christine rated it liked it

Shelves: kindle, young-and-new-adult-fairy-tales, grimm, diverse-and-women-authors

In fairness, I'm older than the target audience for this book. It's really a 3.5 btw.

Entwined is a fairly good retelling of the 12 Dancing Princess fairy tale. 12 sisters, each named after flowers and in alphabetical sequence, loss their mother, deal with their father's grief, and have to deal with a mysterious Keeper.

Part Disney inspired, part dark fantasy, part dance, Entwined has several things to reccomend it despite it's flaws.

The first is that this tale is told from the viewpoint of the el ...more

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Apr 04, 2011 JS rated it liked it

Shelves: ya, fairy-tales

One thing I really appreciate is when a fairy tale retelling takes elements that made no sense in the original and really shapes a story that explains things (think stuff like glass slippers and why the miller would tell the king his daughter can spin gold from straw). I liked that about this story. It created a plot around weird stuff like sisters who would constantly dance all night, even when their suitors started getting in trouble and such.

Also, my favorite quote (Azalea and the king are ta ...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Giselle rated it it was ok

I wanted to like this book so badly but I was ready for it to be over at 50%... I honestly skimmed the last 200 pages. Not ashamed. Literally all of the characters had no common sense. Princesses biting people?! What rudely behaved children. They obviously were not brought up very well. And their logic made no sense whatsoever. I'm hoping to like some other 12 Dancing Princesses retelling better than this one. ...more

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Oct 20, 2010 Kathee rated it it was amazing

I loved this! It has all the essential elements for my perfect fairy tale - sassy girls, a little scary, a lot of humor, a sweet, handsome boy for our girl - what's not to love??? ...more

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