Plot too predictable?

[Brooke]

I was wondering if anyone else found Wildwood Dancing too predictable at times?

[Jayme]

Yeah, at times the plot was really predictable but I thought the end was interesting.

[Neha]

Slightly, but then again there were some parts I couldn't have thought of.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Well... yes I thought it was predictable , but to me most fairy tales are.

[Kristin]

Yes it was, but isn't it nice to read a predictable book every once in a while...

[M]

I agree with Angie--it was predictable in parts, but so are a lot of fairy tales. I was kind of hoping it wouldn't end so "perfectly," that not everything would work out for everyone. I guess I like a little darkness to my stories, especially fairy tales.

[Storm]

I agree with the fact that the plot was predictable and I agree that that is how it is with fairy tales. I really think that the ending wasn't predictable. I think the fact that everything ended happily was kind of unpredictable.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Did anyone find though that the ending happened too fast? One minute it is a big adventure and then the story was over.

[Storm]

Yeah, I totally agree. It was really fast paced and adventure oriented and then off to happily ever after.

*Spoilers*
I think that if they had spent more time on Tati and her crossing over to the Other Kingdom then it would have drawn out the adventure and had it end with more of a conclusion.

[M]

I felt the ending was a bit anti-climactic and seemed to move more and more slowly until it just kind of fizzled out. If it hadn't been for that and the other problem I had with the ending, I would have given the book 5 stars.

[Storm]

When Tati drank the healing water I thought they were going to have problems with that and I thought it was pointless that nothing resulted from them cheating the water. I know that's a VERY small thing to have an issue with but it bothered me...lol.

[Jessica]

Rose wrote: "When Tati drank the healing water I thought they were going to have problems with that and I thought it was pointless that nothing resulted from them cheating the water. I know that's a VERY small..."

I have a theory about this act, though. If Sorrow had refused to give Tati the healing water, then his love would not have been worthy and, I believe, he would have failed his test. Tati probably would have died and if Sorrow hadn't been willing to risk his chance with her then Ileana would probably have told him he'd failed because he would have been so focused on winning Tati regardless of what condition she was in. That is something I could have imagined Cezar doing, not Sorrow.

Rose wrote: "*Spoilers*
I think that if they had spent more time on Tati and her crossing over to the..."

I think that Marillier should write a second book and start with when Tati and Sorrow crossed into the Other World. She could go into their lives together and whether or not they have more trouble with the Night People. She could also bring in Sorrow's sister, Silence, and explain why Sorrow and Silence ended up as they did.
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Although the novel was predictable in some ways, in others it completely took me by surprise. I think Marillier deliberately foreshadowed some events in order to fool us into believing it would end a certain way when it truly didn't.
Personally, I find predictable novels such as this one to be refreshing to read.

[Storm]

I agree, what I meant when I mentioned the healing water I thought they would have had Sorrow and Tati explain it to the fairy queen and she would still say they won because of true love.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

My problem with the ending was that Tati was starving herself for her love. That is NOT a good thing to teach young adults. So I really thought, especially for YA that might be anorexic that this is a bad thing to do but it seemed to me that the book made it seem like it was OK to do this for love.

[Storm]

I agree and I think that that is the problem with a lot of YA books today. They show all of these girls giving up themselves or not eating for love which isn't good at all.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Tati stopped eating to the point of dying. That is very skinny. Though I guess the doctor did stop by and there was nothing he could do. It's not like there were feeding tubes then.