Book Review: Wildwood Dancing

 

Title: Wildwood Dancing
Author: Juliette Mariller
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale/ Romance/YA
Goodreads rating: 4.09
My rating: 4.25

High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi, live five daughters and their doting father. It's an idyllic life for Jena, the second eldest, who spends her time exploring the mysterious forest with her constant companion, a most unusual frog. But best by far is the castle's hidden portal, known only to the sisters. Every Full Moon, they alone can pass through it into the enchanted world of the Other Kingdom. There they dance through the night with the fey creatures of this magical realm. 

But their peace is shattered when Father falls ill and must go to the southern parts to recover, for that is when cousin Cezar arrives. Though he's there to help the girls survive the brutal winter, Jena suspects he has darker motives in store. Meanwhile, Jena's sister has fallen in love with a dangerous creature of the Other Kingdom--an impossible union it's up to Jena to stop.

When Cezar's grip of power begins to tighten, at stake is everything Jena loves: her home, her family, and the Other Kingdom she has come to cherish. To save her world, Jena will be tested in ways she can't imagine--tests of trust, strength, and true love.

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How many of you love a good fairy tale retelling?  Wildwood Dancing is a retelling based off of one of my favorites, the under appreciated 12 Dancing Princesses.  It is not an exact retelling.  In fact we get a little Transylvanian vampire lore and a little Frog Prince as well.  It's definitely it's own very unique retelling. 

I wanna start by praising the author, Juliette Marillier.  Not only does she create a beautiful story but she also gives you beautiful words to read.  Some authors are good at telling a story but don't always have the talent to string words together in such a beautiful way.  Marillier really knows how to tell a beautiful story in a beautiful way.  

The setting is lush, the main character, Jena, is deep and well thought out.  She is the more practical and rational of her sisters and yet her best friend is her pet frog.  Her relationship with her frog is a really sweet one.  I never thought I'd find myself endeared to an amphibian but in here I thought he was the perfect supporting character to Jena.  

There are two small reasons why this book didn't get a higher rating from me.  One is that the beginning of the book doesn't immediately have you captivated.  I don't find that a real flaw just something that can make it harder for people who have trouble focusing.  The other reason is that I wasn't a fan of the way Jena's older sister dealt with her heartache.  I wont elaborate beyond that because my goal here isn't really to ruin the story by giving too much detail but to entice people into picking it up and reading.  But I also don't want my high rating of it giving people false expectations.  Thus my reason for offering the reasons why I didn't give this book a full 5 star rating.  

This book comes highly recommended by me and I hope any one of you can pick it up and enjoy it as much as I did.  It is a truly beautiful story filled with adventure, romance, conflict and a touch of the paranormal.