Entwined by Heather Dixon


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YA Fantasy

Entwined is one of the many spin-offs of the fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
Azalea is the eldest of twelve sisters and destined to be heir to the throne of a formerly enchanted kingdom. After her mother’s death, the king bans dancing in observance of mourning. Determined to continue to dance in a way to stay close to her late mother, Azalea and her sisters discover a secret passage to a magical pavilion where they dance every night under the observance of a mysterious gentleman named Mr. Keeper. Although the dancing allows the sisters to abandon the stiffness of mourning, it is soon made clear that Mr. Keeper has ambitions of his own that could spell trouble for Azalea and her family.

Entwined offers readers a good mix of classic fairy tale charm and the innocence of romance. First off I must say that the reason I picked up this book was due to the beautiful cover. I also must admit that after reading several renditions of this story, it was not my favorite; however, it was good in its own right. The integration of the specific dances really brought to life the desire of the sisters to dance and gave the story a sense that the author did research in order for the story to come to life. The brief interchanges between the sisters and the suitors really made the book as enjoyable as it was. All of the male characters were likeable as many of them had a sweet innocence or a witty charm that was agreeable to the reader. Although I did like the fairy tale aspect of the story, Entwined did have two main shortcomings. Even though Dixon does make an attempt to develop the characters in the books, there were just so many that she tried to build up that the characters were rather two dimensional for most of the story. Also, the immaturity of Azalea did grate on my nerves throughout the entire book.

Despite these shortcomings, the book did serve as a fun, easy read. If the reader goes in reading the book with the expectation that it is a cutesy, princess story, it will be much more enjoyable. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good princess oriented fairy tale.
For those who like Entwined I would recommend Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier and Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

--Posted by Lauren--