Entwined

I have a lot of REALLY good things to say about this book. I absolutely love fairy tale re-tellings, and have read my fair share. This book has bumped a lot of other books down the list. It's definitely in my top 5 in that category. I can't even begin to comprehend how challenging having 12 main characters would be. I have read reviews in which they said all of the younger sisters blended into one. I didn't feel that way at all!
I wanted to keep them straight, and kept a list of the sisters and wrote a bit about their personalities and ages as I went along. There were definitely 12 different characters in this book. They all played a part. I was blown away by how well Heather Dixon pulled this off! I loved them all!
I loved how much of show more the story revolved around the dancing. There was a kind of magic in the dancing itself. I have never been a dancer, but I really got swept up in their excitement for it.
I felt the plot was solid, the pacing was perfect, the characters were well developed, the villain truly terrifying, and the relationships believable and charming.
The only thing that bothered me about this book was there were two phrases that were WAY overused. I would be all caught up in the story until either Azelea's father "sucked his cheeks in" or she -something to the effect of "squeezed her hands until her nails cut her palms " all I could think was "Where was the editor?!"
Having said that though, I am officially a Heather Dixon fan! I am excited for the new book that is coming out! show less

Entwined by Heather Dixon is a retelling of the "12 Dancing Princesses" fairy tale. It is also the loveliest fairy tale retelling I have read in some time. The writing is just elegant; it makes me wish that I could write like that. The world that Dixon creates is charming and different, without being intrusive in its differences. You don't notice the world, you notice the story and the characters -- but the world is the perfect backdrop for the story and the characters.

Possibly the best thing about this book is that it's a debut novel. I can't wait to see what this author does next. Five stars, and highly recommended.

First of all, the cover for Entwined is absolutely GORGEOUS that it takes my breath away every time. Isn’t it dreamy and wondrous and exciting? A stunning how-do-you-do that will make you want to grab this book and fall in love with it!

*inhales the frothy cover and sighs*

Entwined takes a while to reach that familiar point where the fairy tale starts to take off, but even then it takes a bit of a stroll before both the characters and story explode into something heart-stopping. I can see how the slow pacing helps to examine the uncomfortable relationship between the King and his 12 daughters. No one seemed to be able to relay their love quite right – and they never had a moment where everything went in their favor. As an outsider show more looking in, I could see that the King meant well despite his stern words, many absences, and overwhelming grief. I could see that the princesses simply wanted proof of their father’s love. I wanted to shake everyone as the hard feelings kept piling up and show them the bigger picture!

The princesses are quite the handful – and I cannot imagine how difficult it was for Heather Dixon to keep track of who has a big stomach, who is most beautiful, who is in charge, and who might send very strongly-worded napkin notes to a dinner guest. I would say that the 3 older princess definitely stood out most, but there were endearing moments of the younger ones as they got underfoot of the eligible bachelors. The eldest princess Azalea bears a huge weight on her shoulders as she tries to keep her family together as promised to her dying mother, to prepare herself for marriage prospects, and to unravel the magic hidden within the castle walls.

Entwined weaves a delicate spell around the reader, one that feels like an old friend but holds enough dash of unknown. This fairy tale is one of my favorites – Faerie Tale Theatre, anyone? Entwined was not exactly what I had hoped for, but I think it still gave a decent retelling that will appeal to fairy tale lovers. show less

A beautiful and captivating remake of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I loved this so much! I didn't even go to bed until four in the morning yesterday because I didn't want to put it down. I ended up having to put it down, because I realized I was being a little ridiculous, but the moment I woke up, I started again.

I loved the world created and the characters. Azalea and Clover especially. I especially enjoyed the love story of Clover. So surprising and sweet. And I really loved Teddy, he was a wonderful addition and brought bits of humour to the story, my favourite scene with him was when they're all discussing the lack of birthday presents from the King and Teddy whines that the King didn't get him a present either. That made me show more giggle.

The book did have faults here and there, but I found I was able to overlook them because the story was interesting enough to keep me tied in and the ending was satisfying. I swooned, I cried and I laughed. All signs to me that this was a fantastic read.

I'd definitely recommend this book though, I really enjoyed it. show less

Summary: Azalea and her eleven sisters live to dance—they have mastered almost every ballroom dance you can think of! But when their mother dies, their father, the King, insists that they stop dancing to properly mourn their loss. The Princesses are heartbroken until they stumble upon a hidden doorway that leads to a magical place where they meet Mr. Keeper, a gentleman who throws them grand parties and lets them dance to their hearts’ content without the King’s knowledge. But Keeper’s generosity will come with a price…

My thoughts: Take a look at Entwined’s cover. See it? It reflects the book perfectly. It’s flouncy, it’s flowery, and it makes me want to put on a pretty dress, grab a handsome gentleman, and start show more dancing. Guys, I want to live in the world of Entwined. First off, there’s magic, which is an automatic plus. Then there’s the whole bit about dressing pretty and attending balls, which just makes me all dreamy. Add in some sweet suitors and I am so there! Entwined is pretty much my kind of fairy tale, and though I felt the story was just okay, the setting and writing really stole my heart.

I’ve heard that Entwined is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I’ve never read this fairy tale (shame on me!), but some quick Googling provided me all the information I needed to say this: Entwined really does a good job of retelling the story. Almost everything included in the fairy tale is somehow woven into Entwined. I absolutely adore retellings—picking out the similarities between the two stories was really fun!

One thing I found interesting about the twelve sisters was how well they all got along! I’ve never had a sister, so I wouldn’t really know, but if I were Azalea, I think I’d get tired of having eleven younger princess following me wherever I went! I was seriously impressed with her mild temperament toward her siblings. It really shows how close their lack of decent parenting brought them (yeah, there’s a dead mom and an inattentive dad in this story). On that subject, though, the King was a very interesting character. I’d say that out of all the characters, he was the most dynamic—he went from being uptight and uncaring to a genuinely cool dad.

The villain of the book, Keeper, was sufficiently creepy. Every time he appeared (and especially when Azalea discovers him crawling on the ceiling like a spider), I shuddered. Towards the beginning of the book, I wanted to shake some sense into the princesses for thinking him gentlemanly! It was neat to see Keeper regress into something more and more like a monster.

Heather Dixon’s writing style really suits Entwined. It’s light and gives the book a magical, fairytale-like feel. The descriptions of each reel and waltz were wonderful as well—I wanted to get up and start dancing with Azalea and her sisters! The story was a bit slow for me, though. I suppose I just wanted a bit more suspense out of the book, which does come, but only in the last few pages.

Overall, I’d give Entwined 4 out of 5 stars. Its story, though fun, didn’t completely enrapture me, but the setting and writing style certainly did. I feel Entwined will be enjoyed most by those who love fantasy or fairytale retellings. show less

I'm always up for re-told tales of lesser known fairy tales. ENTWINED happens to be a re-telling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", which seems to have picked up in favor in the last few years (I do believe this is the third or fourth novel I've read based on it!), which pleases me since its one of my favorites.

There's a charm to the novel that I found entrancing as Dixon weaves not just a story about 12 Princesses forced to dance night after night, but 12 Princesses who find peace in the dancing. Who at first welcome it because its a means of staying close to their deceased mother who taught them to love it. Grief plays a large part in the book as it blinds their father (the King) and blinds the Princesses to the danger they so show more willingly embrace.

Azalea, the oldest, is nominally what the book focuses on, but in truth Dixon tries to give the girls as a collective center stage. They are a tightly knit group despite their large number, given to petty childish grievances and sibling slights, but dependent on one and other just the same. I liked that there was a unity to their characters, but also a spark of individualism as well. Bramble with her quick smiles and quicker wit, Clover with her serious nature and Azalea who strives to be just like her mother.

The romance is understated and treated with modesty; the plot concerns itself more with detailing how the girls respond to their mother's death, the change in their lives and how Azalea's Faustian bargain effects them. I admit I wanted more romance, but therein is the catch--Azalea begins the book concerned with dancing, parties and worry over her future husband. Its not that she's flighty or immature, she takes on the responsibilities of her being her father's hostess and role model to her sisters while her mother wastes away from sickness. She is however a young woman, with only one certainty in her future--she'll marry whoever the Council decides to be King. Dancing gives her a joy and parties mean dancing.

There are amusing moments, sad moments and grim moments, but the book ends itself on a happier note. A happily ever after is achieved for a fair amount of the girls, despite some eye-brow raising (like Clover's suitor) and I was satisfied that the girls were not just pretty pieces of fluff waiting to be rescued. show less

Twelve dancing princesses! I read this first during high school and absolutely loved it. Then while I was reading House of Salt and Sorrows, I kept thinking about the Barbie movie and trying to remember all those princesses’ names which were in alphabetical order from oldest to youngest. And that reminded me of this other twelve dancing princesses story I had read that also had alphabetical names, but these were all named after flowers. I couldn’t remember the title, but I googled it and managed to find this very familiar cover, so I immediately got it out of the library and read it again and I still love it!

Princess Azalea and her sisters all love to dance! It is a trait and skill instilled in them by their mother, but when she show more dies giving birth to her twelfth daughter, the King orders the household into strict mourning – which means no dancing for a whole year! Azalea is crushed: how can she grieve her mother when she isn’t allowed to do the one thing that makes her feel connected to her?

Then, miraculously, she discovers a secret passage in the castle that leads to a magical pavilion where she and her sisters can dance as much as they want every night! But it just might be too good to be true… The Keeper of the pavilion does not want to let them go without paying his price.

This book is my aesthetic exactly! I don’t know how else to describe it. The magic, the beauty of their enchanted dancing pavilion, but also that dark, sinister edge to it. The three oldest girls all have love interests, which are all adorable in their own ways, but none of it overshadows the main story and the most important relationship development is between the girls and their father.

Absolutely gorgeous in every way! show less