Entwined by Heather Dixon

So a few years ago, the big thing was vampires and werewolves. Then came zombies. Now, the big thing seems to be the retelling of fairy tales. Entwined is the retelling of ‘The 12 Dancing Princesses.’ I’ll be honest that I never read that fairy tale when I was a kid.

So in this book you have eleven princesses, all sisters and named after flowers alphabetically. The twelfth princess is born within the first chapter, but takes their mother – the queen – away. They immediately enter a period of mourning that is supposed to last a year. But the princesses have a love for dancing and they can’t seem to quit. So when they find a magical passageway in their room that leads to a ballroom where they can dance with no judgment from their father, it seems to be fate.

But it’s not. It turns out that the guardian of this magical dance floor – Mr. Keeper – has a task for the girls to complete in exchange for using his ballroom. He is in the ballroom because of a spell, and he needs them to find the magical object that is binding him there.

This book was okay. It had a really slow start, and sometimes the different princesses’ personalities drove me a little bit nuts. I mean, they’re trying to entertain all these gentlemen, but instead they chase them away with their practical jokes. And I agreed with Mr. Keeper near the end when they called them ‘too trusting.’ I mean, c’mon! There’s a magical ballroom in a secret passageway in your room, and you just start dancing right away? You don’t even question what it’s doing there? Or who the hell this Mr. Keeper is? I’ll give points to Azalea for being wary of him from the start…but GAH! Her search for the magical object drove me insane.

Azalea: Maybe it’s the sugar teeth?

Me: It’s the handkerchief!

Azalea: It’s not the sugar teeth. Maybe it’s the sword?

Me: It’s the handkerchief!

Azalea: It’s not the sword. Oh, my sister’s went to the ballroom. I have to go after them! …Oh, is that mother? Mother, I’ll place the handkerchief on the your face. Oh, dear why is it melting your face?

Me: Because that’s not your mother, and holy crap! It’s the HANDKERCHIEF!

Oy.

Final Rating: 3 out of 5 stars. I liked the way Azalea, Mr. Branford, and the King developed over the course of the book. But I’m still curious as to what exactly happened with the King’s bullet wound that was supposed to kill him, but didn’t.

Bookshelf worthy? If you love retellings about fairy tales, then yes. Otherwise rent it from your library!