Alas! I have finished reading the book. I do not say this in such a manner that you would think I have been exhausted by it, rather it is because of how little time I've actually had to read this. What with all the continuous walking around town and whatnot, which at the end of the day makes me tired leaving me to fall asleep. Nevertheless, I have finally finished it and it is remarkable. Heather Dixon's book, Entwined, is somewhat like a re-telling of the 12 Dancing Princesses. Here, it starts with the death of a loved one who passes an heirloom or the like to the main character and her journey begins from their. It is filled with magic and excitement. Love of course is a major theme as well as Family, and Trust.
The princesses are left in the castle during mourning while the King is away in the war. He left them in bad terms that they ended up disobeying the rules about dancing while mourning. It was not allowed in their kingdom but since they haven't been dancing in public and no one from the kingdom sees them, technically it wasn't a problem at all. However, this secret place lures them every single time they come to dance that it ends up becoming a place they regret coming.
Being a dancer myself I love how the author the author describes the dances mentioned in the story and how it is delivered by the characters. The images of skirts twisting when they turn or spin seems so real I want to do it myself and feel what their feeling. The emotions she describes when they dance is exactly how I feel whenever I succeed doing a dance step. I love ballroom dancing the most among all the dances I do. Some might think that the choreography is too simple or boring but reading from this book tells you otherwise. You suddenly feel the dances themselves the same way the lovers of princesses Azalea, Bramble, and Clover make you feel when they say or do something romantic. Although Lord Teddie didn't sound romantic but his funny ways of showing how much he fancied Bramble was more than enough for me to understand that they're a good match. Not to mention the villain of the story, Keeper or the High King, who was described to have a "chocolate voice", handsome, and was great at dancing. Initially, I had my doubts at the beginning. maybe it's because he was to perfect to begin with and there was something about his dialogue that made him suspicious. Later on his descriptions became more and more close to that of the High King. I put the pieces of the puzzle together, chapters before Azalea did. But she was exhausted already from all the tortures and pressures he gives her, and she has to assist 11 girls in their household so I'll give her that.
It is a very lovely book and I love the cover too. The time, place, characters, I adore. Best fairy tale story and since I haven't read the original version of the 12 Dancing Princesses I can't really make a comparison to say whether or not this was a better version. It's a great read and I recommend it to anyone who loves stories of Magic, Love, and Fairy Tales coming to life because you'll not want to put this book down once you've started.
