Entwined

I picked this book up years ago and after reading through the first couple of pages gave it back to my local library (go support your libraries, ladies and gents. It's worth it!). I knew I wanted to read it again or at least give it a try, but when my library was "weeding" the books they were going to get rid of this one. So for $0.50 I snagged it, hoping I'd get to it eventually. Well, I got to it eventually, lol.

This is a fairytale retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. Azalea is the eldest of eleven princesses whom she loves and takes care of while their mother is deathly ill. Their mother is pregnant and sick and on the night the youngest is born she dies. The girls and the King grieve in different ways, but all are subjected to mourning for a year. Merry Christmas, everyone. The thing that the girls love most is dancing and because of mourning they are denied this. They get scolded and reprimanded for sneakily doing it in defiance of their father, knowing "Mother would have let us do it." The castle they live in is a magic one and they find an enchanted room in their fireplace where a man with magic has been imprisoned by the same magic he uses. He invites them all down every night to dance and enjoy themselves. They greedily take the opportunity. Between arguments with their father, grieving over their mother, being forced to be alone in mourning, and the occasional "political business" where gentlemen would strut around trying to entice the princess into political marriages, they dance.

I really enjoyed the ending of this book. The beginning was a bit cheesy, which is why I didn't get very far the first time, and the middle was a little elongated more than it really needed to be, but the ending was very well done. Highly intriguing and engaging where I finished the last 200 pages in a day--where as I somewhat struggled picking it up in the middle. It was worth it in the end. I'll definitely be keeping this book on my shelf and will probably read through it again later.

The driving force of this book was more to do with Father/Daughter relationships more than "I love this boy" which is different than most YA books out there. Yes, there is romance, but moral of the story is family. They learn to grieve together and it's not something that happens over night. That build up of Parent/Child relations is what took the middle of the book so long. It was needed and important for the end, so I'm glad it was there, but it might drag a bit for some. Family is first. Loving family first where boys and potatinal marriages are second. Different and good.

There is a struggle some authors have in keeping different character (especially lots of different characters) separate and distinct. Heather Dixon does a good job with this. All the girls are flower names, but they are all in alphabetical order so then we as the reader can at least guess as to where they land in age. Azalea is 17 or so all the way down to baby Lilly. We can keep them in order because of their names. There are also a lot of gentlemen who come and go throughout the story and, through their names as well, we are able to keep them separated as well as given a bit of their personalities. Lord Teddie is rambunctious, Lord Bradford is practical and a good political while still being kind, Lord Fairweather is constant and stiff. Names and personalities here were well straightened out for the most part, which is hard to do with so many people.

The setting was fun, and the magic in the world was simple, yet different. The large portion of magic at the end, the climax and resolution of it all, was set up well enough but there was one part I had a problem with due do lack of explanation--which gave its excuse of it possibly being "Old Magic" therefore mysterious. Slight cop out, but I guess it works.

The only thing that I can complain about is the slight cheesiness of the dancing toward the beginning. It got better as it went on and it might have to do with the fact that I'm not a dancer, really, and don't get the fascination so much. Good for them if they do, but it was kind of cheesy to me. The reader can get over it and it's not so bad, just push on and it gets to be better.

In the end, it's a really good book. Heather Dixon did a really good job at portraying this story which often gets over looked for other "princess classics." Read it and enjoy.

The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train is a National Bestseller and supposedly pretty good. I somewhat disagree. I can see why people would like the book, I however don't care for it.

The book is about Rachel who's had a mental crisis and is trying, very poorly, to function. She rides the train to work every day and at a particular stop, she watches this couple whom she deems perfect. They must have the perfect life. She's fascinated by them because her life has gone down the drain since her divorce to her cheating husband. She does drink and often blacks out, not being able to recollect anything whiles she's drunk. Megan who is spotted having an affair. And lastly, Anna, who is the woman Rachel's husband had an affair with and is now currently married to. Megan is suddenly found dead and after a drunken blackout, Rachel is trying to find out what is happened on the night she can't remember. Did she do it? Did she see who did it?

This is the story with a very unreliable narrator. Rachel is on the verge of mental snappage which makes her testimony hard to find solid footing in, which is a way to make this fun. Unreliable narrators bring twists to the story that otherwise wouldn't be there or it wouldn't be nearly as fascinating. This was the point that drew me in and kept me wanting to listen.

However, I didn't finish the book. It had a few too many and strong swear words for my liking as well. It was also more dark than I really wanted to read. I don't get drunk, I don't drink at all. I don't find it as fascinating as others might. I don't have a point of reference for it, not that I really want one either. Then there is the concept of affair this and that and having it constantly swirling around the page. I don't read for that. Getting cheated on isn't something I like focusing on. To have it be so constant, has put me off.

I'm sure it's a good book, for other people. Not me.

If others don't mind the concepts that are very prominent here, then they would probably enjoy it very much. Have at it. It was written well with good characters and an interesting concept. It's just not more me.