Princess Series

By Jessica Day George

Princess of the Midnight Ball

I am a sucker for fairy tale retellings. I also love Jessica Day George, so how could I pass up reading PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT BALL, which is a retelling of the twelve dancing princesses. Not only does she cover all of the important bits, but she puts her own twist on the story that I love. There is just something about the personalities that makes them seem so real. They aren’t just good or just bad but they are individuals.

The story of the twelve dancing princesses involves twelve princesses who disappear every night and come back from their room exhausted and with worn shoes. The king says that if any man can figure out where his daughters go at night he promises them the hand of one of his daughters in marriage. A soldier named Galen decides that he will try his hand at learning where the princesses go. With the help of the eldest daughter, Rose, he will do all he can of breaking the curse.

What makes this story unique, is Galen. All of the fairy tales have the dashing young soldier, but Galen has a talent that isn’t found among too many people. Galen knits. Once again Jessica Day George has taken some of her Nordic heritage and implanted it in her story. Apparently it was very common to have men knit, especially soldier. Who else was going to darn their socks while on the march. This story is a wonderful retelling of an old classic. Not only do you get to know Rose and Galen, but you learn about all of the princesses and they are unique.

Princess of Glass

I liked the PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT BALL just a little more, but that in no wise means I didn't enjoy this book. This book takes the story of Cinderella and puts a twist on it. I love the main character Poppy, the younger sister of Rose, and I feel Prince Christian and Poppy deserve each other. I was really surprised at the third POV character, which added another element to the story. Some of the things she said and saw really made me think about what was going on. Poppy is level headed and spunky, she is the life of the book and there are times you just want to stand up and cheer for what she's doing and her grasp of the situation.

The reason I didn't enjoy this book quite as much was because I wanted a little slower pace at the end of the story. Everything that happened was amazing and awesome but I wanted it to linger longer than what we got. Now that it has been a week or two since I've read the book I have digested what happened and wouldn't mind reading it again, this time prepared and paying more attention to the details Jessica Day George gives.

Once again, this book makes me want to learn how to knit. I've never been against knitting but the fact that she includes the patterns for the various knitted items is genius. I really hope that this book encourages more people to learn the skill because who knows when you will have to knit a bracelet to keep your friends from falling under an evil spell. This book is great for anyone and is a new take on an old classic.