Entwined - A Review

Let me start out by saying that the 12 Dancing Princesses was one of my favorite stories as a kid. If you are looking for a good, innocent, sweet, fairy tale for your summer reading, Entwined is definitely for you..

I absolutely loved this retelling. It is told in the point of view of Azalea, the eldest of the 12 princesses (she is 15 or 16 at the beginning of the book). The sisters are all named after flowers and are in alphabetical order from oldest to youngest, Azalea, Bramble, Clover, Delphinium, Evening Primrose (Eve), Flora & Goldenrod (twins), Hollycock, Ivy, Jessamine, Kale, and Lily, which makes it easy to keep track of which girl is which.
 
The girls' mother dies at the beginning of the book and the household begins a year-long mourning period in which they must wear black at all times, draperies cover every window, the girls are not allowed out of the house except on "R.B." (royal business), there will be no courting, and there will be no dancing. The King leaves shortly after mourning begins for war.

After the king leaves, Azalea finds a passageway from their bedroom that leads to a magical gazebo where they can dance every night. The man in charge is called The Keeper and, as the synopsis says, "he likes to keep things". There are several intense parts in this book where I could not put it down. I ended up taking around 2 days to finish it.

I cannot stop gushing over how much I love this book. I loved the family dynamic, I loved the man (you don't know for sure, so I won't way his name), and I loved the ending.

I'd give this book 4.5 stars, but since the cover is so gorgeous, I'm bumping it up to a 5. Excellent retelling. I highly recommend.