Even before Entwined was released, I was already looking forward to reading it. The cover art was beautiful and the summary drew me in with its mentions of my favorite genre. I admittedly had very high hopes for this book before even picking it up. Suffice to say, the novel entertained me from start to finish, and left me with a happy memory of my experience long after finishing the book. Entwined is and entertaining story for all readers, whether they are fans of the fairy tale genre or not.
The book, which is an adaption of The Worn Out Dancing Slippers or The Twelve Dancing Princesses, follows
the twelve sisters of the fairy tale after the death of their mother. With their already distant father distancing
himself even further from the girls, and the traditional mourning period revoking
their ability to dance, the sisters turn to a secret passageway for escape. The passageway leads
to a beautiful place filled with dancing and joy, and lets them be away from
the worries their impoverished kingdom and saddening home life leaves them
with. Of course, all is not what it
appears, and soon enough secrets are unearthed about the hidden passageway that
has the characters caught up in an evil thought to be a legend. While the story has a romantic plot along
with a villain to be defeated, the main focus is on the sisters themselves, and
their dealing with their mothers passing.
It also largely focuses on the sister’s withdrawn father, and how their
relationship grows with him over time.
The story closely follows the tale it is
based on, but is diverse enough from the tale that it is not a carbon copy of
the original fairy tale. It takes the
fairy tales limited content and expands upon it, providing details that
solidify the stories more unusual aspects, such as the father locking his
daughters in their room and the kingdom filled with a forest of gold and silver. While readers will no doubt recognize the
familiar childhood tale in the books content, they will also find new depths to
it. The novel expands upon the fairy
tale, adding emotions to the actions of the characters, allowing the reader to
experience a new found love for the well-known fairy tale.
The book is entertaining and fast paced,
and though it mainly focuses on the eldest princess, Azalea, several of the
other sisters are given their own sub-story, and all twelve of them get a
decent amount of time to become familiar to the reader. The girl’s father, though at first coming off
as abrasive and cruel, becomes a more likeable character as the book goes
on. The villain, a charming yet
frightening character, will send shivers down the reader’s spine and will shock
them with a surprising reveal. The
soldier of the story, along with the other princes who come to solve the
mystery of the worn out dancing slippers, are all very likeable – or so
unlikeable the reader will enjoy hating them.
With such a large assortment of personalities, Entwined has many intriguing characters that will keep readers invested
in their stories and emotions.
Of course, the many characters not only
make the read more enjoyable, but also pose as one of the biggest issues with
this novel, as they usually do with other novels based on the same fairy
tale. It makes sense. Most books only have three or less main
characters, a few secondary characters, and background characters. And while this story does limit itself to one
main character and a small amount of secondary characters, there are an
enormous amount of background characters.
With twelve sisters, a villain, family, and love interests, at times it
seems as though the book is too full with their stories. However, the author does a good job of
keeping the cast independent of themselves.
By giving each character, from the princesses to the background
characters, specific details about their background or personalities to
remember, when a name is produced you can usually link it to the right
character.
As with the characters, the excess of plot
does make the novel seem a bit packed at times.
Though there is only one main character, there are many sub-plots
involved in the story. It is at times
tough to remember each detail of these plots, and some transitions between each
plot can be a little rough or sudden. However,
each plot is captivating and enjoyable, both on its own and in the entire
scheme of things. The mysteries laced in
the narrative will make the reader intrigued in the novel while the twists to
the story that tie into what you have already read will give the reader a
surprise. The reader will be entertained
with each sub-plot, and will be left on the edge of their seats to see how each
comes to its conclusion.
Another issue the novel faces is that of
originality. Most popular fairy tales
have already had adaptions written of them before, leaving the author with no
choice but to use some already used ideas or points. With a building block
already set in place – every night twelve sisters dance until their shoes are
worn out, the king decrees whoever finds out where they go can marry one of the
sisters, and a soldier is the one who follows them to an underground palace where
they dance with princes – it is very hard to vary from the original story while
still being in the quota of a fairy tale retelling. Entwined
is no exception, with similar villains and story plots. Still, the read is fun, and many aspects of
the story put itself apart from most retellings of the common fairy tale and
leave the reader surprised with the outcome.
The writing of the story is one of its
major strong suits. Though at times the
author loses her consistent tone and the writing becomes a little weak, most of
the book is beautifully and eloquently written.
Phrases such as “how daintily the butterfly flits to the spider's lace,
entranced by glimm'ring silver strings, entwined with glist'ning grace” will
leave the readers with a thrill of excitement at the lyrical tone the writer
often uses. Only once or twice in the
book does the writing grow weak and subsequently pull the reader out of the
story. In fact, for the most part, the
reader will be so absorbed with the story that the slips in writing will not
affect them strongly.
Though this book has its faults, the
overall impression the reader will be left with is one of satisfaction. I went into the book with high hopes, and
left it satisfied. This was a book I did
not wish to set down until its completion.
The novel is charming and entertaining, with lovely writing, an
entrancing story, and unforgettable characters.
Heather Dixon’s debut novel is undoubtedly one of the best books I have
read in the fairy-tale retelling genre, and the poignant story and captivating
writing will leave the readers with a fond memory of this enchanting book long
after they finish it.
