Wildwood Dancing

Reader reviewed by Misty

Wildwood Dancing is retold fairy tale set in Romania of a century ago.
Five sisters (beautiful Tati; sensible Jena, who narrates the story;
lively Iulia; smart Paula and young Stela) are left to take care of
their estate, Piscul Dracului, when their father travels south for his
health. They try to go on with their lives as before: doing chores,
watching over his mercantile business, and sneaking out of their
bedroom once a month through a secret portal that lead to a fairy realm
where they dance until dawn. But when Tati begins to show feelings for
a potentially dangerous creature from the Other Kingdom, and the girls
cousin, Cezar, shows up to take over the affairs of the castle, Jena
begins to fear that the world she knows is falling apart. With her best
friend, a talking frog named Gogu, at her side, Jena struggles to
maintain her independence and control while keeping her family together
and her fairy friends safe.

Wildwood Dancing retells the classic Twelve Dancing Princesses, as
well as weaving in other traditional tales and bits of mythology in an
interesting and clever way. Marilliers use of Romania as a setting
provides great depth to the story, layering in interesting culture and
an appropriately untamed setting. Her writing is well-suited to the
story, making it lush and fully fleshed out. The world she creates and
the characters who inhabit it are detailed and dynamic, and though some
things work out a little too conveniently and quickly for all the
build-up, the story is enchanting and I was sad when it was over.
Perfect for those who love retold fairy tales, historical and
paranormal romance, and strong female characters.



(On a personal note, I want my own Gogu)

Reader reviewed by Kristen

Reader reviewed by Chantele

This
story takes place in Transylvania, and follows 5 sisters who have a
wonderful and exciting secret. Once every month on Full Moon, they are
able to go into a different world full of magic. They spend their time
dancing with the strange and interesting creatures that live there. The
five sisters have kept their secret for many years, and intend to keep
it that way. At the beginning of the story, their father falls ill, and
must leave home to heal. The sisters face the dilemma of an over
bearing cousin, who tries to take over the house and will stop at
nothing to find out the secret his cousins are keeping.
The story is
told from Jena's point of view, and along with her mysterious frog
Gogu, (I love Gogu!) she must find a way to protect her sister's and herself from her
cousin and a new threat that has arrived in their magical world.
At
times I was really frustrated with Jena, and the way she handled a few
situations, but I liked how everything turned out the way it was
supposed to. It's a really fun read, a little predictable at times, but
I really enjoyed it. If you like fairy tales, romance, and fantasy, you
will enjoy Wildwood Dancing.

Reader reviewed by Beth

This book was delightful. My favorite fairy tale of all time is The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and it was fantastic to have it re-imagined. The characters were easy to sympathize with, and come on, who doesn't love a good story about true love? I would recommend this book to lovers of both fantasy and historical fiction, as it blends both successfully.

Reader reviewed by Brenda

Matisse is the daughter of two artists, who is definably a city girl. She loves everything about living in New York City. Then her father becomes ill and seemingly overnight the whole family's life changes. They move to a small town in upper New York State and neither parent is really working anymore. No one is talking about the changes.
Matisse reacts by withdrawing from everyone, her old friends in New York, her parents, her potential new friends in Prague.

This book is really about families, and how easily everything can fall about when people stop communicating. This would be a good book for teens with families in any kind of crisis to read. The contrasts between city people and country folk are more for amusement value and they ARE amusing. Between attacks by Satan's goose and the upcoming event of the year - the Hayride.

Mattisse' struggles to adapt to Prague are funny and endearing as she learns to not judge people by what's on the outside and how much a solid family means even to an independent city girl.

Reader reviewed by Mairi

Jenica (better known as Jena) has four sisters- Tatiana, Iulia, Paula, and Stela. Though each sister has a distinct personality they all get along very well and on the night of the full moon slip away to the Wildwood together, where they dance with the fairies. Yet one night, they find a very different sort of folk in the Wildwood- Night People or, as we would call them, vampires.

I first saw this book at Borders when I was reading the author's Sevenwaters trilogy. Though it looked good, I waited to read this book until I had finished that series and read Wolfskin as well. It was a delightful book, which I have come to expect from the author.

This book was written for young adults, not adults as were the author's other books.

Reader reviewed by ~tiffany^^

Wildwood Dancing is my favourite book right now. The story was so good, it had all the right stuff. This is the book for anyone who likes magic, adventure, and romance, with a happy ending. While being a fairy-tale, with true love, this book also gives other important messages such as trust, and faith.

Jena and her four sisters have a secret: every full moon, they cross a portal into the Other Kingdom. With an enchanted frog, Jena tries to find a way to save the folk from the Other Kingdom when her cousin and her village threatens to destroy the wildwood.

Reader reviewed by Mary

This is Juliet Marillier's first young adult novel and I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I wasn't disappointed. It was just as good as her adult novels.

This tale is inspired by the 12 Dancing Princesses. But there isn't 12 of them. And they aren't princesses. Jena is the main character. She is a strong-willed girl who fights to get what she wants. In a way she is the leader of all her sisters.
Jena and her sisters travel into another world every full moon. A world that is dangerous but has yet to harm them. But soon things are going to change especially when Jena's older sister falls in a love with someone forbidden. To make matters worse, Jena's cousin is determined to destroy the world and he will do it at any cost.

Fascinating and completely good this novel should be read by everyone. The characters are realistic and it is easy to root for them.

Reader reviewed by Rin

This story about a teenager named Jenica, her mysterious frog and her sisters takes place in a fairy world as well as in their Romanian estate of Piscul Dracului.

The girls have a mysterious portal to the fairyworld where they go on the Full Moon to dance and converse with the other creatures.

Sadly, once their father falls in and leaves them to recuperate, their overbearing cousin steps in as caretaker and ruins their carefree lives.

Even worse, Jenica's sister has fallen in love with a mysteriosu creature from the fairy world and is slowly wasting away.

And Jenica's true friend, Gogu the frog isn't exactly what he seems he is.

This book is an amazing fantasy story, one that young adults and adults will enjoy.

Reader reviewed by gabby

When I picked up this book at the library, I just kind of took it for the sake of reading. By the time I was done reading it, I was jostling to find a sequel. This book is about five sisters who have lost their mother, their father has left, and their home isnt home anymore. The portal the sisters look forward to, the fantasy world where they are always welcomed as friends, becomes blocked, and every second, every minute is relevant, the sisters must bond together to save the portal, and save their family. This is a beautiful romance with a fantasy backround, and I loved it.