Entwined

by Heather Dixon

Just when Azalea should feel that everything is before her—beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing—it's taken away. All of it. And Azalea is trapped. The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. So he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest, but there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

• ISBN10: 0062001043
• ISBN13: 9780062001047
• Publish Date: 27 March 2012 (first published 29 March 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

Entwined is one of those books that grow on you. In the beginning, it didn't seem like it was going to be anything special, but the more I read, the more I started caring about the characters and became engrossed with the story.

Entwined is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses and has a traditional fairytale atmosphere which becomes darker as the story progresses. The plot is well-written, but it's standard and unpredictable.

Azalea, the oldest princess and main character of Entwined, is a bland character and the secondary characters are one-dimensional. The characters have unique personality traits, but their characterisation is flat. I also found it difficult to tell the younger siblings apart.

I love that Entwined focuses on family bonds. The twelve sisters are always looking out for and supporting each other. I also disliked the King in the beginning, but as he interacted with his family more, he became my favourite character in Entwined. His character development is extensive.

The love interests and their relationships with the princesses are cute. However, my least favourite pairing is Azalea and Mr Bradford. Azalea and Mr Bradford are bland characters and their relationship is dull.

The Keeper is a good villain. From the moment he's introduced, he gives off a creepy vibe. It's also not difficult to guess The Keeper's identity. I found it odd that the princesses just accepted The Keeper's generosity and didn't try to find out more about him.

Entwined has a gorgeous cover and an interesting premise. The story is well-written and predictable and while the family relationships shine, the characters are unmemorable.

[Stephanie]

I have this as an ebook, but decided to listen to the audiobook instead, and I am so happy I did! I really enjoyed the narrator, with her accent and different voices for each character, it really added a lot to the story. This was definitely a fun book, with some cute and creepy bits thrown in. I highly suggest the audiobook if you want to read this. I feel like I wouldn't have liked it as much if I read it myself.

Just could not get through this, I wasn't interested in anyone or anything unfortunately :(

[Kelsenator]

Originally posted on my blog Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf

This book is apparently based off of the 12 princesses fairytale. I can honestly say I’ve never read or heard of that one before, and if I did read it I don’t remember it.

The 12 sisters all have names in accordance with the alphabet and their birth, Azalea being the oldest, Bramble the next and so on. Their mother is pregnant at the beginning of the book and dying, while the eldest sister Azalea is hosting the Christmas ball at their house. The King (her father) misses the ball to be with their mother, but she still dances the night away. They wake up the next morning to find out the bad news.

Their mother gives birth to another daughter, the 12th. In that time apparently it was custom to mourn for a year, all their clothes get dyed black, the windows are covered with dark cloth, all clocks stopped, and no going outside or any visitors. The children feel like they’re in a cage, and are especially upset because they can’t dance. The King eventually leaves for a war for a few months, and they are left alone with their caretakers. One night Azalea finds a secret door, that leads them all to a magical silver room, where they can dance to their hearts content. The Keeper of the place lets them use it as they wish, but there will be a price for it eventually.

The book itself was cute, but the first half of story seemed really slow. I kept waiting for something big to happen, but it just fell short and kept on going at the same pace. It does pick up and the end was awesome though, but that’s really late into the book. The girls themselves only seemed to care about dancing, and I understand that kids get bored when being locked in a house for a year, but if it’s your custom to do that they should have other things to keep busy. They do learn and are better at the end of the book though.

This book is good if you’re looking for an easy paced read or you love fairytale retellings.

Short and Sweet:


What an adorable book! Because it's a re-telling, you know what's going to happen, but that doesn't take away from it's sweet nature.


My favorite part by far were the characters themselves. With 12 sisters, you'd think it'd be hard to separate each. You'd think they'd start blending together. Not the case here. Each sister had her own distinct personality. Even the ones that were younger and didn't really have much dialogue. Briar was by far my favorite! Her prickly nature and sharp tongue got her in plenty of trouble, but she always put her sisters first. And the romances were simply adorable!


I know some complained that Entwined wasn't that much different from the original fairytale, that it didn't have enough of it's own flavor. Well, to be honest, I'm only familiar with the general idea of the story, and while perhaps not completely unique, it's almost like a comfortable old blanket. It's familiar, but that doesn't take away from it's warmth.


Overall:


Entwined is definitely a cute book and one to add to your fairy-tale retelling collection. It's a sweet, warm and all around fun book to read with an adorable dash of romance.


All the best ♥
Mackenzie @ Oh, For the Love of Books!

[Nicole Lynn]

This review appeared previously on my blog, PopCrunchBoom Books


My Review:


Entwined is a retelling of the fairytale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.” I’ve read a few different takes on the fairytale as well as the actual fairytale itself, so I was interested in seeing how this particular version would be told. The story begins with a description of the dance, “The Entwined,” which I found a very creative touch to the story. The idea of the dance, which later shows up in the story, is also a great foreshadowing of some of the events that Azalea (the main character) ends up in. Also, I loved the back story on the house and former king. The enchanted castle was a great setting choice and the back story helped the reader understand why some of the magical things existed–my favorite being the charmed sugar-cube tongs.

Azalea was a good main character for this story. She was a strong older sister, but also compassionate and still young in some ways which allowed the reader to understand some of her choices. Her relationship with all the other characters really added to the humanization of the fairytale. The reader gets to see a loving mom, a caring and responsible older sister, and a loving, but at times harsh father. The three different suitors that appear in the book are also interesting. Although I was under the impression that all three might possibly be suitors for Azalea, I quickly figured out who the actual suitor was suppose to be.


The only problem I seemed to have with the novel was some storyline issues involving the sisters. In the beginning of the novel there are only 11 girls. But soon into the novel, a twelfth one arrives. My issues begins when the sisters bring the newborn of only a few months down dancing with them. Some of the actions involving the youngest sister seemed a little far-fetched for my liking.

Other than that particular problem, I found the novel enjoyable to read. It only took me a day and into the night to finish it. I liked the added darkness of the novel involving the antagonist as well as the darker feelings seen in the father and the natural setting. It definitely was a nice little read and I encourage you to pick it up for a try if you are interested in the fairytale retelling or a novel with some old time supernatural elements. It was a creative and definitely seemed a more darker take on the story and I enjoyed it!

[sstaley]

Cute story, but it seemed to be very slow in many places.

[ladygrey]

This is the other most beautiful cover I have ever seen. There's this wild, sophisticated loveliness to it that absolutely captivates me.

I can't tell you how excited I was to get this book and discover the story wrapped inside such a stunning cover.

This is a delightful retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I liked the twists and the way [a:Heather Dixon|386042|Heather Dixon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1314682998p2/386042.jpg] reimagined it and made it her own. It delves into the intricacies of dancing more than any other version I've read and also spends more time with the sisters which is the best part. The sisters are funny and sweet and wild but also wonderful with each other. Also the King is a really good character. None of the men were quite dashing enough to fall in love with, but more than one of them were noble and good and in a way I liked that they weren't really the point.

My only complaint is her sense of magic, which seemed half formed. She knew enough for the parts that needed it, but there didn't seem to be a deeper mythology of how it all worked or why. Which is ok, except there's got to be a better way to reference it than that warm tingly bit, over and over - some different turn of phrase every now and then that gives it substance or power beyond the moments when it flitters to life.

But that's a small thing in an otherwise sweet, fun book. The dancing is very much alive and beautiful. And the characters are what really what makes this a good book.