Wildwood Dancing (Wildwood Dancing, #1)

by Juliet Marillier

[ladygrey]

[b:Wildwood Dancing|13929|Wildwood Dancing (Wildwood, #1)|Juliet Marillier|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1236781023s/13929.jpg|2024857] is a rich reimagining of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. It has the structure and form of a classic fairy tale with dark elements and danger, a world where things aren't what they appear, true love and betrayal, tests of loyalty and battles for power.

I liked that it's a quick read. I enjoyed almost all of the characters. Which is to say, they were all well portrayed. I enjoyed disliking the bad guys and rooted for the good guys, mostly. Unfortunately, about half way through I started to seriously dislike the heroine, Jena. She was just so infuriating in so many ways, ways in which she resembled the bad guy in her own way. It was interesting narratively and served the story, but was also hard to read.

Overall, the world is well created, the characters interesting, the story fun to read and it left me thoughtful afterward which I like.