Once Upon a Week: Reivew: Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

Today marks the start of Once Upon a Week! It is the brainchild of Nessie from Today's Adventures. I love fairy tales, so I was in for sure. Today's assignment was to review a fairy tale! Music Munday will return next week, but at least this is a book about dancing and you need music to dance...

A tale of twelve princesses doomed to dance until dawn…

Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above.

Captivating from start to finish, Jessica Day George’s take on the Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses demonstrates yet again her mastery at spinning something entirely fresh out of a story you thought you knew.

I love reading fairy tales and fairy tale re-tellings! This book just came out this year and I have been seeing it around the blogosphere, but I wanted to wait until either the library bought it or it came out in paperback. Luckily, the library bought it and I jumped at the chance to read it. I am so glad that I did! The best part of it all is that its dark atmosphere made it perfect for this time of the year. I was surprised by that because I didn't go into it looking for a dark tale. I went into it to see how George decided to retell one of my favourite fairy tales.

I found this book really good. I knew roughly what was going to happen, but that didn't take away from the story at all! George adds just enough to make it a fresh story, but at the same time stays true to the original. By the end of it I really was caught up in the characters and the story. It was magical! Galen was a believable hero. He wasn't too over the top, but he wasn't too meek either. Rose was a wonderful damsel in distress. I hate to say that, but she was trapped and didn't really see a way out of her situation. Her and her sisters had tried various ways to break the curse, but it didn't work out for them. They needed Galen to change things up and save the day.

Even if you are familiar with the story, you should still give this a read! I am glad I did!