Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Princess of the Silver Woods

Princess of the Silver Woods
by Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2012.  322 pgs. Young Adult Fiction.

Though King Gregor’s twelve daughters still experience terrible nightmares, years have passed since they were freed from the curse that forced them to dance night after night at King Under Stone’s Midnight Ball.  Sixteen year old Petunia, the youngest princess, travels across Westfalin to visit an elderly countess and her handsome grandson, Prince Grigori.  Along the way, she is taken captive by a group of charitable bandits and uncovers terrible secrets.  In this loose take on both the Little Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood stories, Jessica Day George wraps up her princess series.

Even though I was a big reader of fairy tale retellings in middle school and high school, I somehow missed out on Jessica Day George.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed discovering her works as an adult.  Her fantasy world is well structured and easy to picture, and her characters are well-developed and relatable.  In Princess of the Midnight Ball and especially Princess of Glass, the endings felt rushed, and I had to reread a little to make sure I had caught what happened.  Because of this, I was especially happy to see that Princess of the Silver Woods had a detailed, well-paced, satisfying conclusion.

SGR

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