Dixon,
Heather. Entwined. Greenwillow Books,
2011. 472 pages, $17.99 ISBN: 9780062001030 (trade)
Plot
Summary:
Azalea is the eldest of
the 12 princesses of Eathsbury. Someday
she will be queen and whoever she marries will become the king. This is the farthest thing from Azalea’s mind
with her mother’s recent death and her father riding for war. Their mother’s death means that for the next
year while Azalea and her sisters are in mourning, there will be no more clock,
colors, and worst of all no more dancing.
The queen oversaw the princesses dancing lessons and all the girls feel
closer to their mother when they are dancing and are determined to find a way
to keep dancing despite the mourning period.
Mr. Bradford, the
former Prime Minister’s son, come to stop the clocks for mourning, but agrees
to lend the princesses his pocket watch so they will always know the time. The young Mr. Bradford also explained the
history of the castle’s magic passages and the effect silver has on the D’Eath
mark. Using that knowledge Azalea and
her sisters discover a magic passage and meet the Keeper, who was imprisoned in
the passage by an ancient king. The
Keeper invites the princesses to come dance in the magic passage every night.
Soon the king returns
from war and discovers the princesses have been dancing secretly at night. The king proposes a challenge to Azalea’s
potential suitors to discover where the princesses go to dance at night. Not only that, but the Keeper steals Mr.
Bradford’s watch and refuses to return it unless Azalea and her sisters find
the magic object that is keeping him confined to the passageway. As the Keeper continues to reveal his darker
side to Azalea and leads her closer and closer to danger.
Critical
Review:
Entwined
is
the stunning debut by author Heather Dixon.
Dixon’s noel is a richly textured, lush romance. More than just a beautifully written story,
Dixon also explores the expression of grief.
The princesses feel abandoned, unloved and alone after the death of
their mother, especially when they are forbidden the one activity, dancing that
reminds them the most of their beloved mother.
The king on the other hand pulls away from his daughters, finding the
presences of them to be a painful reminder of the wife he lost. This is a wonderful storey full of intrigue,
dangerous strangers, romance and of course dancing!
Genre:
Fantasy
Romance
Interest
Level:
Grades 7 and up
Similar
Books:
The
Goose Girl Shannon Hale
The
Princess Bride William Goldman
Beauty
Robin
McKinley
Subjects/Themes:
Fairytales
Dancing
Magic
Awards/Honors:
Booklist Top Ten Romance Fiction for Youth 2011
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2012
Author’s
Website:
Annotation:
Entwined
is
an enchanting retelling of the classic fairytale Twelve Dancing Princesses, that is filled with romance, adventure,
and intrigue.
Book
Talking Ideas:
Entwined
is
a magical adventure based on the classic fairytale Twelve Dancing Princesses. Azalea and her younger sisters are forbidden
from dancing after the death of their mother.
However, the girls discover a secret passage where the Keeper is
imprisoned in an enchanted garden.
Lonely, the Keeper invited the girls to come dance in his garden. Soon Azalea will discover why the Keeper was
imprisoned, but by then it might be too late.
Why
I chose to include this book:
I chose to include this book because it was an
interesting retelling of a classic fairytale.
No comments:
Post a Comment