review; princess of the midnight ball

Princess Of The Midnight Ball
by Jessica Day George

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.

Review:
A cursed family, a soldier-turned-gardener, and a twist on the tale of the twelve dancing princesses. Such is the premise of Jessica Day George’s novel, the first in a trilogy. And what a story it is.

I will be honest, it took me longer than I would have liked to make my way through the book, partially because I never could find the time to sit down and read it the way I wished. I had to read chapters in the few minutes I had before running off to various places, and once in the line waiting for my coffee at Starbucks! Until the weekend, when I hid away from my family – and finished the novel in the sitting.

One thing I love about re-tellings of fairytales is that you can take a tale everyone knows and give it a twist to make it fresh and new. I do not profess to know the tale of the twelve dancing princesses as well as I know my Cinderella, but that did not keep me from thoroughly loving the twist – magic and dark forces and the afore-mentioned soldier.

While the majority of the novel is in the point of view of Galen, the gardener, or Rose, the oldest of the princesses, I could tell from this story alone that each princess has a very unique character, and their voices will all be entertaining to know more about. (I read the second book a long time back, I remembered this only when I was looking up the series, and I knew I had to come back to read the series properly. So glad I did!)

Galen is a smart, respectful and strong character, and I do not mean physically strong, but resilient. He is respectful and sweet, with a backbone. And the princesses? No damsels in distress! Yes, they’re in a bad position. Yes, they don’t see a way out and are helpless. But when opportunity arises, they take it. Rose is as resourceful and intelligent as her counterpart, and what I’ve read about her sisters prove they are the same.

The love story between Galen and Rose is sweet and charming. It is refreshing to see that it takes a few meetings for them to admit to attraction, and they are both pragmatic enough to know that it is next to impossible until it seems very much possible. I do not want to spoil the story, so I will just say this – I had a smile on my face for the last chapter. A very large smile.

(This smile was on my face a lot when Galen interacted with any of the princesses. Honestly, such a likable character.)

What I remember of the next book promises me another enjoyable journey, and I cannot wait!