Title: The Princess of the Silver Woods
Author: Jessica Day George
Series: Princesses of Westfalin #3
My rating: 3.5 of 5
(Book read from my own copy on March 9th, 2013)
Summary:
The exciting conclusion to The Princesses of Westfalin trilogy!
Princess Petunia has been kidnapped! Except...it was really more like an accident. Oliver, the leader of a band of thieves known as the Wolves of the Westfalin Woods, didn't mean to do it. And now he must make things right. He will confess to the king and deliver the princess to the grand duchess's estate.
But Petunia's safety is far from secured. As children, she and her eleven sisters had been cursed to dance endlessly at the midnight ball of the fearsome King Under Stone. Troubling dreams of the ball are once again haunting Petunia, and she can't be sure they are mere nightmares. When she and her sisters fall into a carefully laid trap, who but a handsome woodsman can save the day?
Jessica Day George's romantic and adventurous new tale is part Little Red Riding Hood, part Twelve Dancing Princesses, and wholly enchanting.
My Thoughts on the Book:
First of all, I have to admit that I love Jessica Day George's books! Her writing style is really fun, and I love her twists on the fairy tales, so I was really excited about reading the final Princesses of Westfalin book, despite lots of people saying that it's just not as good as the previous Princess of the Midnight Ball & Princess of Glass. So, were they right? Yes, but it's still thoroughly enjoyable & I liked it a lot, so of course I'm glad I read it.
The start of Princess of the Silver Woods was hilarious. It was actually my favorite part of the book, it was so fun & I laughed out loud so much, and yeah, I loved every second of it. I liked Petunia & Oliver right away, I actually have a smile right now thinking about the beginning of this book ^_^
Anyway, I'm going to say right away why this book wasn't as great as the previous two. As you probably know, Princess of the Midnight Ball is a re-telling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and Princess of Glass although features one of the 12 dancing princesses, it's actually a re-telling of Cinderella, and they both can be read as stand alone, although they are connected, and should be read in order. But, that's not the case with Princess of the Silver Woods, because this one wraps up everything nicely, and it can actually be read right after Princess of the Midnight Ball, and it's not actually a story where we have two main characters, but actually it connects not only Oliver & Petunia, but all of them, all the princesses, some of their loved ones, the villains from book 1, as well as some new ones. They're actually all quite important, and it's not actually a re-telling of one fairy tale, but it's a mix of Red Riding Hood, Twelve Dancing Princesses, as well as Robin Hood, and it's quite connected to the events in book 1, so that's why this book is different. And I'm guessing that's not an easy job to do, to connect all the dots in a way that it will work, but Jessica Day George accomplished that.
Although after the beginning, (after Oliver & Petunia separate), the story isn't as funny, it's still fun & quite enjoyable, and it was quite a fast read, and you can't help yourself but care for all the characters, although most of them are well-loved characters from before! I do wish there were a little more interactions & romance between Oliver & Petunia, because they were really sweet.
As for the story most of things I guessed, so there weren't really any surprises, and the ending was great, and yeah, full of magic, and it wrapped up the story of the 12 princesses quite nicely.
So, if you love fairy tale re-tellings, or fairy-tale-like books, I highly recommend the Princesses of Westfalin trilogy, if you haven't tried it, because it's really lovely & amazing! And if you're already a fan of the series, but still haven't read Princess of the Silver Woods, I recommend it a lot, because although not as great as the previous 2 books, it's still a pretty good read, that I think you would enjoy!
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