Princess of the Midnight Ball

Like George's previous book I read, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, Princess of the Midnight Ball is an adaptation of one of my favorite fairy tales, "The Twelve Dancing Princesses". Its not very very often that I find books, longer then a picture book, using this fairy tale. There is, depending on the version and translation, several different ways to interpret the tale, but they're all sort of...complicated. The story follows, for the most part, a young soldier named Galen as he returns to his mother's homeland from the long War. The novel also follows Rose, the eldest Princess, but a lot more time is spent on Galen who is a stranger to the city and to his mother's family. I liked Galen; good-natured, a hard worker and charming, he wanted to do right by everyone he met. And that sort of karma paid off for him in ways he could never have imagined. Rose was also very endearing. Though sweet and good-natured herself, she grew more spirited as the book wore on and she became hopeful that something could be done to break the curse. I wouldn't say her 11 sisters were exactly interchangeable--but really only 4 stood out from the rest in any significant way. Poppy--mischievous and adventurous where her quieter twin Daisy was not; Lily, the second oldest who understood Rose's pain quite well; Violet, who adored music and Hyacinth who was devoutly religious and suffered more than the others perhaps by the curse. Actually its something of a joke for the 12 sisters--the three oldest are called 'the older set', the three youngest are called 'the younger set' and then the six in between were called 'the in betweeners'. On an emotional level I felt bad for the girls, but I knew that good would triumph so it was a little shallow feeling. I grew more worried with how the curse would end then anything else (several times I thought George was going to pull a martyr routine with one of the girls). Galen's scheme, was very very clever and relied on both cunning and luck. The end was also nicely tied up, with a bunch of loose ends fixed and happy thoughts all around. Parts of the book felt very drawn out, such as how long it took Galen to get around to figuring things out vs. how long it took him to 'fix' the problem so to speak. And the visiting Bishop was annoying and creepy; he hammered home how little I cared for the clergy. Poppy, incidentally, is getting her own book called Princess of Glass which is a re-imaging of "Cinderella". I can't wait; I simply adore George's fairy tale re-tellings and hope for a few more.

I love fairytale retellings. There is something about taking an age old story and redoing it to get the same feeling as the first time but in a whole new sense. I loved this retelling. I am not a huge fan of the 21 Dancing Princesses. It was not a fairytale that I heard many many times so not only was this a retelling but almost an entirely new story for me and I loved it. There are twelve princesses, all named after flowers (one of my favorite things about the story) and they go dancing every night at midnight. They are called down by a curse, against their will. They are tired all the time, the King only knows that every morning their dancing slippers are worn and the girls are exhausted. He cannot figure out how they get out of their room when it is under guard. He sends out a call to all men, a challenge, to discover the secret behind the girls worn out slippers and as a reward... his eldest daughter. One solider can break the curse, the one true love of Rose. Loved it! It was very compelling from start to finish. I loved the story, the romance, the mystery, and the evil. It was everything I look for in a fairytale and it was beautifully written. It was a very fast paced read for me and I didn't want to put it down. I very much enjoyed the setting of the book. I find historical fiction to be captivating if it is done right and this one was. I felt that I was back in the time and setting of this book. The story was told with all the elements needed for a historical fiction without confusing me or losing me within the etiquette and speech of the time. I feel that this story would have not been as wonderful if done in a modern setting and that the setting gave the story so much more beauty. The Romance, the courting, the rules, the damsel in distress all needed the historical setting. Speaking of damsel in distress, Rose was one but she was also strong and brave. I loved Rose's character. She knew what needed to be done and she cared so much for her sisters. She would do anything for them. Selfless when she wanted so much more. I really loved all the princesses. Yes they wined and a couple of times I felt like shaking some sense into them but my patience came from knowing that they didn't know any other way to act. I did get quite upset at the king at times. He seemed to be clueless about so many things. In the end... he came through... and so did Galen. The real hero of the story, definitely swoon worthy and wonderful. Drool! An absolutely splendid read. I will for sure carry on the series and will be reviewing the other two books very soon. If you like fairytale retellings you will love this story.

This is my second reading of this book but for some reason I didn't write a review the first time around. I'd like to correct that oversight and write it now. I LOVE Fairytale retellings and reimaginings. ... and this one is particularly well-written. The characters seemed incredibly real to me, I was fully invested in them & what was happening and the story line was exciting & suspenseful (especially the ending). This story is one of those books that is difficult to put down once you start reading it. So don't start reading at bedtime and expect to get any sleep that night ... lol. This is a clean story; no foul language, sex or graphic violence. If you enjoy reading a good fairytale retelling with some exciting new twists thrown in, then I believe you will enjoy reading this book. Highly recommended! ❤

A retelling of the fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. In this version, the princesses are not willing participants in the night dances and are instead acting under a generational curse. I was always puzzled by the original story where the princesses seemed to enjoy spending night after night dancing until their shoes wore out. That always sounded so torturous to me. The addition of a curse in this version allows the author to show the princesses suffering both physically and mentally as a result of their forced excursions, which I find much more believable. I prefer this alteration as it not only makes more sense, but more importantly it makes the princesses sympathetic characters and the soldier's rescue more daring and romantic. Somehow this retelling manages to provide both depth and life to the characters and story while also retaining the "tabula rasa" of fairy tale characters that allows the reader's imagination to mold the characters to their own ideals. This combination allowed me to enjoy the story on multiple levels. The imagery was also gorgeously rendered, especially the chilling and otherworldly beauty of the underground kingdom and its inhabitants. Highly recommended!

This was an interesting twist on the 12 Dancing Princesses fairy tale. I really liked the two main characters, Galen and Princess Rose. I thought their characters were very well drawn. I also liked the inclusion of knitting, as that added a touch of realism. However, there were a several things that disappointed me. One, though several of the reviews claimed that the princesses aren't just passive victims, they WERE just passive victims. I kept looking for them to do something to try to help themselves. However, there was only one scene where they did anything like fight back. And speaking of fights, I found the grand finale wasn't very interesting. The villain had been set up as a supremely powerful, boogie man type and yet, it was all too easy to defeat him. I also felt there were times when the characters acted extremely stupidly, especially one scene with Galen and Rose during the Midnight Ball. There were too many throw away characters in here. Ms. George spent a lot of time explaining Galen's family background. I would have liked it better if she had skipped the boring narration and had Galen explain himself. It was a mostly enjoyable book, but I wish I had waited for the paperback version.

This is a Young Adult story and I'm way way into adulthood. It sounded interesting so I bought it in Kindle form. It is a very well written story that has magic, a curse, beautiful princesses (12 of them), light romance, and of course, good triumphing over evil. The hero of the story is Galen, a young man returning home from a long bitter war, to a kingdom where twelve beautiful Princesses wear out dancing shoes every night but no one ever sees them leave their bedchamber. Many Princes of other realms try to learn their secret but they fail and later succumb to accidents. Galen gets a job as an under gardener, who really admires Rose, the oldest Princess. In despair the King allows him to try to unravel the secret. Galen is wise and through his kindness has a few tricks bestowed on him. I want to read the next book and I'm passing this one off to my 12 year old granddaughter. Linda B.

I adore fairy tales. I am an adult woman with three teenage children so some may find that odd but I just find pleasure suspending disbelief and believing for awhile in magic, romance, castles, and princes and princesses. I may not be picky enough when it comes to my fairy tales though. No matter how they are written, no matter how they are changed or unchanged from the original tales, I still seem to at least mostly enjoy them. "Princess of the Midnight Ball" though went beyond my expectations. I love the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses and I was actual thrilled to discover this was a retelling of that story rather than the one I assumed by the title, "Cinderella". I very much enjoyed this version about a young man home from war. He is making his way to the home of his aunt and uncle who are his only known living relatives. They don't know Galen and he isn't sure how they will feel about his sudden appearance in their lives. Galen has come to possess a magical item and I eagerly awaited finding out how he was going to use it. Galen is brave and kind. Everything you want in a hero. Plus he knits! How cool is that? He gets a job in the royal gardens that are run by his uncle. Rose is the eldest daughter of the King. The community is all gossiping about how Rose and her eleven sisters manage to wear out their dancing slippers every three nights. No one sees them come and go but without fail those slippers are ruined regularly. The girls physically can not explain what happens to them at night. They become tongue tied or start sprouting gibberish when the topic comes up. When the King declares that whomever can solve the mystery of the girls dancing slippers will earn the hand of one of the daughters, things get even crazier. Galen and Rose are attracted to each other but of course Rose can't think of loving a common man. But Galen is far from common. The story moves at a brisk pace. Even though I know this basic fairy tale very well, I was still completely captivated and eager to find out each new detail of the book. The underground world was portrayed beautifully. "The Midnight Ball" was creepy indeed but I did happen to find myself feeling somewhat sorry for the 12 men who had to dance nightly with the stubborn sisters. There was quite a bit of humor sprinkled throughout the story and I giggled out loud over a scene where the boat suddenly feels heavier and the princess is made to feel like she gained weight. Bottom line is that this book is delightful. Fairy tale lovers should grab this one. I am eager to read the two companion novels. Recommendations: Fans of this book will also fully appreciate Heather Dixon's "Entwined", another amazing version of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. The two books are different enough that you'll enjoy them both.

Love this story!! This is third time I’ve purchased this book, just excited to enjoy it with my daughter. I loved the older fairy tales and having them brought to life again and made new is so special. I love this retelling of an old story. She does a great job. Only problem with the Audible is the volume is pretty low, so you’ll need to crank the volume up in your speakers. If you forget in your car, it’s less fun when your phone connects to music first instead of the book. 😱

arrived on time and glad to have found it at such a good price so I could read another in the series of the "dancing Princesses" books

I have read the book numerous times and love it. I bought a 2nd copy for my daughter as she is the model on the front of the book and I wanted to make sure she could keep I for the future.

Good read.

I really liked this book. It's never going to be a literary masterpiece but it's well written. It has great twists and a little romance thrown in - I loved the extra magical aspects of it as well. It's not just the fairy tale and the extra bits are what really make this story. I definitely recommend this book.

A nice little love story with a touch of magic! A bit slow to start but a pleasant way to spend a couple of evenings.