Princess of the Midnight Ball

Princess of the Midnight Ball  (Princess #1)

By Jessica Day George

Published January 20, 2009

Publisher - Bloomsbury USA

288 pages

3.5 stars - It was pretty good

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. 

Captivating from start to finish, Jessica Day George’s take on the Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses demonstrates yet again her mastery at spinning something entirely fresh out of a story you thought you knew.

I would give this book 3.5 stars because I thought it was a pretty nice read.  I only had a couple of problems with the book but overall I thought it was a nice retelling.  I havent read the original tale so I don't know what's missing or what isn't but for reading the tale for the first time it was really interesting.  The story switches from Galen's point of view to Rose's, the eldest of the 12 princesses.  I think I liked reading from just the two of them because any more and it would have gotten confusing.

The begining is a little slow but once you get to the action its pretty intense.  Especially near the ending.  I found myself rooting for Galen at many scenes.  I really did like the characters but I feel like they weren't as developed as they could of been.  I think the main focus was the problem that they were going through but I would have liked to have felt a little more for the characters.  Especially the two main ones.  I am always wanting to feel like I know the characters or like I can relate to them and with these characters I really didn't feel that.  

But other than that the story was great.  It was a nice read and anyone who loves re-tellings will probably find this book enjoyable.  

Vanessa