Princess of the Midnight Ball

By:Jessica Day George

Rating: pretty good, 3.5 stars

The Brothers Grimm tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses is vibrantly retold and set in a fictionalized nineteenth-century Europe. Galen, a soldier (and knitter) returning home from war, encounters an old woman who gives him an invisibility cloak and yarn possessing magical powers. While working as a gardener at the palace, he encounters the princess, Rose, and her 11 younger sisters. Because of a secret bargain their mother made with the evil King Under Stone, the princesses are cursed to dance each night till their shoes are worn ragged.-Amazon.com

When I read reviews of this book on other blogs (who I unfortunately don't remember), I was super excited. This was one of my favorite stories when I was little and to see it re-imagined was the best thing ever. It started off great and I was really enjoying learning more about Galen and the princesses. And then it got to the end. The ending was mostly a let down. (Gets a little spoilerly from here. Fair warning.) The suspense just kept building and building and then finally the King Under Stone kidnaps the princesses so then of course I expect a long trial for Galen to get them back. No, he basically just gets in to the castle, kills the king and some of the princes,  and saves the girls. And all that happens in about 30 pages. It was just too easy. Until I got to the end this book was going good for a 5 star but with the ending it finished as a 3.5. 

Favorite series

Yes, I am once again trying hard to write in this blog and yes I am probably not going to but hey, stranger things have happened. Since I really haven't written much I thought I would list my favorite books of the moment and series I re-read whenever I get the chance so people have more of an idea of what I enjoy.

All time favorites:

-of course Harry Potter. That goes without question really.

-the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer. Seven books in and I'm still wanting more. They are great adventure books and you really can't help rooting for Jacky and hoping she will finally get her chance to be with Jaimy (or Randall, or Joseph Jared, or Captain Allen, or any of the other men she seems to meet)

-the Secret Society girl series by Diana Peterfreund. Sadly this series is finished but it is still great. They really capture the feel of college and give you a great mystery at the same time. And of course a little bit of romance doesn't hurt.

-the Gardella Vampire series by Colleen Gleason. Another series that has sadly ended but a great vampire novel as well. With the interesting background of 19th cen. London, Victoria Gardella Grantworth must deal with coming out into society, finding a suitable husband, and fighting the vampires just like her family has done for centuries...and that's just the first book.

Recent favorites:

-the Dresden files series by Jim Butcher. I didn't think I would like this because I'm usually more of a fan of fantasy not science fiction, but this series is a nice blend of a lot of different elements. They're detective novels with a bit of magic and a few fantasy creatures mixed in with pop culture references. Oh, and the touch of romance adds some intrigue as well. 

-anything by Jasper Fforde. Seriously this guy is fantastic. I love all of his books and I don't know why it took me so long to read them. 

So, that's a few for now. I will hopefully write about a few of the books I just read and maybe the great movie I watched just the other day soon. Keep your eyes peeled!