Of Dancing, Family, & Magic

Entwined by Heather Dixon

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

Heather Dixon, where have you been my entire life!


This book was soooo GANGSTA! It was like a hip, cool version of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. I can't get over how freaking good this story was. Just EPIC. I would totally read this story to my future child because Heather Dixon did a banging, kick butt job of making that old fairy tale AWESOME! I think it is official, I have never experience a revamped children story that was this amazing. Oh and don't forget the cover! It's so beautiful, like a fairy tale. I wanted to reach through the cover and steal that girls dress! And when you read the book you understand what all the vines and flowers are for! It fit so well with the book...a complete work of art (sighs wistfully). 

I think just writing this review is going to make me get emotional. I need to ask this question: Have you ever read a book that was slow paced but so well done that you had to continue reading it until you knew what happened? If your answer is no then you MUST read this book. If your answer is yes...then you still MUST read this book. I can even say that I DID NOT skip to the end to see what happened and that is what I usually do. It was like the book compelled me to keep reading and reading, telling me not to cheat myself by skipping to the end. 

Entwined was so sad, but it always held that piece of joy and happiness. The princesses were, surprisingly, poor living in a once magicked palace. Their Mother named them all after flowers of some sort and they are all alphabetical starting with the oldest, Azalea and the youngest, Lily. The story is from Princess Royale Azalea's point of view, since she is the oldest and takes care of the younger ones. When their Mother dies on Christmas Eve after giving birth to her twelfth child, Lily. Life in the palace goes from joy to sadness as the girls struggle to raise themselves while the King struggles with the memory of Mother. Mourning begins and the girls disagree with it, finding their own way of mourning and remembering their Mother through dance. But, dancing is not done in mourning, and the girls life seems to dwindle each day. That is, until they discover a magic passage in their room from when High King D'Eathe ruled with his dark magic. They think they are saved when The Keeper that runs the magic pavilion offers them the opportunity to dance there every night. But, he isn't called the Keeper for nothing. 

The story is compelling and you won't want to stop reading until you finish. It touched something in me that remembered when I was younger without a care in the world and life seemed easy. A time when fairy tales were real and reality was just an illusion. Heather Dixon's first book is a hit and you would never think that this is her first young adult novel. If you're looking for a classic fairy tale with a twist pick up Entwined  and let the magic tangle you in a web of mystery and enchantment. 

Overall, this book is rated

- Gilbert