Princess of the Silver Woods Book Review

Princess of the Silver Woods

Jessica Day George 

Rating (out of 5): 5

Genre: Fantasy 

Release Date: December 11, 2012

Series: Twelve Dancing Princesses 

Series Volume: 3

Profanity: Very Mild (if any)

Violence: Mild

Sexual Content: None 

Age Recommendation: 12 +

Author Website: http://www.jessicadaygeorge.com/

Summary (found on Author's website):

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.

Review:

Princess of the Silver Woods is the third installment of Jessica Day George’s fantastic Princess of the Midnight Ball series. This book focuses on the youngest of the 12 sisters, Petunia. When she first appeared in Princesses of the Midnight Ball she was very young so I was excited to see how she’d progressed. We also get to see more of her other sisters and get a glimpse into their lives and what’s been going on since the events of the previous two books. 

Petunia has grown up to be quite loveable. She is dead set on making it on her own and can be deadly with her pistol when needed, but she’s not quite as tough as Poppy. When the story starts she is on her way to meet old friends.  Her plans run awry when her carriage is attacked by a pack of wolves, or rather a pack of thieves calling themselves the Westfalin wolves. Things are further thrown into disarray when she finds out the reason they are robbing carriages and meets their handsome leader, Oliver. Her spunk seems to fade a little bit as the book progresses, but she never loses her charm. 

Oliver as a character is your pretty basic ‘prince’ and while others may see him as bland I thought he was perfect for Petunia. This story was more about action and unraveling the mystery behind the Palace Under Stone and I thought Oliver fell into place very well with how late he’d been pulled into the girl’s predicament.

As with the other two books in this series Jessica Day George paints a beautiful story filled with romance, adventure, mystery, and suspense.

Princess of the Silver Woods is a perfect finish to this series. In this book we finally get to find out more about the origins of the King Under Stone and his sons as well as unravel more of the mystery behind the curse the sisters have been fighting against since the first book. I was very excited to see the big reveal and it wasn’t anywhere near a disappointment.  

Princess of the Silver Woods was a great wrap up for this whole series. I really enjoyed seeing all of the princesses back, and loved getting to know Petunia more. I’d recommend this series to any fan of Fairy tale retellings or just good princess stories.

 

~Dawn