Repost Review: Entwined by Heather Dixon

I was reading along yesterday logging reviews and I realized that this review got posted before it was finished (that will teach me to re-read before I post)! I am slightly embarrassed. So I am re-posting it, finished.

5 yummy tagalongs.

Cover Love: Yes! It is so beautiful.

Why I Wanted to Read This:
Well, the cover was a big reason, it caught my eye very quickly! Secondly, it is a re-telling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, one of my favorite fairy tales. And I love re-tellings of most fairy tales! Here's the synopsis from Good Reads:

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.

I Kept Reading Because: It was awesome. Easy to read and follow.

Romance?: Yes!

What I Liked (& Didn't):
First off, it was very well written. This is a big book (480 pages) but was so smoothly written that it didn't take any time at all to read it.

I really liked Azalea. She was a strong heroine who had her moments of doubts. It made her more accessible for the reader. I didn't really like Bramble (the second sister), luckily she's not in there a ton so it didn't ruin anything for me.

I thought it was clever that the princess were named after flowers, but also alphabetically.

I love the story of The 12th Dancing Princesses. I liked that in this tale the royal family is more of a figurehead for it's country. And that the princesses were poor so dancing truly was their one escape.

Great villain also, very creepy.

I liked the King and overall he seemed to be the one that did the most growing in the book. A nice touch.

I loved that not only Azalea had a romance, but Bramble and Clover also each had one. A nice twist for this fair tale.

To Sum Up: A great main character and several romances lighten up this dark tale. One for my middle school library shelves and my personal library shelves!

Book requested and received from Greenwillow. Thanks!

Blogging Slump--Repost, Daughters From Fiction

For some reason I cannot think of anything to write about today. (AND I missed Tween Tuesday yesterday, bad book blogger!).

I am reading The Red Pyramid and just finished Thirteen Days Until Midnight (which was great). I need to finish Hailey Twitch is Not a Snitch today though and review it for the publisher (that's my lunchtime goal). When I went and bought The Red Pyramid I couldn't resist and I also bought Mistwood. It looks so good!

So, for something to read today I am going to re-post and old post where I wrote about 8 girls from fiction that I would take as daughters:
I have two boys (blessing or curse? you decide). I have always wanted a girl and when I read books that have a girl as a main character I can't help thinking about whether I would want that character as a daughter. Here are my top picks:

8. Anne Shirley: When I read Anne of Green Gables I was much younger and would have rather had Anne as a best friend. Now I am older and think she would make a pretty cool daughter, but I still think of her as a best friend.

7. Beezus (or Ramona): Growing up I was so much more like Ramona and I am sure that my older sister felt the most like Beezus. But, as a mom, I think Beezus would be more appealing as a daughter, whereas Ramona would be more fun. Actually they kind of remind me of my boys--a responsible older child and an imaginative hyper-er younger child.

6. Piper McCloud: I just started this book, but she is the reason I started making this list. She just seems so sweet and in need of a hug--we'll see how the rest of the book goes!

5. Nancy Drew: I think she would be my favorite to have as a teenager. I realize that in her books she doesn't have a mother so she always seems so self-sufficient, but if she had a mother, I think she would have been a great daughter.

4. Ruby Lavender: I would love Ruby as a daughter, but when I read this I thought that what I really want is to be a granma like hers when I am a grandma.

3. Allie Finkle: Actually, as much as I adore Allie, when she first met her new next door neighbor Ericka, I thought that she would be pretty much exactly how my daughter would be if I had one!

2. Fern: I don't think that there is anything more to say. Fern would be fantastic as a daughter, I mean, she can talk to animals!!

1. Any one of the Penderwicks: Oh, I love these books and I love these girls. I would take any one of them (or all of them) as my daughter(s).

What about you, who would you want as a daughter?