Read for the Once Upon a Time VIII Reading Challenge.
Jena is the second of five sisters. They live with their merchant father in the mountains of Transylvania, and they have a secret. On the night of the full moon, as long as they are together, they can open a portal to the Fairy Realm, and they’re able to go to the court of the fairy queen, where the Full Moon Dance is held.
The girls have grown up with this secret, but now that Jena and her older sister Tatiana are nearly grown, things are changing. Their father is ill, and must spend the winter near the coast, so leaves Tati and Jena in charge. But in the Fairy Realm, the Night People have come to the Court, and it’s not clear if they’re there for good or ill. With them is a young man named Sorrow, who may or may not be one of them, and Tati falls in love with him. When the machinations of the Night People in the fairy court spill over into the real world, Jena must save her sister, as well as the fairies, who may be mistakenly targeted by the valley folk for the actions of the Night People.
This is a lovely mash up of the ‘Twelve Dancing Princesses’ tales with the folk tales of Transylvania. When I was reading the back cover when I was through, I realized it’s meant to be a young adult book, but it really just came across as a great tale – basically like Robin McKinley’s work – fits as YA, but doesn’t have to be.
Yay, my favorite Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling! I agree that although it's YA, it has great cross-age appeal. It is a lot lighter and less dense than her other, adult books, but I read it for the first time as an adult and loved it!
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