Wildwood Dancing (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 8 Up—This riveting story about 16-year-old Jenica; her pet frog, Gogu; and her four sisters takes place between the fairy world and the family's Romanian estate of Piscul Dracului. When the girls were young, they discovered a mysterious portal that appears every full moon and allows them access to the Dancing Glade in the Other Kingdom. They dress in the finest gowns and spend all night dancing with a host of bizarre and enchanting fairy creatures. Unfortunately, the girls' simple and carefree lives change drastically when their father becomes ill and must spend the winter in the milder climate of Constanta. Jenica takes charge of the estate and the family's merchant business but their overbearing, power-hungry cousin, Cezar, interferes with their affairs and questions the sisters' knowledge of the Other Kingdom. As he tightens the noose around them, everything Jenica has come to love-her sisters, her frog, her home, and the Dancing Glade-is in jeopardy. To make matters worse, her sister Tatiana has fallen in love with one of the mysterious and feared Night people. This relationship is doomed from the start and it is up to Jenica to make things right-but to do so she will be put to the ultimate test. Strong characters, two fully realized settings, and a fast-moving plot guarantee that readers will be spellbound by this page-turner.—Donna Rosenblum, Nassau Boces School Library System, NY
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From Booklist

On the night of each full moon, the five Transylvanian sisters who reside in the castle Piscul Dracului don their finest gowns. They raise their hands to create shadows against the wall, opening a portal to the Other Kingdom, where they will dance the night away with all manner of fantastical creatures. After nine years of full moons spent in delightful revelry, dark forces, both human and otherworldly, arise to encroach upon the sisters' happiness. Told by Jena, the second oldest sister, this detailed and mood-rich story covers much territory, both mundane and magical. Adult fantasy writer Marillier has uniquely reimagined and blended an assortment of well-known tales and characters--including fairies, dwarves, witches, vampires, and a frog who is more than he seems--into a compelling whole in her first book for teens. By the end, all are cleverly bound together, and a mystery is solved. With much to say about human nature and choice, not unlike the moral in fairy tales of old, this will be a hit with older teen readers, especially girls. Holly Koelling
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (January 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375833641
• ISBN-13: 978-0375833649
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #468,905 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely, magical tale, February 5, 2007

By	Ryan Kelley "Professional Shark Tamer" (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a huge fan of Juliet Marillier's Sevenwaters trilogy and was so excited to hear that she was delving into a more light-hearted, young-adult style with her latest novel. This is one of those rare books that captures you instantly and keeps you reading late into the night just so you can find out how it ends.

Wildwood Dancing is a whimsical twist on the story of the twelve dancing princesses. Juliet Mariller has chisled away at seven of the sisters and left us with a faerie tale about five young sisters who, on the night of the full moon, venture to the wildwood forest, a place of faeries and other creatures, where they can spend these nights dancing and being merry.

The heroine of the story is Jena, the second eldest of the sisters and the one who seems to be the most in charge. Jena's best friend is her pet frog Gogu, who she can communicate with.

The story has many themes and issues that are all very adult in context. The story starts out with Jena and her sisters being left alone as there father travels far away to do business. The girls are left to care for the castle and this is something they are fine with...until there conniving cousin Cezar comes into the mix. Cezar is one of the BEST villians I have loathed in a long, long time. He wants power, and when the girls get news that there father is ill and may not return, Cezar moves himself into the castle and decides he is in charge. The elements of sexism and women not having rights is strong and I was very irritated at the way the girls were treated by Cezar just because they are female.
There is plenty of magic and romance in this novel and it is beautifully written and elegantly paced. I relished every last page of this book!

If you are looking for a somewhat historical, magical, light-hearted, romantic tale, then you should definetly pick this book!

The only thing that bothered me about the book was the whole, "cousins in love" thing...which really bothered me...but, still, the writing was so fantastic and the plot was so engrossing that I can't help but give this one 5 stars!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ethereal, Engrossing, Entrancing!, February 17, 2007

By	G. Davis "-Sidhe- from Ohio" (OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't recall the last time I've read a fiction book based on classic fairy tales that was this excellent, and I've read many. The tone of this book does indeed feel a lot like the recent works of Patricia McKillip, but Marillier manages to make you care about the characters more (and this is coming from a huge McKillip fan). I don't cry easily at books, but I found myself moved to tears at several points.

The book takes the fairy tale of the 12 Dancing Princesses and sets it in Romania, telling of 5 sisters who journey through a secret portal at Full Moon each month to dance in the Realm of Faerie. Things start to turn when their father has to go away for the winter because of illness, and the oldest daughter falls in love with one of the Night People (vampires, more successfully incorporated into Faerie context than anything else I've read). Add a plot with an outstandingly rendered true soulmate friendship between the lead character and her pet frog, who communicates to her in her mind, and this book was the first book in literally YEARS that I truly couldn't put down at night, and stayed up late to finish. The "villain" of the book as well is a brilliantly rendered character, who you both loathe and feel sorry for at the same time.

I'd love to see Juliet Marillier do more books along the line of classic fairy tale retellings. It suits her so very well.

Even though this book is technically a young adult novel, it is one of the most fascinating and maturely written plots I've read in years, and can be appreciated by fairy tale lovers of all ages.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another amazing novel by Juliet Marillier, June 5, 2007

By	Sirisha (Chicago) - See all my reviews

After flying through the world of Sevenwaters, I decided to look into Marillier's other books. This is book has so much of what I love in it - flawed heroes and heroines, endings that tie into the beginning through unexpected turns, a wide spectrum of magic and fantasy, a few love stories that twine through the large story, and of course, elements of familiar fairy tales used in a thrilling and entertaining way

Any fan of Juliet Marillier, fairy tales retold by any author, the fantasy genre, and good literature in general should pick this up at once.