Wildwood Dancing [Library Binding]

Juliet Marillier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2009

The wildwood holds many mysteries. Jena and her sisters share the biggest of all, a fantastic secret that enables them to escape the confines of their everyday life in rural Transylvania. They have kept it hidden for nine long years. When their father falls ill and must leave their forest home over the winter, Jena and her older sister Tati are left in charge. All goes well until a tragic accident allows their overbearing cousin Cezar to take control. The appearance of a mysterious young man in a black coat divides sister from sister, and suddenly Jena finds herself fighting to save all she holds dear. With her constant companion, Gogu, by her side, she must venture to realms dark and perilous in her quest to preserve, not just those she loves, but her own independence as well. 'Juliet Marillier is among the most skilled of fantasy writers' - Sara Douglass.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Library Binding: 416 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439586047
• ISBN-13: 978-1439586044
• Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 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
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This review is from: Wildwood Dancing (Hardcover)

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!

11 of 12 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)   

This review is from: Wildwood Dancing (Hardcover)

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.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Every Family had a Dark Story about the Taul Ielelor...", February 8, 2007

By 

R. M. Fisher "Raye" (New Zealand = Middle Earth!) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Wildwood Dancing (Hardcover)

Based loosely on the fairytales of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and "The Frog Prince" (but adding plenty of her own ideas), Juliet Marillier crafts an entertaining story of magic and faerie, set in the wild-lands of Transylvania. Jena is one of five sisters (Tatiana, Iulia, Paula and Stela) who have long-since kept a secret in their bedroom: a magical portal into the Other Kingdom, through which they can pass through every full moon to cavort with faerie-creatures in the Dancing Glade of the Faerie Queen.

The girls love their monthly excursions into the Dancing Glade and all the friends they've made there, but lately a shadow has been cast upon their lives: their father has grown sickly and must leave their estate of Piscul Dracului for the winter. Tatiana and Jena consider themselves perfectly capable of handling the estate in their father's absence, but their controlling and possessive cousin Cezar believes it is his duty to take over the household till his uncle's return. With a hatred of the Other Kingdom ever since the drowning of his brother in the faerie-haunted waters of Taul Ielelor, Cezar's grip over the household and the girls' lives quickly intensifies when he begins to suspect them of trafficking with faeries.

But Jena finds herself with further trouble: her elder sister Tatiana has fallen in love with a creature of Faerie, someone Jena believes is one of the dreaded Night People. With only her trusted friend and companion Gogu for a confidant, Jena delves further into the Other Kingdom to find answers; gambling with Night People, entering the Other Kingdom under the dark of the mind, searching for the witch Draguta, unraveling the events that took place the day her cousin Costi died...

Marillier creates a story in which the final result is better than the sum of its parts. Take any element of the story; whether it be Tatiana's love story, Cezar's takeover of the house, Marillier's portrayal of Faerie or Jena's friendship with Gogu and it is rather weak; however, because there is always so much going on throughout the story, the book ultimately fits together quite satisfactorily. Jena is a great protagonist; feisty and strong-willed, kind and courageous, without being too good to be true and she forms the backbone of the book. Her desire to protect what she loves, whether it be her sisters, her friends, her secrets or her household is the driving force of the story and she is entirely convincing in this capacity.

Unfortunately, what she is fighting for never comes across quite as strongly, and we are *told*, rather than *shown* what it is that Jena holds dear, such as her friendship with Gogu, her love of the Other Kingdom and her relationship with her sisters. We know that she holds them dear, but never really see *why* to any satisfactory degree. The same thing is true of Tatiana's romance with a Night Person; we are told they've fallen in love without getting the chance to place any sort of investment into why we should want them to be together. All we have is Jena's conviction, and though it is strong enough to convince us, I couldn't help but wish there was a little more depth in some of the bonds that Marillier forms.

Because K. Y. Craft lends her skills to create breathtaking cover-art (the saying "never judge a book by its cover" is always made null and void when it is Craft doing such artwork), one cannot help but be reminded of Patricia McKillip, another author that Craft often illustrates for. At the conclusion, I couldn't help but feel that though Marillier's story was enjoyable, in McKillip's hands it would have been unforgettable, especially in the portrayal of the Other Kingdom, which ultimately came across a little too structured and sentimental and not at all like the "wildwood" that the title suggests.

It's so easy to speak of faults rather than virtues, and looking over the review I feel I've been a little hard on "Wildwood Dancing". It is a sweet and mysterious book, with a bittersweet (and therefore satisfying) ending. It is an above-average fantasy novel - it's always refreshing to read a fantasy that doesn't involve magic swords, noble quests and loin-cloth-wearing heroes - with a couple of great twists and a quick-paced plot. I give it a solid three stars.