Entwined

“Entwined” is a standalone novel written by Heather Dixon. The novel is a retelling of the twelve dancing princesses. Azalea is the main protagonist of the novel and she is the eldest of the twelve sisters. The whole family goes into mourning for a year, after finding out that their mother died giving birth to the twelfth child. Azalea steps into the role as leader and surrogate-parent to her sisters after their mother's death. The sisters start to feel suffocated by all the restrictions, especially the one on dancing, which was their favourite pastime. The King goes off to war right after the funeral, leading the girls to wonder if he even loves them.

Azalea discovers a secret passage with a staircase leading downwards at the bottom they find a forest of silver trees and a pavilion full of enchanted dancers. The owner of the pavilion introduces himself as the Keeper, and he allows the princesses to dance to their hearts' content and invites them to return every night until mourning is over. Every night the girls dance so much that they wear through their slippers. They're often tired in the morning and late to lessons and breakfast, and constantly stitching up their tattered shoes. Azalea eventually realizes that their belongings are going missing and that Keeper has been stealing from them and refuses to give their things back until they find the magic object that's keeping him confined within the walls of the castle.

The novel is slow paced. Azalea is a determined teenager after her mother's death, trying to look after her siblings. The siblings have a good relationship with each other, but their relationship with their father becomes strained when he leaves to go to war, making the sisters think that he doesn't love them. I found some of the romances cute, like the relationship between Azalea and Lord Bradford, where he stands by her side to help her when she is trying to defeat the keeper, even though they both know that she will have no say in who she marries, as parliament will choose the future king/ her husband. The novel was a good retelling that I enjoyed, I gave the novel a 3/5 stars.