Princess of the Midnight Ball

Princess of the Midnight Ball
Author: Jessica Day George
Series: ---
Publisher: Bloomsbury
How Received: library

Because he had once been human, the King Under Stone sometimes found himself plagued by human emotions. He was experiencing one now as he faced the mortal woman before him, but it took him a moment to give it a name. After a pause, he labeled it "triumph."

It's the tale of the twelve princesses doomed to dance from dusk to dawn, told through the eyes of a young man named Galen and a princess named Rose. Galen, a young solider returning from the horrors of war; Rose, the eldest princess of those condemned to dance for the King Under Stone.

Galen arrives at the home of his aunt, having lost his family in the war, and is given a job in the King's garden. Though an under-gardener has barely any standing, he falls for Rose, and she - through sickness and dancing - falls in love with him. But no matter what the King (and Galen) do to try and help, Rose and her sisters are constantly wearing their dancing shoes out every night...

Perhaps Galen, with gifts given to him by a woman on the road, the cunning of a soldier's mind, and the love between him and Rose, can help save the twelve young princesses.

First off, how awesome are those first lines? Looooove them.

Actually, that really summarizes the entire story. I looooved it. The characters were real - each one original and flawed and beautifully written. I can't say it's a particularly deep novel (it is, after all, based on a fairy tale) but it's definitely one of the better ones I've read this year.

My only dispute with it is that the King Under Stone and the history of the curse are just briefly mentioned, and I felt that perhaps a little more detail would have made the book just as interesting, if not more so. However, shoving in that detail may have slowed down the book - and George did write the entire prologue with the beginning of the curse.

Overall Rating & Final Comments: All in all, it was a fantastic novel. I would happily buy it and read it again.
Cover Comments: I want that dress.

Happy reading!

~ Nicole