Marillier, Juliet. 2007. Wildwood Dancing.
If I'm honest, I've got to admit a few things about Wildwood Dancing:
a) I had a hard time getting "into" the story.
b) I thought the chapters were definitely too long.
c) Even though it improved greatly after the halfway mark, I'm still not sure how I feel about the novel as a whole.
Wildwood Dancing is the story of five sisters who live in a castle/estate in Transylvania. Each full moon, the sisters join hands and make their way through a portal into the Other Kingdom where they dance the night away with fairy-tale-like creatures. There is some sense of dangers, but the girls (some still children, some in their teens) feel right at home in this world. While some members of the community are scared of the woods/forests and want to be rid of fairies and other-worldly creatures, others show them proper respect and believe that they are an important--though not visible--part of the community. Cezar is a cousin to this family of sisters, and he's the most vocal in the need to eliminate this "other world" that he feels is threatening the human community. Jena is our narrator, and her best friend is a frog, Gogu. Through her eyes we witness the dangers of living in and loving two distinct worlds.
In some ways, it is an odd story. A narrator whose best friend is a frog who sits on her shoulder or lives in her pocket. A frog that she communicates with on a regular basis. He 'sends' his thoughts directly into her mind. A very opinionated frog who likes to boss her around. Seems very odd to me.
But I don't think my feelings are universal. I had a hard time getting into the story...but that doesn't mean that another person would. Reading depends a lot on moods, I think, and my moods were definitely odd when reading this book. It took me over a month to finish.
10 comments:
Hm, I have the vague impression I have heard about this one before. Isn't it based on the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale?
It's too bad you couldn't really get into it, but that just seems to happen with some books every now and then, doesn't it?
I have this book on my TBR list but that is based solely on the gorgeous book cover.
I really liked Wildwood Dancing, but everything's not for everybody! ;)
Taking a long time to read a book definitely affects my overall reaction to it. I get impatient with myself and end up focusing my irritation on the story, which is completely unfair. I've recently done to both Carolyn Meyer's and Sharon Creech's newest books. *sigh*
This is a book I'll have to come back to again if there is ever time. I'm sure if I read it over the span of a weekend as opposed to the span of a month and a half, I would have had a much more favorable response. As it was, I had a hard time keeping track of all the sisters' names and ages...and trying to remember just where I had left off in the story.
I thought that Wildwood Dancing was a good story, and that it was rather like the Twelve Dancing Princesses.
I must be a fast reader, because I read this in like 3 days. I do agree that the chapters were very long, and that the author could've shortened those, but even then, I think that if you read the book right through, it is really good.
Anonymous, I'm sure it was just the circumstances of reading it too slow. That happens with books sometimes. It's not the book's fault most of the time.
That and sometimes you have to be in the right mood for a book at times.
I absolutely loved Wildwood Dancing and had no trouble getting into the story i thought it was great.Its fantasy so it can be expected to be slightly 'odd'. I read it in like 3 days and couldn't put it down and ive read it twice since then, it was really cool.
I absolutely loved Wildwood Dancing and had no trouble getting into the story i thought it was great.Its fantasy so it can be expected to be slightly 'odd'. I read it in like 3 days and couldn't put it down and ive read it twice since then, it was really cool.
I read the book in 3 days and i absolutely loved the end...
yet, i feel that the beginning was a bit odd... but after reading about 200 pages, i simply couldn't put the book down...
This book is pretty cool. Though some of the sisters kinda wierded me out, the main character was sensible. I think that what I like most about this book is that though the main chararacter is a girl, she's not wimpy. Her boldness impressed me. In other words, this book is very unique! I couldn't put it down and I finished it in like 2 days.
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