Book Review: Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George

Author: Jessica Day George

Title: Princess of Glass

Series: The Princesses of Westfalin Trilogy #2

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Retellings, Romance

Format: paperback

Pages: 266

Published: May 25, 2010

Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon)

Summary: 

Hoping to escape the troubles in her kingdom, Princess Poppy reluctantly agrees to take part in a royal exchange program, whereby young princes and princesses travel to each other's countries in the name of better political alliances--and potential marriages. It's got the makings of a fairy tale--until a hapless servant named Eleanor is tricked by a vengeful fairy godmother into competing with Poppy for the eligible prince. Ballgowns, cinders, and enchanted glass slippers fly in this romantic and action-packed happily-ever-after quest from an author with a flair for embroidering tales in her own delightful way.

Review:

This has been literally sitting on my shelf for yearssssss. I read book 1 in 2016 and loveeeddd it. I bought this one shortly after and just....kept forgetting about it. I kept telling myself I would read it and just...didn't. Can't explain why. Thanks to the TBR pile reading challenge I have finally dusted this off and read it. Yayy for the TBR!

Here we follow Princess Poppy who agrees to take part in a royal exchange program. Young princes and princesses travel to each other's countries to learn about those countries, gain alliances, and maybe gain a marriage proposal. This has the makings for a romance for Poppy who has been having a hard time after the recent curse was lifted. Everything is going well until a hapless servant named Elanor is tricked by a vengeful fairy godmother into competing with Poppy for the eligible prince. Ballgowns, cinders, and enchanted glass slippers will fly!

This was certainly a different take on Cinderella. It was fun. You can see the elements of Cinderella, but the author had a lot of fun (you can tell) with making it fresh and new. Which kuddos to that!  

The first 85% of the book was really intriguing and I was hooked. The last 15% of the book...lost me a bit. It seemed soooo rushed. Things happened and then it just ended. It left me reeling a bit. I feel like we needed another 20 pages or so just to nicely wrap things up. To be honest it felt like the author was rushing to get this done. It was just very anti-climatic in a way. I liked what happened in the end, don't get me wrong. It was nice and I love Poppy so I want good things for her....but it just felt SOOOO rushed and so easily solved.

I still enjoyed this book overall. You can't help but root for Poppy. Poor girl has been through sooooo much that you just want to see her be happy. That poor family needs a break!!

I also found myself feeling bad for Eleanor. Sure she was an idiot, but I can see WHY she wanted more. 

Christian was whiney at first. I didn't like him, but I did warm up to him by the end. 

All-in-all, it wasn't as good as the first one (which def read that one first), but I still had fun. It was a fresh take on the old story and I adored Poppy. The ending was a bit too rushed though, but I still had fun. 3 stars from me. 

Challenge(s):

- #5 for Romance Reading Challenge - YA

- #1 TBR Pile Challenge

Book Review: Princess of the Midnight Ball

Author: Jessica Day George
Title: Princess of the Midnight Ball
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairytale
Pages: 288
First Published: 2008
Where I Got It: Library

"A tale of twelve princesses doomed to dance until dawn… Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above.

Captivating from start to finish, Jessica Day George’s take on the Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses demonstrates yet again her mastery at spinning something entirely fresh out of a story you thought you knew..."


Over the last couple months I've read a handful of reviews talking about this book. After reading each one my desire to read this novel increased. Not only did the cover spark an interest, but just the story itself. I love when an author takes an old story and buffers it a little bit. It had been many years since I read the original tale of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, so I was interested to read this.


It didn't take me long to read this one, because it was small and addicting. Even though the Prologue takes a lot of the suspense away there is more suspense scattered around. I was highly addicted to this! Even at work I thought of this and couldn't wait to get home to read. I loved how Jessica Day George wove the story together. I loved all the characters in their own right. The way she pieced the story together was mindblowing! 


I especially loved how she had the hero, Galen, be a knitter/ex-solider/gardener. Yes! He could knit! How many manly men do you know that can knit and keep plants alive? I haven't known one! I wished he was real. In many ways he's the typical hero, but many other ways he's not. Galen is an example of how complex the story was. I love complex books, it even left me guessing how it would end! I love being stumped! However, I'll complain and whine when I'm reading, because I get frustrated and irritated that the author is stumping me. It had been so long since reading the original, that I couldn't remember how it ended. I did know that it would be a happy ending, because every fairy-tale ends with a happy ending. 


Jessica Day George did a fantastic job at retelling an old story. I believe that this book hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. Maybe it's just me, but I really adored this book. I guess I have officially join the club of those who love this book! To be true to my nature, however, I must point out what I didn't like of the book. I hated the Prologue. That's it. That was the only thing I couldn't stand. I usually enjoy the Prologues, but I broke my own rule and read and I was ticked off, because it ruined a small bit of the book for me. My advice, if you're going to read this, DO NOT read the Prologue. Avoid it like the plague! 


All-in-all, this book was cute and amazing. I loved every moment of it, well....except for the prologue part. The characters had depth and the story had more depth than the original. Reading this makes me want to read more books by Jessica Day George. I plan to visit her other books in the future. I recommend that anyone who wants to read a cute little book for the summer or those who love fairy-tales to check this book out. Well, I grant this book 5 stars out of 5. ^.^


*Favorite Character(s): Galen and Lily
*Not-so Favorite Character(s): Queen Maude and King Under Stone

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<3CaroleRae