A review by printzgirl
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 Plot: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Darkness level: mildly dark, but one scene of sexual harassment that verges on assault
Wildwood Dancing is a retelling of "The 12 Dancing Princesses" (weird that I read two of those this year...) set in 15th century Transylvania. The main character, Jena, is one of five sisters who travel to the faerie realm every full moon to dance with the people of that land. When her father falls ill and has to leave for the winter and her sister falls in love with a dangerous stranger, though, Jena has to protect her family from threats both human and fey.
This book felt like a pretty standard fantasy story. I didn't dislike the characters, but I didn't really love them either. The world was cool, although I would have liked even more Transylvanian mythology thrown in. The writing was a little flowery, but that seems to just be this author's style. The one thing that really frustrated me was the instance theme of sexism throughout the book. Not that we shouldn't talk about sexism, it's just frustrating as a woman to read a story about a woman who has all of her power taken away from her for 90% of the book. I wanted to punch the villain in the face so. many. times. And not in a fun way. In a "why does fantasy always have to come with a slice of patriarchy" kind of way. And Jena didn't even get to overcome him in the end through her wits and power. He just....disappears. So yeah. Not as bad as the other 12 dancing princesses adaptation that I read, but still not great. Come on, authors! 
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