Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Review: Princess of Glass

Princess of Glass
Jessica Day George
2010; Bloomsbury; ISBN 978-1-59990-478-8 (hardcover)

Summary: Three years have passed since Poppy and her sisters were freed from their dancing enchantment. Now, Poppy has traveled to the court of Breton, part of a massive goodwill exchange of young princes and princesses. In this new cultured society, Poppy is seen as somewhat strange. She doesn't mind that, as long as she doesn't have to dance. Meeting Prince Christian of the Danelaw is enough to make her reconsider, though. There's only one problem: in the household that Poppy is staying in, there's a maid who used to be the daughter of an earl. And she's set her sights on Christian, with the help of her fairy godmother. Will Poppy be able to break the spell and get her own happy ever after?

A charming follow-up to Princess of the Midnight Ball, Jessica Day George offers up an unusual twist on a classic fairy tale. By creating an "evil" Cinderella, George creates an intriguing story that lets you look at the cliches of Cinderella in a new way. The return to the imaginary Europe, with its political concerns about unstable monarchies and a lack of princes, gives the fairy tale a taste of the real world. Poppy is a savvy, smart heroine, a princess who plays cards and knits--actions that are equally shocking to society. Fans of the first novel will be clamoring for Princess of Glass.

3 comments:

Rhoni@ckybooks.com said...

What an intriguing review. I saw this was released last week but skimmed past it because it was a sequel. However, it sounds like I need to add this series to my TBR.

melissa @ 1lbr said...

I'm clamoring for this one. It finally came in for me at the library (ok, so it just came out last week, but still)!

Melissa Rabey said...

Rhoni: I really like George's take on the fairy-tale retelling. It's grounded in real-world rules, but she doesn't lose all the fairy-tale qualities by setting it in our world, if you understand what I mean.

Melissa: happy reading! :-)