Early Review – Princess of the Silver Woods (Twelve Dancing Princesses, Book 3) by Jessica Day George (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 336 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: December 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-1599906461
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Twelve Dancing Princesses series (last book in series)
Source: ARC through NetGalley(dot)com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the third, and final, book in the Twelve Dancing Princesses series by George. It was a well done story and did a great job of wrapping up the series.

Petunia is excited when she receives an invitation to visit a childhood friend in Westfalen. On the way though she encounters the strange two-legged wolves who are bent on distributing the wealth of the nobles to their own people. These two legged wolves end up being more earnest and handsome than dangerous. When Petunia finally arrives at Westfalen she finds that a plot is afoot that involves her old enemy the King Under Stone. It will take Petunia along with all of her sisters and their husbands to put the curse of The King Under Stone to rest once and for all.

This story was blend of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood, with some background reference to Rapunzel as well. I loved how these fairy tales were blended into Petunia’s story.

Petunia was an interesting character. She’s not as tough as Poppy; in fact she is kind of the baby of the family. But she is determined to make it on her own and is deadly with her pistol when the need arises.

Petunia’s prince was a bit more lackluster; he just came off as your typical prince-type to me. Sure he starts off as a bandit, but his personality was much like those of the other princes we have seen in this series.

There isn’t as much romance in this book as in the previous two. This book is more about the curse of the King Under Stone and combating it. For this all of Petunia’s sisters are back in the story.

Much of the story involves Petunia’s sisters and their husbands. It was fun to see a lot more of Rose and Galen. Additionally some of the older mystical characters from the first book are back in the story as well. George does an excellent job of including all of these characters but not making the story confusing.

There was more action in this book than in previous ones and it was well done. The plot involving the Kind Under Stone was nicely resolved.

Overall this was a very satisfying conclusion to this series. Petunia is an interesting character and definitely adds her own flavor to the story. There is less romance in this book, but more action. The story involves all of Petunia’s sisters and their husbands as well. This whole series is recommended to those who enjoy princess stories or fairy tale retellings.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– 150+ Books Reading Challenge