Olga Godim

This novel continues the tale of the 12 dancing princesses that started in Princess of the Midnight Ball (my review). Here the protagonist is one of the younger princesses, Poppy. A few years have passed since the first novel. Poppy is sixteen and visiting her mother’s cousins in the neighboring kingdom of Breton. There is also a young Prince Christian, also on a princely visit to Breton. They meet… you know that story.

There is also a maid Ella and lots of soot and cinder involved, glass slippers and an evil sorceress. The tale of Cinderella has a distant correlation to this book, but all the distinctive features of Cinderella are twisted out of recognition. It can’t be even called a retelling because it isn’t.
I didn’t like this story much but it was OK. It’ main attraction was Poppy – a strong and charming protagonist with an affinity for knitting. Poppy definitely saved this book from being a total bleh, just as she saved the maid Ella and the prince Christian and the rest of the bunch. Good girl all around.