I love the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses and am always thrilled to see a retelling come out for this tale. Sadly, this one was a miss for me - too much purple prose, and I didn't feel any connection to the characters or care about the plot. I sort of skimmed the second half just to finish it.

This book just was not for me. The cover is absolutely gorgeous. I picked this up because I adore fairytale retellings. I must confess I just could not get into this book. I couldn't get hooked on the plot. DNF.
*thank you to netgalley for an arc.

i was eager to give this fairytale or myth retelling a go because who doesn’t love a good one? the plot is short and moves along quickly. because it was quite info dumpy at times, i did got a little lost when reading this. i did enjoy reading this novel, though. it did sound familiar and reminded me of the twelve dancing princesses, it was a fantastic tale to get into!

thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a huge fan of the tale of the 12 Dancing Princesses, I immediatly jumped on the opportunity to read this book.

From the beginning, it grabbed me quickly. The worldbuilding was great, the plot idea was good and the magical system was fun. I usually prefer reading longer books, so this retelling being a novella disappointed me a little, but that's okay. There were some points in the book where it was just short actions such as "he did that", "he went there" etc, which was a bit repetetive, considering the book is short as it is and needs something to make it shine, so I would've liked a bit more details on everything.
It was a fun qucik read though, with the most child-like fairytale feel of a story - the love aspect being sweet and drama-free really took me back in time to kids' fairytales.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with this retelling. The storyline is very flat, I feel like not enough details about the princesses are given to the reader, also the main character ; Alden, seems too perfect, he has no flaws which is really surprising to me, because often in retellings prince and princesses tend to be not as perfect as in the original story. I wish there were more action in the book, because the rhythm is slow and all is happening at the end of the book.
However, I was not familiar with this tale and it made me want to learn more about it.

Malheureusement, je n’ai pas été séduite par cette réécriture. J’ai trouvé l’intrigue très plate, peu de détails sur les princesses sont donnés et c’est tellement dommage. De plus, le personnage principal, Alden, paraît trop parfait, il n’a aucun défaut, ce qui est surprenant étant donné que dans les réécritures les personnages sont souvent moins parfaits que dans les contes d’origine. J’aurai aimé qu’il y ait plus d’action dans le roman, le rythme était trop lent et l’action trop sur la fin du livre.
Cependant, je ne connaissais pas ce conte et cela m’a donné envie d’en savoir plus sur celui-ci.

This is a short and easy but still unique retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairytale.

Alden is a war-weary soldier who journeys in search of a fabled kingdom of magic and peace. He finds it and settles down to live a peaceful life, apathetic about the whole "disappearing princesses" mystery up at the castle. However, he meets a pretty moneychanger and eventually gets wrapped up in the royal intrigue despite himself.

The story is written sparsely. Not a lot of energy is expended on the characters' emotions and the language is very straightforward. Despite this, I found myself believing and caring about Alden and the others. Given the brief length of the story, the resolution was a little quick and easy than what I would expect from a full-length book, but still enjoyable.

Twelve provided an interesting take on this retelling and was fun to read. I was definitely hooked within the story and invested in the characters

Enjoyable story, but it did drag in some spots. I think it would be perfect though for middle grades readers.

His love is locked inside an enigma. Can he solve the mystery to make himself a home?

A hidden kingdom. The 18th century. Alden grew weary of battle long ago. And now the honorable soldier seeks to put the horrors of war behind him to settle in a land of peace and start a family. And while an attractive shopkeeper catches his eye, he finds himself caught up in the kingdom's greatest riddle: the twelve daughters of the king and queen vanish every night and reappear in the morning with their shoes worn out.

Drawn to a shared passion for dancing as he spends more time with the woman of his dreams, Alden can't avoid a growing involvement with the land's enchanted magic. And as he does so, he starts to realize that the alluring woman he's falling for may hold the key to answering the perplexing mystery.

Can Alden unravel a magical entanglement and find his way to happily ever after?

Twelve is a charming fairy tale retelling. If you like upstanding heroes, picturesque romance, and delightful surprises, then you'll adore Joan Marie Verba's heartwarming story.

An enchanting version of a classic story...also a charming love story. - P. C. Hodgell

Interesting plot with some exciting twists but for the most part fairly basic. I was intrigued during some parts but I felt myself getting bored during some of the romance scenes.

*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own*


I thought this book would be faster to read.
And I also thought I wouldn't like it at all since at first, I thought about abandoning this book but as it was a small book I decided to go to the end of the story and in the end, I didn't hate it, the story as I thought I would hate.
It's not a bad book but it's not a good one either, it drags a bit, and it takes a while to get interesting.
The story itself even has some plot twists and is not poorly developed, I just found the author's writing very bad, I didn't like it at all, and the characters weren't very captivating either.
I recommend this story only if the synopsis interests you a lot or if you really like retellings of the twelve dancing princesses because as I retell it I didn't think it was all bad.

Twelve caught my attention on Netgalley because of it's beautiful cove. Isn't that cover just gorgeous? The premise underneath the beautiful cover is a retelling of the classic fairytale Twelve Dancing Princesses. Except this time, the focus is primarily ex-soldier Alden.

Alden arrives at a small village seeking calm and solace after being a solider. Once there, he learns about the legend involving the local kingdom. The kingdom has twelve princesses who are kept under lock and key at night. Except somehow each night the princesses leave the castle and when they return their white shoes are dirty from dancing. Throughout the book, bits and pieces are added to this legend and how it effects the town.

As I mentioned, Alden really becomes the focus of the story. He becomes everyone's best friend in the town willing to help out wherever needed. He claims to have no interest in the legend of the princesses and instead just wants to focus on settling down and finding peace. In some ways, I honestly found Alden too good to be true. Yes, this is a fairytale retelling but, even in fairytales there is usually at least one flawed character. The only thing that could be perceived as a flaw is the fact that Alden might suffer from PTSD and this is why he is always seeking the quiet.

Although there are bits and pieces about the dancing princesses legend throughout, most of the time it is being told through Alden or through his reactions. For someone not invested in the legend he seems pretty invested. I think it would have been nice to actually have the legend fully explained by those experiencing it. You know, the princesses? To me, here was alot of wasted potential there. I would have rather learned more about the princess legend than endless details about Alden's courtship to local moneychanger Philippa. Regardless of her potential connection to the legend.

For me, Twelve had alot of fluff and very little substance. And once again a female legend is being told completely from a male perspective. I'm just so tired of that, you know? I want more female driven fairytale retellings especially if the premise is entirely female based. For example, what were the female villagers thoughts on the legend? Like, I said, solid premise for a story but, ultimately very underwhelming.

This was such a sweet read. It's shorter than the other retellings that I've read about the 12 dancing princesses, but it's no less because of it. The plot was good, and I loved the magical system in this. The Enchanters were a cool addition as well. The romance was lovely and drama-free, straight out a fairytale. That's what this book felt like. A nice, warm fairytale. My thanks to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

As a lover of retellings, I felt this was a little of a letdown. I have seen and read a few of the twelve dancing princesses retellings out in the world. This one felt flat for me, but it was still an interesting and entertaining retelling of the story. My biggest problem was I was left wanting more. More world building and deeper character interaction and thoughts. Also, I thought the pacing was very fast. However, the best part of this retelling is that it is from the perspective of the man. I have seen this story told from anyone else's perspective but the princesses. I might be wrong because I have never read the original story though. Although, if you are looking to pick up a fast and fun read, I would pick up this book.
Thank you NetGalley and Science Fiction and Fantasy writers of America for my copy of Twelve in an exchange for an honest review.

Twelve is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairytale, one that I was unfamiliar with and ended up looking up for more context. I love a good fairytale or myth retelling and was excited to give this one a try!

I actually read all of this book standing in line for rides at an amusement park and it consistently held my attention throughout the entirety of that experience. That's high praise as a lot was going on! I got into the story quickly and enjoyed the world building.

About halfway through, it started to lose me. A lot of the story felt like the main character, Alden, doing chores. It was a lot of, "he went here, he did this, he talked to her" and not a ton about how he felt. That made it harder for me to care about him outside of the archetype of the leading man. I didn't really understand how the book resolved. I appreciate that the author tried to add a lot more context to the rather thin fairytale but it didn't hit very well for me.

Overall, I thought this book was okay and recommend it if you are a fan of the original story or want a quick fantasy story. 2.55 stars from me rounded up to 3. Thank you to FTL Publications and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley, FTL publications, and Ms. Verba for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I love, love, love retellings - they are my JAM - and the fairy tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses is one of my long-time favs. I was really excited to be granted an ARC of this (and its beautiful cover didn't hurt either). Unfortunately its beautiful cover was my favorite thing about it.

Alden is a Gary Stu/ ex-soldier, just as in the original fairy tale. He isn't outright stated as having PTSD but it is fairly clear from his description. He is in search of a quiet, peaceful place of legend near the mountains as he is done with war and strife and, uh, loud noises. He eventually finds the quiet, peaceful place, and meets Every. Single. Villager. One at a time he does Every Single Villager a favor or good deed (thereby establishing his absolute goodness). About 65% of the novella, easily, is taken up with Alden's daily life in the village and his extremely slow and proper courtship of moneychanger Philippa.

The actual Dancing Princesses part of the story is crammed into the last 25% of the story, and even then, it's all about Alden and what he sees and how he reacts. We get very little of the Princesses in the actual story about... The Princesses. (sigh.)

This book was more of a novella, and it was absolutely squeaky clean, so I feel pretty comfortable saying it's definitely approachable for the YA or even tween crowd if they're looking for a clean fairy tale retelling. Unfortunately for me, I was looking for a story about the 12 Dancing Princesses, not the 1 Dancing Alden, so it really didn't hit the spot for me.

I rarely find a book I do not want to give five stars to. That says more about me than the books themselves. However, in the beginning I did find myself thinking that this was going to be something I didn't give the full five stars to. It was a rather slow start with an introduction to many characters. At first I didn't even understand what any of them had to do with the Dancing Princesses that this story was being told about. I'm thrilled I stuck with it though, once it all became clear the story quickly became as enchanting as any fairy tale. It was a quick, lovely "Sunday Read" as I call them. I loved the chance to preview it before the world did and will be telling all my friends to look into it!

This was one of my first retelling stories, and to be honest before reading this I wasn't very familiar with the story of the Twelve Princesses but this story was just SO intriguing that I just could not put it down. I literally finished this book in one sitting.

Alden was a great male lead, and from the beginning I could see that he was most definitely a genuine and noble man. All the things he does for the people of the village even though he's only just met them. Trying to solve the riddle of what the princesses were getting up to late at night when they disappeared for hours at a time.

If you're looking for something short, sweet, and fresh then read this. I absolutely adored this.

Thank you to NetGalley and FTL Publications for the ARC.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses was one of my favorite fairy tales growing up, so I was excited to see how this story played out. I was left disappointed.

The prose was very rudimentary and uncompelling. At times, it was stilted and awkward, and other times felt rushed, like it was shoved into the story. Plot was pretty boring, characters were pretty boring, and honestly the whole thing felt very one note. Not the best adaptation.

If you're looking for fairy tale retellings, you can skip over this one.

I'm always fascinated to delve into fairy tale retellings, and The Twelve Dancing Princesses is one of my favourite stories. So I was thrilled to receive this review copy! I felt that the storytelling was excellent, but the writing was a a bit straightforward/simplistic for my tastes. Still, an excellent read! Thank you!