Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

Quick, fun read. A little too rushed- the characters felt a little flat at times, but that was my only grievance. If you want something easy to read that will leave you with a warm feeling, I'd give this a shot!

I am such a sucker for a fairy tale retelling and this stunning cover caught my eye!!!

This is definitely something you can read in one sitting for it feels more like a novella rather than YA novel. It didn't blow my mind by any means. I think that was due to the fact it seemed the goal was to just fluff up the tale with intricate, beautiful language that fell wordy and flat. I wish more thought was put in to develop the characters more and had the story been longer, I do feel like it could have been accomplished. The biggest issue was the pacing because although it was so short and a fast read, it felt very slow in the beginning.

It probably would be more suited to a middle school level even moreso than YA.

DNF @ 20%

Twelve was something I expected that I hoped to enjoy because it's not a common occurrence to see retellings of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, hence I was excited to get to it and see how it will turn out. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it pass the 20% mark. While the premise of the story was enticing, the way it was executed was not up to par to what I hoped it would be. The world was not established enough as I would have liked, thus it was difficult for me to imagine the actual setting of the story because all the descriptions were very short and not really giving enough information. The pacing and wording of the story also felt really clunky, and dialogues between characters did not flow smoothly and it sounded all one-note to me without any emotions into them.

This book would have a lot more potential if given the chance to be better written and executed.

True confession: I picked up this book because of the beautiful cover. Glorious! My favorite color! So much to love, lol. Unfortunately, that's where it ended for me.

I couldn't get into the book--I found the writing style wordy, and characters/plot uncompelling. Which is unfortunate; after reading [book:The City Beyond the Glass|38894470] earlier this year, I was excited for another new take on the 12 Dancing Princesses story. Alas, it was not meant to be.

I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Maybe I'm just grumpy today, but this book kind of annoyed me. For one, it's way too short to be a novel, this is definitely a novella or even a short story. I'm a sucker for a happy ending, but this story was oozing perfection and happiness throughout, which just made it kind of dull. And the ending was just silly, with some name calling and a self-terminating villain. There were no twists or surprises, everything was entirely predictable. There wasn't so much as a cross glance or unkind word in the entire story until the ending, except for the main character's love interest who rudely tells an old man who asks a small favor to go away since she's on her lunch break and this is "her time". I guess she's a millennial. The main character supposedly has what looks to be PTSD but seems miraculously cured and does not suffer a single incident. Even for such a short book, there was a lot of extraneous filler. Did we really need to know the shape of the toilet at the hotel and that it was put to use in an unremarkable fashion? Perhaps I am just not the right audience for this book. It wasn't unreadable, so giving it 2 stars.

I was gifted a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

First, I want to state that I LOVE the fairy tale of the twelve dancing princesses. It has always been one of my absolute favorites so every time I see a new book that is based off of it, I gobble it up right away.

There were some concepts that I really loved with this book as well as some of the changes that the author made to the original tale. There were also some issues I took with it. From this point on, there will be some spoilers though I will try to keep it to a minimum.

The things I liked: I liked the new take on the "fairies". I like the enchanters and that they, for the most part, want a GOOD relationship with people. I also liked the glamour that was placed on the princesses so that they were part of the community as normal people as well.

Things I did not like: PACE. It is TOO fast with absolutely NO character building. I get that the land was supposed to be a very peaceful land where everyone accepted each other but there is no believability in the characters conversations or their pacing. Everything is all rainbows in their speech and I get that that is sort of the point but its written in such a manner that I found it more frustrating than likeable. There is also just a constant description of what the characters are doing rather than actually describing who they are, why they do things or any actual depth. The story is just so fast that it loses a lot of points for me. It makes it very difficult to pull me in. I ended up just finishing it because A. it was so short and B. I love the actual fairy tale. I couldnt tell you ANYTHING about the princesses really other than their occupation. I also hardly remember any of their real names. Just their in town names.

Overall, I would recommend this book perhaps for children that are just getting into reading more but I would say its a bit too light for young adult really unless you just want a quick one sitting read.

Twelve was difficult for me to finish The plot of the story was very promising, and Verba has a fun take on the time old twelve dancing princesses fairytale. The execution just didn’t do it justice. The writing felt very monotonous with large chunks of dialogue without any breathers. It was hard to keep track of who said what at times (not to mention who was who given the name changes). In a world where only good people can exist, there was also little room for character growth, leaving the heroes feeling very two dimensional. I had high hopes for this one but definitely not for me.

This was a fun Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling that took a slightly different direction than some other retellings that I've read. It started out a bit slow, as there are a lot of characters introduced and a lot of details given as Alden goes about his chores in the town, but it picked up a bit more once some of the pieces started falling into place.

Despite this, it was an enjoyable read, and I liked the author's spin on a well-known tale.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

Alden finds himself inside an enchanted kingdom that is protected by enchanters. This town also has a riddle that has never been solved. Every night there are twelve pairs of shoes left at the castle and the king can’t figure out why. He said that whoever can solve this riddle can have one of his twelve daughter’s hand in marriage.

I would say this book is more of a children’s book, maybe YA. I wouldn’t put it in the adult category at all mainly because of the writing. It’s a very quick pace and short story. I did get a bit lost in reading this because more things could have been explain/more details.

I did enjoy reading this book though. I was curious as to what this was based off of because it did sound familiar and it reminds me of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. I’m not sure if it’s a retelling but if it is, then it’s a great story to dove into!

Alden finds himself in a hidden kingdom with a mystery to solve. He's the ultra-kind man, back from war and looking for peace and home. Instead, he finds a fairytale.

I tried to see how this book was labeled, but it should definitely be young adult, even children's. The story itself is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses (which I've honestly never heard before), but the writing itself wasn't for an advanced reader. I think this would be a great book for kids to segue into longer books and chapter reading.

The pace at times was very quick, and I think there could have been scenes and details expanded upon, however, for a younger audience, it's perfect. Nothing left you feeling anxious, and the main character was able to help those in need. The fairytale left you feeling great that it all ended well, and it was a simple, easy read.

Thank you Netgalley and FTL Publications for my eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles. I really not the opportunity!

I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

I really wanted to love this book but the writing style was dull and the pacing was odd to me. I also didn’t feel like this story was any different/unique from other twelve dancing princesses retellings. However, if you like retellings, you might like this and it’s a short/easy read.

his was such a cute fairytale to read to take my mind off of life’s current stressors. It is only 11 chapters, so it is a pretty quick and easy read. The overall message and theme of the story is beautiful and makes you feel warm and fuzzy at the end.

More for young adults or kids than adults. Just a few pages in it felt dull without anything to grab the reader

Thank you to NetGalley and FTL Publishing for this ARC.

Twelve is a retelling of the classic story of the twelve dancing princesses. Alden, wearied by his military services, goes in search of a quiet town to settle in, at least for a little while. Upon arrival, he learns that this particular town is surrounded by an enchanting mystery: the twelve daughters of the King and Queen disappear every night without alerting the guards or the townspeople. Every morning, the shoemaker receives twelve pairs of worn out dance shoes. The princesses never speak of their nighttime activities, and every suitor who has tried to solve the mystery has given up and/or fled in shame. Alden isn't particularly interested in solving the mystery or marrying a princess, but the enchantment and those who uphold it believe he may just be pure enough of heart to deserve this knowledge.

This retelling did many things that I loved: I really liked the change in the magic system and the terms of the enchantment. The mystery extends to the wider world and has cosmic implications based on local folklore, though it is just one small town. I also really appreciated the focus on the interpersonal relationships within the town - every character has so much dimension and there are so many genuine, believable friendships in town. It's such a wholesome, sweet community.

Now for the part I wasn't so in love with: even with this reimagined magic system, I wasn't convinced that this book did anything groundbreakingly new with the story. Not that a retelling has to be, but the changes that were made were so interesting that I wanted more of them. The Enchanters were so awesome as folklore and as actual celestial beings, I would have enjoyed a deeper integration of their lore into the story. I do think this is overall a charming and interesting take on the twelve dancing princesses tale and am giving it 3.5 (rounded to 4) stars.

This just wasn't my cup of tea. I didn't enjoy the writing, it was very monotonous and lacking in variation. The plot and pace was slow. The character were underdeveloped. And the romance seemed non-existent in my opinion. Just not for me.

Twelve is the first retelling of twelve dancing princesses that I have read and it wasn't disappointing! The world, magic and romance was cute. I enjoyed reading Alden's POV. He was kind and honest man. The side characters were also likeable.
This is a good novel for those who love retellings and sweet romance.
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!