So, I am not sure what I just read...but I think I kind of loved it?

Trigger Warnings:

child death; gory birthing scene

I had no real expectations going into this book. I am vaguely familiar with the source material, the fairy tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, but this puts a twist on it right from the very beginning. Instead of twelve sisters, we begin the book with eight, four sisters having died prior to the events of the book. There is a level of suspicion surrounding the deaths, specifically the most recent. Our protagonist, Annaleigh, suspects that foul play may be involved, and is determined to find out the truth behind the death. The dancing comes into play about a quarter of the way through the story, when the sisters discover a magical doorway of sorts.

For the first 100 or so pages, I was entertained but not loving the book. I would've guessed it wouldn't get more than 3 stars from me. But then something happened. I fell under this book's spell, and just devoured it. I can't exactly explain how thoroughly entertaining this story was. There were moments that felt magical and others where I was utterly disturbed. This would've been a perfect October read, in my opinion.

It's not a perfect book. I can stand back and spot the flaws. The writing is simplistic, the transitions between scenes are abrupt, the romance was too fast, and the characters and world could have been developed more. But I just didn't care. I had such a good time reading this book.