I received an advance review copy through Netgalley; all opinions are my own and honest.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. The premise and worldbuilding had potential — I love fairy tale retellings; I’m intrigued by the island setting, and their polytheistic belief system — but as a whole the novel seemed scattered, and the plot felt awkwardly paced too.

It certainly doesn't help that there are so many characters: I know it's based on the 12 dancing princesses so there's a reason there are so many sisters, but even our narrator (Annaleigh) wasn't as fleshed-out as I would have liked. The romance subplot felt like it was ticking boxes off a checklist rather than developing organically, so honestly I wasn't for or against it because it barely registered for me.

For the first half or so I was drawn in by the atmosphere, the desire to get to know each of the Thaumus sisters better, all the creepy goings-on. But ironically, by the time the story was in full swing I found myself a little disengaged, even bored. And around the 2/3 mark the narrative suddenly became really plot-heavy with reveal after twist after reveal, so although I appreciated finally getting answers, they weren't as satisfying as I had hoped; the epilogue in particular was disappointing in its predictability.