Wildwood Dancing

"A bit less that 4 stars<br/><br/>Some of Marillier’s writing is formulaic, and by that, I mean she is excellent at writing about selfish sisters. Tati, in this story, annoyed me endlessly, she self absorbed and more than a little bit pathetic. Now, I’ve never been in love before, but I’d like to think I wouldn’t completely neglect and turn my back on my family for a boy I haven’t really known all that long. That was exactly what Tati did. Sorrow was her only focus, and while Jena struggled to keep control over her household from the threat of her cousin Cezar, it was clear she could not rely on her older sister to help her in her crisis. I feel like the wild wood itself could’ve been a bit more exciting in terms of what they do there every full moon as well. I did enjoy Cezar as an antagonist, because even while he made terrible choices and proved himself to be quite horrible time after time, I liked that I understood his motivation to destroy the wild wood, as he realized just what exactly it is that he sacrificed. I also love how Marillier wrote Jena to be courageous and outspoken against Cezar and her other adversaries, yet still socially polite as a girl of her times was expected to be. Her and her sidekick turned loved had a nice relationship as well. <br/>I seriously didn’t like how Tati was portrayed though, to the point where she was killing herself slowly (by not eating food or drink) because she couldn’t at the time be with sorrow. Perhaps love is just not something I fully understand, but I’ve never really been a fan of girls being portrayed as helpless maidens. <br/><br/>It also would’ve been nice if Jena called Tati out on her uselessness more often"

"I loved this one! I love Juliet's books. I listened to this one and I couldn't stop. Finished it in one day. Glad I listened to it because there are a lot of Romanian names I would've struggled with."