Princess of the Silver Woods

The Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George is the third and final of the Dancing Princess books. I haven't read the previous two. Nominally, Silver Woods is also a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood with a smattering of the Robin Hood legends. Petunia, the youngest of the nine dancing princesses is the lead in this book. She is kidnapped by Oliver — the Robin Hood of the book. Oliver has a tale of stolen lands and Petunia, as a daughter of the king, can help him set things to rights, if he's telling the truth. Originally told from Petunia's point of view, the book later adds long passages from Oliver's point of view. Although his plight as an earl without lands was certainly compelling, he wasn't strong enough of a personality to hold his end of the story telling. Whenever I came to hone of his parts, I usually ended up skimming so I could get back to Petunia. There's enough hints at the previous two books to help the uninitiated reader piece together how the sisters got to this point in their stories. The finally third of the book wraps in the loose ends of books one and two into a tidy conclusion. For someone not invested in the previous two, it's a bit long winded, but I suspect for fans of the series, it will be more riveting. Read via NetGalley

*desperately wants to stab something with knitting needles* To say this book was disappointing would definitely be an understatement. It started off well enough, but I quickly lost interest after the first 50 pages. Basically, the only reason I finished it was so I could say I finished the series. (Of which I actually enjoyed the first two books.) With that being said, there were a FEW things I liked. *cracks knuckles and begins review* Lovely Things: - The fairytale aspects. I really liked the way Jessica Day George retold Little Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood (both Hoods, actually *snickers*). It was definitely a unique take, with the "wolf" actually being good in this version. THUMBS UP FOR THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX. - Poppy. Just...Poppy. I loved her in the second book, and every time she popped up (*laughs at my own pun*), I found myself smiling. SHE'S THE BEST. (And frankly, one of the only well-developed characters in this book.) - Erm...not much else? I guess the opening few scenes were fun, though. You know, when Petunia was "accidentally" kidnapped. ;) Not So Lovely Things: - The plot was the SAME THING. It was literally the plot from book one rehashed. Like I didn't see the point at all of this book honestly?? I mean, sure, there was a new King Under Stone--but he was basically the same character and the plot revolved around trying to defeat him...again. *facepalm* - The characters were so underdeveloped. I liked Galen and loved Poppy from the first two books--but honestly? Petunia and Oliver were so lame. I didn't feel like they had much personality at all, and they had incredibly boring dialogue for the most part. XD Plus, they spent hardly any time together the entire book and then we're expected to like them as a couple?? NO THANKS. - The content. I may or may not have done a double-take when I saw language in this book. The first two books did just fine without any language, but for some reason, the author decided that this book desperately needed the characters to curse. Like whaaaat? I counted seven total uses of language. And yet, the author still says "so and so cursed." So what's the point of actually using curse words in addition? I DO NOT COMPREHEND THIS. *bangs head* - The "conflict" was resolved in such a lame way. The characters were all like "let's just do the same thing we did last time! That will totally work and not backfire like it did before." PEOPLE. GET. SOME. SENSE. And it was just such an unbelievable ending anyway that I couldn't help chuckling. - The dialogue. Ehehe...I may or may not have almost fallen asleep a few times. These characters are so boring. Their conversations were about as interesting as staring at a potato. #unimpressed I could go on, but I think I've been harsh enough as it is. XD (Sorry!!) This book made me want to punch a wall--preferably, punch one of the characters into a wall. I think I'll just stick with the first two books. 1.5 stars

Always a favorite of mine. I swear I'll never get tired of these books. Never ever ever.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book (and this series) and although I was a sobbing mess for at least the last four chapters, cute happy ending was had by all.