| $@%&! level: Low “Bedroom” level: None Violence level: Low Back Cover: “Princess Rose is the eldest of twelve sisters condemned to dance each night for the wicked King Under Stone in his palace deep within the earth. It is a curse that has haunted the girls since their birth—and only death will set them free. Then Rose meets Galen, a young soldier-turned-gardener with an eye for adventure and a resolve that matches her own, and freedom suddenly begins to seem a little less impossible. To defeat the king and his dark court, they will need one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love.” |
Rose is the title character, and half of the story follows her. From her point of view, you get the basic setup, and learn about the sisters' efforts to help each other maintain their sanity in the face of everything. Basically, Rose gets all the plot exposition. It hardly seems fair, but thus is life.
I tend to find Galen much more interesting. He not only gets to be the proactive soldier who solves everything, but he also has the spiffy magic tools and the cool knitting skills. I also love the steadiness of his personality. He gets upset, yes, but when he does, he just goes even more quiet. He doesn't argue or shout; he just stubbornly holds to what he knows is right. And in the face of danger and magic and the unknown, that steadiness lets him see clearly and even helps to calm others' fears. Definitely a useful trait to have when rescuing princesses below the age of ten.