“Goose bumps broke out all over Ellen, and she felt sweat starting on her temples. She gritted her teeth, not wanting the powder on her face to run. But here was magic, magic beyond walking through a fireplace into a palace. And it was going to be practiced on her.
She looked down at her gown, at the rubies on her wrist and finger and straightened her spine. It would be worth it, to dance in this gown, these jewels. To win a prince’s love and leave drudgery far behind.
And besides, her godmother would never hurt her.
Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George
Princess of Glass, the second book in Jessica Day George’s fairytale series featuring the Twelve Princesses of Westfalin tells the story of Princess Poppy.
Poppy, capable and headstrong comes to the royal court of Breton as a part of a ridiculous scheme devised by the rulers of the kingdoms Ionia to create much needed peace and relationships between the little kingdoms. However, there is a far greater plan afoot in the court than anyone knew. And it’s up to Poppy to set things straight.
Ellen a mysterious maid, who can’t do anything properly, is rumored to be the daughter of an earl. Yet, when offered a dress to go to the royal ball she stoutly declines. When the beautiful Lady Ella makes her appearance at a succession of high society balls and galas, she quickly snatches up the attention of everyone at the event, especially Prince Christian. No one can figure out who she is, and yet everyone recognizes her.
With handsome princes, silly cousins, bubbling cauldrons and plenty of knitting, Jessica Day George has spun a wonderful Cinderella retelling.
I saw a lot of improvement in Princess of Glass over Princess of the Midnight Ball. Because Day George was only focusing on one of the princesses, character development was deeper and the storyline was cleaner. Of course there are plenty of supporting characters, but they are clearly in supporting roles. In the first book, Princess of the Midnight Ball, the line between main character and supporting character was often hard to see because Day George endevored to give an almost equal amount of character development to each of the princesses. In Princess of Glss, Jessica Day George also had two storylines running at once which converged at the end of the book which gave an added level of intrigue. In Princess of the Midnight Ball, the ending was pretty predictable, Galen kills the enemy and gets Rose as his bride. A great ending, but still, predictable. In Princess of Glass, Jessica Day George had me on the edge of my seat. I had no idea what she was going to do half the time and I definately enjoyed that.
Considerations: Poppy isn’t the world’s greatest role model, but she is a believable and lovable heroine. Poppy is credited with swearing, but Jessica Day George never actually puts any of it in writing, the worst Poppy ever actually saying in the book being “Blasted.”
Marianne, Poppy’s cousin, dresses as a harem for masquerade ball and her suitor, Dickon Thwaite dresses to match her. Prince Christian is distracted by the pair, and the indecent amount of skin they are showing.
Poppy also kisses someone at the end of the book, but again Day George doesn’t describe it past stating it’s occurrence.
Moral Value: 4
Artistic Value: 4
Overall Value: 4
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