Princess of Glass

This charming fantasy, based on the fairy tale of Cinderella, is the second in Jessica Day George’s series “The Princess of the Midnight Ball”. Of course, in Princess of Glass, she has cleverly twisted the tale using the elements of the fairy godmother, the glass slippers, and the handsome prince to tell her own unique version of the classic story.

Princess Poppy, one of the original twelve dancing princesses, is recovering from her own magical ordeal, but while visiting the kingdom of Breton, discovers a new curse being worked on someone else, a servant girl named Ellen. As she realizes that this curse is also directed at the handsome Prince Christian of Danelaw, whom she is slowly developing a close friendship with, she vows to show more break this magic spell and release the victims.

I really liked how the author reworked this fairy tale and enjoyed the strong willed, competent Princess Poppy who sets out to right the wrongs and in doing so wins the slightly hapless but nevertheless charming Prince Christian. As in all fairy tales there is a happy ending and in this case we have three young couples finding their “happy ever after”. A light and frothy story chock full of magic, humour and romance. show less

Princess Poppy along with her twelve sisters were once condemned to dance every night for the evil King Under Stone, but now that the spell has been broken, attempts are being made to mend relations between various kingdoms. As part of a royal exchange program, Poppy has been sent to Breton where she meets Prince Christian of Danelaw who is promising as friend or possibly something more. At the same time, Eleanora, who fell in society when her father lost his wealth and she was forced to become a maid, also has wishes of marrying the handsome Christian. When a mysterious godmother appears offering Eleanora gowns, jewels, and glass slippers to help her snare the prince, only Poppy recognizes the dark consequences that comes from show more apparently easy magical solutions.

A sequel to Princess of the Midnight Ball, this novel is just as charming. George takes the more familiar story of Cinderella and makes the world of magic much darker and more frightening, which contrasts nicely with the lovely lightness of the narrative. Poppy is a wonderful character and apart from her eleven sisters, really has the chance to come into her own as a character. Surprisingly, Eleanora, as the Cinderella figure, is not immediately sympathetic but takes some warming up to. Christian has more character than a typical Prince Charming but isn't very deep. Nevertheless, he makes an excellent partner for Poppy. A fun and darker retelling of Cinderella with tremendous appeal. show less

Poppy was once one of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and after her curse to dance every night in the underworld was broken (in [b: Princess of the Midnight Ball|3697927|Princess of the Midnight Ball (Princess, #1)|Jessica Day George|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312063284s/3697927.jpg|3741438]), she resolved never to dance again. But during an ambassadorial visit to Breton she becomes a side character in a twisted version of Cinderella, and realizes that she just might have to dance at at least one more ball to break the evil spells flying around the ballrooms of Breton.

I really liked Poppy, who is stalwart and sensible but far from a perfect princess. And I enjoyed the unexpected twists and turns this story took, from "Cinderella" show more being a sulky housemaid who hopes for better things, to the glass slippers being made from magical, molten glass. show less

This sequel to Princess of the Midnight Ball is delightful and, in many ways, stronger than its predecessor. Where 'Midnight Ball' was fairly surface and predictable fun, 'Glass' mixes up the fairy tales in more interesting ways and is possessed of a of a heroine, Princess Poppy, who is determined and feisty and just tons of fun.

The ten unmarried dancing princesses from 'Midnight Ball' are being shipped off in a sort of royal 'study abroad' program in order to repair strained relations and possibly achieve some matchmaking. Sixteen-year-old Princess Poppy travels to Breton, where she makes some good friends and has an encounter with a serving girl named Ellen who, it turns out, has gotten into something a bit over her head. This is a show more pretty creative re-imagining of Cinderella, and I really enjoyed how neatly that story fit into the previous fairy tale. George really manages to make them feel like part of the same world, and she strikes a nice balance between politics and fairy tale magic.

My favorite part of this book, though, is Princess Poppy. I spent a lot of time while reading this book thinking that if I had a daughter, this is exactly the sort of Princess I'd want her reading about. Intelligent and quick-witted, scared of scary things but willing to face them when necessary anyway, eager to stretch her boundaries and willing to reevaluate her judgment of someone. She's an excellent role model, a lot of fun, and when things get bad, she starts knitting.

If Princess of the Midnight Ball struck your fancy, I definitely recommend this follow-up. show less

I'd read the first book in this trilogy years ago and liked it well enough to be intrigued by the other two books when I saw George had written more. This one follows Poppy who is on a royal exchange to another kingdom and gets embroiled in a Cinderella plot by a spirit known as the Corley.

I loved that this was very different than other Cinderella retellings I've come across. The Cinderella in this story is a victim of the Corley and that makes this book taken on a darker turn than I've seen before. That said, Eleanor/Ella was really not a sympathetic character until well toward the end of the book. She was nasty, mean, and I spent much of the story hoping she'd get tossed into a pigsty. It's a bit hard to reconcile that with the HEA show more she did eventually get.

Despite that, this was a good romp and worth a read if you like fairy tales. show less

2023 re-read review:

This second book in the trilogy is more enjoyable than the first: there's more action, more agency given to both the MCs and the antagonist, and the Cinderella retelling is given a twist which—while not entirely unique—makes the story a lot more enjoyable than if it had been the standard version. I remember liking this book the best out of the trilogy, and so far that memory is holding true. This is still a young-YA novel (the heroine is 16 in this book, and I feel the target audience was aimed there or slightly lower) but feels less simple than book one did.

For those of you who read Princess of the Midnight Ball, you’ll remember Princess Poppy. She was one of the sisters under the enchantment of the wicked King Under Stone (shudders).

Poppy makes a return appearance here, when she participates in a royal exchange program. The idea of the program is to create strong political alliances and possibly see some marriages too. It’s all going well, until we learn that a poor servant girl has been tricked by a wicked fairy godmother into impersonating a princess and trying to steal all the eligible men away from Poppy. The lengths she goes to in order to best Poppy are awesome. I couldn’t wait for each new ball to see what was going to happen next.

For lovers of fairy tales and fairy tale show more retellings, you’ll be in heaven. This one is masterfully done and seamlessly weaves elements of Cinderella in. You’ll get your fill of beautiful ball gowns, political and princess-y intrigue, fairy godmothers, and one rather plucky heroine.

I loved Poppy. She was one of my favorite characters in Princess of the Midnight Ball and I was thrilled to see her make a repeat appearance here. She’s the kind of heroine you can really get behind and cheer for. The gal who makes her own way in life, even though she’s a princess. The gal who takes matters into her own hands and doesn’t wait for someone else to do the dirty work. She’s a character who’s really easy to look up to.

LOVE.

I could go on and on about how much I love this book (and Jessica Day George’s other books too, for that matter), but I think you get the picture.

Just go read the book, okay? show less