Heather Dixon's debut novel, ENTWINED, set during Victorian times, tells a similar story to Grimm's Dancing Princesses although not quite so dark. Princess Azalea and her eleven younger siblings, all named for flowers in alphabetical order, live in a castle. They know it was enchanted at one time but not that it still holds dark secrets. Azalea's mother has just died, and the castle is in morning; they must dress all in black, keep the shutters closed and most distressing of all, no dancing.

But the girls discover a silver forest beneath their bedroom where they can dance the night away, performing reels and waltzes until their feet are raw and their shoes worn. But the forest isn't all fun and dancing and soon, they become entwined in a web of evil and may not escape.

Heather Dixon has written a fun, fairly light story that combines historical fiction with a bit of fantasy and the paranormal. Her writing style flows well except for some seemingly odd modern abbreviations like RB for royal business that don't fit with the historical setting. The family seem to have no money and eat porridge for many meals yet they have enough servants, and why they're so poor never gets explained.

With so many characters, some are better developed than others. While Azalea remains the central heroine, I liked Bramble the best as she was the feistiest, and Azalea didn't realize the danger and start to fight back until late in the game.

Dixon handles relationships between the sisters with aplomb as well as those between Azalea and her father. It's also a fairly long book, and the plot sometimes slows down, clogged with extraneous detail. Dancing is central to the girls lives and to the book, but at times, there was too much of that as well. Those who enjoy fairy tale retellings should check it out, and perhaps it's better for pre-teen and early teen readers than older young adults and "grown-ups." I will check out more of Dixon's work on her writing alone though as she definitely has talent.