Princess of Glass

I adore this series. It's one of the sweeter retellings I've found so far - much more adapted to younger readers, but still enjoyable for those of us (like myself) who's older. And I like how the author interpreted the end of the original story of the 12 Dancing Princesses - "They lived happily ever after and they never danced again." - in order to explore what happily ever after and no more dancing meant. In this story, we follow Poppy, one of the princesses made to dance every night for the King Under Stone. In an attempt to bring peace between the nations the royals have begun an exchange program - and Poppy has left her home country to stay in anot. Another exchange student is Prince Christian of Danelaw and the two become friends. One of the servants at the house Poppy is staying at, however, has a dark secret and wants to snatch Prince Christian for herself, and when a mysterious woman charms the court - wooing all the men and making all the women jealous - Poppy finds herself having to solve a magical mystery. Who is the woman with the glass slippers? This retelling of Cinderella is much more in tune with the original story - not the Disney one - which I prefer. That some problems are solved far too easy, some of the characters feel a bit flat and the story progresses quite fast (which is most likely perfectly fine with a younger audience, but perhaps not with an older one) prevents me from giving it a 5 star rating. But definitely a good book and I am looking forward to reading the next one already!