Review: Dancing with Gold

I eagerly received an ARC of Dancing with Gold by Sara Farnsworth, the latest book in the Realms of Caelia series. Each book in the series combines two different fairy tales to create a new original story, a concept that has inspired me in some of my own writing. This book, which combines "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" with "Rumpelstiltskin," is different from the other Realms of Caelia books in that it does not have the protagonists take on the roles of both stories. Instead, the book is split between the story of Princess Jadia, who lives out the popular curse version of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," and her mother, Queen Amythest, who lived out the story of the miller's daughter in "Rumpelstiltskin" before Jadia was born. I personally preferred it when the characters in this series took on multiple fairy tale roles to add more depth to their stories, but that makes this book a unique entry.

The premise of this book is one that many "Twelve Dancing Princesses" adaptations incorporate. Princess Jadia and her eleven sisters are cursed to dance with demonic beings in an underground shadow realm against their will on a regular schedule. After each ball, they return to the castle with their dancing shoes torn to shreds and are unable to speak a word about it to anyone except each other. When Jadia learns that their captor might have a connection to their mother, she reads dairy entries from her mother's journal to learn her story. The journal entries are written in the exact same format as the rest of the novel, complete with dialogue and detailed descriptions, so they come off as more of a framing device than an actual peek into the younger queen's mind.

The male lead in this book, Prince Orion, is referenced in several other books from Realms of Caelia, particularly Lake of the Wild Swans, where he was trapped in the body of a swan alongside his brothers for three years. The book's biggest strength is the growth of Orion and Jadia's relationship from enemies to lovers. What little dialogue he had in previous books focused on his distaste toward her, which stemmed from her annoyance toward him for repeatedly pranking her as a child. This aspect of the book reminded me of the song montage, "This Is My Idea" from The Swan Princess. I enjoyed seeing that montage come to life in book form since it's not something  I see often in other fairy tale retellings.

The book is rather lengthy and spends more time building up the relationship between Jadia and Orion than it does describing the mystical underground realm and what the princesses experience when they dance with the shadows. My favorite element of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" is the escapism to a magical realm, but most modern retellings supersede the theme of freedom and escape with a curse that must be broken (not counting the Barbie version). The passages written from the perspective of Jadia's mother also favor her budding relationship with her future husband over the magical elements of "Rumpelstiltskin" due to a curse that prevents her from writing or talking about it.

Dancing with Gold by Sara Farnsworth is a beautifully written addition to the Realms of Caelia series, blending "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and "Rumpelstiltskin" with a focus on character growth and relationships. While it may not have satisfied my craving for more magic and whimsy, the transition from enemies to lovers between Jadia and Orion is a highlight, making for a compelling read. Fans of character-driven fairy tale retellings will appreciate the emotional depth, and the dual perspectives between Jadia's present and her mother's past were a unique framing element for the book.