Entwined by Heather Dixon (I like the name Heather) is a twist to the Twelve Dancing Princesses. The COVER is so PRETTY! The main character is Azalea, the oldest princess, who has to look after her younger sisters after the death of their mother. They have to survive a year of mourning, but they must dance. When they stumble upon the Keeper's realm, he allows them to enter every night to dance. But Azalea is entwined with him, and will soon be entrapped if she doesn't get out.
There were some things I liked and some things I didn't. For instance, I like how it was about family and finding love for the princesses so that they could marry for love rather than arranged marriages. I liked their names and the connections to dreams. I never quiet understood all the references to magic or the Keeper's relationship with Azalea. What does he want with her, her sisters, and her parents? I liked the names, which you will find if you read it. I think that for a novel this long, I expected a little more and was disappointed. Here's a quote: (the Keeper) "Excellent dance, my lady. You are the best I have ever danced with. You should take pride in that." To sum up, it's about magic and princesses and evil men and good men and family and royalty and duty and love and sisterhood. I can't recommend it, but it's up to you to decide what you think about it.
Exposed by Kimberly Marcus is the story of Liz, PhotoGirl, in verse. When her best friend, Kate, accuses her brother, Mike, of rape, Liz no longer knows what she sees. The lens of her life has become blurred and she doesn't know how to make it clearer. She pretends it didn't happen, acts like it's normal, but she still can't see, can't focus on the image of herself. Her friendship with Kate is shattered, when Kate decides to press charges and testify against Mike.
Liz and Kate both learn how to take risks and how to step forward when life throws you backwards, how to keep moving, how to shoot life when it's moving and going forward. To keep going with it. Liz must reconcile her feelings toward her family and Kate and learn how to focus on her future.
A quick, raw, and beautifully compelling novel, it made me want to cry. I'm a photographer myself so I know what that is like. To not know what you're looking at. To find the image you need to capture. Life isn't black and white, nor is it a single snapshot. Instead, it is many. Together. Connecting us to others and the world around us.
Everyone has a point of view.
Some people call it style,
but what we're really talking about
is the guts of photography.
When you trust your point of view,
that's when you start taking pictures.
--Ann Leibovixtz (Exposed)
