The Golden Ball by Erika Everest Review

Last year my family was struck by tragedy with the death of my grandmother. During her life she was a dance critic who would review ballets such as Giselle, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. When she passed, I was still at school and sadly couldn't be there at her side. So, to honor her memory I decided to read as many Swan Lake retellings as I could for a month. Since I was busy with schoolwork, I only got to read three books one of which (The Sorcerer and the Swan Princess by Lucy Tempest) has been posted in a previous entry. Now I am going to share the second Swan Lake retelling I read which is The Golden Ball by Erika Everest. This book is the second book in the trilogy (third if you count the prequal The Orphan Queen) and it is a mix of three fairy tales Cinderella, Swan Lake, and The Frog Prince. Erika Everest tells a wonderful story incorporating each fairy tale in a wonderful and clever way. So much so that this is my favorite book she has written so far. 

In the previous book The Scarred Prince we were introduced to princess Natasha who was Sienna’s best friend. The two of them, along with a bunch of other princesses, meet each other in a dream world every night which was created when Princess Aurora fell into a cursed sleep. However, princess Odette had been missing from dream world and worried about her friend Natasha set out along with her twin brother Alexie to attend her upcoming coronation. Upon arrival they encounter Odette who seems different from the friend Natasha knew. Fearing something was wrong with her friend and not getting any answers from her or her legal guardians (the kingdom's regent and his second wife Aoife) Natasha decided to go undercover and discover the truth for herself. Since Odette spent her nights at the regent's chateau Natasha posed as a new servant named Asha and soon discovered the truth. The “Odette” she had met was actually the regent's daughter Odile in disguise and the real Odette had been turned into a swan during the day by Aoife who wanted Odette to marry her stepson, Tobias. Knowing they must inform the kingdom's advisors of this treachery Odette gives Natasha a magic gold ball (a gift from her fairy godmother) that could help them prove the truth. However, Natasha accidentally drops the ball, and it is picked up by Tobias who in exchange for getting it back asks Natasha to spend time with him. Although Natasha can’t stand Tobias and is pressed for time, she has no choice but to comply. Will Natasha get the gold ball back in time to save Odette? And can she do so without losing her heart in the process?  

I was really invested in Natasha for she was a beautifully written character. It's true she reminded me a good deal of Elsa from Disney's Frozen since she has ice powers and concealed her feelings. However, unlike Elsa Natasha, she chose to be reserved and was not told by others to do so. Although the story does not talk about it much it seems that in the past Natasha’s heart was broken when she discovered the man she loved was only after her crown. To protect herself from any more heartbreak she does not let herself get close to too many people. This is one of the reasons she is so hesitant to let Tobias into her life. However, Tobias can see that her icy and cold behavior is mostly just a mask she wears and longs to see the real Natasha underneath. I originally thought I would dislike Tobias since he started off acting slimy like a frog by flirting shamelessly with Natasha the moment, he saw her and by taking her gold ball to blackmail her into spending time with him. But he grew on me over time. He was nothing like his half-sister Odile and I felt sympathy for him when he learned the dark truth about his stepmother who was the only mother he had ever had in his life. Odette and Alexei were also good characters, but I would have liked to see more development on their part. They had been secretly corresponding to each other before the story's events, but I thought if they had a little more development, I would have been rooting for them more. Plus, in the beginning Alexei didn’t notice something was wrong with fake Odette until Natasha pointed out her strange behavior to him. I know he is an improved man by the end of the book, but I would have liked to have seen more of him throughout the story to see him grow up a little more. Aoife was a good villain, and it was nice to see some action towards the end of the story since the previous two books did not have much or any. Overall, I was really impressed by how well this book seamlessly blended the three-fairy tales of Cinderella, Swan Lake, and the Frog Prince together while also including elements of the Twelve Dancing Princesses and Disney’s Frozen into the mix. Erika Everest knows how to blend fairy tales together well and so far, she has not failed to impress me. I look forward to reviewing her latest book The Princess Vow soon and reading her future books. I rate this book 4.5 stars. Until next time E. V. A.