I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is very "of its time," as in 2023, not the historical setting. There wasn't a single male character who wasn't trash. Basically the only healthy relationship shown was LGBT. Abuse was sensationalized as a roundabout way of empowering characters. Now, don't get me wrong - on their own, none of these things are problematic. I can think of several books I love that include each of these elements. Recently though, these elements have become the basis of most "feminist retellings/reimaginings" and I'm freaking bored of it.

Now, I read a lot. Not humble bragging or anything, but I do a lot of reviews so I read a lot of new fiction, and I think I get bored of trends unusually quickly. Maybe you aren't bored by these elements or even enjoy them. Fair enough, but you still might not like this because literally nothing happens. In a book about dance mania, there is almost no action. I never quite connected with the characters either, though that could be a side effect of my boredom.

2 stars because the concept is cool, if underutilized, and there's beekeeping rep.

What a beautiful and haunting book. Kiran Millwood Hargrave has a way of bringing beauty out of the darkest moments. While the content of the book was often bleak, I found myself endlessly enchanted by the beautiful writing and characterizations. It's a fascinating look at such an odd moment in history, and this serves as the backdrop for a deeper discussion of what it means to love and be loved. While at moments it did drag a bit, I was intrigued until the very end and I would highly recommend.

The Dance Tree is a magical and poetic read, I really enjoyed it. The language is beautiful and the story and it’s cast of characters are so well written.
You read it and become part of the women’s world, deeply entrenched in their lives, the good and the heartbreaking.
It is an uplifting book, a devastating book and a beautiful book.

Set in 1518 Strasbourg, The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave revolves around the dancing plague that took over the city. The novel focuses on the protagonist, Lisbet, and her immediate family and friends, with the dancing plague and religious fervor as a compelling backdrop. Well researched and emotive, The Dance Tree is a wonderful piece of historical fiction. It is a must-read for anyone interested in this mysterious plague, and a page-turner for general historical fiction lovers.

In all, Hargrave’s The Dance Tree is a well-researched, thoughtful historical tale about real people during an unreal-sounding period of time. With robust characters, full of complex human emotion, the novel manages to illustrate the interaction of different cultures, beliefs, and worldviews compellingly. In fact, the stories told are largely timeless — human loss, fear, hopes, and so on that we feel as much today as in 1518.

Thank you to both the author and publisher for this arc!
Unique and full of mystery and twists and turns. It reminds me of the Salem Witch Trials - women and girls had an unfair disadvantage due to hysteria that was common in those days. The idea is that if something terrible happens to people or livestock, women are suddenly blamed for being witches. The author did well writing how people thought during this era; it is not a light read.

I loved the premise of this book. The story revolves around the "Dancing Plague", which I have read about and listened to a few podcasts, but the main storyline does not directly concern it. The story follows a woman, who is married to a beekeeper, and her family. The story is so beautifully written and well-researched. I don't know much about Strasbourg at the time this occurred, but I can guarantee you based upon the way it appears to have been researched and written, if most of what was written about wasn't based mostly in fact, I would be surprised. I greatly enjoyed the character development, and the interesting inclusions that the author chose to write into the story. At a time when we are experiencing such issues regarding racism, xenophobia, and homophobia, it was amazing to see those issues addressed in a historical fiction novel, since these are not new topics, but merely talking points that have become a target for certain political groups. I would highly recommend this book to historical fiction lovers, it is very engaging, and I loved it!

i have only read a few books set in the 1600’s and/or in the time of plague. What I have read has certainly sparked my interest so I felt very happy to receive this ARC from NetGalley. Unfortunately, Lisbet, the main character had a sad, bland life and I could not generate enough interest in her to finish the book. I have seen the reviews and the vast majority of readers seem to really enjoy the book. While this is my honest opinion, it very well could be that I have just picked it up at the wrong time in my life.

this was an interesting read- i didn't connect with the characters as much as I thought i would but i still enjoyed the book.

4 stars

I have been intrigued by the Dancing Plague of 1518 for years and every time a new fiction novel about it comes out, it is something that I immediately want to get my hands on.

Hargrave's The Dance Tree explores the event through the lens of Lisbet, a beekeeper's wife who lives just beyond the city of Strasbourg and is pregnant for the 13th time after losing all 12 of her previous babies. When her sister-in-law Nethe returns from serving penance for an unknown crime at the same time the dancing plague begins, it sets Lisbet on a dangerous path that will test her understanding of love, of God, and of herself.

This book reminds me a lot of Hamnet in both the sparse but highly impactful prose that Hargrave uses and in the copious amount of forest imagery woven throughout. It is very easy to feel transported to this turbulent, violent period and to feel for these imperfect women who are struggling to survive in extraordinary circumstance even for the period. There were times where I found myself wanting to go a bit deeper with a concept or a plot point being discussed since there is a lot to unpack in this novel, but that certainly didn't hinder my overall enjoyment of this quiet and beautiful book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I will not be thanking HarperVia or posting this review on Goodreads as I stand with the workers of Harper Collins who are currently striking for better pay and working conditions.

I really enjoyed the setting of 1500s plague time and the women depicted. I didn't connect as much with Lisbet as a narrator, as she was a little detached. I did enjoy Agnethe as a character. It was overall a well-done book, dissecting religious extremism.

I adore Kiran Millwood Hargrave's writing, voice, and style; and her interpretations of lesser-known historical events -- as depicted here in THE DANCE TREE, a loose reimagining of the Dancing Plague of 1518, as well as in her debut adult novel THE MERCIES -- are assuredly ambitious, interesting, feminist, and important. But I must admit, I struggled at times to connect with the story being told here.

For me, I think the disconnect is mostly the fault of Lisbet, the main character who also serves as the primary POV from which the story is told. She was so decidedly stoic and proper that it felt like the narration held me at a remove from her innermost thoughts and true feelings... or maybe it was that Lisbet herself held me at a remove from the emotional weight and significance of the events of the story. I really felt the absence of chapters told from Agnethe's perspective, particularly during the first half of the novel; she was such an impactful, important, game-changing character, not to mention so opposite to and unlike Lisbet, that together, their interpretations of and reactions to events could have told a much more complete story of this time period and its effect on the women who lived it.

What interested me into this story was the time period of plaque in the 16th century Europe and women who faced the religious obsessions.

The story involves Lisbet who is a pregnant beekeeper and who suffers many miscarriages, and many tragedies in her life. Her city of Strasbourg is marked by starvation and hardship. When one woman starts dancing in the city, followed by others and dramatic events, Lisbet starts questioning what is right and what is wrong.

As the story unravels, I kept waiting to connect with the main character, but I couldn’t. There wasn’t enough of character development to help me connect with Lisbet. When I started losing interest in the story, I realized that the plot was weak as well. It seems as it’s more about some embellishments. The story keeps spinning, but I was missing character development and some strong thread to connect all those beautiful embellishments.

The story is ambitious in its scope, involving natural occurrence, possible war, prejudice, and more. As much as I loved the Mercies by this author, I just couldn’t connect with this story.

An absolute breathtaking tale — the writing, for one, was utterly absorbing and woven with subtle magic. The story itself was so powerful and deeply resonant, and I would sell my soul for the book to have never ended. Enchanting beyond belief.

Having read Hargrave's adult debut, The Mercies, earlier this year and having loved it, I was excited to dive into The Dance Tree, which promised to do everything The Mercies did and possibly more. But all I got was disappointment. While being influenced directly by Hargrave's experiences, which I grief for her, the book is surprisingly heartless and without emotion. It never went the way I thought it was going to go, and not in a good way. The casual racism, though never excused by the author, was exhausting and unnecessary, the characters fell flat, even Lisbet is a stale and unloveable protagonist. The setting of the book and the time period it was set in was the most interesting part of it.
If this story appeals to you, I recommend reading The Mercies instead, which I still love dearly.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy! Was excited about this one because of the setting and the history of dance plagues (crazy- I did a lot of googling). The writing was good, but my interest in the characters was tepid at times. You could feel the author's emotional connection to one of the storylines. Overall an interesting novel that kept my attention, a good choice for historical fiction lovers!

The author seemed determined to convince us that sixteenth century Alsace was dirty, dangerous, and stinky. In this she succeeded. Every other sentence was about something smelly.

Not so successful was her portrayal of the inner lives and language of the people of the time. I could not believe that they would really have thought, behaved and spoken in the way they did. This tended to throw me out of the story.

The writing style had some gorgeous passages, but overall was too pleased with its own fanciness to be pleasing to me as a reader. I liked the parts about the bees the best.

I think I would have preferred a 21st century story from this author that somehow transferred the dancing plague into modern times. That would have been more interesting to me.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave takes a look at the Dancing Plague that hit Strasbourg in 1518, wherein hundreds of people danced to exhaustion--and death--for reasons that are still not known for certain. The protagonist, Lisbet, has to navigate waters that would be familiar to most women of the time: miscarriage after miscarriage, a husband who cares only for the children she may bear him and who harbours a callousness she does not immediately recognise, and other men who wish to harm her and take all that she loves in order to enrich their own pockets or settle scores.

The novel has an ache woven into it, a melancholy you can feel in your chest as you read. The pages fall away quickly the nearer you get to the end, and I think that, having read the book, I feel as though I have had a glimpse into the lives of ancestors I will never know and who are long since departed. Their struggles are at once a part of the past, but also somehow tragically familiar in these times, and Lisbet's story shines a light upon that.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hargrave does it again, with a gorgeous and detailed historic fiction that deals with the struggles that women and LGBTQ people used to experience. Based on actual historic events, this book is grounded in reality which makes it that much more multidimensional.

This novel follows Lisbet, a pregant wife in sixteenth-century Strasbourg, as a dancing plague hits. The dancing plague, also called choreomania, was a real event. Lisbet has had many miscarriages, so she is cery worried about this pregnancy, plus her family’s bee-keeping is threatened by the church, and her long-exiled sister-in-law is returning home. Despite all of this, this felt like a quiet novel. The plotting was a bit strange with multiple, sudden climaxes, and the characters tended to make decisions for thr purposes of the plot.