ARC Review: A Sleeping Beauty Retelling

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

Publication Date: August 15, 2023

Summary from Netgalley:

There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He’s heard there’s a curse here that needs breaking, but it’s a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

ARC provided by Tor Publishing Group via Netgalley for an honest review.

Confession:

For such a short book, this one certainly crams alot in. It is basically a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but unlike anything you have read before.

Toadling is such a likable character from the start. Even though she is supposedly the evil fairy who bestows a curse on the beautiful princess, she really isn’t evil or even a fairy. We get to know Toadling so well in this story, from both her remembrances of her childhood and the ‘monsters’ ( they were greenlings, a type of fairy) who raised her and her experiences with Fayette, the child she was suppose to help. She is so kind and just wants to do what is best, but doesn’t really know how.

Halim is the knight who hears about the tower and the curse and comes to make things right. I loved how he befriends Toadling and cares for her and her feelings. He is very patient and kind and a good listener. He is not like other knights in fairy tales. He is not totally sure what to make of Toadling’s story, but he does listen and even helps her in the end.

If you like this author’s stories, you will love this take on a well established fairy tale. My only regret was that it was not longer as I did not want to part ways with Toadling and Halim at the end.