sleeping beauty

“I never stopped trying to save you, so don’t you fucking dare stop trying to save yourself.”

A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables #1) by Alix E. Harrow

February 12, 2022 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

A Spindle Splintered is a queer retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale, playing on the variations that exist and adding one of its own. The basic story has been around for almost seven hundred years and has flown through the hands of Basile, Perrault, and Grimm, and that’s before we get into the hundreds of adaptations so what’s another? Harrow brings her own lens to this, and imbues her lead, Zinnia Grey, with a wonderfully clear voice. It is so realistic that I initially thought […]

Gender-bent re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty with a dash of Indiana Jones

The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder

September 13, 2021 by Mobius_Walker Leave a Comment

BINGO – READER’S CHOICE/WHITE WHALE (I’m still planning on reading my original White Whale choice, but I just don’t have the brain space at the moment) Briar Rose, prince of the Kingdom of Andar, is born on the verge of death. His mother reaches out to a powerful witch, the Spindle Witch, to use her magic to save her son in exchange for sharing knowledge of terrible and forbidden magic. The Spindle Witch saves the prince, but the queen walks back on her promise. Seeking […]

Sometimes the editors miss stuff…

Briar and Rose and Jack by Katherine Coville

July 21, 2019 by crystalclear Leave a Comment

Overall, this was a delightful story, and I do recommend it! It’s a combination of Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beanstalk. The Queen gives birth to twins, but the first baby has deformed features and is deemed unsuitable to be the heir. Luckily, the second baby is perfect. Due to some quick thinking on the Queen’s part, the first baby is going to be raised as the daughter of a distant Duke who passed away, but brought to the castle to be a playmate […]

“I like stories where women save themselves.”

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

April 24, 2019 by cosbrarian Leave a Comment

Gaiman smushes the stories of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty together in this gorgeously illustrated novella. The setting of the book is sometime after Snow White is awakened from her coffin and at the 100 year mark after Sleeping Beauty’s curse set in. But the stakes are raised when the sleeping sickness that has fallen on the princess and her kingdom is spreading out further and further as the curse lingers. Several of the dwarves bring this to their queen, and conveniently she is looking […]

I Have to Scale a Tower Naked? Where Do I Put My Sword?

May 5, 2017 by sabian30 Leave a Comment

The Mermaid’s Madness by Jim C. Hines (2009) – Okay, I broke a few of my self-imposed reading rules when I picked up this book, and I’m glad I did. I don’t usually select a book that’s in the middle of a series, and I tend to skip “reworked” fairy tales when I want to read fantasy. As usual, rules are meant to be broken, and I totally enjoyed this book loosely based on the original Little Mermaid. In this fantasy realm, Snow White, Sleeping […]

Underwhelming

February 26, 2017 by Ellesfena 2 Comments

This is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, with some Snow White mixed in. Since I read it on my Kindle, I didn’t realize before I started that this is actually a sort of graphic novel, or maybe an illustrated short story? I’m not sure what it looks like in actual book form. I had just assumed it was a regular novel, but it’s not even 75 pages long. The Sleeper and the Spindle is the story of a queen, who sets out with three dwarf […]

BlackRaven on I cried six times while reading this memoir slash podcast slash pop culture book.Thanks for the review! I had wanted to read this, but it sounds like it might not be "my thing". Though I've enjoyed the show...
BlackRaven on Not sure if this was a hit or miss, so guess it’s appropriate for my third cannonballThanks! I'd love to do 12 again this year.... but we'll see.
Malin on Not sure if this was a hit or miss, so guess it’s appropriate for my third cannonballCongratulations on your triple Cannonball! You are a reviewing machine.
Michael on Like being on a pleasant scenic drive and then plummeting off a cliff to a fiery deathI too was shocked by the "alt-history" Rafi Gambit. It seemed gratuitous and needless. But then I wondered who is really writing the story. Maybe...
Malin on Bruh.Wonderful review. I was pretty sure I never wanted to read this book, and your review has only strengthened my resolve to stay away from...

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