Reviews with content warning for Violence - A Spindle Splintered

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

21 reviews

eni_iilorak's review

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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nicjmorrow's review

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funny hopeful relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A fun fairytale trope book with fun spins and also LGBT which is always good. This reminded me some of Indexing by Seanan McGuire which is a fav. I'll def go back to this series.

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witcheep's review

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This novella is a fresh take on fairytale retellings: it not only retells a classic tale of the Sleeping Beauty, but also acknowledges that there already are numerous iterations of the same story. If you are interested in folklore, you'll enjoy the witty commentary on traditional roles of fairytale characters, agency, and other tropes in this novella.

The main character Zinnia has a rare medical condition that makes her life expectancy only 21 years ("the curse"). This has made her relate to the tale of Sleeping Beauty and even get a degree in folklore to dive deeper in all it's iterations. Zinnia's interest in the tale makes her likeness to it explicit.

And maybe the dying girl rules are garbage, and in stead of us trying not to die, we should be trying to live.

On her 21st birthday, a drunken dare has Zinnia prick her finger on a spike of a spindle, and she finds herself transported to another dimension.

Zinnia discovers a multiverse of Sleeping Beauties from every retelling imaginable, from the classics to scifi-Beauties. And together, they agree that sometimes

there are faiths worse than a century of sleep. If the curse is a blessing in disguise, and the curse is taken away from the girl, what other options are there left?

Zinnia is resolved to find those options, and not only for herself.

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cerise_floryn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Going into this book, I was enticed by a relatively quick read and fantasy novel that appeared different than the usual spin on fairytale I hadn't seen in a while. Going into it, I was certainly stunned when I was faced with a story that made me face mortality, chronic illness and its battle, oppression and constant fight against it, the community of women, and tales of fate and reality.

Suffice enough to say that this story was rather... comforting. The story stayed true to its fictional world and fairytale basis, and yet mixed in a hard set of reality that was rather therapeutic. I left this book feeling calmed. One would expect to be panicked when discussing the hard-hitting truths that this novel tells, and yet, does not sugar coat. But it was the opposite. I'm quite glad I picked this up. Oddly enough, this book somehow reframed my perspective on life at the moment... Wouldn't have saw that coming from a fantasy novel picked up on a whim!

All in all, it was a splendid read! The author covered a series of heavy topics in a way that still held onto hope that didn't feel stretched or naive.

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