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mbenzz's review against another edition
4.0
For the most part, I really enjoyed this book! Didn't realize it was a take on Sleeping Beauty until about half-way through, but the author did a good job of making the story her own.
The overall message of this book is forgiveness. I felt it was a bit heavy-handed towards the end (especially when the Saints appeared) but for children, it's a great message.
Some parts got a bit boring, manly whenever Sand would get really into mending and all the blacksmith stuff was explained in detail. I have zero interest in that sort of thing, so it slowed things downs for me. Overall though, I definitely recommend this. Especially for kids. It's a good story with an excellent message.
The overall message of this book is forgiveness. I felt it was a bit heavy-handed towards the end (especially when the Saints appeared) but for children, it's a great message.
Some parts got a bit boring, manly whenever Sand would get really into mending and all the blacksmith stuff was explained in detail. I have zero interest in that sort of thing, so it slowed things downs for me. Overall though, I definitely recommend this. Especially for kids. It's a good story with an excellent message.
misspippireads's review against another edition
4.0
Merrie Haskell shares a new twist to the tale of Sleeping Beauty. Instead of a knight/prince fighting their way through the castle's thorns, a young man named Sand awakens inside the castle with no one in sight. He wants to return home, but doesn't know how to escape. He only knows how to mend and with broken pieces all around him the only thing to do is repair the castle one piece at a time.
The title and the cover drew my interest right away. Haskell created a whole new tale of Sleeping Beauty and I love a new fairy tale story. It's a fantastic and unexpectedly twisted tale. It's a tale of frustration and forgiveness, a tale of death and life. I don't want to give away too much of the book! I would recommend this tale for middle schoolers or fairy tale genre readers.
Reviewed from a library copy.
The title and the cover drew my interest right away. Haskell created a whole new tale of Sleeping Beauty and I love a new fairy tale story. It's a fantastic and unexpectedly twisted tale. It's a tale of frustration and forgiveness, a tale of death and life. I don't want to give away too much of the book! I would recommend this tale for middle schoolers or fairy tale genre readers.
Reviewed from a library copy.
hayleybeale's review against another edition
5.0
A splendid medieval fractured fairytale, that starts with Sand waking up in the fireplace of the castle that has been hidden behind a thick ring of thorns for many years. From there it moves into a tale of the power of mending - both physical and spiritual. Read my full review here.
onceuponacarm's review against another edition
4.0
With some ties to the tale of Sleeping Beauty, Sand (short for Alexandre) finds himself in the fireplace of a long-abandoned castle that had been sundered (literally everything torn in two) a few decades back. He knows not why he is there or how he got there, only that he is alone and there is no way out--the castle is surrounded by semi-sentient thorns that attack when he tries to escape. Not knowing what else to do, he begins mending things so he can eat, sleep, and survive...but something mysterious starts to happen when he mends a stuffed bird and straightens up the crypt, including the body of the long-dead princess Perrotte...
This is a fun, interesting read that keeps you guessing. I think this is a definite contender for our mock Newbery award this year. Just a bonus that the author lives in Michigan, only about an hour away!
This is a fun, interesting read that keeps you guessing. I think this is a definite contender for our mock Newbery award this year. Just a bonus that the author lives in Michigan, only about an hour away!
cimorene1558's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable, but not as good as either of the author's other fairytale-retellings.
brandypainter's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
Merrie Haskell is one of those authors that always surprises me. I have gone into each of her three books expecting one thing, and getting something entirely different. Is The Castle Behind Thorns a retelling of "Sleeping Beauty"? Yes. But it is a throughly unique and different take on the story. And I adored it.
This is a review of an ARC received from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.
This is a quiet tale, one that unfolds slowly. Sand spends a large part of the opening completely alone, isolated from the world in the castle trying to figure out a way to survive. He is inventive, clever, and hard working. He is also lonely and talks to himself. These chapters didn't seem to move at all slowly to me though. The language is so beautiful and Haskell is building the mystery even as she allows the reader to get to know Sand and what he is about before she brings in the other central character, the magically awakened princess. Perotte awakens remembering she was dead. Not asleep. Dead. She pulls herself into the light of day and Sand's path, and the two of them, after a rocky start, begin to piece the castle and her story together. Perotte comes off as a spoiled and indulged brat at first, but her behavior quickly changes as she realizes how unfair she is being. As the weeks pass her and Sand develop a deep friendship and connection. But there are parts of Perotte's past she wants to keep locked away and not remember. Unfortunately she needs to confront them if they are ever going to defeat the magic of the thorns and get out of the castle.
The story here is wonderful. I love political intrigue and there is quite a bit of that, but most of all it is a tale of friendship, perseverance, and the power of forgiveness. What I loved about the forgiveness aspect is that it is not about the power to affect the forgiven, but the forgiver, that release that comes from letting your anger and bitterness go so that it no longer consumes you. The way Haskell wove this into a thoroughly original retelling of a fairy tale makes this my favorite "Sleeping Beauty" retelling of all time.
I received an e-galley from the publisher, Katherine Tegen Books, via Edelweiss. Castle Behind Thorns goes on sale May 27th.
Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
Merrie Haskell is one of those authors that always surprises me. I have gone into each of her three books expecting one thing, and getting something entirely different. Is The Castle Behind Thorns a retelling of "Sleeping Beauty"? Yes. But it is a throughly unique and different take on the story. And I adored it.
This is a review of an ARC received from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.
This is a quiet tale, one that unfolds slowly. Sand spends a large part of the opening completely alone, isolated from the world in the castle trying to figure out a way to survive. He is inventive, clever, and hard working. He is also lonely and talks to himself. These chapters didn't seem to move at all slowly to me though. The language is so beautiful and Haskell is building the mystery even as she allows the reader to get to know Sand and what he is about before she brings in the other central character, the magically awakened princess. Perotte awakens remembering she was dead. Not asleep. Dead. She pulls herself into the light of day and Sand's path, and the two of them, after a rocky start, begin to piece the castle and her story together. Perotte comes off as a spoiled and indulged brat at first, but her behavior quickly changes as she realizes how unfair she is being. As the weeks pass her and Sand develop a deep friendship and connection. But there are parts of Perotte's past she wants to keep locked away and not remember. Unfortunately she needs to confront them if they are ever going to defeat the magic of the thorns and get out of the castle.
The story here is wonderful. I love political intrigue and there is quite a bit of that, but most of all it is a tale of friendship, perseverance, and the power of forgiveness. What I loved about the forgiveness aspect is that it is not about the power to affect the forgiven, but the forgiver, that release that comes from letting your anger and bitterness go so that it no longer consumes you. The way Haskell wove this into a thoroughly original retelling of a fairy tale makes this my favorite "Sleeping Beauty" retelling of all time.
I received an e-galley from the publisher, Katherine Tegen Books, via Edelweiss. Castle Behind Thorns goes on sale May 27th.
hamckeon's review against another edition
2.0
I give this book a 2.5. I did not hate it and I wanted to find out what happened in the end. I just found the plot/action to be very slow. Also, when the mystery started to get solved a bit, I was not that thrilled by the explanation. Overall, it had a good moral for children, but it was just not my taste.
fallingletters's review against another edition
4.0
Brief thoughts originally published 19 January 2018 at Falling Letters.
The Castle Behind the Thorns has a unique premise in that it features only two characters for most of the story. A slow beginning for the first 50 pages, as it’s just Sand trapped by himself in the castle, but I liked reading about how he explored his new situation.
I could have done without hints of romance *insert eye roll here*. I read MG so I don’t have to deal with that sort of thing. (My complaint is disproportionate to what’s actually shown in the story…it is really just a small thing).
This is only the second book by Haskell that I’ve read, so maybe I would have expected this, but I didn’t realize that the story would be set in our world. There are French words and names, and references to Paris. There’s a lot of stuff that I called ‘the practicalities of history’ – stuff like Latin, crucifixes, chapels, features of a castle, etc. At times, it felt a bit technical, with all the historical details and realistic considerations, but I would have loved that as a kid – grounding fantasy in my world.
In addition to the world building, I also really liked Sand. He seems to be a genuinely good kid, willing to keep his promise even though it isn’t what he wants. I like stories that cross generations, so I enjoyed watching the backstory of Sand’s father unfold.
The Bottom Line: A middle grade fantasy with some of the usual trappings, but with a plot that shakes things up.
The Castle Behind the Thorns has a unique premise in that it features only two characters for most of the story. A slow beginning for the first 50 pages, as it’s just Sand trapped by himself in the castle, but I liked reading about how he explored his new situation.
I could have done without hints of romance *insert eye roll here*. I read MG so I don’t have to deal with that sort of thing. (My complaint is disproportionate to what’s actually shown in the story…it is really just a small thing).
This is only the second book by Haskell that I’ve read, so maybe I would have expected this, but I didn’t realize that the story would be set in our world. There are French words and names, and references to Paris. There’s a lot of stuff that I called ‘the practicalities of history’ – stuff like Latin, crucifixes, chapels, features of a castle, etc. At times, it felt a bit technical, with all the historical details and realistic considerations, but I would have loved that as a kid – grounding fantasy in my world.
Sand threw open the man-size night portal to find himself in a dark tunnel pierced by arrow slits and larger openings that he’d heard called “murder holes.” In theory, if an enemy entered the castle, he could be trapped between the inner and outer gates and simply killed by raining death down through these openings. Sand shivered, thinking how glad he was to be alone in the castle – alone, he knew for sure that he couldn’t be trapped in this tunnel. He reached the outer gate and opened its night portal – and stopped. The portcullis was down, but he could raise a portcullis. What he could not raise was the nasty snarl of thorns beyond the portcullis gate. (13)I found the idea of magic routed in faith and saints rather than purely magic for its own sake a new idea that I hadn’t encountered in MG fantasy.
In addition to the world building, I also really liked Sand. He seems to be a genuinely good kid, willing to keep his promise even though it isn’t what he wants. I like stories that cross generations, so I enjoyed watching the backstory of Sand’s father unfold.
The Bottom Line: A middle grade fantasy with some of the usual trappings, but with a plot that shakes things up.
booksnorkel's review against another edition
5.0
Some Spoilers*****
Sand wakes up in a castle. Not just any castle ‘The’ Castle. The one where his father grew up, the one no one will talk about, the one behind the thorns. Sand doesn’t know how he got there, and as he starts exploring he doesn’t know how he is going to be able to survive. Everything in the castle is split in two. Everything. Every chair, every blanket, every walnut, every cross. As Sand is gathering what he can to eat, and to start making repairs he discovers the body of the princess. She has been tossed out of her tomb, which is of course broken in two, and every bone in her body is broken. He is alone with the dead, and the broken and doesn’t know how he is to escape. Until the stuffed falcon he repaired suddenly comes back to life, and one night so does the princess. Together they have to mend what they can in the castle, and discover the mystery of her death. With some religious tones, this book is really well done and is a new and interesting take on the Sleeping Beauty story. The religious parts were more about saints that I don’t think are real, but I don’t know a whole lot about saints so I could be wrong. This was a really great book for seventh grade on up looking for a fairytale retelling that isn’t just for girls.
readerpants's review against another edition
3.0
Hm. I think if the setting had worked better for me, I would have enjoyed this much more. As it was, the mashup of "historical" vs "magical" was jarring and awkward.