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melaniereadsbooks's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an arc of this book.
In this genderbent retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Fi is looking for a way to stop her own curse when she stumbles finger-first into the curse placed upon Briar Rose and the kingdom of Andarr. With the help of her treasure-hunting partner, Shane, they must traverse the woods and break the curse to wake the prince and free the kingdom.
I loved this book! I was immediately hooked by the dual-POVs of Fi and Shane and how they interacted with each other. The book starts head-first in the mystery of why Fi is cursed and why Shane is no longer at home. They make such good partners and Shane is such a BA axe-wielding sapphic I am seriously in love with her.
I love the addition of Briar Rose. I also think that this book was really clever to handle the intrinsic issues of consent in the tale of Sleeping Beauty--i.e., a sleeping person cannot consent to a kiss--by allowing Briar's sleeping form to magically project and talk to Fi.
This book is so adventurous and high stakes! The witch hunters are wild and I love the witch Red and how she interacts with Shane. I also really love Shane and Fi's backstories and everything that we learn about them as we go. I really can't wait for the sequel!
In this genderbent retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Fi is looking for a way to stop her own curse when she stumbles finger-first into the curse placed upon Briar Rose and the kingdom of Andarr. With the help of her treasure-hunting partner, Shane, they must traverse the woods and break the curse to wake the prince and free the kingdom.
I loved this book! I was immediately hooked by the dual-POVs of Fi and Shane and how they interacted with each other. The book starts head-first in the mystery of why Fi is cursed and why Shane is no longer at home. They make such good partners and Shane is such a BA axe-wielding sapphic I am seriously in love with her.
I love the addition of Briar Rose. I also think that this book was really clever to handle the intrinsic issues of consent in the tale of Sleeping Beauty--i.e., a sleeping person cannot consent to a kiss--by allowing Briar's sleeping form to magically project and talk to Fi.
This book is so adventurous and high stakes! The witch hunters are wild and I love the witch Red and how she interacts with Shane. I also really love Shane and Fi's backstories and everything that we learn about them as we go. I really can't wait for the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Blood, Misogyny, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Violence
quirkybibliophile's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
CW: Blood, emotional abuse, gaslighting, PTSD, sexism, violence, misogyny, confinement, betrayal
Thoughts and Themes: It took me a while to really get into this book and I was ready to put it aside and decide to read it at a later time. I’m really glad that I stuck with it and didn’t just give up though because once you are about 40% into the book then it is hard to put the book down.
While it does take a lot of the book, I did enjoy the world building that we got throughout this story. I liked that this was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty but it was more than what I expected. I liked learning about Briar Rose kingdom and the curse that is over it as well as getting the back story of the two main characters.
I cried when I found out Fi’s backstory and recommend you proceed with caution on this one especially if you find emotional abuse triggering. When you find out about Fi’s curse and how that happened to her, you see into her past and see how she was emotionally abused, manipulated, and gaslit.
Characters: In this book you get to meet several different characters through their different interactions with Fi and Shane. You get to meet both of their love interests along with Fi’s ex.
I really enjoyed the relationship between Fi and Shane and the snarky banter between them. I liked how they both have to learn to trust the other but they both are the kind of people who want to accomplish everything on their own.
I liked the love interests that are included in this story for both of our main characters and how those relationships come to be. I liked getting to know more about Briar Rose throughout the whole story and through his interactions with Fi. I liked their interactions with each other and how snarky they are towards each other. I liked the way their romance develops throughout the story and how it wasn’t something that was immediate but took a while for Fi to even consider him as a potential love interest.
I do wish that we got more of a love story for Shane since I feel we didn’t get that relationship as developed as Fi’s relationship was. I do hope that we get to see more of this relationship in the next book and we get more of a romance arc for Shane since she deserves this too.
I was searching for a villain this whole time and I think while there’s some villainous characters, it was more about their adventure. I think that you really don’t get to meet the villains of this story until the last 20% of the book and even then it isn’t all about them.
Writing Style: This story is told in third person dual point of view, alternating between Fi and Shane’s perspectives. You also get a few sections with Briar Rose’s perspective thrown in there as well but those are shorter sections than the other two. I liked getting to see this story from all three of these perspectives as it adds to their adventure. I would have liked to hear more from Briar Rose though to see his story before this all takes place. There are also portions where I would have liked to see Shane’s point of view more too.
Thoughts and Themes: It took me a while to really get into this book and I was ready to put it aside and decide to read it at a later time. I’m really glad that I stuck with it and didn’t just give up though because once you are about 40% into the book then it is hard to put the book down.
While it does take a lot of the book, I did enjoy the world building that we got throughout this story. I liked that this was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty but it was more than what I expected. I liked learning about Briar Rose kingdom and the curse that is over it as well as getting the back story of the two main characters.
I cried when I found out Fi’s backstory and recommend you proceed with caution on this one especially if you find emotional abuse triggering. When you find out about Fi’s curse and how that happened to her, you see into her past and see how she was emotionally abused, manipulated, and gaslit.
Characters: In this book you get to meet several different characters through their different interactions with Fi and Shane. You get to meet both of their love interests along with Fi’s ex.
I really enjoyed the relationship between Fi and Shane and the snarky banter between them. I liked how they both have to learn to trust the other but they both are the kind of people who want to accomplish everything on their own.
I liked the love interests that are included in this story for both of our main characters and how those relationships come to be. I liked getting to know more about Briar Rose throughout the whole story and through his interactions with Fi. I liked their interactions with each other and how snarky they are towards each other. I liked the way their romance develops throughout the story and how it wasn’t something that was immediate but took a while for Fi to even consider him as a potential love interest.
I do wish that we got more of a love story for Shane since I feel we didn’t get that relationship as developed as Fi’s relationship was. I do hope that we get to see more of this relationship in the next book and we get more of a romance arc for Shane since she deserves this too.
I was searching for a villain this whole time and I think while there’s some villainous characters, it was more about their adventure. I think that you really don’t get to meet the villains of this story until the last 20% of the book and even then it isn’t all about them.
Writing Style: This story is told in third person dual point of view, alternating between Fi and Shane’s perspectives. You also get a few sections with Briar Rose’s perspective thrown in there as well but those are shorter sections than the other two. I liked getting to see this story from all three of these perspectives as it adds to their adventure. I would have liked to hear more from Briar Rose though to see his story before this all takes place. There are also portions where I would have liked to see Shane’s point of view more too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Confinement
Moderate: Blood, Sexism, and Misogyny
betweentheshelves's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was an interesting spin on the Sleeping Beauty story! I felt that maybe it dragged a little in the middle, but overall it was good. More to come in a full review later this week!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
foreverinastory's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you Penguin Teen & Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This was so much fun!! The whole time reading this I had a giant smile on my face. I love these characters and this world! I want more queer retellings.
The Bone Spindle is a genderbent retelling of Sleeping Beauty in a queer normative world. This book follows cursed bookish treasure hunter, Fi, and Shane, a lesbian with an axe (also a fierce warrior)! The two of them team up when Shane finds a strange map that could lead to treasure and/or magic. Along the way, Fi pricks her finger on a bone spindle and wakes Prince Briar Rose. With Briar's spirit in tow, Fi and Shane will have to travel through the magical forest to his kingdom in order to break his curse.
I loved the characters of this book so much. Between Fi and Shane, I knew I was going to be a goner. Fi is the perfect book lover trope and she's so adorable about it! I loved how tough Shane was, but she also had a fierce loyalty and a soft heart for those she loves. Her backstory really got me, I hope we continue to learn more about her and possibly see her brother and ex-fiance in the sequel!
I will say if you've ever experienced an emotional abusive relationship proceed with caution. Fi deals with a lot of past trauma from her past ex who not only was emotional abusive, manipulative and gaslit her, but he also cursed her before parting ways. While all these things happened in the past, Fi is still dealing with the trauma and the aftermath of it. This ex also appears in the book and tries to manipulate and coerce Fi again. So yeah, he's a scum bag.
The magic and worldbuilding was so cool! I really loved learning more about the world and Briar Rose's Kingdom, especially how he ended up being cursed. All in all, I really loved this retelling and I can't wait for its sequel!!
Rep: female MC with PTSD, Lesbian female MC, sapphic female side character, bisexual female side character, vegetarian male side character, queer-normative world.
CWs: Blood, confinement, emotional abuse, fire, gaslighting, injury/injury detail, mental illness (PTSD), misogyny, sexism, toxic relationship (past one), violence.
This was so much fun!! The whole time reading this I had a giant smile on my face. I love these characters and this world! I want more queer retellings.
The Bone Spindle is a genderbent retelling of Sleeping Beauty in a queer normative world. This book follows cursed bookish treasure hunter, Fi, and Shane, a lesbian with an axe (also a fierce warrior)! The two of them team up when Shane finds a strange map that could lead to treasure and/or magic. Along the way, Fi pricks her finger on a bone spindle and wakes Prince Briar Rose. With Briar's spirit in tow, Fi and Shane will have to travel through the magical forest to his kingdom in order to break his curse.
I loved the characters of this book so much. Between Fi and Shane, I knew I was going to be a goner. Fi is the perfect book lover trope and she's so adorable about it! I loved how tough Shane was, but she also had a fierce loyalty and a soft heart for those she loves. Her backstory really got me, I hope we continue to learn more about her and possibly see her brother and ex-fiance in the sequel!
I will say if you've ever experienced an emotional abusive relationship proceed with caution. Fi deals with a lot of past trauma from her past ex who not only was emotional abusive, manipulative and gaslit her, but he also cursed her before parting ways. While all these things happened in the past, Fi is still dealing with the trauma and the aftermath of it. This ex also appears in the book and tries to manipulate and coerce Fi again. So yeah, he's a scum bag.
The magic and worldbuilding was so cool! I really loved learning more about the world and Briar Rose's Kingdom, especially how he ended up being cursed. All in all, I really loved this retelling and I can't wait for its sequel!!
Rep: female MC with PTSD, Lesbian female MC, sapphic female side character, bisexual female side character, vegetarian male side character, queer-normative world.
CWs: Blood, confinement, emotional abuse, fire, gaslighting, injury/injury detail, mental illness (PTSD), misogyny, sexism, toxic relationship (past one), violence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence
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