paulopaperbooksonly 's review for:

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
4.0

I started this at around 13:00 and finished by 16:00 with some stops along the way.

First of all, I want to say I did enjoy the tale but I don't think it's as innovative as everyone seems to praise. I can't understand why it won the novella but alas that's the world of publishing (of Hugo awards) I must say Tor is nailing them. In 2021 there wasn't even other contenders. Sorry besides the point I know.

She did what per example Christina Henry has being doing for over 10 years. Grabbing fairytales tropes and twisting them up to horror or even different settings. Again I don't mean to be rude - it's a wonderful tale, really love Toadling and her story. The Loneliness was palpable and the walls of seclusion sometimes we put up really take their toll on life. I also enjoyed the Saracen Knight - which I found funny since it linked to Sir Palamedes (sometimes portrayed as a Saracen Knight) and also because Knights were titles use in western Europe thing - there is no knights in Islam. The equivalent would be Janissaries for Islam - Boyar for Russian (Slavs), Samurai (Japan) Praetorian Guard (Roma) among others. If you are ready to write how racist I am , please tell me of a knight outside of Western Europe or a Order of Knights (like Order of Knights Templar, Order of Teutonic Knights etc).

The story itself was good. I enjoy the twist in the end and felt anxious when she decided to leave. I think the final confrontation was quite easy - but I guess it was fine at the same time because the focus was not the "sleeping" beauty but the Toadling story.

Either way - 76/100