A Sleeping Beauty Re-telling Must Read!

Prepare yourself for a wonderfully told re-telling story of the sleeping princess!

Goodreads Summary:

A kingdom burns. A princess sleeps. This is no fairy tale.

It all started with the burning of the spindles.

No.

It all started with a curse…

Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.

And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood—and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.

As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.

Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls; and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape…or the reason for her to stay.

My Take:

I never cared for the classic Sleeping Beauty movie, so I was hopeful that I would like this retelling.  Jumping from different character’s points of view helps to keep any story new and fresh and I absolutely adored that about Spindle Fire.  I immediately loved the twist of Aurora having a half-sister in this story.  Definitely makes the princess character seem a bit more relatable.  I actually think I preferred Isbe to Aurora in many different instances and wished that she was the princess here and not the weak and feeble Aurora. Alas, there could be no Sleeping Beauty retelling Aurora and she did come into her own.  A very complex character in my opinion, who grows and when you can see growth in a character in any story, you know you are reading a great book, by a great author.

The many different fairies in this tale make this retelling unique as well.  Malfleur and Belcoeur definitely give us a lot of excitement and awe.  I was on the edge of my seat quite a few times, not able to put this book down. There was so much magic and it was epic!  Fans of YA fantasy will love this retelling in my opinion.

I felt the story took off right from the beginning.  I wasn’t a huge fan of the girls having such main characters tithed from themselves, although it definitely made this story its own and stand out for me at the same time.  Maybe I just can’t be happy?  Nah, I was enveloped by this story and could imagine every scene in my head with Gil and Heath.  However, the romance in this story is not the highlight which I love.  It’s a story of sisters and trust and determination in a world full of evil and magic and obstacles to keep them from each other.

 

I felt that Hillyer’s writing was very engaging and raw with an exquisite prose and intense relationships, containing so many elements of a fantastical world of fairies and magic and 

royalty.  I could not have asked for a better retelling and I am in such high anticipation of the sequel, Winter Glass to come in 2018! 

About the Author: Lexa Hillyer

 I'm the author of Spindle Fire (coming April 2017 from Harper!), Proof of Forever, and the poetry collection Acquainted with the Cold, which won the 2012 Foreword Book of the Year Award's Gold Prize for Poetry. I'm also the co-founder of creative development company Paper Lantern Lit. My poetry was anthologized in Best New Poets 2012, and appears in several journals. I live in Carroll Gardens with my husband, daughter, and a very skinny orange tree. Follow me on instagram @ProofOfLex and twitter @Lexa_Hillyer !  (Author bio from Goodreads.)