THORNHEDGE

Author: T. Kingfisher
Date released: August 15th, 2023*
Category: Fantasy

*I received an Advanced Reading Copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

The UnReel Take:

Story: 8.0
Writing: 8.0
Characters: 9.0
Setting: 6.0

UnReel AR: 7.8

Bottom Line: I have a pretty mixed history with T. Kingfisher's writing, but there's no arguing the woman knows how to take a story and sprinkle charm all the heck over it. Thornhedge, a re-imaging of Sleeping Beauty, is no different. The best reading experience for this novella is to go in blind, so I've listed some vibes, as opposed to plot points, below.

-        Subverting tropes

-        Relatable Main Character

-        Fairies actually acting like fairies

-        Readable in one sitting

-        A Muslim knight who's not very religious but apologizes for cursing because his mama raised him right

Ideal Reading Location: You know that chair somewhere in your house that’s just absurdly comfortable and, whenever you sit in it, you kind of never want to move again? Read this novella in that chair.

Drink Pairing: A cup of tea all the way. It’s got to be piping hot, steam curling off the top, drunk from the cutest mug you own.

Maybe your experience will be different!