Thornhedge

Hardcover, 128 pages

Published Aug. 15, 2023 by Titan Books.

ISBN:
978-1-80336-423-0
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4 stars (16 reviews)

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 Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

If only.

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…

3 editions

sweet!!

4 stars

This was a really sweet fairytale-y tale. Pretty short, felt like the relationship to its inspirations was different enough to not feel like a ‚retelling‘ to me, nice descriptive prose, two very clear delightful characters. The twists are for the most part pretty guessable ahead of when they‘re revealed, but the writing and emotional story were nice enough for me to not really mind. I would have read more of this, but it makes sense for it to end when it did! I think the main character will stick around in my head for a while.

Thornhedge

4 stars

This fun fairy tale novella is a reversed sleeping beauty situation. The hapless toad fairy and awkward knight are good-natured and trying to do their best, while the sleeping beauty is the dangerous one.

This has all the things I like out of T. Kingfisher's similar works: interesting characters and a fresh take on an old tale.

Review of 'Thornhedge' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

4.5 stars.

Probably the best novella I have ever read. Innovative take on a fairy tale with an original main character. The writing was very well thought, but I had difficulty with the flashback time changing. A clear explanation (i.e. past or present) would have done the job.

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