What if Beauty never went to sleep?
In a remote castle perched atop a windswept island, a long-awaited royal heir is born. In accordance with ancient custom, a blessing ceremony takes place to bestow the princess with magical gifts – along with a terrible curse.
But this is not the love story you may think you know.
There is no enchanted sleep for the princess, and no handsome prince to save the day. Just three women, who together concoct a desperate plan of misdirect that changes the course of all their lives.
Except dark magic cannot be tricked, and as the end of the curse edges closer, Violanna, Meredyth and Sel each has a choice to make.
They can wait to find out if the worst will happen, or they can turn to face the coming storm . .
Fairytale retellings are fascinating. They have the core of a story, but not the whole of it. In this story, we have a princess called Briar, a curse set for her seventeenth birthday and a spinning wheel, but just about everything else is new and different. I don't want to give too much away in this review - I can see that the blurb is slightly inaccurate to avoid spoiling the story - but the reimagining is really clever and makes a great story out of a slim fairytale, without leaning too hard on the Disney version.
My version didn't have the map that will be in the final version, and I'm looking forward to seeing it - I think it'll be easier to follow the geopolitics of the story (don't worry, it's not boring!) The different countries were a bit confusing to follow at first, but I grasped it quite quickly.
This is an amazing read and I highly recommend it if you like your fairytales with a touch more bite.
Book Recommendation: I'm torn between two so you get them both! Goose Girl by Shannon Hale is the measure that all other fairytale retellings are held up against, and it's amazing. For another character with similiarities to Briar, try Ella from Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted (don't watch the movie, or at least don't watch it first.)
Movie Recommendation: For yet another look at Sleeping Beauty, try Malevolent. It looks at the story from an angle you won't expect and adds depth and warmth to it.
Spellbound releases on the 24th of April, 2025. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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