I enjoyed this short novel a lot! I particularly liked the fractured feeling of the fairy tale, and Alix is a deft writer. I just wasn't completely sucked into the characters and didn't connect with them at all. The story itself is a wonderful ride!

I enjoyed this book, but I don't know that I will honestly remember it much past the last age. A twist on the classic "Sleeping Beauty" tales, it was a clever merging of fairy tale and real life. I would recommend it to my 15 year old niece and her friends.

This was a splendid fairy tale retelling! I really like the feminists tones in this book! I recommend this for fans of fairytales!

Excellent and modern feminist and lgbtq centric retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I look forward to the next in the series.

First thing's first. I adore Alix E. Harrow's novels. I find her writing is spellbinding. In A Spindle Splintered, she tackles the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale with her unique storytelling. This Sleeping Beauty's curse is a lot less fantastic and a lot more mundane. Yet, with her feminist eye, Ms. Harrow creates a tale as old as time and yet refreshing in its newness. As it appears that her fractured fairy tales are going to be a series, I am really excited to see which fairy tale she tackles next!

Wow this book was nothing like what I expected and nothing like other retellings I’ve read - and it was fantastic. It’s short but every sentence packs a punch. The setting is just perfectly described and I love the combination of present day and past. This book is so much about women and their struggles and the “curse” it can be just to be born a female. I absolutely love the queer feminist twists and the wonderful execution by the author. The characters are fantastic and it’s honestly hard to pick a favorite. Each one had hidden dimensions and so much growth for a short book. I love seeing women saving themselves in a fairy-tell and this really showcased that so well. I can’t wait to read more of this series!

This is Sleeping Beauty meets the Spider-Verse, and I enjoyed every second of it. It's queer, exciting, hilarious, and moving all in the same breath. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a novella, which meant I could knock it out in one sitting. What I wasn't expecting was how much I wanted more, so I'm glad to see there will be a sequel. The best part about this is that it's both a love letter to and a critique of fairy tales and how they've evolved over the years. Modern meets classic, and Zinnia Gray is thrown right into the middle of it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the digital galley and Macmillan Audio for ALC of this book.

I have this book in so many formats, which is good, because I will probably be revisiting them ALL. Zinnia Gray just turned twenty-one, and she suffers from a rare disease as a result of an industrial accident. No one’s ever lived past twenty-one. Zinnia is obsessed with any and all lore surrounding Sleeping Beauty, and her best friend, Charm has pulled out all the stops for this birthday, even brings in a spinning wheel as a prop. When Zinnia pricks her finger, though, something strange happens. She finds herself IN the story and must help the Sleeping Beauty in her new reality save her future.

This one’s super short, and I flew right through it. I love retellings, and this one combines elements of all types of the story and the characters are all bad ass ladies determined to save themselves. Zinnia may be destined for death, but she’s gonna go out helping someone else avoid it.

It’s out in all forms now, and you can’t go wrong with the print or the audio, so check it out.

What if there weren't one "sleeping beauty" but at least one other? And what if they met up? Zinnia and Beauty are both "Sleeping Beauties", each fated to fall asleep--or die--when they turn 21. Of course, neither is happy about it, and together they'll try to Reverse the Curse (or fate, or whatever this thing is). The solution is clever and a little surprising, and this reader can't wait to see which fable the author takes on next.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

The story had my attention from the beginning, I love any sort of retelling so I knew I needed to give this one a try. Especially since I already knew how gorgeous Alix E. Harrow’s writing is. This one delivered on the whimsy and that beautiful prose but the plot did sort of fall a bit flat for me.

I liked that there were all these feminist aspects to it— that these women were taking back their stories and finding solace and a helping hand in each other and I definitely want to check out more stories set in these realms and universes. I just didn’t really like the main character or where certain plot points went. This ended with one of my least favourite tropes so that sucked a lot of the enjoyment out of it for me.

But, I still want to read more from this series and if reimagined retellings full of queer rep and badass women interests you— give this one a try!

3/5⭐️

This book was received as an ARC from Macmillan-Tor/Forge - Tordotcom in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

In many reviews I have written in the past, I always say that I am a fan of modern versions of classic fairy tales. This case in A Spindle Splintered, it's a modern twist on Sleeping Beauty. Except for Zinna, she is diagnosed with a disease that normally does not allow her to live past 21. Then just like Aurora, Zinna finds herself in a tower of a castle, with a spinning wheel and pricks her finger but instead of falling into a deep sleep, she falls into many alternate dimensions and once and for all trying to escape her fate and live her life. This book was so enchanting and so much drama and magic were involved that there will definitely be a fan of this book within our YA community at our library.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Alix E. Harrow coming in with another great #spookyszn read with her latest release, A Spindle Splintered - the feminist revamp of Sleeping Beauty you didn't even know you needed. When Zinnia Gray, a Sleeping Beauty obsessed young woman with not long to live, pricks her finger on a spinning wheel, she finds herself falling through worlds and meeting another young woman just as desperate to escape her fate.

It was refreshing to have this storyline rewritten and especially exciting to have 'sleeping beauty' be, you know, CONSCIOUS through her own fairytale!

Having a modern day protagonist head back in time was definitely giving me major Bill and Ted vibes, but it worked for me! Harrow's writing was exceptional, as usual, and this short novella also included some great representation of living with a terminal illness.

This one is perfect if, like me, you prefer your October reads to be a little more magical and a little less bloody and for lovers of Alix E. Harrow, anyone looking for a quick magical October read, or anyone who ever thought sleeping beauty got a raw deal.

Thank you @torbooks and @netgalley for my advanced copy!

Thank you so much to Tor and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of A Spindle Splintered! I’ve heard such great things about Alix Harrow’s books, so I was super excited to read this one. I didn’t realize how short it was until I started reading it (I think it’s only about like 130 or so pages), but I didn’t feel like it was short while the story was being told, so that was amazing! A Spindle Splintered came out on October 5th (along with like a bazillion other incredible books), so make sure you go out and grab it after you read my review!

A Spindle Splintered 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:

USA Today bestselling author Alix E. Harrow’s A Spindle Splintered brings her patented charm to a new version of a classic story.

It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no one has lived past twenty-one.

Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

I love fairy tale retellings so much. And I really liked that this one took place when our main character was an adult. And that instead of being traditionally cursed, she had an incurable disease caused by tainted environmental conditions when her mom was pregnant with her. Sleeping Beauty has always been one of my more meh fairy tales- not my favorite but also not my least favorite, so very middling, but I also don’t feel like I’ve read very many retellings so it was great to see someone have a different take on it. I loved the idea of multiple universes of Sleeping Beauties. And I really liked all of the characters. The pacing was great- as I mentioned earlier, even though it was a short book, it didn’t feel short. Zin went on a full journey throughout the book, learning things about herself and saving the princess and herself before making her own happily ever after out of things in only 130ish pages. That takes some serious skill and I think Alix E Harrow did it masterfully. I definitely enjoyed this book and I think y’all will too!

I’ve heard amazing things about Alix E. Harrow’s book, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of her new novella, A Spindle Splintered!

This story is sort of a modern, split-world retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Zinnia Gray is a young woman with a fatal disease who likely doesn’t have much longer to live. On her 21st birthday, she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel, and finds herself somewhere very unexpected. Along the way, she meets someone who’s not so different from herself.

If you’re a fan of fairy tale retellings, especially when they share a more modern message (like taking control of your own story), then you’ll probably enjoy this!

Harrow takes the passive Disney version of Sleeping Beauty and breathes new life into it, making it much more interesting – and giving the villain a more complex story of her own, too.

While the main character, Zinnia, is in her early twenties, this story definitely felt ‘young adult’ to me (as I think it was meant to). Because of her illness, Zinnia hadn’t had as much life experience as someone her age typically would – until now.

As this is a novella, there wasn’t a ton of space for world-building, but there was enough there for it to feel well-formed. Instead, this was a highly character-driven story, which I appreciated. Sometimes, the fantasy genre can put too much emphasis on plot and not enough on character (for my taste), but fortunately that wasn’t the case here!

Overall, while I wish the story was longer, it still packs punch with a strong message and great characters. Definitely worth reading, especially for fairy tale lovers!

YOU GUYS! I have never loved a novella as much as I loved this one! It’s a little dark, a little hopeful, and has ten tons of snark. I picked it up and stayed glued to my couch for about an hour and a half while my eyeballs devoured it (such imagery!).
Zinnia Gray has just turned twenty-one and expects any day to be her last because she’s nearing the term limit on her life. No one else who has this disease has lived past the ripe old age of twenty-one, so she’s basically set a record. In honor of her birthday, her best friend Charm throws her a Sleeping Beauty themed party replete with booze, cheap princess crowns, and an honest to god spinning wheel. Zinnia of course touches the needle and wakes up in another world with another version of Sleeping Beauty who was about to touch her own cursed spinning wheel needle.
Zinnia and Prim, the other cursed princess, set off on a hastily put together journey to threaten/kill/maim the evil fairy who cursed Prim so she removes Prim’s curse (and hopefully Zinnia’s as well). It’s a short journey, but it works since this is a bit of a rush job anyway. Prim starts to wander off each time she sleeps in search of her fate, Zinnia can’t really ride a horse, and she’s also dying a bit more rapidly since she’s out of meds. They’re a hot mess.
Despite its short length I loved this book immensely. The characters are the most badass group of heroines fighting their fates down to their last breath and/or waking moments. There’s a sequel scheduled for release next year and I am sooooo excited to see where this story goes!

Sleeping Beauty meets the multiverse and feminism, get into it!

“Maybe the universe doesn’t naturally bend toward justice, either; maybe it’s only the weight of hands and hearts pulling it true, inch by stubborn inch.”

I loved A SPINDLE SPLINTERED, a modern remix of an old and, let’s be honest, shit for the ladies fairytale. This story follows Zinnia Gray, resident of Ohio and diagnosed with Generalized Roseville Malady. No one with GRM has lived past 21, giving Zinnia a strong affinity for the story of Sleeping Beauty (and, after finishing high school early, a dissertation on chronic illness and disability in European folklore). Her best friend, Charm, throws her an ironic Sleeping Beauty-themed birthday party involving a spindle and a high tower, accidentally casting Zinnia into a honest-to-god fairytale - and giving her a chance to change how her story ends.

A brief list of things to look forward to in this incredible little book:
- Smart and searing feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty, where the curse is both that of a medieval witch and a fatal illness caused by corporate malfeasance and lax environmental regulations
- Badass and grim-humored lead
- Brilliant and sassy queer best friend
- Gorgeous actually-not-as-helpless-as-she-seems medieval damsel in distress
- Surprise multiverse travel!
- Taking back the agency that’s been stolen from you
- Learning to take risks and live FOR something, instead of just running out the clock
- Lots of fun banter
- Nerd culture references
- Side sapphic romance
- Truly the most beautiful and loyal and tender best friendship
- Chronic illness rep
- Written in what I’m coming to recognize as Harrow’s signature style - rhythmic, magical, and sincere, with a heavy dash of wit and snark
- First in a fairytale retellings series (!!!)
- GORGEOUS art interspersed in the physical copy
- A lovely audiobook version, if that’s your thing!

Really enjoyed this one and I’m very excited to read what’s next in the series. Thanks Tor.com Publishing for the eARC and ALC!

Content warnings: mentions of suicidal ideation and sexual assault, some violence, chronic illness, hospitalization, brief HP references

Loved this feminist version of Sleeping Beauty, it was so fun to read and beautifully written. I would have read hundreds of pages of this and can't wait for the next novella in the series!

Alix Harrow can WRITE A STORY, I tell you what. This is exactly what I want from my novellas. A self-proclaimed Spider-Verse but for fairy tales, we read the story of chronically ill Zinnea who accidentally side-steps in an alternate dimension on her 21st birthday and meets a fellow 21-year-old princess who just happens to be a version of Cinderella. Together, they try to break both their curses, and there's adventure and queerness and friendship and the potential for more stories in the future, and I am very much here for it.

Another novella that packs so much oomph into its short size — this is going on my list for favorites of the year. Harrow takes the Sleeping Beauty premise, flips it around and expands upon it. Zinnia is terminally ill and doesn’t have much longer to live when she’s thrown into another world and takes up the mantle of hero. Her friendship with Charm is a huge highlight, but Zinnia herself is exactly the kind of character I absolutely love, and I’m so glad this is a series so I can hang out with her more in the future. The representation is fabulous, and I’m really looking forward to getting into Harrow’s backlist now.

A great, quick read for anyone interested in fairytale, retelling, feminism, girl power and fun. Loved the story angle and enjoyed reading this one!