Yet again, T. kingfisher brings us an outstanding retelling, this one the tale of sleeping beauty, only the beauty here is only skin deep.

I absolutely devoured this novella in no time. The Kingfisher spins a yarn is always so compelling and her characters are never what they seem. I love that they are imperfect and beautiful at the same time.

What an incredible story.

I never know what to expect with a T. Kingfisher book, and I LOVE that. This is the story of 'Sleeping Beauty' as we've never read it before, where the heroes and villains are turned upside down. Toadling is a changeling child tasked with blessing the daughter of a human king. Many (many) years later, she guards a tower surrounded by a forest of thorns. A kind knight is eager to break the curse, but Toadling is determined to uphold it. Readers of twisted fairy tales will clamor for Kingfisher's excellent novella.

There is a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.

Thornhedge is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty and it was absolutely PERFECT! Honestly, I love this more than the original... I had been going through a bit of a slump where nothing I read really hit the spot, and Thornhedge was exactly what I wanted and needed!

This book was magical, and while some dark things go down it was still sweet, and whimsical I love the world that T. Kingfisher has created, it left me with a smile on my face and a desire to reread all the books I have by T. Kingfisher.

All the macabre majesty of a Grimm fairytale in a wholesome toad shaped package. Most all of us are familiar with the story of Sleeping Beauty, but this twist on a classic tale is not about the beauty in the tower, waiting to be saved. It's about the anxious and loveable Toadling, who was stolen away at birth by fairies and replaced by a changeling, an evil imposter child to bring mayhem and destruction as it grows. Being raised as a fairie has granted Toadling with gifts of magic, that she must use to offer a blessing of protection over a newborn child. As the centuries pass, Toadling stands ever the watchful guard of the tower. That is, until a kind and gentle knight arrives with "breaking curses" on his mind.

Thornhedge was a joy to read, and Toadling is one of my most favorite Kingfisher characters. The story itself is as familiar as a classic fairytale, yet in an entirely new light. What if the princess is locked up because she's the dangerous one? This one is way less of a horror novel and so much more of a dark fantasy. There is a lot to be said about hurt and self love in this small novella, and so many pieces stuck with me. Toadling is so relatable to those of us who feel the need to apologize for simply being alive. I recommend this to any dark fantasy fan, any T. Kingfisher fan, and it's one I will add to my collection as soon as I can.

I adored this book and wish there was more of it! Kingfisher’s stories remind me of those of Neil Gaiman and John Connolly. Their prose is beautiful and melancholy and lovely to sink into. The settings and characters, while familiar in the sense that one has an idea of what the fey and changelings are, still manage to be unique and believable. I feel so thankful to have been introduced to Toadling and am happy with the open ending. She is a character I would love to revisit.

I should not be surprised to once again thoroughly enjoy another of Kingfisher's stories and this is likely the fastest I've fallen in love with a character - Toadling is incomparable. You don't have to know Sleeping Beauty or fairy lore for this to make sense, the history and story blend together so perfectly even more impressive for the fact it is a short novella that goes back and forth in time relaying how Toadling came to be watching over the tower and the princess asleep within. Gruesome and traumatic in the traditional fairy tale style, yet resolution is achieved. There isn't a soul on this earth that I will not recommend this book to.
Thanks Net Galley for the e-copy this is my honest review.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

This novella is a Sleeping Beauty retelling that asks: why would you imprison someone in a hedge of thorns? and comes up with the answer: because they were very dangerous indeed. Its villain is the beautiful princess, and she is an extremely nasty piece of work as only Ursula–oh, sorry, we’re pretending her name is “T.” today–can write a nasty piece of work villain, and this is only not one of her horror works because she spends most of the novella asleep.

Only most of it.

The protagonist is Toadling, the evil fairy who curses the beautiful princess. She is polite, and she tries hard, and she speaks some very wet languages. Toadling is not quite sure what to do, but she will try things until something works. I love her. I am in the curious position of loving this protag but not actually wanting more about her, because this story is very complete. Anything else would be tacked on. Her life is not complete, but her story arc is, there is a very satisfying beginning, middle, and end that are well balanced at novella length, which is hard to do.

This was beautiful written and a unusual retelling of sleeping beauty. It is actually better than the orginal story. Still has the dark and gritty elements to the story as the orginal but I had more magical lyrical feel cause T. Kingfisher brilliant writing.
I loved every minute of this story and I think others would too. Leaves you with wanting little bit more but with satisfying ending that you the reader can fill in on your own.

Thank you NetGally and the publisher for letting me read this wonderful arc.

This is my first ARC! Thanks so much Netgalley for the approval, it was a great one! 4.5 stars rounded up.

I love retellings, and everything that was adapted in this made for such a fun story. But of course, as usual, T. Kingfisher blew me away with her characters. I'm shocked that I loved them so much in 120 pages, but I really shouldn't be at this point!

By bringing together lovable Toadling and a knight who is more interested in stories and mysteries than battle, T. Kingfisher explores themes of heavy expectations, guilt, and strong family ties. The beautiful atmospheric descriptions were wonderful as well.

When Toadling was born, she was taken from her parents in the human world and whisked away to faerie land. She grew up among the warm waters of the land, safe and loved by her new family. She was never treated differently and even picked up bits of magic throughout the years. One day, a mighty goddess appears and tells Toadling she must leave her home to get an education. Soon, Toadling gets sent back to her family home to bestow a gift of protection on a newborn child, but something goes wrong. Now, centuries later, a knight fond of legends comes to break the curse on the fair maiden trapped in slumber, but Toadling will do whatever it takes to ensure that doesn't happen.

Can T. Kingfisher reimagine every fairytale? I loved how she took the story of Sleeping Beauty and flipped it on its head. I adored Toadling. She was kind and selfless, and I wanted to protect her at all costs. I admired her dedication to doing the right thing even when everything was against her. Since this is a Kingfisher book, you know you're in for some weirdness, and I enjoyed how she created this faerie world that felt so different from other books. The little family that Toadling forms there is so sweet, and you felt how much they all love one another. I liked the changeling aspect and the earnest, awkward knight full of good intentions. Everything about this was whimsically dark and reminiscent of Nettle and Bone, and I enjoyed every moment.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Tor Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this novella about a toad, a princess, a knight, plagues, politics and sometimes the cost of being helpful.

I don't remember when I found out that the fairy tales and folktales that I loved hearing had been Disney-fied for my young ears. I thought most of the scary enough, that really how much worse could they get. I think I found at a book sale a compilation of Grimm's tales illustrated by the Brothers Hildebrandt that freaked me out both with stories and art. Snow White, Rose Red, Cinderella, all of them were dark, dark stories, more for nights by the fire, than clustering around the cathode ray tube of the television. The real stories are loaded with lots of murder, cannibalism, body horror, stuff that some children would spend the whole night with a wiffle ball bat in hand watching the door. However as disturbing as the stories were, I never really cared what happened after they started living happily ever after. T. Kingfisher understands this, and in Thornhedge has written a novella that might be short in length but is full of characters dealing with magic, responsibility, mother issues, and of course, a princess in trouble.

Toadling is a fairy creature who resides outside a deserted keep, hidden by brambles, thorns, and water, ignored by the world for over two hundred years. Kingdoms have risen, fallen, and are starting to rise again, as plague has devastated the lands, and wiped the keep from memory. Toadling was once a human baby, taken from her crib at this very keep, and replaced by a changeling. Toadling grew up in fairyland, in the swamps with the fish creatures, creatures who cared for her and loved her. Toadling is given an assignment to protect the changeling that replaced her, as task of great importance to the rulers of fairy. Things go wrong. A knight appears, one who has read of the princess surrounded by brambles, lost to time, and wants to do the knightly thing of rescuing the princess. Toadling just sees trouble.

T. Kingfisher can tell more in a novella than most writers can in 5,000 page epic sagas. The world, the plot, the characters, fairy land, the way the characters interact is just special. And told in about 130 pages, with a real resolution. Writing short is very tough, as one can tell from my review. Kingfisher does it so well, I can't imagine the work that Kingfisher put into the writing. Everything works. Halim the knight is interesting, and I want to know more about him, his life and his mother. Toadling is sketched so well in just a few pages, that one feels like they have known Toadling for at least a series or two. The writing is very good, scary, twisty, different and one at the end wants much more to read. A really enjoyable story.

For fans of fantasy novellas, fractured fairy tales, great writing, good characters and more. Also a good book for roleplayers to see how a fairy tale or myth can be changed to make a new adventure for your players. Also for aspiring writers to see how to write short and well. This is only my second book by T. Kingfisher, but I can't wait to read many more. A real talent.

An absolute gem from Kingfisher. I was pleasantly surprised to find the author's usual fantasy vibes combined with our real world! Everything about this book worked for me. The subversion of the Sleeping Beauty myth and the wildly original fairies were incredible. Kingfisher is the absolute best at fairy tale fantasy. Long may she reign.

A wonderful little story that subverts the Sleeping Beauty story. I loved Toadling and while I was satisfied with her story, I would definitely spend more time with her!

This is a short and sweet little book that is a spin on Sleeping Beauty in only the way T. Kingfisher could tell it. Toadling was swapped at birth with a changeling, and in Fairy Land she takes on various fairy powers before being sent back to her father's house to keep the changeling from doing harm. Only the spell goes awry and she's left guarding the sleeping changeling forever, hoping no one gets any ideas about saving anyone.

When a knight arrives unlike all the others, Toadling finds her notions about the curse she's been guarding challenged. Will she be able to stop the knight from breaking the curse, or help him?

Overall, I did really enjoy this. It's a novella and slight on story, although I don't think it needed more words. It works just fine on its own.

🐸💚 Thornhedge ARC Review 💚🐸

Thank you so much to T. Kingfisher and Tor Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book!!

Thornhedge is a fairytale fantasy read. Toadling is a Fae who was sent to the human realm to protect a child by creating a wall of brambles around a tower. This protection works for centuries, until one day - a knight appears and turns her life upside down

This novella is so refreshingly sweet and different!! Toadling is an adorable character who doesn’t quite feel like she fits in when she’s sent to the human world. Halim was a cinnamon roll as well and just curious about stories he’s read about the mysterious tower hidden in the brambles. This was a beautiful twist on the Sleeping Beauty story and I loved every minute of it!

Overall this was a 4 star read for me - though the story felt complete, my greedy self wishes it was longer…I would have devoured a full length version of this! This story did potentially set up a sweet romance, but there was nothing on page, so one flame for spice

If you’re a fan of novellas with awkwardly adorable MCs, Fae magic, and fairytale retellings, then definitely pick this one up!!

Review will be posted to Amazon upon publication.

T. Kingfisher books never disappoint. Thornhedge now holds the runner up position behind Nettle & Bone as my faves from her. This was a quick one sitting novella read. I was surprised by how much story, world building, and character building was fit in to such a short book. Thornhedge is a twist on the classic Sleeping Beauty and I was utterly entranced with Toadling and the Knight. Kingfisher always writes the best quirky characters that have me hoping for sequels for each of her stories. If you're a fan of this authors previous work I would highly recommend picking this one up when it releases August 15th, 2023. Thank you to Tor Books for my advance readers copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for making this available in exchange for an honest review! T. Kingfisher is always an auto buy author for me. Thornhedge did not disappoint.

Kingfisher twists the Sleeping Beauty fairytale and skews it into a delightful new and refreshing story. Toadling is a fantastic main character that you can’t help but cheer for. Kingfisher has created another character that doesn’t fit the standard attractive lead and the beauty of this writing strength is that the reader doesn’t find it important. Then Kingfisher doubles down and gives us Halim, the knight that isn’t good at being a knight. I can’t say enough good things about this story.

10/10 recommend for anyone looking for a quick, comforting read.

A new take on Sleeping Beauty that only T. Kingfisher could write. This book has the feel of Kingfisher's Ursula Vernon-authored titles, which is a good thing. I loved the alternating between present and past timelines, as well as how vividly Toadling's emotions about her situation came through the writing. Overall, a lovely re-interpretation of an often-reinterpreted fairy tale.

Nobody is too old for a fairy tale.

T. Kingfisher works her magic, once again, in a little novella that brings about beauty, beasts, curses, and everything in between. She takes you there.....and you'll be all the better for it.

Time measures a pace in hundreds of years. The head tilts back to see the amazing growth of the Wall of Thorns. It twists its way from once a seedling to a monstrous snake-like appendage curling and obscuring a tower within its grasp. People have passed through the ages in ancient garments and modes of transport. No one enters.

But there is a watcher in these woods. Little Toadling sits and observes with her greenish tan skin and her unusual frog face. Her waterweed hair tumbles forward. She sees him.....a knight on horseback. He introduces himself as Halim. He's heard of the curse and has brought everything possible with him to break it. Toadling wishes for him to leave. A bond soon begins to form between them and she tells Halim just how she got there.

Thornhedge is a treasure of a read. Kingfisher creates such a memorable character in the likes of Toadling. She's a bumbling and fumbling fairy who once was human. You'll be caught up in all her efforts to make things right once again. And her unusual backstory is highly inventive and magical in the hands of the talented T. Kingfisher. Thornhedge will bring you back to that little corner of your mind reserved for favorite stories on the top shelf.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Tor Publishers Group and to T. Kingfisher for the opportunity.

T Kingfisher is my new favorite for horror and now fantasy! Another amazing fairy tale that seems to draw on multiple classic tales while also remaining wholly unique. I will be pushing this on all my friends and patrons!