Thornhedge is an alternate take on the Sleeping Beauty story, and it was such a fun book. When I finished, I thought to myself that it was sweet. Seems like a strange sentiment from reading a T. Kingfisher book, but I stand by that. In this story, Sleeping Beauty is actually a changeling that ends up doing monstrous things, and our MC uses some powerful fae magic to put her to sleep. While she guards the tower, a man shows up chasing the legend of the story. Cue cuteness between them. I think fans of Nettle & Bone will delight in this tale as well.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for the e-ARC copy. Y'all are one of my fave publishers.

Sometimes, it's better for some curses to stay; moreover, sometimes, there's a reason why some folks get cursed...

In her castle, she lies sleeping, while poor Toad makes sure she stays dreaming...

For hundreds of years, Toad has kept vigil from a bramble bush that has grown up, hoping desperately that no one comes forward to try and remove the curse from the occupant that slumbers there, lest their curse be unleashed on the world. However, when a young knight with not many titles to his name comes along and discovers her, Toad realizes that sometimes, having a friend to help you endure will help all the trials of the world.

This story is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but so much cooler. T. Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors and this book is further proof of that. As a novella, it's short and sweet, but there's a depth and level of poignancy that I've come to expect from Kingfisher. There's so much heart in her stories that you not only feel some sympathy for the devil (Beauty, in this case), but also the lowly Toad who keeps sentinel as a part of a bargain that was shaped before she was born. I also love how fleshed-out Kingfisher always makes her characters, whether they're knights from antiquity or chubby girls, unmarried girls who love bugs a little too much. There was so much that I loved in this book that it was difficult to find anything that I didn't like, except, maybe the length. While I would have loved for it to be longer, it's perfect as it is.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy retellings, whimsical gods, and mercurial fae creatures without the romance being drawn out ad nauseam. I found it quite pleasing and a little bittersweet, which is exactly how I love my books. Happy reading!

(Review from an advance Netgalley ARC.) It feels like it's been ages since we got an authentic fairy tale from Ursula Vernon, and I've been missing them — not that I regret her horror books or her growing fantasy epic series! But in a world full of reimagined and reconsidered fairy tales, hers are consistently insightful and go further than most in reshaping the narrative into something new, and I always look forward to these kinds of books.

Thornhedge is a very short book — when I started my Kindle copy, it said I'd be done reading in an hour, and I was a little taken aback — and Vernon talks in the end note about how it's really a novella, and how hard it is to place those. So be warned going in that this is a short read. I definitely wouldn't have minded more worldbuilding here, but this is an efficient story that focuses on a few characters that matter, and a few details that'll really stick in your memory.

Most of those details are things you get to discover as the book unfolds, so be warned in advance that this is the kind of book someone could sum up in maybe two efficient sentences, and reading those sentences would rob you of a lot of fun discovery. It's enough to know going in that this is a take on Sleeping Beauty that starts with a fairy living outside the thorn walls around the castle where a princess is caught in a magical sleep, and that the fairy dreads princes coming around and trying to get to that castle. Why she's afraid and what's going on is a mystery that unravels with a lot of small, carefully parsed-out pieces of engaging information, designed to keep a reader guessing, and I enjoyed the process (and what comes of it all) a lot.

There's a real "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" spin to this story, which I particularly enjoyed because it isn't just a moral slapped onto the end, or a shallow, surface-level takeaway: Vernon really does the work of vividly describing things that sound hideous, then showing you how and why they'd look beautiful from a certain perspective, and finding a warmth in that point of view. This was a fun one to explore, and the fact that I mostly just wish it was longer is a good thing.

In this slim novella we travel to a fantasy land where not is all what it seems. We meet Toadling who is a changeling human girl who has learned fae magic and can turn into a toad at will. She has been guarding a tower behind a thorhedge for such a long time when a knight shows up and basically makes her wake up and take stock of her past and what she wants from her future. I would put this in the hands of anyone interested in the cozy fantasy genre.

In this Sleeping Beauty retelling, we meet Toadling, a humble creature completely dedicated to keeping the thorns around the castle thick and the sleeping curse intact. When a knight stops by and actually sees her for the first time in decades, maybe centuries, slowly she starts to open up and share her story. A fun twist on the usual story while also bearing no resemblance to other retellings such as Maleficent. This is a small story, a quiet nearly forgotten story about trying your best and the magic of being seen. I enjoyed it immensely..

This is the 3rd book I've read by this author, and as usual, it was fantastic! The writing is beautiful and so atmospheric.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a sucker for fairytale and fairytale retellings. This book is already one of my favorite retellings of the sleeping beauty fairytale. In the story, the sleeping beauty is not the main character. Instead, we have a weird fairy creature who becomes a toad when things get a little too stressful and at knight who doesn’t really want to have to fight anything. I don’t wanna say too much more without giving away spoilers, but it does end, and a happily ever after sort of. The descriptions in this book were so vivid I could smell the things that were being described and feel the humidity of water in the air. Just another home run for T Kingfisher. When this comes out, I will be buying a physical copy to reread, and to loan to my friends.

I am super grateful for the opportunity to have a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Publishing group! I literally shouted for joy when I found out my request was approved!

This novella is a unique spin on the well-known sleeping beauty story. A toad-girl guards the bramble-covered tower that contains a beautiful sleeping princess. A young knight comes to investigate the legend and finds out the true story forgotten over hundreds of years.

This novella has everything I want in a book: horror, fantasy, fae mischief, magic, humor, and subverted expectations. This quirky tale gave me a lot of the same vibes as T. Kingfisher’s other fantasy book, Nettle and Bone. I loved how creatively written this story was- how elements were revealed slowly to build up for the twist. I loved how different this retelling was, you can always count on this author to cook up something refreshing and inspired on a story everyone has already heard before. My only criticism is that I wish it was so much longer! The world is incredibly vast and I wish there was more time to learn all about it.

T. Kingfisher is my favorite author at the moment! I will read anything she writes, but her fantasy stories just hit different!

I can't stop talking about this book! Thornhedge is a short novel (novella?) that retells the story of Sleeping Beauty. I don't want to spoil anything for readers so I'll say this took the Sleeping Beauty story in a completely different direction and was so refreshing to read. Our main character is Toadling and she guards the tower where Sleeping Beauty sleeps. As we read we learn who she is, why she is there, and why she feels she can't leave. Toadling is kind, sweet, and one of those characters I will think of often. I hope to hear more stories about her adventures.

This book gives cozy fantasy vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley, T. Kingfisher and Tor Publishing Group for a digital copy of Thornhedge in exchange for an honest review.

A beautifully crafted novella that is as surprisingly sweet as it is dark and vivid, and whose hero is as wonderful as its villain is genuinely terrifying. I wish Toadling all the love in the world, and would happily eat up anything Kingfisher is cooking up.

This is absolutely classic Kingfisher romance - a plain, bumbling protagonist with a sweet disposition and a hulking, solemn knight with an unexpected prerogative. I wish I wasn't so weary of this character formula, which takes a way from the unique style of the retelling. This is one of the more clever Sleeping Beauty retellings I've ever seen, with most of the twists being entirely unexpected. It is also interesting to see Kingfisher explore a style closer to alternative history, with her discussion of real world events, places, and cultures. I only wish Kingfisher had tried something new with her characters to measure up to the interesting plot and heartfelt premise. Just as she writes the same horror protagonist every time, so does she write the same fantasy protagonist under a different hat.

Yet again, Kingfisher has written a book that pleases me. Honestly, at this point I'm not even surprised.

This slightly askew Sleeping Beauty retelling is not only a fresh take, it's a 180 on the classic tale. As this is a novella it's hard to give more context than that so instead let me say that this book is charming. It's sweet and unsettling, and channeling its creepy descriptions and warped characters into a wholesome gift that we're lucky to have. I don't know what it is about this author's books but they are spectacular and they burrow into my soul and don't let go. I've been thinking of Toadling for weeks now, just as I go about my day. I just love this character and I suspect you will too.

Thank you so much to Tor and Netgalley for bestowing yet another Kingfisher arc on me.

Some things are just "me" things and this sweet novella is totally one. A heartwarming flipped fairy tale that reminded me somehow of WICKED by Gregory Maguire, but I like this storyline much better: A shape-shifting fairy named Toadling guards something in a cursed tower for centuries. Toadling is not who she appears. even though she put the curse on the tower. A kind man turns up outside the tower, ages after Toadling stopped expecting company. He's read the old folklore about the tower, but he is not a prince, or even a knight, but the story has as much of a hold on him as the tower has on Toadling. Who or what has Toadling cursed and trapped in the tower, and why? Is it really a princess?

Toadling feels intense guilt and shame over her traumatic backstory that has landed her in the role of eternal protector of the tower, which she reveals to her visitor bit by bit after many years of silence. That guilt and shame, those traumatic memories, bind her more tightly than any curse. Who really is the beauty that is sleeping in this fairy tale, and where does that beauty lie? Even though Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) wrote this years ago and only just now polished it up for publication, the found family threads make it feel very of-the-moment. Spellbinding.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

T. Kingfisher is SO hit or miss with me. I've read a handful of their novels and the last one I read, "A House with Good Bones" was a hugely underwhelming for me. But "Thornhedge" sounded fun and I love the idea of a story that subverts the damsel in distress/princess in a tower trope. And you know what? This was a hit for me. When Kingfisher does well, they do really well. I think they really excel at writing subverted fairy tales. Their Southern Gothic take was not for me, but this and "Nettle & Bone" were incredibly enjoyable and just fun. I loved Toadling and Halim and I just love reading changeling stories! I also loved that the Faerie we encounter weren't just benevolent hotties that were all limbs and long hair, but grotesque and natural. Don't get me wrong, I'll read hot fae books but my god, I loved reading a story with Faerie that described creatures, And the way that Kingfisher described Toadling's magic with water was really interesting. I wish Kingfisher wrote more adult fantasy like this and "Nettle & Bone" cause I would eat that right up.

This is a short and enjoyable read that I would absolutely recommend. It comes out on my birthday which feels fitting considering how much I loved it.

4.5 ⭐️
I love how the book was short and had a twist to the usual fairytale stories we are used to. This book is literally sleeping beauty but the one who is sleeping is the villain! I was like woah what??? There was shapeshifters as well as the story was written so well and this was my first book by T. Kingfisher! I will definitely be reading more books by T. Kingfisher 🩵. This book was such a page turner for me!

Nettle and Bone was one of my favorites book of last year, and so I jumped on the chance to read Thornhedge, a novella that similarly takes on common fairy tale tropes from an unusual perspective. In this case, our narrator is Toadling, a princess swapped for a fairie changeling, raised by nurturing monsters, and responsible for keeping a mysterious tower from being breached by passing knights and second sons. Toadling would normally be a peripheral character at best and the villain at worst—she earns her name from her froggy looks and possesses just enough magic to threaten—but in Kingfisher's telling she is the hero, albeit an awkward and unsure one. There's a knight come to save the day, of course, but he's remarkably gentle and considerate and all-around a good listener (not a set of traits I generally associate with fairytale saviors). In other words, nothing here feels particularly unfamiliar, but the emphasis is in unexpected places, to excellent effect. In addition to its narrative DNA, Thornhedge shares a number of other qualities with classic fairy tales: brevity, clarity of purpose, a (somewhat too) rapid pace. If what you're looking for is a beach read that sways spiky instead of saccharine, Thornhedge is a perfect choice.

This turns Sleeping Beauty into an adult fairytale. I have to say I had no idea what I was getting myself into, even though I have read other books from T Kingfisher. I think this author knows how to spin classic tales into their own thing, without it feeling like a copy cat. I also love a book where I can't figure out if the villain really is a villain, or if the hero is potentially a villain. I love the game of figuring that out as I read the book.

The Sleeping Beauty fairytale has been fractured and this version, Thornhedge, is a delight!
It is a novella and hence a very quick read. I am still smiling as I think about the story and how it has been turned on its head. Thank you NetGalley and Tor books for sharing this advanced reader copy. .

I've enjoyed everything T. Kingfisher's written - horror and fantasy - and that includes whatever this little novella is - horror/fantasy hybrid send-up of "Sleeping Beauty". Those who enjoyed Kingfisher's "Nettle and Bone" will almost certainly like the vibe of "Thornhedge", which features a similar tone of "unlikely heroine" on a quest, only in this case, the fae are involved, and the fae? Well, some of them are bad news. While "Thornhedge" doesn't reinvent the wheel - it was easy to guess where it was going - it's sweet, kind, and a little sad. I very much enjoyed this novella and I think anyone who wants a twist on "Sleeping Beauty" will too.

A beautifully imaginative retelling of a well-known fairy tale. I would read a hundred more books and stories set in this world by this author. My kingdom for many more to come!