Sleeping Beauty with a twist!

The true beauty of this book is how Kingfisher has created such an endearing, captivating and wonderful tale with unique characters in 120 pages. T. Kingfisher can do no wrong in my book. I love her writing and how she approaches characters.

There is a sleeping princess trapped in a tower, but it is Toadling who has the spotlight in this book. Toadling was stolen on the day she was born by fairies and raised by them in the waters of faerieland. She loved the water, her new family and the comfort they provided.

One day a goddess appears and tells Toadling that she must go with her to be educated. Eventually Toadling is sent back to the human world to deliver a gift to a newborn. Sounds simple, right?

Centuries later a knight appears, he has heard about a curse which needs breaking...

Toadling stole my heart with her unselfishness and kind demeanor. She wants so badly to do the right thing and I admired her dedication. She has been alone for a long time and when a knight appears, everything changes.

This book had a little bit of everything. There is family, there is a tower surrounded by hedges, there is a changeling, there is a sensitive knight and there is Toadling, sweet endearing, Toadling.

I love how T. Kingfisher blended light and darkness in this book. She took a beloved fairy tale and made it her own in such a magical way. She has written a fairy tale that I want to read. Not everyone is beautiful on the outside, but there are some that are quite beautiful in their actions and personality.

This book had me turning the pages to see how things were going to end.

Gripping, captivating and magical!

I cannot wait to see what she writes next!!!

This is another great book by T. Kingfisher. She takes a normal fairy tale and flips it on its head. This is a good introduction to the author and doesn't veer too much into the the horror genre. The characters are also delightful.

My favourite Kingfisher novel yet. Absolutely brilliant, enthralling, and hypnotizing. I could not get enough and read on deep into the night.

Could not recommend enough.

This wasn't my favorite of Kingfisher's work, which frankly is a matter of personal preference. Her strong prose is here, the classic exhausted and hard-working female character with the kind and gentle love interest are both here and charming, her takes of on the fay were fun, but there was a trope here that I just personally have beef with.

It's the, this kid is just bad and there's nothing we can do about it trope. Now, maybe it's a child's body with an old fay lord inside, but it wasn't really written that way. It was more playing on that old horror around birth, being surprised what can come out of you. I hate this trope, maybe it's because I work with kids, and I think all the time about how kids motivations are assumed to be malicious when they're just not. Fundamentally, this book wasn't going to work for me because of that...But I do think other people will really enjoy it! It's like a fantasy Rosemary's Baby (kind of) with a really sweet romance, so if that appeals to you, you'll like it!

Even though I am a bit over fairy tale retelling, Kingfisher knows how to take a worn out troupe and give it new life. I really enjoyed how beautiful the story and writing was. A oddly cozy read but full of adventure and wimsy.

Absolutely gorgeous sleeping beauty retelling. Vividly atmospheric. I will never forget Toadling and her magical world and sweet and scrappy personality. This is a story I will re-read. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for early access to the digital arc.

I’ve recently become obsessed with T. Kingfisher’s novels so I’m trying to get my hands on everything she’s ever written. Thornhedge is her newest adult fantasy novella that’s a reimagining of Sleeping Beauty but where the princess is the villain and the one who curses the princess is the heroine.

I loved this story. It was so fun to get to know Toadling, a girl who can transform into a toad and who can cast spells. She is patrolling the hedge made of thorns (hence the title) that surrounds the tower that contains the sleeping princess, when one day a man on horseback shows up and wants to explore the land beyond the hedge of thorns.

I won’t say any more because this story is short and it deserves to have some mystery to it, but I love how Kingfisher wrote this. This is a version of Sleeping Beauty that I’ve never seen done before, and I thought it was quite unique.

If you love fantastical novellas that take place in dark, creepy forests and stories about curses that maybe shouldn’t be broken after all, then you should check out Thornhedge. It was a delight to read, and I loved the ending.

A nice little fairy tale retelling that is a quick and enjoyable read, featuring Vernon's usual subversiveness.

#Thornhedge #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-Arc copy of this novel. A wonderful fantasy read. The author pulls you into to story and before I knew it I was done. A must read!

I've loved everything I've read by T. Kingfisher, so the fact that I loved this doesn't surprise me at all--but I REALLY loved it. Thornhedge is a clever twist on Sleeping Beauty that reads as both classic and fresh. I, like the author, thought it was very sweet (even with the notes of horror). I feel like I want to read this one again immediately.

Minutes after she was born, Toadling was swapped for a changeling and spirited away to the Faerie world. Despite being whisked away from her home, she grew up feeling loved and supported by her adopted family, until the fateful day that the fae asked a favour of her. All she has to do is return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a human child... should be easy right? Centuries later a Knight comes across a towering wall of Brambles, he's heard the stories, of a Princess trapped in a tower, a curse that needs breaking. Only this is one curse Toadling will do anything to uphold.

For such a small story this certainly packs an emotional punch, something that shouldn't surprise me because Kingfisher is a master in storytelling. Told solely from Toadlings POV the story flits between her present time ensuring the curse and the person who is under it stay locked in the tower, and her past which show the events leading to now. Toadlings story is both a mixture of happy and sad. Whisked away from her human life, she was taken in by the greenteeth - swamp dwelling creatures in the land of faerie - who raised her as if she was one of their own and introduced her to the world of magic. When she finds herself returning to the human world, she is woefully unprepared for what awaits her, especially when her blessing goes awry and she finds herself the keeper of a child who takes pleasure in harming others. Toadling was such a brilliant character, despite being over 200 years old she still reads as if she was a young person on the cusp of adulthood, and being of two worlds, she spends a good portion of the book longing to return to her family of Greenteeth, whilst also wanting to explore more of the human world.

Being such a small book, Kingfisher keeps our cast of characters small - we spend the most time with Harim, the Knight who stumbles upon Toadlings tower and who is determined to break the curse that's keeping her there. He was your typical Kingfisher male character, someone who is both dangerous and a little broken and I couldn't help but laugh at all his instances of telling Toadling how his mother would scald him for swearing, or not treating her correctly. I also enjoyed the little time we got to spend in the fae world with Toadlings family of Greenteeth. Her description of them certainly gives off a slightly sinister vibe, but you can feel the love she has for these creatures who took her in despite her human birth.

Thronhedge was such a brilliant take on the 'beautiful Princess stuck in a tower, cursed by an ugly witch/faerie' and I adored how she threw the traditional ideals of beauty on their head. Kingfisher really focuses on the idea that beauty is subjective in this book. Toadling, knows she isn't beautiful in the traditional sense, and she knows the family she grew up with would more likely scare people than amaze them with their beauty, but she also knows that looks aren't all that matters, it's whats inside, someone's behaviour and how they act to and around others that really showcase their beauty. Kingfisher still manages to give us all the fairy tale vibes that we yearn for, but she takes the traditional style and throws it out of the window, making it slightly more feminist and showing that beauty is not what makes somebody good or bad, a trend I am seeing crop up more and more recently and one that I love.

If you're looking for a quick and easy read, but one that still packs an emotional punch and gives off big fairy tale vibes, I can't recommend this enough. I would love to return to this world, especially if we get to explore the fae side a little more, and I loved how open ended Kingfisher left the story. I have yet to find a book by Kingfisher that I haven't adored, and I can't wait to pick up whatever she writes next.

I love everything T. Kingfisher has written and this was no exception! The characters are just so fresh and interesting. I was honestly upset that this wasn’t longer. I want to know more about the world and hear more of the story. Overall I really enjoyed it!

As they did with Nettle & Bone, Kingfisher takes us again into a gloriously warped fairy tale where the traditional main characters lurk in the background, and the usual secondary characters become the stars. Toadling is a beautiful, sweet (yes, sweet - you'll understand if you read the acknowledgement) heroine who you will want to pick up and envelope in a huge hug, and Halim is the hero that you wish all stories had. Together they will battle brambles and bricks and an evil beauty who would prefer to break them to pieces. Kingfisher takes the fairy tale retelling genre and makes it entirely their own with this beautifully original story.

it's been a while (it seems to me) since i posted a review. i promise i'm still reading! april has been a busy training month, so reading at my usual fast rate has taken a bit of a backseat. BUT i recently finished t. kingfisher's upcoming sleeping beauty retelling 'thorn hedge' and quite enjoyed it! the story follows toadling, a woman stolen to the faerie world on the day she was born and raised in faerieland. years later, she must return to the human world to give a gift to the changeling that took her place (time moves differently in faerieland, just roll with it). but when the gift goes wrong, everything changes. centuries later, a knight approaches the tower that toadling protects with her life, a tower surrounded by thorns. the knight is here to break a curse, but toadling will do everything in her power to keep the curse in place, for the safety of everyone.

this novella was short & sweet, and had a great story at its heart. it was so fun to read a retelling that completely flipped the script of who we think of as good and evil. perhaps the witch wasn't so wicked after all? there were some kind of gruesome moments (expected from a horror novel writer), but overall this was in line with lots of other retellings. definitely pick this one up when it's released this summer!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

<blockquote>"I can't fight stories," she whispered, and a few tears, dark as ink, ran down her face and tangled in her hair.</blockquote>

I have a pretty mixed history with T. Kingfisher's writing, but there's no arguing the woman knows how to take a story and sprinkle charm all the heck over it. Thornhedge, a re-imaging of Sleeping Beauty, is no different. I actually think the best reading experience for this novella is to go into it blind, so I've listed some vibes, as opposed to plot points, below.

- Subverting tropes
- Relatable MC
- Fairies actually acting like fairies
- Readable in one sitting
- A Muslim knight who's not very religious but apologizes for cursing because his mama raised him right

My review on Goodreads:
T. Kingfisher's legendarium is one where tales of faery that we thought we knew are shown through a prism, broken up into different strands, and wonderfully reassembled into a new and strange land of faery. This novella is a brilliant illustration of what she does with a tale we are all familiar with. Naming that tale would be a small spoiler so read this and discover for yourself.

T Kingfisher has such a warm, funny voice. I'd probably die for Toadling, honestly. She was sweet and unique and charming and, as a lifelong lover of frogs and toads, she was basically my perfect protagonist. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for something light and charming, a very common request these days.

Sleeping Beauty, but make it WAY more complicated.

I pretty much love everything I've read by T Kingfisher, so it's a no-brainer that I would want to read this novella; I don't think I even read the blurb before requesting it. And I have no regrets, having just read it in a sitting (it's under 100 pages, so not THAT extreme).

Toadling has been sitting behind, and sometimes within, a hedge of thorns and brambles for centuries. She's despaired of knights and adventurous boys coming along with axes to try and cut down the hedge, because she really doesn't want them to. One day, when it's been a long time since anyone approached the hedge, Halim camps outside the wall... and she ends up speaking with him.

Toadling is not who you think she is, and this story is not what you might expect. It's wondrous and twisty and a bit heart-wrenching, and all in all a really great story. I love Toadling and I will not look at Sleeping Beauty the same way again.

I LOVED Thornhedge. T. Kingfisher retells Sleeping Beauty in a way I’ve never read before… by asking, “What if the person sleeping is the villain?”

I am not a fast reader, but once I sat down to read Thornhedge, I couldn’t put it down. I finished the entire book in a single day. Granted, it’s not a long book at only 128 pages, but for me, that’s a lot to finish in a day.

The only thing I wish this book had was MORE. I need more of Toadling and the knight, Halim!

Thornhedge is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but not in the way that you'd expect it. This is a quick, dark, quirky, and heartwarming read. This certainly won't disappoint if you already love how T. Kingfisher writes. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I highly recommend reading this August 15th!

Thanks to Tor and NetGalley for the chance to read this early in exchange for a review!