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!

A wonderful fairy-tale re-telling wrapped up in a short novella. It's cute and quirky, and oddly dark without actually being creepy. You have to love a re-telling where the usual suspect to play the villain is actually the hero.

A vivid retelling of Sleeping Beauty, turned on its head and reimagined. At once full of doom and hope, beauty and evil, Toadling's story is captivating and engrossing.

Oh gosh. I loved this little book. Toadling has quickly become one of my all time favorite characters. This weird little Sleeping Beauty retelling, with a bit of horror and a lot of monsters, is so full of love, and faith, and turning into a toad when you're nervous to hide in the mud. Honestly that's a skill I wish I had.

I have such a hard time reviewing books when I love them this much.

Toadling has been guarding the thorn filled hedge around the castle for a long, long time. Someone sleeps in the castle tower, and she does not want them to wake. But the world has moved on, as it is wont to do, and history has faded into myth. The likelihood of someone showing up to free the sleeper seems small. Until one day, a mediocre knight who likes stories arrives, and everything changes.

This is the perfect novella. It never loses its fairy tale feel, but the characters are still developed and real. Halim, the knight, may not be a very good knight, but he is a wonderful character, and I loved the interactions between him and Toadling. The writing gives such a good visual of the castle keep and Toadlings home, and even though there are some horror filled bits, it's also full of humor and kindness and love. I cannot recommend it enough.

I really enjoyed this book. I love T. Kingfisher as an author and her ability to tell a great story in a succinct way. Our library will definitely be purchasing.

I do love this author. This is a pretty low-stakes read, easy and fun while combining different fairy-tale elements into something, if not completely new, then at least refreshingly remixed.

Some character musings were strongly similar to A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking-- mostly a sort of "literally anyone else could have done this better but I'm the only one here." It felt a little samey to me, like maybe everything was a bit rushed and there wasn't room to repackage? Or maybe the author was working through something that's bleeding through into multiple books.

The general feel and the elemental magic reminded me of Silver in the Wood. The greenteeth of course made me think of The Wee Free Men while the literally-anyone-else matched closer to Wintersmith.

eARC from NetGalley.

So what did we learn here, children? That not all victims of a sleeping spell are innocent. Sometimes the Princess is a psychopath and must be stopped for the safety of everyone. And if you refuse to feel empathy and be kind even after people have given you love and so many chances, the patient ones will eventually push you out the tower window.

A quick paced retelling of Sleeping Beauty that packs some delightful worldbuilding and character-development in not too many pages. It's more violent and a bit darker than some might expect, examining what it means to be a monster or a hero.

An utterly sweet and whimsical novella, Kingfisher once again deftly weaves a classic fairytale into her own unique tapestry where beauty can hide great evil and ugliness can hide a gentle heart.

I will first say that this is a very talented author. This was a twisted version of Sleeping Beauty. I did really enjoy Toadling but felt bad for her as she loses hundreds of years making sure that no one comes in contact with the evil princess...the changeling that has taken her rightful place with her family.

While well written, I did feel that this tale was slightly rushed. You get the idea but I felt it could have been expanded on in certain areas.

A quick read and one I would recommend, as it made me want to go and read the other books by this author.

ARC Read: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

⭐️⭐️⭐️

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

Toadling had one job, but what happens when what you mean to say isn't what comes out?

This story seems like a twisted tale on Sleeping Beauty.

I liked the story. The only thing that I wished would have been a little different would be how fast it finished. I wanted a lot more out of the climax. I really enjoyed how it ended, though. I know they didn't want to put a lot of emphasis on the princess since this was necessarily what the story was about. But overall, it's a good story from Kingfisher.

This is possibly a novella. It is an interesting Sleeping Beauty retelling. The author asks if perhaps there is a reason that Sleeping Beauty was made to sleep. And she runs with it from there. I believe this was my first experience with this author, despite seeing tons of favorable reviews on social media for her books. I am interested to see what she comes up with next.

A fun twist of a fairytale! I thought the writing was great and the story itself was fun. There were times when I felt like the story got a little slow, but it had seemed to pick up pace later on. Just a fun story overall.

A wonderful story. A nice palette cleanser in between heavy books and very quick. And yet such characters and world building even though the book is short. This author never disappoints.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Tor Publishing for giving me the chance to read this gem of a novella early. I love when fairy tale retellings turn the original on its head, and was not disappointed here. Toadling, the not-quite human, not-quite fairy heroine, is a character whose adventures I would happily read more books about, She is the fairy godmother to the beautiful young princess, but this Sleeping Beauty retelling is nothing like the original. Instead, this is a whimsical retelling where the princess was cursed for the safety of everyone around her.

I was swept away by the writing style that felt exactly like a fairy tale with its dreamy quality. Aspects of the story were dark and even gruesome, but they were described through the eyes of a girl who could turn into a toad and was raised by ravenous water fairies. The knight was wholesome and unpretentious, unlike many of his counterparts in other stories—including retellings—and I was pleased with Toadling’s decision to go on adventures with him in the end. I was intrigued by the concept of the princess being the villain and only wished that the story could have been longer. While I liked the fairy tale quality of the ending as Toadling can return to those she loves while also realizing she could be free, I was waiting for a final twist at the end, as it seemed the villain was vanquished almost too easily. Nevertheless, this was a charming read and I will definitely pick up Kingfisher’s other works sooner rather than later. Fans of Uprooted by Naomi Novik and even The Cruel Prince by Holly Black will be sure to enjoy this novella as well.