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.

A delightful fractured fairy tale! This was a one-sitting read for me, with a charming heroine, deft but spare worldbuilding, and a great central idea. I'll read anything T. Kingfisher writes, but this was a special delight.

Thornhedge is the perfect “I’m uncomfortable and can’t sleep” novella! I say this at 2:13am, as someone who is currently uncomfortable and can’t sleep. It’s not too long and it’s not terribly short either.

I love T. Kingfisher’s writing style to begin with. Then, this story just made my “fairytale with a twist” loving heart so happy!

I wasn’t quite expecting what she dished out for the princess. I certainly didn’t expect who Toadling was or what she was hiding.

I found Toadling to be such a sweet, kindhearted character. The way she cared about not only the implications of her actions but also protecting what needed to be was beautiful to read.

I also loved the knight’s character and personality. For the other characters, you don’t quite get what you’d expect from them. It fits perfectly in this upside down fairytale.

I did find some bits repetitive. I feel like certain aspects could have been expanded upon in place of the repetition. I would have really loved them to be. However, this novella is definitely a winner to me!

This subverted fairytale retelling of sleeping beauty just completely stole my heart. Toadling has burrowed inside and taken permanent residence inside my heart and I would literally die for her. My one and only complaint was that it was way too short. I could have spent hours, days, weeks more with Toadling and her adorable knight, Halim. Highly highly recommended.

Thornhedge is another delightful fairy tale retelling by T. Kingfisher. This novella reimagines Sleeping Beauty, except Sleeping Beauty is a blood-thirsty changeling and her fairy godmother, Toadling, is tasked with keeping the world safe from her. After hundreds of years of keeping watch over the princess/changeling in the tower, Toadling encounters a human who is drawn to the area by tales of the princess. Reluctantly, Toadling tells her tale, and allows him into the tower. To say much more about the plot would spoil it. I loved all the characters in this book. Toadling is kind and bumbling; Halim is both noble and down-to-earth; the changeling is terrifying. I enjoyed the brief glimpse into the world of the fae and the exploration into how different their morals are from those of humans. The climax of the book moved too quickly, but the ending was very satisfying, and I hope to see more tales in this world. Highly recommend. Thank you to Tor and to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.

So gorgeous and lovable, just a great story all around. This author never disappoints. The length was appropriate, but I also wish it was longer because it was just so good. I will be recommending it to everyone upon release.

Hmm. Toadling was a bit too hapless a heroine for me. And this is a minor thing, but I hope the kinks in the timeline are sorted out before publication. It’s stated at one point that the Justinian plague occurred two hundred years before Halim comes to visit, and that Toadling observed many decades if not centuries of people coming and going before the plague. Yet through the latter half of the novella, it’s stated that Fayette has only been asleep for 200 years.