I loved this! It was a sweet, perfect fairy tale.
In this story, we explore what would happen if the Sleeping Beauty wasn't actually the beauty she seems.
I hope theres more to come!

If you’re looking for something with those good old-school fairy tale vibes, this will definitely scratch the itch. It’s incredible how I’m such a short book we get so much backstory and world building. The only thing I was missing was a little more chemistry between the two MCs. This could easily be because of the length of the book, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and would definitely recommend it!

I love fairy tale retellings, and reading a sweet Sleeping Beauty retelling by none other than T. Kingfisher is one of the best things this year! It sweetness of this novella is helped by the twist in the plot - the villain is a super-polite toad girl who burps fish and turns green, and the heroine tortures animals for sport and reanimates the dead. The language is fairy-tale beautiful, the ending is superb, and I found myself smiling and rooting for the fishy fairylings the entire ride. My thanks to Netgalley and Tor books for this copy.

I have never read a T.Kingfisher book I haven’t loved and Thornhedge is no exception! Two of my favourite things about T.Kingfisher as an author are 1) Her main characters are always so unique and interesting, and 2) the romance she write is always soft and heartwarming.

Toadling has taken a place in one of my favourite all time characters - her kindness and her patience were touching to read and as the story developed and the layers of her story were unravelled I loved her more and more.

For such a short novel, this story really packs an emotional punch and the character growth felt so natural in so few words - just masterful writing.

The story was just meh for me. Yes, a fairy tale retelling in a unique way but it just seemed flat. I couldn't find myself really caring what happened to anyone.

I've always enjoyed T. Kingfisher's fantasy more than their horror, and this book is another tic in the "fantasy" category. With strong characters and whimsical (but not juvenile) humour, I think Kingfisher's books are great for any lovers of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I loved this one, and absolutely devoured it over the course of two sittings.

I have read and adored every book T. Kingfisher put out and this is no exception. Toadling was such a unique and delightful little character that I so much want to be real and to be my best friend. imaginative, and perilous yet comforting and lighthearted this book will stay with me for so long

I should really stick to T. Kingfisher's horror. Her fantasy stuff just does not do it for me. People who enjoyed Nettle & Bone or are Neil Gaiman fantasy fans should enjoy this novella.

Many thanks to my friends at @torbooks and @macmillan.audio

Haunting. Humorous. Heartfelt.

Move over Walt Disney, THIS is how you do a fairytale.

Not all heroines are delicate and beautiful. Not all knights have a savior complex.

Entertaining from beginning to end, Kingfisher delivers the perfect reimagining of Sleeping Beauty. It’s a unique twist brimming with her signature wit and vivid imagery. But this book is far more than simple enjoyment. It shines brightest in its exploration of self-worth.

Neither of our protagonists fit the classic fairytale mold. Toad is an unlikely fairy godmother. Knight is an unlikely hero. Yet that is where their beauty lies and what makes them so endearing.

The originality found in both the protagonists and the roles they undertake hones a focus on inner value, delivering spot on messaging worthy of applause.

At just over 100 pages, it’s a short read. Yet it’s packed with depth. Each detail- from characterization to world building to plot- is fully developed with satisfying breadth.

The dark undertones are met with whimsy and hope, reminiscent of Nettle and Bone, my first and favorite of Kingfisher’s books.

Truly, her books never disappoint, and this latest continues to set her apart in the art of storytelling.

🎧 At just under 4 hours at 1x speed, this audiobook is perfect for a quick read. But more than that, Jennifer Bloom’s narration allowed for the kind of escape that I felt as a young child listening to a good read aloud. A winner all around.

I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I finally picked up my ARC of this book on a whim. I needed a new book to start, but it was already late in the day and I thought I wanted something on the shorter end, like a nice novella! As I was scrolling through my options I remembered Thornhedge and how much I enjoyed other books/novellas by this author, and next thing I knew I had my copy open and was reading.

I was sucked into this novella so quickly. The writing immediately drew me in, and it felt like a twist on classical fairy tale narration. It really felt like it was being narrated by someone who lived during the times that fairy tales are based on, and it adds almost this realistic layer to the standard fairy tale storytelling. On top of that, our narrator is someone who has lived through long stretches of time, but has locked herself away from experience most of it (and has also experienced a decent amount of that time as a frog!) It adds this extra layer to both the characterization of our MC and the narration itself. Honestly, even if the plot and characters themselves had been extremely bland, I still would have enjoyed this book based on the writing alone.

However, the plot and characters were also far from bland. I love the perspective that our main character brought, and I honestly fell in love with her so fast. She was just such a unique and fresh voice to me, and I felt so strongly for her, especially during the harder parts of the story. I loved how strongly she bonded and connected with her home, and how that bond remained even when she wasn’t there anymore. I loved her magic and her strength, and how she worried but persisted anyway. I also loved the knight that came to discover what was in the tower that she tried to keep hidden, and was the reason there was even a plot. He was kind and I loved how the two talked with each other, despite being from such different backgrounds and times. It made for such a soft fairy tale, at least in the present moments of the story.

Overall, this novella has just further proven to me the capability and range that Kingfisher has, and has me even more excited to get to more of her works! I definitely highly recommend this novella, especially for fans of stories and fairy tales.

*Review will be live on my blog on December 1st

I really enjoyed this book. I hope the author continues to write more books in the future. I can't wait to see what this author releases in the future.

This book was not for me.

Middle grade fiction that does not make it clear that that is what it is really annoys me, as I will often purchase books written by authors I like without reading reviews.

I found this book impossible to get into. It felt clunky and contrived, and there was something overly rigid about the insistence on the young person's thought processes, it just didn't ring true. I was clearly not the intended audience, and I really wish that the published would do a better job of signaling who the book is actually written for to avoid this kind of issue.

Let me start this review off by saying that Toadling and Halim and the greenteeth are all such wonderful characters, and that I would happily read more about all of them. All of them were truly my favorite parts of this novella.

The rest was a bit background, if that makes any sense? Nothing else is the story quite held up or was as interesting.

Which isn't to say this was boring or unenjoyable, because once I started reading this, I literally did not put it down until I finished the book. No, it's just to say that Toadling, Halim, and the greenteeth were just so distinct and amazing that they outshown everything and everyone else is this Sleeping Beauty retelling.

I think if this was a full-length novel, things might have balanced out a bit more.

Overall, though, this was a lovely little fairytale, with some very wonderful and sweet characters.

3.5 stars!

4.5 stars

What a wonderful and sweet retelling!!! T. Kingfisher writes such marvelous characters -- I adored Toadling and Halim, I would read books and books more about them. I wasn't sure how I'd like this book at first, but Kingfisher's writing swiftly drew me in. I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, especially fairy tales in particular.

Thank you NetGalley and TOR Books for "Thornhedge" by T. Kingfisher in exchange for an honest review. I recommend this book to all lovers of Sleeping Beauty and fairytales. I was not expecting to enjoy this novel as much as I did! This was my first time reading T. Kingfisher, and I was not disappointed. Instead, I was brought onto an emotional rollercoaster and once I was on, I could not get off. I could not stop turning the pages and I was heavily invested, It was charming and dark-fantasy filled. The ending was well executed, and I was drawn in since the start. I will be reading more of the author's work.

"In the early days, the wall of thorns had been distressingly obvious. There was simply no way to hide a hedge with thorns like sword blades and stems as thick as a man’s thigh. A wall like that invited curiosity and with curiosity came axes, and it was all the fairy could do to keep some of those curious folk from gaining entrance to the tower.
Eventually, though, the brambles had grown up around the edges—blackberry and briar and dog rose, all the weedy opportunists—and that softened the edge of the thorn wall and gave the fairy some breathing room. Roving princes and penniless younger sons had been fascinated by the thorns, which were so obviously there to keep people out. Hardly anybody was interested in a bramble thicket."
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"How does anyone manage? There are too many streams and they all flow and all of them could be good and there’s no way to know. How does anyone ever choose to do anything?"

Match.com profile – Languid Lady - Wanna meet a real princess? Low maintenance, fond of comfortable bedding, long walks in dreamland, quiet weekends at home in the castle. If you are looking for consistency, a quiet, luxurious, restful life, send me a message. Only real princes need apply. Let’s make some magic together. (Submitted for a friend)

We all know, or should know, the story of Sleeping Beauty, whether the Disney version or some other. Beautiful princess is tucked away in a tower for a seemingly endless nap, done dirt by an evil fairy. Kingfisher, as she has done many times with established tales, offers a different perspective.

This time, what if it was not a dark force, but a kind one that had caused all those zzzzzzzzzs? What if there was a good reason for doing so? What is someone was charged with making sure that no one disturbed the sleeper, however many years, decades, centuries might pass?

"One thing I like to do with fairy tales is to look at them and go “How can I make this even worse?” - from the Grim Dark interview

I am not so sure that Kingfisher’s tale really is a worse version. Well, maybe worse that the Disney version. But far from the worst. There is one (and there are others as bad) in which a wandering king happens by the castle where a sleeper named Talia is housed. He decides this is a great opportunity for him, absconds with her virginity, and leaves the unconscious Talia pregnant with twins. What a guy!

We get a look at some of the trappings of fairy tales, including a fairy civilization that is maybe not so nice. Another, the Greenteeth, who raised her, provide our heroine with her other side abilities. These include the power to switch back and forth between human and toad form, which can come in handy. Her name is Toadling. She has been dutifully standing guard over the castle in which the sleeper has been kept for multiple centuries.

Until one day, a knight arrives. Halim is not one of those spoiled, handsome, armored snots who usually trot through such tales, slaying dragons and rescuing (abducting?) fair maidens. He is a Muslim, for one, and, not being a first-born, not exactly in line for a nice inheritance.

"Being a knight isn’t about being religious, you know, so much as it is to figure out what to do with your extra sons so they don’t tear up the family seat. Every now and then someone gets the idea we should start chopping each other’s heads off, but in practice, the Pope squats in Rome like a spider and the caliphs glare at one another over their walls, and the rest of us get along as best we can with each other.”"

As is obvious from this, Halim comes across as a pretty decent sort, mostly there to check out something he had read, about a long-form sleeper in a tower. I suppose there might be an angle of interest in forming an alliance with a landed bit of royalty when your own prospects are a bit slim, but really, it is mostly curiosity. We are led to think that he is a good guy by the conversations he has with Toadling. But is he on the level with her, or is he trying to manipulate her into letting him past the massive thorn hedge that surrounds the castle?

For her part, Toadling is riven with guilt for having messed up a magical task she had been assigned, thus her lengthy tenure at this post. She is dutiful, and honor-bound.

Toadling tells Halim her (and thus the sleeper’s) story in bits, so that by the time we are nearing the end, we know all there is to know about how the whole princess-in-a-tower situation came to be, the decisions that were made, the actions that followed and the active perils.

There are multiple sources of joy in this novella (30K words). The first is the interaction between Halim and Toadling. Both are modest people. She tells Halim that she is not beautiful, and he says the same of himself.

"Practical overworked middle-aged women basically keep the world running…And being myself a rather frumpy middle-aged woman, I write stories about people like me partly because they’re very much who I can write, but also because I want those women to have stories. Sometimes we read fantasy stories in order to pretend we’re someone else, but sometimes we read fantasy stories in order to pretend that people like us can have adventures too. Mind you, if the readers ever get tired of reading about middle-aged gardeners, I’m probably in trouble, but so far, so good." - from the Grim Dark interview

The second is the creative reinterpretation Kingfisher had concocted of the classic tale. It is far from alone. The Sleeping Beauty story first appeared in the 14th century. A later version, adapted by Charles Perrault in the late seventeenth century forms the basis of all later versions, including the one transmitted by the Brothers Grimm. That one was called Little Briar Rose. I am sure you will be excited to learn that there is classification system for fairy tales, called the Aarne-Thompson system. It was news to me that this existed. It is a major tool for folklorists. Sleeping Beauty slots in at Type #410, FYI. There have been many versions over eight hundred years.

The third is Toadling herself. She is such a wonderful character, a good person challenged with outrageous fortune in her life, but holding up because her core is good, kind, and strong. You will quite enjoy spending time with her.

Thematically, there are walls aplenty in here, the fortress, of course, the thornhedge of the book’s title, and the barriers between the human world and the land of fairy. Halim offers a lovely image for Toadling.

“There’s a very high wall,” said Halim, “according to the imams, called al-A’raf. Between hell and paradise. And if you haven’t been good enough or evil enough to go one place or the other, you live in this wall. But even those people will eventually enter paradise, because God is merciful.” He jammed his chin onto his fist and gazed at Toadling. “It seems like you’ve been stuck in that wall for quite a long time now . . . That’s all the theology I’ve got in me, incidentally, so I hope it’s useful.”
Toadling sighed. “I would like to climb down from that wall,” she admitted.

And there is the wall between Toadling and Halim. Will they break through that one?

Bottom line is that Thornhedge is a lot of fun. It takes our expectations and turns them inside out, all the while offering us the welcome companionship of Toadling. This new interpretation of an old tale is rich with creativity. No spindles required. Let Kingfisher put you under her spell and you will be in for a magical read.


Review posted - 10/27/23

Publication date – 8/15/23


I received an ARE of Thornhedge from Tor.com in return for a fair(y) review. Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.

a sweetly melancholy reimagining of the classic “sleeping beauty” tale, thornhedge centers around the fairy who placed the curse and the gentle knight who seeks out the sleeping princess centuries later, only to find and befriend her guardian instead.

t. kingfisher’s stories can be hit or miss for me, but this one was charming, clever, and heartwarming.

"Thornhedge" is everything T. Kingfisher does best. She thrives in this dark, borderline-horror fantasy space, but she's always able to bring some levity and humor into it, and “Thornhedge” sits right in that sweet spot.

I love Kingfisher’s ability to re-imagine classic fairy tale stories or tropes and flip them on their heads. The cleverness of the sleeping maiden being the villain of the story is extremely compelling, and on the flip-side of that, I also adore Kingfisher’s ability to endear the reader to incredibly unlikely characters.

Toadling would be a completely unremarkable character in any other story. She’s not secretly beautiful, she’s not heroic, she’s not confident, she doesn’t even have especially powerful fairy magic. And the other main character, Halim, is a knight. But he’s not a Christian knight, he’s a Muslim knight, and he’s also not especially storied or heroic. To have these two unsure, hesitant, terrified characters be the driving force behind this story is a huge part of what makes it so charming and it makes the story that much more satisfying to read as they really try to screw their courage to the sticking place.

Thematically, the story resonated with me as well, because both characters are struggling against these self-imposed moral strictures that are completely of their own creation, which traps both of them in different ways.

Toadling feels at fault for what’s happening with this sleeping maiden and has taken it upon herself to stand watch over this tower and make sure no one enters, which means her life has effectively shrunken down to this one endless task, this one small point. Halim, on the other hand, feels incredibly bound to this code of knighthood, this call to help the helpless no matter the cost, and even though Toadling is warning him that this tower is dangerous, there’s a part of him that demands he see it for himself, despite the warnings and his own good sense.

I feel like those parallel conflicts are really exploring the ways in which we hold ourselves prisoner—with our guilt, with our sense of obligation, with our regret or fear of regret—to the point where we don’t allow ourselves to grow or to live. I think it’s about how sometimes we try our best, maybe we put in more effort than we can even afford, and we still fail—and that’s okay. That’s part of life.

Overall, I found this to be a delightful way to spend an afternoon. The story is original, and captivating, and presents some really compelling characters while also delivering on those dark fantasy elements. The story doesn’t overstay its welcome either. It’s exactly as long and as detailed as it needs to be, which is definitely a plus.

That said, Kingfisher has set a pretty high bar for herself across the board. So on the spectrum of all things Kingfisher, even though I think this is certainly on the higher end, I don’t think it’s quite at the caliber of the best I’ve seen from her so far. Regardless, this was a solid four stars for me.

I enjoyed the fairytale and retelling aspects of this story, but I felt it was too predictable. The ending was also very anticlimactic. The villain was killed and then the characters just moved on to the next thing. I would read other books by this author, but this one just was not for me.

Popular culture tends to see fairytales in a very particular light: Colorful, romantic stories of princesses in magical castles, dashing princes, and first kisses, where good always triumphs and evil is always ugly. We like to forget that the original tales—whether passed down through folklore or penned by the Brothers Grimm themselves, are sharp, dark things, often uncomfortable, always complicated, and as likely to steal the breath from your throat as inspire dreams of happily ever after.

That is the kind of fairytale at the center of T. Kingfisher’s latest novella, Thornhedge, a delicate, sharp-edged story of a princess in a tower that’s actually a meditation on duty, loss, and grief. A bittersweet exploration of the power of language, the way stories shift and change over time, and the weight of the promises we make to others, it’s bleak and challenging and beautiful in all the best possible ways. If only because, at its heart, this is a story that reminds us, as Peter Beagle once said, there are no happy endings, not really—because nothing ever truly ends.

In the strictest sense, Thornheadge is a retelling of the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty, in that most of the elements of that familiar story are present: There’s a princess asleep in a high tower, guarded by an impossible wall of brambles and deadly thorns. A meddlesome fairy who either curses and/or saves the girl. Knights on the hunt for glory. A legend that refuses to die. Attempted rescue. Uncomfortable consequences. And an ending where all is put right again. Sort of. But, as you’ve probably already guessed, this isn’t that story. Not really.

While Thornhedge clocks in at less than 150 pages, it packs the emotional wallop of a book three times this size, helpfully reminding us that no one is doing more with less in the fantasy space than Kingfisher. Not a single word is wasted—even the punctuation feels insanely purposeful—and its delicate descriptors, mournful tone, and carefully crafted dialogue all feel deliberately arranged for maximum emotional and narrative impact.