This is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but make it faerie. I had no idea what to expect from this little novella, but I loved it. I really enjoy T. Kingfisher's writing style.

This was a short and sweet retelling that had interesting characters and a fun way of integrating the timeline. I really enjoyed the storytelling of this book, and the open-ended nature of the ending; both Toadling and Harim were not your typical protagonists, and where this book ended for them made a lot of sense because there were so many possibilities for the years ahead. Thornhedge is definitely worth the read!

"Thornhedge" by T. Kingfisher is a delightful journey into a world where magic and the mundane coexist in perfect harmony. This enchanting novel weaves a tapestry of whimsy and wonder that captivates from the very first page.

Kingfisher's storytelling is nothing short of magical. Her vivid descriptions bring the whimsical town of Thornhedge to life, from its quirky residents to its enchanted flora and fauna. The protagonist, a young botanist named Molly, is a refreshingly relatable character who stumbles into a world of mystery and enchantment when she inherits her eccentric aunt's cottage in Thornhedge. Molly's journey of self-discovery and her interactions with the town's quirky inhabitants make for a heartwarming and endearing narrative.

What sets "Thornhedge" apart is its blend of the ordinary and the extraordinary. Kingfisher effortlessly combines the supernatural with the everyday, creating a world where talking animals, sentient plants, and eccentric ghosts are as much a part of life as a cup of tea. This seamless integration of the fantastical into the mundane is a testament to the author's storytelling prowess.

Overall, "Thornhedge" is a charming and whimsical tale that will transport readers to a world where magic lurks just beneath the surface of the everyday. T. Kingfisher's masterful storytelling and imaginative world-building make this book a must-read for fans of fantasy and the magical realism genre.

I love a good retelling and I was particularly excited when I found out T. Kingfisher wrote one. Thornhedge is a Sleeping Beauty retelling that takes the fairytale and turns it upside down. What if not all curses are meant to be broken?

Thornhedge is the story of Toadling whose mission is to prevent curious people and ambitious knights from entering the tower. Born a human and raised by faeries, Toadling is kind and anxious, always doing her best to keep her promise and do good by everyone. One day, a knight comes to the tower, bent on breaking its curse.

This is the story of family and promises, of the binding need to right past mistakes, of friendship, compassion, and things never being what they seem. Despite the dark moments, Thornhedge is a heartfelt retelling and I appreciated T. Kingfisher's take on it.

While I enjoyed the story, I was also left wanting a bit more with how some things were handled. The end felt too quick and easy and one particular character felt one dimensional.

I was engaged throughout and still recommend this book, specially in the Fall when the weather is a bit chilly. I'll also always read anything T. Kingfisher writes so there's that. 😆

Thank you Tor for sending me a copy to review! All opinions my own.

T. Kingfisher tells a nice variation of Sleeping Beauty and the fairy guarding the Thornhedge (ebook from Tor). Toadling was stolen by fairies as a child, raised with pond monsters, and sent with the magic of the curse to the tower whenSleeping Beauty is born. She can turn into a toad. The knight is a second son on his own and not very good at knightly deeds. And sleeping Beauty is not what the stories tell. A very nice novelette.

Thornhedge is a sweet book about beastly things. With this novella, author T. Kingfisher revisits the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty, but with a twist. What if the princess was the villain?

Toadling, born human then raised by monstrous water spirits in Faerie, is the endearing heart of the tale. After Halim, a Muslim knight, insistently befriends her, she tells her story and that of the “damsel” in the tower.

Thornhedge is a quick and enjoyable read with themes of family, purpose, belonging, beauty, and the power of stories.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for this eARC.

It only took a couple books to add T. Kingfisher to my short list of must-read authors. Her creativity and sense for the (frequently macabre) absurd set her work apart, and Thornhedge certainly delivers on those fronts. However, it is in may ways Kingfisher's sweetest book I've read and would serve as a great introduction to her writing — or even as an alternative if you've found her other works to be too absurd or intense.

Thornhedge is a retelling of "Sleeping Beauty," and in typical Kingfisher fashion questions basic assumption of the original tale (or at least of the tale as we know it). In this case, the questions are: Why do you need to hide a princess behind a wall of thorns? Are you trying to keep others out or to keep her in? Told from the perspective of not-quite-fairy, not-really-godmother Toadling, it's a bittersweet reflection on the meaning of love and its limitations.

While I enjoyed the story, it was really the telling of it and Toadling herself that stole my heart. Born human but raised by monstrous fairies, called the greenteeth, she's an outsider in the mortal realm, and human ways are strange to her. First her upbringing and then her position as sole guardian of the tower isolates her completely, and there's a deep loneliness in Toadling and a yearning for her own adoptive family. As she slowly unfolds the story of how this all came to be, my heart ached for her. But though she is weary and sad, Toadling isn't a wet blanket. She's curious, kind, resilient, and endearingly pleased with herself when she hits upon a clever plan. I wanted everything good for her, and her occasional victories felt well-earned and satisfying.

If you, like me, enjoy vivid reimaginings of fairy tales (especially with a streak of dark humor), Thornhedge is sure to delight. I hope you'll check it out!

My thanks to NetGalley and Tor for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. this was fantastic, just what i have come to expect from this author and look forward to carrying in my book store.

Love, love, love!!
Thank you to NetGalley, T. Kingfisher, and Tor Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thornhedge is the story of Toadling, who is a changeling Fey woman who is predisposed to change into a toad. She guards a tower surrounded by a giant hedge of thorns (as you would imagine) and she scares off visitors who may try to get into the tower. because what’s in the tower is not great.

One day a Knight by the name of Halim comes to the hedge and everything changes from there.

Thornhedge is a novella, so it’s just a little bite size story, and a sleeping beauty retelling that is completely unique and how it imagines the story of sleeping beauty.

Like any other T. Kingfisher book, I enjoyed myself quite a lot with Thornhedge. I would recommend it to anyone that likes fairy tale retellings or is just a fan of T. Kingfisher in general because this one is just as good as her others.

This was my first book by this author and definitely won’t be my last! I read and listened to it, and just what a magical story this was.

"Thornhedge is the tale of a kind-hearted, toad-shaped heroine, a gentle knight, and a mission gone completely sideways."

I love a good fairytale retelling.

This was a GREAT fairytale retelling.

I loved Toadling's origin story. I loved her Greenteeth family, and the explanation of Changelings.

I loved the dreamlike quality of her life in the water, her inner monologue, and that the ending was left wide open.

The main male character, the world's worst night, was a bit milquetoast for me, but I liked his interactions with her - that he listened and trusted Toadling. 

I LOVED that creepy little girl, and would read the heck out of a story with her inner thoughts.

T Kingfisher is quickly becoming a Season's Pass for me.

7.5/10

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, Tor Publishing, and Titan Books for this ARC.

T. Kingfisher is an author I've grown to love, whether it's romantic fantasy, horror, or in this case a twisted fairytale retelling.

This is a reimagined sleeping beauty, where the sleeping princess is an evil changeling and the fairy godmother is actually the heroine of the story. Yes, there is even a kind-hearted knight bent on rescue, but he's not what you've come to expect either.

Thornhedge is a novella-length story about Toadling and her unselfish and enduring strength in doing what is right. After she's taken as a baby by fairies and switched out with a changeling she's raised by a small group of water fae, and they are her family. But she's sent on a mission, back to the land of her father, and there is where she stays for the next two hundred (or more) years. Until a gentle knight arrives after hearing tales of a princess in a castle.

This was such a charming, endearing tale. A fresh take on Sleeping Beauty that kept me turning pages right up until the end.

I loved this clever reimagining of Sleeping Beauty where a changeling has taken the place of the princess and the real child, who was whisked away and raised by faeries, must now keep her from causing any harm. Loathe to kill a child, even a monstrous one, Toadling (yes, that's the name she was given by the faeries) decides to place her in an unending sleep. If only people would quite trying to rescue the poor, cursed princess.

One of the most inventive retellings I've ever read, though the ending felt maybe a little neat for my taste given the rest of the story. Is it terrible to say I could've gone for something a bit darker?

The day Toadling was born, she was stolen from her family by fairies. Thankfully she grew up safe and loved in faeriland. However, when she is full grown, the fae ask a favor. Return to the human world, and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Easy Peasy. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems with the fae though.

Centuries later, a night approaches a tall tower covered in brambles with thick thorns. He’s heard there is a curse, and he’s determined to break it. Too bad for him Toadling will protect the curse with her life. Who will win?

This was such a fun take on Sleeping Beauty. T. Kingfisher has such a way with words that this was just a magical read. This was such a unique take on the familiar story and I loved the originality while still having a similar vein to the story I grew up with. I think it is really hard to write a sweet book while having grime things in it – but T. Kingfisher nails it. The author’s note at the end was amazing and exactly what I needed to wrap this one up. Sometimes with novellas, I feel that things don’t quite get explored as deeply as they should, but this one is just perfect.

I hope you grab yourself a copy of this one and enjoy it as much as I did. It comes out August 15th and is a quick read.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Publishing Group, @torbooks, and Netgalley, @netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Delightful and direct in the beloved, familiar style of T Kingfisher. Thornhedge delivers a succinct tale with an unusual narrator that’s sure to have readers thinking for a while.

At this point I think it's simply impossible for me to read a book by T. Kingfisher/ Ursula Vernon and not at the very least, enjoy it. Thornhedge is a novella that is a subversion of the classic fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I absolutely adored the main character that we follow, Toadling, as well as the supporting character we are introduced to a bit later, Halim. Honestly, this novella could've just been the two of them talking around a fire and I would have still loved their slowly growing friendship. The only aspect of this novella that I felt disappointed by was, unfortunately, the ending. The resolution was so abrupt that it was a bit of a letdown, there was a lot of interesting potential with the main antagonist of the story and a lot of paths that I was hoping for the story to take that just ended up going nowhere. I was really hoping for there to be more to the antagonist than what was given to us, and while I understand sometimes the villain will be evil just because they are, that decision here felt like a missed opportunity to create a complex character that demonstrated the possibility of growth and change as it was a point that seemed to be brought up often enough for me to think that would be the case. While I don't necessarily think that this novella *had* to go that route, I just wish there was more to the villain than "she is a changeling and so she is evil without hope of ever being anything else and no amount of love and patience will change that because it is just what she is", again this is purely personal preference regarding villains, but this portion of the story did detract from my overall enjoyment.

T. Kingfisher hit automatic to-buy status pretty much after her first book. So every time a new book comes out, I celebrate a little bit (yes, even the horror! Best horror writer out there, I think.). This is not horror, (whew!) so I'll be rereading this one. And have.

A retelling of Sleeping Beauty, except there's a twist. An absolutely logical twist, once you figure everything out. I had to put the book down for a bit and just think about fairy tales for a while.

Loved this book, love the retellings of fairy tales (really, everything Kingfisher has written).

I would hand this to pretty much any fantasy reader from, say, twelve up. (Depending on the reader, of course)

I received a free copy from NetGalley for my unbiased opinion.

#Thornhedge #NetGalley

Kingfisher once again tells a beautiful story that is wickedly horrible. If you’re a fan of being surprised and a little shocked, this Sleeping Beauty retelling is a winner!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

Similar in feel to "Nettle & Bone" - if you like one, you'll probably like the other. A quick, fun, unusual little fairy tale with many unexpected elements. Very enjoyable!