T Kingfisher is guaranteed to deliver on the slightly dark, slightly creepy, but wholly romantic fairy tale and this one is no different.

If you like concise novellas,
If you like atmospheric settings,
If you like dark fairytale reimaginings,
Then this is for you 😊

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review*

T. Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors, however this book was a bit of a miss for me. I didn't find myself liking any of the characters and the story wasn't paced very well. I also don't know if the changeling storyline worked for me- the changeling was a single dimension character with no nuance or complexity and I just expected more.

I think the narrator did a wonderful job bringing the story off the page and I would be happy to listen to them in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this AudioARC!

Thornhedge is a take on the sleeping beauty fairy tale, but instead of following the story of the princess in the tower, you follow Toadling. Toadling was taken from her parents as a baby by faeries and a changeling was left in her place. Toddling was then raised in the waters of faerie land and learned simple magics. She was then tasked with an important job…I’m sure you may guess what she was supposed to do.

I fell in love with T. Kingfisher’s writing after reading The Hollow Places and The Twisted Ones. This novella is nothing like those novels. This is a fairy tale retelling. It was lovely, but do not expect the horror aspects in some of the author’s other works.

I would give 3.5 stars. I enjoyed Toadling as a character and I liked to hear about how she ended up basically guarding the tower where the princess is being held. I really enjoyed the narration.

The audiobook was provided by NetGalley for me to review.

I received a gifted audiobook copy of THORNHEDGE by T. Kingfisher. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

THORNHEDGE is the story of a princess trapped in a tower, but not the usual one. Toadling is the focus of the story and she isn’t the one in the tower. When Toadling was born, she was stolen by the fairies and replaced with a changeling. She’s grown up in faerieland, but now that she has grown she is tasked with returning to the human world, to her human parents and the changeling they believe is their daughter to offer a blessing on the child.

In a second timeline, Toadling is standing guard around a tower of brambles when a knight approaches. He is there with the best of intents to break the curse on the one sleeping within the tower, but Toadling is there to ensure the curse is not broken.

This is a quick read and it drew me in very quickly. I really thought the author did well at developing the fairytale vibes with a twist. There are some obvious crossovers with the fairy tales we’ve seen before, but this most definitely isn’t Disney. As I’ve come to expect with these authors, there is a very dark tone to a lot of the story.

I really enjoyed Toadling as our not always perfect, but always trying heroine and learning about the magic she does and doesn’t have as a human raised among the fae. I also really liked the knight and the relationship they develop as he’s willing to hear her out on the story behind the so called curse.

If you enjoy a good twisted fairytale, I would definitely recommend this one!

I received an eARC of this audiobook from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars. Thornhedge is a twisted Sleeping Beauty retelling with beautiful atmospheric prose and wonderful audiobook narration. Though Toadling and Halim’s characters don’t really grow or change throughout the story, I loved them together because they’re so sweet and didn’t want to stop reading about them.

The subversions of typical fairytale elements are the backbone of this book: the monster, protagonist, and hero all subvert tropes of how their character type should look and behave. The darker elements throughout the story, especially in the second half, threw me a little at first because I didn’t expect them after the whimsical atmosphere was established, but ultimately they made sense and added grounding to the fairytale. (content warning: suicide, murder, death, corpse reanimation, animal torture)

I am not fond of the unnuanced use of changelings given the real-life history of justifying the harm or murder of people thought to be changelings as a result of their illness, disability, or neurodivergence. I understand that such a conversation would have turned the story into something different, but to use changelings as the main part of the story and ignore the history completely, especially when making that changeling inherently evil from birth, seems a major oversight.

After the leisurely pacing of the majority of the book, the quick resolution felt anti-climactic. While the story as a whole isn’t particularly mind-blowing or deep, the atmosphere alone makes this novella an enjoyable reading experience.

You might like this if you like: Robin McKinley’s fairytale stories/retellings, White as Snow by Tanith Lee

A fun little Sleeping Beauty retelling with a dark twist. I love strange heroines and I think many will relate to Toadling (yes, Toadling). Could possibly even make an unusual slightly spooky Halloween book club pick. T. Kingfisher is becoming a real favorite of mine.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

You can accomplish a lot with the page count of a novella, and T. Kingfisher has demonstrated this herself with previous books. Thornhedge feels adjacent to her recent work Nettle & Bone if only that it is a fantasy novel that puts a spin on an iconic fairy tale trope. In this case, the sleeping princess in a tower. However, where the aforementioned novella really shone was its cast of quirky characters and careful balance of darker elements with humor.

However, I feel like Thornhedge was a much more insular story. The extended cast only show up in flashbacks, and the current timeline almost exclusively surrounds Toadling in her self-imposed exile and the knight that stumbles across her. Their dynamic is nice, but not remarkable. For me, the flashbacks carried the story - those instances of darkness that were highlighted by Toadling’s interactions with the changeling princess of her father’s kingdom.

I do appreciate how T.Kingfisher continues to subvert these Eurocentric fairytales and return to their darker roots with a twist. But her strength as an author in the context of a novella seems to shine more when she has a greater cast of characters to work with in a broader story.

Thank you to the publisher Macmillan Audio for providing an audiobook ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

This was such an enjoyable novella and listening experience. The narrator, Jennifer Blom, is fantastic, and the story is cozy. There isn't a ton of action going on but the interactions of Toadling and the knight are cute and interesting. I'd love to hear more about Toadling and Faerieland, and maybe the knight and his family but, the story is complete in itself. It's a sweet story that reimagines Sleeping Beauty is a fantastic way. The lore is interesting and new, the characters are people, in as much as they can be, and the faeries are not nice. This novella was only three hours, but I could have happily spent more time in this story. T. Kingfisher (Ursela Vernon) creates such a great balance of atmospheric and compelling settings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing this audiobook advanced copy for review!

Thornhedge is a novella subverting the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. Instead of focusing on the sleeping beauty, the story centers on the fairy who casts the spell to put the princess to sleep. This was the first work I’d read by T. Kingfisher and I absolutely loved her writing. The story was a magical and delightful fairy tale telling. I was captivated to see where the story would go. I will definitely be checking out more of her books in the future.

I was surprised by this book, in the best way.

Fairy Tales are some of my favorite things to read, especially twisted up ones where you recognize elements from other books you've long loved, but you can't tell where the story is going, or where it will end up even if you've known the basic elements since you were a child.

This story... well I don't want to ruin it for you but it was not at all what I expected and I absolutely loved it. Especially the main character. The world was well built, the characters started out interesting and developed well, and the plot was interesting. I could not put this down.

I listened to this on Audio and highly recommend the narrator kept me entirely immersed and I would not hesitate to choose them again.

If you like fairy tales, especially twisted up ones you can't recognize other than for the fairy tale elements, I would highly recommend this book!

I've said it before and I'll say it every time: I adore T. Kingfisher's stories.

T. Kingfisher has gifted us with another quirky, creative and fun fantasy story, this time starring Toadling. Toadling, called as much since... well... she looks and acts like a toad, is a human girl stolen at birth, raised in faerieland... which means she's just a bit different than anyone else.

"Thornhedge" is a unique retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but instead of focusing on the beautiful "girl" in the tower, we focus on her "godmother": Toadling, who accidentally fell into that responsibility. And instead of trying to lift the curse, Toadling is keeping guard, hoping and praying everyone just forgets about it. That is, until a (momma's-boy) knight stumbles along who is just a little too curious about what lies behind the brambles.

All in all, I loved it. I was short, sweet and as always, a delight. I would love to see more of Toadling in future writings. I loved this twist on Sleeping Beauty and adored the unique, quirky and strange heroine and hero T. Kingfisher blessed us with in this story.

This is probably one of my favorite T. Kingfisher books I've ever read. It's hard not to feel emotionally connected with the main character and her story. The narrator did an amazing job and I will be recommending this novella to everyone once it comes out. As I reached the end, I felt like crying because I just wanted to hear more about our Toadling.

I cannot express how excited I was to receive an audio ARC of the new T.Kingfisher novella. I have read SIX of her books since I was gifted Nettle & Bone last year. I’ve bought her entire back catalog, tracked down special editions of short story anthologies, and ventured into the traumatizing genre of horror for this author.

T. Kingfisher has an incredible talent for crafting clever fantasy tales that are charmingly absurd, poignant, and thought provoking. Her characters are captivating and their relationships and motivations are incredibly nuanced. My expectations are always high when going into a new T. Kingfisher stories, especially new publications, and Thornhedge did not disappoint!

Thornhedge is the story of Toadling, a human child stolen by the fae and raised up to act as fairy godmother to another child; weaving the type of blessings and protective enchantments that would have saved her once upon a time. Centuries later, a knight comes to brave the bramble covered castle’s curse and Toadling will do anything within her power to prevent him from succeeding with his quest.

I’ve always loved stories that subvert classic fairytales and this was no different. My one regret is that it was over too soon. Thornhedge is a quick read and the structural choice to start at the end and catch the reader up through a constant stream of flashbacks made it feel even shorter than it was. I was shocked when the audiobook was over after 3 hours, it felt like less than half that much time had passed.

Thank you to T. Kingfisher, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the audio-arc.

In this short novella we are yet again introduced to an amazing story by T. Kingfisher. We are brought into a world that although seems familiar is twisted in this sleeping beauty retelling.

The audiobook narration was very well performed and mint a very long story which I was very intrigued by especially since there was so much going on to introduce us not only to a new world but new characters as well.

For anyone who loves fairy tales and especially retellings of those this is for you. I loved having a brand new perspective in this old classic.

A princess is taken by Fairies‘s in becomes toad shaped and lives in the middle of a bunch of thorn bushes to protect her from others she learned a lot from the green teeth fairies and Master Gorham she lives a lonely existence for 200 years until she meets A kind night named Hylam. Want to meet the kind princess toad he wants to help her but everything he tries doesn’t work she is resistance to his offer of help but eventually agrees. I love a good fairytale and couldn’t wait to get into this one . It has every aspect a good fairytale usually has, a Cursed/Trapped princess, a hero and a solution I did find the narrative move slowly and it took me a good minute to figure out how the princess became the way she was and her big mistake but that may be on me I did think the narrator did great character distinction but had a very slow monotone voice for most of the book but having said that I still for the most part enjoyed this book just wish it would’ve flowed easier. As I said that may have been just the narrator who’s voice had me zoning out due to the monotone reading style. I have never listen to an audiobook where a narrator hits such great character distinction Butthead such a drab reading style. I would’ve loved to read this on Kindle and still may do that I want to thank Net Galley and McMillan audio for my free art copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I did not like this book. I found it very monotone and it read like a school history book in my head. There wasn't anything connecting me to the characters and even the setting was drab in my opinion. I wish i had liked this more because i really liked the book cover and was intrigued by the description so im disappointed in the reality of this book.

Toadling is a changling. She was stolen from her human parents and dropped into faerieland, where she was adopted by the loving water fae, the Green Teeth. Toadling learned to use minor magic and shape shift into a warty toad.

But then a goddess of the fae asks Toadling for a favor. She must return to the world of humans to act as a fairy godmother to the fae changling who took her place and offer a blessing of protection. But Toadling misspeaks her blessing and is compelled to stay and protect the castle keep from the terrible changling babe.

What a wonderful twisty retelling of the fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty! In this novella, T. Kingfisher makes us see the old tale in a new and compelling way with the earnest and well-meaning Toadling and a tentative and curious knight named Halim.

It is a tale of life and sacrifice, found family, guilt and redemption. Completely atmospheric and immersive, I loved my short time in Thornhedge. I will seek out Kingfisher’s Nettle & Bone, another fairy tale retelling.

T. Kingfisher always manages to pack in so much with so just the right amount pages (or hours of audio). Beautifully unique telling of sleeping beauty. It's gripping all the way through, and the story wraps up quite nicely.

This is a great novella. It's a quick short listen (about 3 hours). It's a reimagining of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the fairy who curses the princess. I thought this would be like Maleficent but it was a totally unique story. Toadlet is a really enjoyable hero/FMC. I would have listened to a 10+ hour version of this story.

The narrater did a great job bringing the creepy elements to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an eARC of this book!

In her novella, Thornhedge, author T. Kingfisher takes the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty and turns it on its head. Toadlet was born human but was stolen by the fairies at birth. Still, she had a good life growing up with the fae and learning magic. But when she is tasked with delivering a gift to a newborn princess, she makes a mistake and the gift becomes a curse. Now the tower is surrounded by a thick hedge of thorns and Toadlet must guard it to protect the world from what sleeps inside.

I will admit that I have a life-long love of fairytales both old and new and Thornhedge is no exception. Like all fairytales, it is at times dark, suspenseful, frightening but with a touch of humour and, of course, a happy ending. Toadlet is a very likeable character and the story kept my attention throughout.

I received an audiobook of this book from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.