Alix E. Harrow

"A vivid, subversive and feminist reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, where implacable destiny is no match for courage, sisterhood, stubbornness and a good working knowledge of fairy tales." —Katherine Arden It's Zinnia Gray's twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it's the last birthday she'll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one. Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

A Spindle Splintered

Marcy Pursell 

A Spindle Splintered is a modern retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale I grew up with, with a few twists. This was a short story, that was made even shorter by numerous illustrations (by Arthur Rackham) being peppered throughout the book. This was a quick read, and I liked the illustrations throughout, though they didn't seem to relate to the actual plot.

Tatiana

A Spindle Splintered: 4/5
Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Premise:
Sleeping Beauty gets a whimsical and trippy reimagining as two girls who are destined to die, paths cross, possibly alerting their doomed fates. Zinnia Gray, a terminally ill 21-year-old girl, has always had a strange love for sleeping beauty. When her best friend throws her a sleeping beauty-themed birthday party, Zinnia pricks her finger on the spindle, thrusting her in a parallel universe and into the path of another girl desperate enough to escape her fate.
Writing & Plot:
In just over 100 pages, Alix E. Harrow creates a fully-fledged, multi-dimensional story with wonderful characters and a fantastic plot. This book is perfect if you're in a slump because it's so short. The book itself has incredible illustrations and will keep a reader engaged from cover to cover. 

My only criticism is that I wanted more. It's so short there was no time for world-building, which left the entire story feeling a bit detached for me. Of course, the reader can suspend their disbelief, but it isn't easy when the main mechanics are never explained. That being said, this book is so short it's not a dealbreaker.

Characters:
There's a vast girl-power theme in this book, and it has incredible friendships. The friendship between Zin and Briar Rose was so cute, and I wanted more. There's so much to discover between all the characters, and their shared stories yet significantly different experiences were remarkable to read about. 

Conclusion:
This book is such a blast. It's easy, fun, and witty. Perfect for those who want to get into the spooky spirit but are in a slump. This will for sure jumpstart your love for reading again!

Syahla Aurel

What will happen if you get a chance to enter the world of fairy tales and change the fate of the princesses? This is a retelling of The Sleeping Beauty but with a modern touch, multiverse, and feminism. If that doesn't convince you enough to read it, then I don't know what else 😩

Julie Burszan 

Cannot express how much I love this book. There was audible cheering and fist pumping.

Quinnie

Lara Engle

A Spindle Splintered is a very English-major-y book. It's a fun, brief, feminist, LGBTQ-friendly, multi-verse type of update to the Sleeping Beauty story. It's also surprisingly hopeful despite highlighting the most grim and gruesome elements of fairy tales. Maybe we haven't advanced socially as far as we should have in centuries of time, but we're working on it.

“Or maybe we got the wrong story altogether.”

Alix E. Harrow is a delight. This meta-heavy modern retelling of a fairytale where the central character did a degree in disability in folklore is, unsurprisingly, right up my alley. And the ending was perfectly imperfect - so much better than we usually get from books about chronically ill characters. The book had flaws, but it was a lot of fun. I’ve already got the sequel on hold at the library.

Naomi J.

“Or maybe we got the wrong story altogether.”

Alix E. Harrow is a delight. This meta-heavy modern retelling of a fairytale where the central character did a degree in disability in folklore is, unsurprisingly, right up my alley. And the ending was perfectly imperfect - so much better than we usually get from books about chronically ill characters. The book had flaws, but it was a lot of fun. I’ve already got the sequel on hold at the library.

Fun take on fairy tales and sleeping beauty and the multiverse. 

Megan BV

Nessa Luna

(view spoiler)[Ok but how much you wanna bet Alix named the prince Harold so she could make the joke "Harold, they're lesbians". I had to put my Kindle down for a second to process that because oh my god 10/10. (hide spoiler)]

I've always liked Sleeping Beauty (because honestly, a princess that sleeps throughout the majority of her story? Same, dude), and I liked this Spider-verse twist to the story! Kind of wish it was longer, but I did find out there's a sequel coming, so I'll be picking that up as soon as it comes out!

"A vivid, subversive and feminist reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, where implacable destiny is no match for courage, sisterhood, stubbornness and a good working knowledge of fairy tales." —Katherine Arden It's Zinnia Gray's twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it's the last birthday she'll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one. Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Cute, short modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Love the queer rep! Highly rec as a pick-me-up.

(Bre)anne✨

TW to be added later

Cute, short modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Love the queer rep! Highly rec as a pick-me-up.

Alex

Courtney

2.5⭐️. I was hoping for an epic escapism into a fairytale world. I got a retelling in a multiverse with a strong queer female lead, but with a plot that just flopped for me. I was left wanting and a bit bored. It is a quick story (110pgs maybe) but just fell short.

renee badenoch

The book was a competent enough retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but YIKES the way the main characters terminal illness was dealt with was tacky to me. I also got grumpy when an alternate dimension Sleeping Beauty was described as short haired, muscular, dressed in boy’s clothing, and with a page boy haircut, and then referred to for the rest of the book as “90’s YA fantasy heroine” It felt like a weird dig at Tamora Pierce, and is so hyper specific that people who weren’t reading Song of the Lioness in 1996 aren’t gonna get.

Sophie Elaina 

Disclaimer: I received this finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Diversity: Chronic illness queer MC, Lesbian adopted character, Lesbian character

Recommended For...: fantasy, retelling, Sleeping Beauty, multiverse, meta

Age Relevance: 18+ (cursing, death, illness, romance, alcohol consumption, HP reference, rape, assault, violence, grief)

Explanation of Above: There is cursing in this book. There is some violence via physical injury and physical violence, as well as some death and grief mentioned and shown in the book. The book’s MC has a chronic illness that is caused by water pollution and death is expected from the illness. There is romance in this book and some alcohol consumption. There is an HP reference but it is done in a tone that’s condescending to it. Rape is alluded to and assault is mentioned and shown.

Synopsis: It's Zinnia Gray's twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it's the last birthday she'll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no one has lived past twenty-one.

Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

Review: I really love this book so much! I think it’s my new favorite retelling series! I love that the book is very open about it being meta and basically about a multiverse of Sleeping Beauty retellings. I loved that the book mentioned other fairy tales and went into the fairy tale lore and history. The book did well with the character development and the world building. I fell in love with this series so hard and I can’t wait to see what else the author writes.

The only issue I had with the book is that sometimes the pacing was a bit off in places and I wished that the book was longer.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

 

Book: A Spindle Splintered

 

Author: Alix Harrow

 

Book Series: Fractured Fables Book 1

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Diversity: Chronic illness queer MC, Lesbian adopted character, Lesbian character

 

Recommended For...: fantasy, retelling, Sleeping Beauty, multiverse, meta

 

Publication Date: October 5, 2021

 

Genre: Fantasy Retelling

 

Age Relevance: 18+ (cursing, death, illness, romance, alcohol consumption, HP reference, rape, assault, violence, grief)

 

Explanation of Above: There is cursing in this book. There is some violence via physical injury and physical violence, as well as some death and grief mentioned and shown in the book. The book’s MC has a chronic illness that is caused by water pollution and death is expected from the illness. There is romance in this book and some alcohol consumption. There is an HP reference but it is done in a tone that’s condescending to it. Rape is alluded to and assault is mentioned and shown.

 

Publisher: Tordotcom

 

Pages: 128

 

Synopsis: It's Zinnia Gray's twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it's the last birthday she'll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no one has lived past twenty-one.

 

Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

 

Review: I really love this book so much! I think it’s my new favorite retelling series! I love that the book is very open about it being meta and basically about a multiverse of Sleeping Beauty retellings. I loved that the book mentioned other fairy tales and went into the fairy tale lore and history. The book did well with the character development and the world building. I fell in love with this series so hard and I can’t wait to see what else the author writes.

 

The only issue I had with the book is that sometimes the pacing was a bit off in places and I wished that the book was longer.

 

Verdict: It was great! Highly recommend!

Carrington Kinslow

Oh. My. God. I really, really, really loved this. It was so fun and magical and beautiful. This was laugh out loud funny and Zinnia Gray is a main character I absolutely loved spending time with. Her friendship with Charm is so beautiful, and I actually teared up at some points. Alix E. Harrow writes stunning prose, and she really packed a punch with such a short book. Can’t wait for the rest!

Brandyn

Celeste Richardson

“..Even among the other nerds who majored in folklore, Sleeping Beauty is nobody’s favorite. The romantic girls like Beauty and the Beast; basic girls like Cinderella; goth girls like Snow White. Only the dying girls like Sleeping Beauty.”
A Spindle Splintered is a spitfire of a novella. Here we are introduced to Zinnia Gray, a dying girl who is doomed to expire young. Because of this, Zinnia has been obsessed with the story of Sleeping Beauty since she was a small child, and has basically made that fairy tale her entire personality. On the eve of her twenty-first birthday, as she begins to feel her time running out, Zinnia finds herself thrust into a fantastical, impossible situation. Is she the damsel in this situation, or does she finally get to become the hero?
“It's one of the rules for dying girls: if you like something, like it hard, because you don't have a lot of time to waste.”
I really liked Zinnia as a character. She was in a truly terrible situation, and she often expressed her anger and depression and the hopelessness she sought to combat. And yet, even with everything she was dealing with, she never came across as morose or even whiny. Her situation seems inescapable, and yet she’s always on the hunt for an out. I also really enjoyed Charm and Primrose, the two major side characters in the book. They were well fleshed-out and multi-dimensional. Harrow has a way of making even bit characters, who have very little time on the page and sometimes disappear without even leaving a name, seem totally tangible and unique, which is one of the things I most appreciate about her work.
“I see her choosing now whether to make her love into a cage or a key.”
There’s something about Harrow’s writing that is simply magnetic. What makes this even more impressive to me is that her voice differs radically between projects, and yet it maintains that magnetism in a way that feels effortless. The voice she utilized in The Ten Thousand Doors of January resonated more strongly with me than just about any other book I’ve read in my entire life, and I firmly believe that it will always be one of my all-time favorites. The voice in The Once and Future Witches was still magnetic, but didn’t speak to me quite as deeply, and I found that A Spindle Splintered delivered a similar experience. I really enjoyed my time with the story, but I don’t see it sticking with me in the same meaningful way as Harrow’s debut.
“Maybe the universe doesn't naturally bend toward justice either; maybe it's only the weight of hands and hearts pulling it true, inch by stubborn inch.”
I can’t say much more about A Spindle Splintered without giving the story away, especially considering its very brief length. It was a wonderfully engaging and easily consumable book, which is exactly what I needed when I picked it up. As much as I love a good, meaty tome of a novel, there’s something to be said for brevity. While I didn’t adore A Spindle Splintered in the same way that I did The Ten Thousand Doors of January, I absolutely enjoyed it enough to pick up A Mirror Mended, the next novella in Harrow’s Fractured Fables series. If you’re looking for a bite-sized reimagined fairy tale with a satisfying combination of heart and teeth, A Spindle Splintered is an excellent option.

You can find  this review and more at Novel Notions.

I love Alix's stories, they call to you, take you on adventures across universes, make you feel something, and tuck you in to bed. I'm a lover of fairytales, and an even better lover of fairytale retellings.

Kate B-L

Eliza Gonzalez

This was...yikes. I can't say anything other reviews haven't said better. Trying too hard. Lots of pop culture references. Characters who don't behave realistically at all. Nonsensical world building. 

I had this book on hold for 2 months ... for this? 😔

Heather Harrington

Novellas can be hit-or-miss for me, but this one was fun! I liked how there were nods to fairy tales, but it was ultimately a story about breaking the mold. Zinnia and Primrose, along with the other beauties, take charge of their destinies and remake them into something of their own creation. However, I wish the characters were fleshed out more so we could see more depth. Also, I thought the disability representation in this was well done. Harrow not only showcased all the numerous doctor's appointments and medicines someone with illness experiences but also how they're treated by those around them. While I would've liked to have more meat to the plot/characters, I still enjoyed this and will most likely pick up the next book.

Megan Beth Davies

Fun quick read, I'm usually not a big fan of portal fantasy but I appreciated the feminist take on a problematic fairytale. It was very well written with a great voice!

Ari Rose

This was such a great, charming read! I'm sad with how short this book was, but it really didn't need more pages. It was still just enough to make the story and characters interesting and captivating. Any more and it might have possibly felt drawn out.

Ashlee

Quick, ingenious, and heartwarming novella putting a modern spin on the Sleeping Beauty myth!

A Spindle Splintered

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