Lexa Hillyer

“As the truths behind the faerie legends were revealed, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.”—Kendare Blake, author of New York Times bestselling novel Three Dark Crowns “Absorbing. Poetic. Lexa Hillyer draws the walls between dreams and reality with shimmering grace and phrases of such beauty I had to read many of them twice.” —Jodi Lynn Anderson, author of Tiger Lily “With its engaging heroines and delicious prose, Spindle Fire pulled me into a richly detailed world full of intrigue and magic.” —Amy Ewing, New York Times bestselling author of the Lone City trilogy Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close. And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood, a Faerie Queen who is preparing for war, a strange and enchanting dream realm—and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo, Spindle Fire is a tour-de-force fantasy set in the dwindling, deliciously corrupt world of the fae and featuring two truly unforgettable heroines.

Spindle Fire

Morgan Thomas

A dull, unexciting fairytale retelling with a secondary plot in which an evil faerie queen is finally going to wage war. The story jumps around with multiple points of view with one of the final chapters telling about the animosity and jealousy between the evil queen and her sister. I found that much more interesting and thought would have made a more interesting and compelling story. But alas that was not the case and we had dull one instead.

Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo, Spindle Fire is an enthralling, wholly original reimagining of a classic faerie story. Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close. And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood, a Faerie Queen who is preparing for war, a strange and enchanting dream realm—and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken. Spindle Fire is a tour-de-force fantasy set in the dwindling, deliciously corrupt world of the fae and featuring two truly unforgettable heroines, from a writer destined to be a major voice in YA.

Leelynn Brady

Find this review and more on my blog Sometimes Leelynn Reads.

“One night reviled, Before break of morn, Amid the roses wild, All tangled in thorns, The shadow and the child Together were born."

I read this book for my book club: Bookish Babes of Norfolk. Click on the link to check out the public Facebook Page and let us know your thoughts!

So I am a YA fan, as you all probably know. So when I found out that this was the book for February, I was excited to get my hands on it. I heard so much about this book, both positive and negative. For the most part, though, it seemed like a book that I could potentially love. So, while I thought this book was pretty decent, I didn't immediately fall in love with it. I'm a little disappointed about it, but I know that I won't love every single YA book that I'll read.

One of the main things I loved about this book was the sheer love and devotion that Isabelle and Aurora had for one another. They are half-sisters, and even though Isabelle is the King's bastard daughter, Aurora never treated her sister as a second-class citizen. They love one another, and they would do anything to protect each other. That's what I love about their relationship. Yes, there is a time where they get into a fight, but don't all sisters get into the occasional argument? It happens.

Another part of this book that I thought was very interesting - and seemed to move the book in a totally different direction that I wasn't expecting - was that they both had a disability (albeit, caused by fairies and not natural causes, but still). Isabelle was blinded at the age of two when the fairies tithed her eyesight, and Aurora can't speak or feel anything thanks to the fairies as well. Apparently, these were supposed to be gifs, kind of like the beginning scene of Sleeping Beauty when Maleficent comes and makes bad stuff happen (but I love her). There's also references to Hansel and Gretel in the book and the allusion that True Love will break whatever spell was cast upon Aurora. Sounds familiar? Yep, typical fairy tale elements.

This story is about two sets of sisters - two half-sisters and two twins - and the dynamics between them is an element that I really appreciate. This book shows that the relationship between sisters can have some pretty damaging effects, and that there really is nothing stronger than the bond between sisters. I can't wait for the second book, because the ending was so abrupt that I could barely process if I missed anything.

When a drop of blood touched by faeries puts Aurora in a deep sleep, her blind half-sister Isabelle embarks on a dangerous journey to find the prince whose kiss of true love will waken Aurora.

Jessica Nottingham

I've given this book almost 50% and not a single thing has held my attention. So, alas, to the DNF pile it goes.

Geneviève Rouleau

Lots of interesting ideas and potential, but the story fell a bit flat for me. I don't feel the need to pick up the sequel.

Manon van Heumen

Ashton Reed

This. is. so. good! Nearly every aspect of this book is just perfectly executed, and I was completely enraptured! It was actually pretty close to five stars, but I need to stop giving out so many of those 🤣, and there was one teensy-weensy thing that bothered me... but I'll get to that in a minute.

In the kingdom of Deluce, there is a beautiful princess named Aurora. When she was just a baby, two faeries tithed from her both her voice and her touch. But she was cursed by the evil fairy Mafleur to die by the prick of a spindle. Fortunately, yet another fairy diluted the curse so that Aurora will only fall asleep... for a price: Aurora's beloved half-sister's sight. Now, as the curse comes to pass and Aurora's impenetrable sleep spreads a sleeping sickness across the land, Isbe must race to the kingdom of Aubin and retrieve who she believes to be Aurora's true love and the only one who can break the spell: the last remaining prince of Aubin. Meanwhile, Aurora isn't as unconscious as she seems; she is trapped in another fairy world, along with hundreds of other people... and her voice and touch. She is trapped in more ways than one... but does she really want to leave?

This novel is based on the tale of Sleeping Beauty, but it's so much more. Honestly. I'm just gonna break it up a little bit.

Mystery:

Through the entire story, the writing has a mysterious undercurrent that is so alluring. To maintain the perfectly-executed fairy-tale feel, Hillyer feeds us information a little more than most books do. However, there is still so much to theorize about and to shock you when the time comes. I personally did not see a lot of it coming, though it is slightly predicable (which only adds to the fairy-tale feel, if you ask me).

Characters:

This is probably my favorite topic of Spindle Fire I'm going to address because the characters are absolutely FABULOUS!!!!! There are two different princesses... and I mean it when I say they're different. Aurora, the legitimate princess who was tithed her touch and her voice, is a reserved, innocent character who devotes her life to reading as many romance novels as she can, almost as if she can escape her reality and dream her own love story out of thin air. As her arc develops, though, she learns what love really feels like and that, even if it isn't perfect, it's a beautiful thing. She also embraces herself as an individual and feels empowered now that she has her touch and voice and doesn't have her family hovering over her like a permanent shadow.

Isbe, on the other hand, was tithed her sight, but she never let that belittle her. She and her best friend, a stable boy named Gil, embraced the world and lived their lives to the fullest. She may be blind, but heck if she doesn't kick some serious booty! Like, the things she is able to accomplish with only her other four senses are incredible! And honestly, the way Hillyer executes Isbe's lack of sight is incredible, as well. She describes everything in a way that I can still see it in my head, even if Isbe can't and all Hillyer is describing is the other four senses. Lastly, Isbe would do anything for her sister, just as Aurora would do anything for hers; the sisters protect each other, and it's a beautiful relationship that readers should use as a model.

Oh, and that prince I mentioned earlier? He is a sweetheart, guys. Haha, moving on.

Narwhals:

You think I'm joking. You're mistaken. I am not joking. Narwhals are the best thing that happens to this world. We get some pretty decent world-building (enough for the story), so I got some respect for Hillyer. But for real, her random addition of narwhals into her world as the main source of oil is freaking genius. The whole idea of the narwhal has a mystical feeling around it that lends itself perfectly to that fairy-tale feel I keep mentioning. Plus, there's this really awesome scene where Isbe is on a ship and they're hunting narwhals, so triple thumbs up, Hillyer.

Romance:

Here's that teensy-weensy thing I mentioned at the very beginning. You all should know by now how much I love my romance, and the romance in Spindle Fire just fell short for me. There are two main reasons I can think of:

1) I'm tired of the best friend getting gypped.
Like I said, I love the sweet prince in this book, so it's kinda hard to say this. To clarify, I do definitely ship the prince's ship, and I really like how Hillyer executes their relationship, so this really has nothing to do with this book or author. I just need to get this out there. I kinda want a love triangle to end up with the best friend one day. Because in this book, it seems like the best friend actually has a chance... until he doesn't. This just bothered me a little as I was reading 🤣.

2) The other ship is a tad bit fast.
There was something really little that kept bothering me about the other ship, and I cannot think of what it was. The only idea I have is that it might have been a tad too fast in the whole scheme of things and that it didn't feel like there was a huge amount of chemistry there.

This isn't one of the reasons 🤣 but I honestly hate when the ship sails and the girl says something like

"She feels the kiss everywhere... the kiss she didn't realize she'd been waiting for, ever since meeting [insert name here], even when he had a dagger pointed at her throat."

That's a little ridiculous. You have not been waiting for this kiss since you met him. Stop. It just annoys me when they act like they have been in love the entire time when I know for a fact she was not thinking about kissing him at that exact moment. Alright, I guess I'm done 🤣.

Thanks for reading, and au revoir!

For more bookish stuffs, visit my blog at https://ashtonread.blogspot.com !

Spindle Fire

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