I love a good fairytale retelling and my first fantasy read of 2022 was no exception. The Bone Spindle is a gender swapped retelling of Sleeping Beauty with some incredible twists along the way. The world building was amazing and the romance SO GOOD. Briar was the definition of swoon-worthy and the friendship between Shane and Fi really had me hooked. I cannot wait to read a sequel! It will be going on my immediate tbr list as soon as it is published!

I couldn't put this book (phone as read as an ebook) down! I will always pick up something that retells a classic fairytale but this one was one of the more amazing and unique ones that I have come across! It takes inspiration from at least 2 fairytales but tips them on their head and has it so that it is a female that rescues the male! There is a lovely and exciting LGBTQ+ relationship that makes you want to pull your hair out, the main character's backstory is intriguing and made me really want to get to know her better, and the prince under the sleeping spell is very welcome in his character progression. Definitely a must read for 2022!

I thoroughly enjoyed this one - and can’t wait for the sequel!

This retelling of Sleeping Beauty is fab, full of adventure, action and well written characters.

I was hooked from the very beginning, Fi and Shane are a combo with hilarious results. This treasure hunting pairing have one big adventure ahead of them.

Gender flipped from the original tale which I LOVE. Fi is destined to awake Briar Rose with a kiss, or is she?

This is a book with twists and turns you don’t expect, and I was hooked the entire time. The relationships between characters, both platonic and romantic, were executed brilliantly too!

I love Fi, and her story is handled well. She has PTSD and a difficult backstory. Shane is my absolute favourite.

Well paced and a brilliant addition to the YA genre.

I don't think I'll ever have enough of fairytale retellings, especially when they're a genderbent sleeping beauty with a dash of Indian Jones thrown in.

Bone Spindle is fast paced and full of action, the characters are great and the banter is top notch. I loved the interactions between Briar and Fi and their relationship development but feel like Shane's could have had a bit more time focused on it as it felt a bit rushed in comparison. Her backstory is really interesting though and I hope we'll get to see more of it in book two. I need book two now!  Such a fun read and has the bonus of a beautiful front cover 😍 

Thankyou Net Galley and Hachette Children's Group for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for approving me to read this book however I found the writing style too simplistic and not really going anywhere. In the 10% I read nothing was gripping me and so I had to put the book down

What a read! I love fairytales and re-telling of fairytales, so I knew this book would be right up my street and it did not disappoint!
The story loosely follows sleeping beauty, but with Briar Rose being a 16yr old boy who gets put under the sleeping spell and Filore a treasure hunter who pricks her finger on a bone spindle and is bound to wake Briar Rose.
On the journey to find Briar’s body, Fi needs a partner - Shane - a kick-ass northern warrior who takes no cr*p from anyone, she also carries a wicked axe and knows how to use it!

The story is full of adventure and the characters are great! I loved Fi’s oddness and Shane’s brashness in equal measures and they make a great team together!

The romance between Fi & Briar is cute and I love the fact that Fi is her own young woman at 17 and knows what she wants. Shane’s relationship between the mysterious lady in red is brilliant and was perfect!

The story flows well and kept me wanting to read more to see how it finished…..It’s just a shame that we have to wait for the next book to find out what happens next!

Great story, characters and I would recommend this book to ages 12+

Thank you to the author, publisher & NetGally for the ARC of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

When someone says "fairytale retelling" I immediately jump at the chance to read it, and 'The Bone Spindle' is an excellent choice

Leslie Vedder clearly doesn't do things by halves. 'The Bone Spindle' takes the premise of Sleeping Beauty and turns it completely on its head, with the damsel saving the prince with her LGBTQ+ warrior princess partner by her side.

'The Bone Spindle' is written from three points of view, but primarily Fi's and Shane's. Fi is clever, decidedly independent and, oh yes, cursed. After a terrible experience with her ex-partner and ex-boyfriend, Fi is searching for the answer to a terrible cursed that has been placed on her, and on the journey ends up part of Briar Rose's salvation. Throughout the book, Fi struggles with her curse-doomed independence (read: loneliness) as she realises she is the only hope for the kingdom of Andar and its sleeping residents.

Shane is lonely in another way. After running from her birth-right, she finds herself becoming a thug-for-hire, but that isn't the life she dreamed of. Teaming up with Fi was meant to be a one-time thing to make them both rich in treasure and knowledge, but when Fi pricks her finger it is only a matter of time before Shane realises their partnership is far from over.

Fi and Shane's relationship is full of sarcastic comments, thinly-veiled insults and a blossoming care for each other. They're not each other's type -- Shane makes that very clear -- but their friendship slowly, but surely, develops into a deep-rooted bond where both girls begin to feel a little less alone.

Each of them feel very much like the main character, despite the plot revolving around Fi's quest to save Prince Briar Rose. Shane meets a mysterious, beautiful woman along the way, Red, whom she feels destined to be with. As Red continues to appear throughout their journey, we get to learn more about Shane's history, and root for her finding love. At the same time, Fi is frequently visited by Briar Rose's spirit form, who is determined to get her to fall in love with him -- a moment he has been dreaming of, literally, for one hundred years. I loved this twist to the tale: the hopeless romantic prince trying to charm the pragmatic female rescuer (because boys want to be rescued, too).

The plot itself, whilst following the general direction of Sleeping Beauty, is full of action, whether through a battle with giant spiders, fights with witch hunters, or parties thrown by awful exes. Vedder throws in little hints towards other fairy tales, as well as the Sleeping Beauty story we know and love, with Briar's ancestor named Aurora Rose. It is easy to be taken along for the ride, and I genuinely struggled to put the book down. I was desperate to see where the girls went next, and to learn more about each of their pasts.

As the first in a duology, 'The Bone Spindle' sets a leisurely yet exciting pace. Time is given to build a world of beautiful detail, and rich histories for all of our characters. It doesn't rush anything, and that is magical in itself. I felt drawn into the world and could picture it vividly in my mind's eye. And when the end of the book crept up on me...I realised there is so much more story to look forward to in book two.

You will leave 'The Bone Spindle' rooting for everyone, hoping they each overcome their insecurities and seek the help in each other they truly need. It is a truly brilliant read, and a wonderful retelling.

The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder was one of my picks on the 2022 Megapost, so I was thrilled when I was approved for an eARC and read it the same day. But however much I tried to love it… I just didn’t. As a whole, the story felt superficial and the characters flat. Fi and Briar, the main couple in the story just didn’t have any chemistry and I honestly couldn’t stand Briar, who was the type of shiny YA boy without flaws. The only interesting character was Shane, and even she was mainly “not like other girls” and largely built around rejecting her previous life. I think there was a really cool concept in here, but it would have needed another thorough structural edit to really shine. As it is, it felt like quite lacklustre to me, and I wouldn’t really recommend picking this one up – though it may work better for other readers!