The older we get we know stories offer truths and lies. Why are witches always bad, youngest children always the Chosen Ones and what is it with the rule of three even in this sentence making an appearance. Stories evolve and we’ve seen in recent years many re-interpretations and re-imaginings of various tales. T Kingfisher brings their usual unique view to a certain familiar tale in their fantasy novella Thornhedge and delivers a charming tale with a few surprises.

Toadling is a fairy guarding a tall and incredibly prickly hedge. One that surrounds a castle and it’s Keep, that few know about. The centuries pass and Toadling stays to do their duty but is shocked when a knight appears. Halim has heard about this magical place and wishes to enter it and discover the secret within. Toadling fears a great danger that she feels responsible for could be about to reawaken and so tells Halim her own life-story and how she is responsible for what was to come.

T Kingfisher always knows how to write an engaging story and to bring a fresh angle. What I enjoyed is the viewpoint here is not some super-powered well-dressed witch with interesting headgear but instead Toadling feels more a standard fae who simply was told by their bosses what to do. When your main character can just turn into toads and cast only a few spells we know we’re not dealing with true evil. In fact, Kingfisher makes us witness all of Toadling’s life from being stolen from humans; made to live in fae worlds and then told by a Hare Goddess no less, to visit a castle and do a job. Yes, we’re in Sleeping Beauty territory here but this time from a low-level fae viewpoint. This manages to be both comic and sad at the same time. We really care for Toadling especially as we realise their own connection to the Royal family she meets.

Indeed, Fayette as this version of Beauty here we find is the more alarming character. We don’t though find her unusually evil just very very very creepy and scary. The slow horror we eventually see is that Fayette themselves were basically doomed from the day they were born and they’re a really interesting antagonist that we fear, understand and in some cases feel sorry that despite all the havoc they create. It is refreshing that Toadling though is believed and treated fairly by people simply because Toadling is a kind person. No grimdark fears here to worry about. Finally, there is a lovely inversion as our Prince Charming in the form of Halim is a non-arrogant, soft hearted and very average looking hero that bonds neatly with Toadling. They’re two outsiders who find a connection and it’s a nice simple friendship with a hint of more to come.

The one drawback with story-tales though is even with inversions you know what is to come. This is a tale more of the strange and unusual rather than creepy and dark kind and overall while I really enjoyed it I think people may find the likely path of the story even with these changes still very familiar. Not though a bad thing. I really enjoyed this and read it in one sitting. Kingfisher is always entertaining, and this will warm hearts and bring a smile. Well worth a look!

In a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, or perhaps, an anti-Sleeping Beauty, T Kingfisher gives us, yes, a beautiful princess sleeping in a tower around which thorns and briars have grown up - but the princess is not the centre of the story. Rather the authors asks exactly why a princess would be cursed to sleep, and what the thorns are all about?

Are they, as often assumed, to keep others out?

Or are they to keep her in...?

In a short novel, Kingfisher provides answers but more interestingly she gives us Toadling, the fairy who wrought the magic and who now guards the castle through endless centuries. Generally successful, she's about to encounter a particularly resourceful and determined knight, Salim, who is driven not by desire for a bride or for treasure, but by simple curiosity.

The blooming relationship between the two, people from inimaginably different backgrounds, casts light on the sort-of history to which Kingfisher assigns the story. It's sometime after the breakup of the Roman Empire, in a region populated by Muslins, Christians and Jews, where a knight might be of any faith or none. Fairies are respected and feared but not hated, and people get along in general.

The sleeping princess is, though, a problem, for reasons I won't go into as they would spoil the story. Finding a solution to that problem will require Toadling to explore her own story, confront loss and consider her place in the world. Above all, after being alone for hundreds of years, she will have to learn how to actually be with others - whether these are the fairies that raised her (the Greenteeth of I think Northen English legend) or the humans from whom she was snatched as a baby.

A sweet, engaging story with a core of steel (or perhaps, thorns) at its heart.

Recommended.

3.5 stars!!

I feel like I could have LOVED this story if it was a full-length novel. I just wish all of the characters were fleshed out a bit more and had more screentime. I absolutely adore her characters, but with a story this short, you can only fit in so much.

Ms. Kingfisher, please. I need another Swordheart. I still have her Saint of Steel series to read next, but after that I think I'm caught up on her fantasy backlist!

‘There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.’ - cover tag line

My thanks to Titan Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Thornhedge’ by T. Kingfisher.

This was my first experience of Kingfisher’s writing and based on this experience it certainly won’t be the last. It was a beautifully crafted faerie tale that captured my heart from its opening page.

At the hour of her birth a baby is stolen from her cradle and a changeling left in her place. In the Faerie world she is raised by the greenteeth, slimy swamp-dwelling fae. They name her Toadling. When she is fifteen the Hare Goddess comes to her and carries her away to a backwater faerie court where she is educated by the catfish-faced Master Gourami.

She eventually learns that she was born human, the daughter of the king of a small kingdom. While years have passed in Faerie only five days have passed in the mortal world. Master Gourami says that her education will continue and that she will then be sent back to the mortal world to stand on the seventh day as faerie godmother to the changeling baby who had taken her place!

Centuries later, a young Muslim knight named Halim approaches an impenetrable wall of brambles. He is the younger son of a poor noble family and had come across an old book with a tale about a tower and a maiden under a curse. Of course, he felt that as a knight it is his duty to seek the tower, break the curse, and rescue the maiden. Then he encounters Toadling, who will do anything to uphold the curse.

You will need to read this little gem of a novel yourself to find out what happened at the christening, why Toadling is guarding the wall of thorns and the tower hidden within as well as how Halim fares on his quest.

This excellent storytelling is accompanied by a wealth of descriptions of the peoples of Faerie, including a silver furred hare goddess with eyes full of moonlight, fickle natured kelpies, and of course Toadling, who is able to change from her woman-shape into a toad. This lyrical tale is tempered by touches of the macabre and dark humour.

I especially enjoyed the interaction between Toadling and the gentle Halim from their first encounter when she seeks to think him on his way and then sneaks up on him while he sleeps too close to her brambles and starts to weave elf-knots in his curly hair through to its magical final pages.

I felt that ‘Thornhedge’ was an enchanting reimagining of ‘Sleeping Beauty’, a perfect faerie tale. I loved it so much and now plan to explore T. Kingfisher’s back catalogue.

Very highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

I read Nettle & Bone last year and it became an unexpected favorite, so when I read the synopsis for Thornhedge, I got super excited because it sounded like it would have similar vibes. And it did!

I love T. Kingfisher’s storytelling, the way she infuses her books with subtle humor is just so good and really elevates the storytelling.
This spin on Sleeping Beauty was SO unique and entertaining, I read it in one sitting and was thoroughly invested.

It was wonderfully weird, a bit creepy at times but still so charming.
I’m also really impressed with how much depth the world had, considering it’s only a 130 pages novella, but I would definitely be interested in reading a different story set in this world.

Overall, I really loved this and highly recommend!

This is a fairy tale not like the others. I’m a fan of the strange and unusual and I have to say this was exactly how I would explain this book. A short and intriguing read. A tale that screams don’t judge a book by its cover!

3.75

I’ve never had the pleasure of reading a T. Kingfisher book before, and I can safely say I will be continuing to read their works.

I don’t typically read shorter stories and enjoy them. However, this 129 page fairytale caught me by surprise!

We meet Toadling, a once human girl swapped with a faerie at birth to become apart of a watery fairy family, who finds herself with an impossible task of containing and guarding a princess in a tower. You may think she is the villain of this story? That may not be so correct after all…

I found this book to be so charming! It gives me the same feeling as I used to have as a small child, reading my mother’s book of Hans Christian Andersen tales before bedtime.

It unlocks that simple childish wonder in you that perhaps you felt you had moved on from, and pulls you in to the classic tale of a magical girl who meets a heroic boy (but with a subversive twist).

The writing is simple and clean, and makes for such a good whimsical short read that lifts your spirits!

https://lynns-books.com/2023/08/17/thornhedge-by-t-kingfisher/
5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Sleeping Beauty, the alternate version

I didn’t realise how much I needed this story in my life. This is so, so good. I loved it. It’s literally short and sweet and ultimately downright satisfying.

At the heart of this little nugget is Sleeping Beauty, but, as the description points out, this is not her story. This is the story of Toadling. A character stolen at birth, who finds a loving family in the most unexpected of places, whose life becomes entangled and locked into that of the princess in the tower when a magical gift goes quite wrong. Of course, a knight comes along, as they often do in these tales, in search of something, he knows not what, and from there grows a charming and compelling story.

This is only a short story (appox 120 ish pages) but it totally worked it’s magic on me – which is a surprise as short stories usually fail to win me over (confession time, I hadn’t realised this was a novella when I requested it but I’m so glad that my oversight worked out so well).

I don’t want to say too much more. The beauty of this tale is finding it fresh for yourself and it’s such a compact story it’s possible to gobble it up in one sitting.

What I will say is that I was totally absorbed. I adored the central character and the charming knight. The story itself is intriguing, the writing delicious and I concluded the story with that happy glow that finishing a really good book elicits. Do you self a favour and read this book.

I received a copy through the publisher, courtesy of Netgalley, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I love T Kingfisher's books, and Thornhedge is a beautifully written fairy tale about... a toad. As with all fairy tales, there is a kingdom, a beautiful princess, and a curse, but Kingfisher has given it her magical touch and turned it into something unexpected and magical.

A quick, wonderful read that will leave you feeling bereft when you turn the last page, with characters that will stay with you for a long time. Highly recommend.

A reimagined Sleeping Beauty/Rapunzel story featuring changelings and a curse gone wrong.

The main character, Toadling, is definitely what drives the story, though due to her personality, albeit intricate and unusual, there is a lack of agency to her that makes the story a bit too straight forward. Other than Toadling, the characters feel a bit underdeveloped and the strength in the writing varies throughout.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy my time with this sweet novella and found it hard to put down in places. 3.25 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the eArc!

I love Kingfishers fantasy and this is no exception. A wonderful nod to the Rapunzel/Sleeping Beauty story but with a few twists. This is wonderful, dark, cosy and whimsy. It's practically perfect. Not quite Nettle and Bone, but it still warmed the cockles.
Toadling is sent to sort out a very naughty changeling. She's very, very unruly, some might say EVIL. But Toadling is just too nice and so protects the royal household by building a impenetrable barrier between it and the rest of the humans. However, centuries later a (almost) brave knight comes to see what's behind the wall of thorns....

I love whatever T. Kingfisher writes: horror, fantasy, humorous fantasy. Name it and I love it.
This is the sweetest story I read, a novella that made me smile and moved me.
I love Toadling and Hamlin, loved her fairy green-teeth family and how this story was told.
A lovely novella that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I am quite sorry about this, but I need to let you know that this would be quite a short, and repetitive, review because really you just need to know one thing about this book: it’s worth your time, and you should go and read it, if you are even a tiny little bit interested in what the synopsis is telling you. That’s it!
And since I mentioned the synopsis, I have to say a couple of words here, because it’s right to give credits where credits are due. I am not the biggest fan of synopsis, because sometimes they contain spoilers (it happened more than once, and every single time is annoying as the first), or they are misleading, so I don’t usually read them (and sure, this led to some funny misunderstanding in the past, but that’s okay) if not for when I write the reviews, and I copy them in the post.
And this particular synopsis is amazingly well done because it says everything about the book, in the most perfect way possible. I love this synopsis!!!

And, obviously, I loved the book too. I was really excited when they approved me for the ARC and I may have done a happy dance around the house before starting it, but once started I could not put it down again, I was so captured by this story, and by these amazing characters that I wished to stay with them as long as possible.
The story is brilliant: it’s the sleeping beauty story, but it’s not her story. How cool is that? And it’s right there in the plot summary: There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.
This is Toadling’s story, and it’s Halim’s story. And it’s the castle story, too. In this order.
And the author creates the sweetest characters ever, and it’s not sweet in the romantic sense of the term, I am not speaking about romance at all, but it is sweet because they are the quintessential of the good people coalesced before your eyes. And that’s not to say that they are naive, or that they are gullible or whatever, they are good people who know how hard and harsh the world can be, they have no rosetinted glasses and yet they stay true to their being, to their goodness. And it is the cutest thing ever.

Because this book is cute, it is delightful, it is also highly original and quotable. And it is about duty, about love, not only the romantic kind, and what this book says about love is beautiful, I think that this alone is a good reason to read the book, but you have other reasons for reading it, mind me. You need Toadling and Halim in your life. She is a faerie who is trying her best to protect a secret and to save lives, and he is a kind knight, without shiny armor but with a shiny heart for sure. And then there is the story, because this is an amazing retelling, and it is highly original and masterfully developed, and this is not a small feat, let me tell you since I love the ideas behind the retelling usually, and then I am highly disappointed by their development, but this did not happen here. At all!

So, if you have enjoyed other books by this author, or if you are intrigued by retelling, or you want to try out something new, or if you are feeling the craving for something delightful and thoughtful well… wait no more! Just go and read this book, pretty pretty please with a cherry on top!

I'm such a huge fan of Kingfisher's fairy tale retellings (I think I've read them all at this point?), as she is really good at keeping the traditional core of the tales while examining them from a new angle. Combine that with her quirky and cozy writing style and its a recipe for success!

This is a retelling of sleeping beauty, and I think it might be my favourite retelling of hers so far! The twist here is that it is not about the princess, but about her fairy godmother. Although the book is pretty short, it cleverly manages to discuss what constitutes good and evil, and how appearances will often influence this.

There was also a lovely romance, and the heroine? So so lovely. I want a book 2 with these characters, please and thank you.

T. Kingfisher may not forgive me for saying this, but... "Thornhedge" is adorable!! There are smiles, laughter, and tears, and this book just feels *RIGHT* in a way I can't put into words (so I won't try). The characters are perfect. The story is superb and delivered brilliantly. The writing is seamless. I want so many more stories from this author - about 200 should do!

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

It was the fairytale reimagining that drew me to this book, my first ever read from T.Kingfisher. The written craft on style on show was phenomenal, and the way the author took the tropes we all know and love and turned them on their head was masterful.

However, I didn't feel as strong for the characters as I felt I should with such a magical story. This is a definitely it's not you, it's me moment and I loved this version of the story. But not an immediate favourite.

Thorndhedge was the second book - well, novella in this case - I read by T. Kingfisher and let me tell you: I'm obsessed. I loved Swordheart and I also loved Thornhedge which means I definitely have to pick up more books by this author, I'm so glad she has a big backlist I can read my way through!
But lets get back to Thornhedge: it's a novella (usually not my favorite but when I already like an author I'll give it a go) about faeries and a loose retelling of Sleeping Beauty and uff - it was really hard hitting? I really liked what T. Kingfisher did with the story, how she put her own twist on it and it worked so well! The book had me hooked from the first page and I just devoured it in one sitting because Toadling was such a compelling narrator.
I don't want to say too much because this is such a short book but it truly was a fantastic read and I can't recommend it enough.

A fantasy book full of fairytale.
T. Kingfisher has been a long time favourite writer of mine. I lean more towards her horror books but this didn't disappoint I couldn't put it down and cannot wait to put it on my staff recommendations at the end of the month!

"They must be telling stories," said the fairy hopelessly. "About a princess in the tower and a hedge of thorns to keep the princes out." {....} "I can't fight stories," she whispered, and a few tears, dark as ink, ran down her face and tangled in her hair.

I have no words for how much I LOVED this book - it's an absolute gem of a fairytale (Sleeping Beauty) retelling. Kingfisher writes in such an engaging, enchanting way that I was totally mesmerised from start to finish.

We are told Toadlings story, stolen from her cot as a baby and replaced by a Changling. She grows up with the Greenteeth, lving her days out in the cold, murky water with her loving adopted family while she develops some interesting magic of her own. That is, until she is sent back to the mortal world to bestow a gift to her Changeling counterpart and things go very, very wrong...

I have seen that another reviewer commented on the 'gentleness' of the leading characters and I think that's what sold this novella to me. Their interactions are so whimsical but have the undercurrent of much deeper themes, like loneliness and the weight of duty.

This will be one I read over and over again!

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @titanbooks for this e-arc in exchange for my unbiased review!

#thornhedge #tkingfisher #sleepingbeauty #fairytaleretelling #bookreview #review #bookrecommendation #netgalley

Oh, this was so lovely. I read this in one sitting, since it's quite short, but I think I will reach for it again and again, whenever I need comforting, because despite this book's premise (what if Sleeping Beauty was evil, and she was cursed to protect the people from her) this story just feels like cool aloe balm on burned skin, like a blanket when you're cold, like gentle summer rain after the heavy buildup of water and electricity in the air.

Needless to say, I loved this. I loved the gentleness of our two main characters, the way they care for their families and nature and even the monster. I loved the descriptions of fairies in the best way possible - definitely more Oberon and Titania than Rhysand and Feyre (thank God for that btw), with the mischievousness of Puck and the bite of Suren, perfect and taking immense joy in their wickedness, but not out of evil, but because of their very nature. I loved this. I loved this so much.

And once again, without spoiling anything: I have rarely ever encountered an ending as perfect as this one. You are ours, we are yours, and we will wait for you. What a dreamy, undeniably perfect thing to say to someone. I have never cried so hard about the words of a toad.

Thank you so much to T. Kingfisher for writing a book like this. I needed this, and I feel that a lot of people out there will also feel soothed by this story.