A Spindle Splintered — Book Review with Content Warnings

Author: Alix E. Harrow

Genre: Fairytale retelling

Series: Fractured Fables, 1 of 2

Age Rating: Teen+

Synopsis

When Zinnia Gray turns twenty-one—the last birthday she’ll ever have—her best friend Charm provides a full Sleeping Beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spindle. Zinnia pricks her finger and finds herself in an alternate fairy tale world with another Sleeping Beauty who is just as desperate to escape her fate.

Content Warnings

General Rating: Teen+ (14A / PG-13 / TV-MA)

• Spice Rating: Mild—sapphic kisses

• Violence Rating: Mild—sword violence, mention of sexual assault

• Profanity Rating: Moderate—casual use of f*ck

• Other Trigger Warnings: terminal illness, sexism/misogyny, sexual assault

Overall Rating: 4/5

A quick, cozy, fun alternate fairytale story meant to entertain and raise questions about the long-held assumptions of the damsel in distress and other fairytale tropes.

What I Liked

• Brief and fun: Portal fantasies are always interesting—a modern-day Jane is thrust into an over-the-top fantasy world, and hilarity ensues.

• Bigger questions of the meaning of life: Zinnia has a terminal illness, so there is a natural weight to the story as she grapples with her imminent death.

What I Didn’t Like

• Mood reading: This is a mood read; if you’re up for a quick portal fantasy into a fairytale with a good dose of ridiculousness, this is for you! If you’re into something weightier, this may not be the right read right now.

Themes and Reflections

• Life and death: When faced with imminent death, what are our main priorities? What do we want out of life? Zinnia faces these questions as she strives to free Prim from her fairytale cage.

• Freedom to choose: Are we victims of our own story, or do we have the freedom to choose? Zinnia bucks the confines of her own story and fights for freedom from age-old tropes.

Writing Style

• Fluid, crisp, contemporary prose

• Fast-paced

• Enchanting and hopeful

• Imaginative worldbuilding

• Snappy dialogue

• Dynamic and sympathetic characterization

• First-person POV

• Inspiring and comforting
  

Tropes

• Human vs. nature

• Human vs. society

• Prophecy and fate

• Forbidden love

• Found family
  

Books Like This

• Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

• The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Publisher Info

• Publisher: Tor

• Release Date: October 5, 2021

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