3.5 stars. This novella is an interesting take on Sleeping Beauty. Zinnia has always been the girl with the terminal illness, not expected to live past 21. So her best friend is determined to make her 21st birthday extra special, including a Sleeping Beauty-themed party. When Zinnia pricks her finger on an actual spindle, she falls into another world where she encounters a beautiful young princess who needs her help.

Harrow has obviously done a lot of research on fairy tales. I learned a lot about the Sleeping Beauty story that I never knew, some of it quite disturbing. Zinnia narrates in first person, and her voice is fresh and funny, as she takes her 21st-century America sensibility (and cell phone) into a fairy tale land with witches and magical curses.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I was given access to an ARC through Netgalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

In the interest of full disclosure - I was unaware that this book was a novella when I started reading it. That is perhaps the only bad thing that I can say. I wish the book had been longer.

I loved Harrow's writing and the world she built, including the twists and turns from the many different versions of the fairy tale. I love the fact that she incorporated so many different stories and opened up the Sleeping Beauty universe to find ways to include them all. I love that the story did not focus on true love, but rather agency and choice in a story that, traditionally, has none.

This was the first book I've read by Alix E. Harrow, and my only complaint is that I wish it were longer. But that doesn't mean that it was lacking. I was still very much interested in Zinnia's adventures and her battle in her own sleeping beauty-esque story. Definitely going to put more of her books to the top of my TBR list.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the eARC!

A multiverse of Sleeping Beauties collides in this twisted fairytale novella.

Zinnia Gray has a rare, fatal condition caused by an industrial accident. No one with her condition has lived past the age of 21, which is coming up quick.

Since she was young, Zinnia has always felt a deep affinity for the character of Sleeping Beauty. Maybe it’s because she dreamed that her story would work out, the way Sleeping Beauty’s does when she’s kissed by a prince and awakened from her magical, infinite slumber. But Zinnia knows Sleeping Beauty isn’t real, and she knows she won’t survive much longer.

When her best friend, Charm, throws her a Sleeping Beauty themed birthday party, Zinnia pricks her finger on an old spindle and is catapulted into another realm, where Sleeping Beauty is real. Suddenly, Zinnia is on a quest to save not just herself, but Primrose, the Sleeping Beauty of this new world.

A+++++ for positive female and LGBTQ+ characters and role models in this retelling. Both Primrose and Zinnia take matters into their own hands. No prince or man is there to save the day.

While Zinnia loves the story of Sleeping Beauty, she is quick to point out early on that it’s only because of her special circumstances. She is definitely aware of the issues surrounding the tale, namely the fact that Sleeping Beauty never has any agency in her own tale. She sleeps, then the prince wakes her up. This retelling flips that on it’s head. Zinnia, Primrose, Charm, and the multiple iterations of Sleeping Beauty have all the agency in this novel. Primrose and Charm are both LGTBQ+ characters, making for the even more interesting conversation; why was Primrose cursed by the witch? Was it to punish her, or to save her? It’s a refreshing, funny, and hopeful story. Hearing negative tropes of fairy tales called out on paper clearly by the characters who are expected to live those tropes made my day.

And it really only took one day to read. My only complaint about this book was that it was way too short. I want more feminist fairytale retellings!

A Spindle Splintered is a fun, witty, feminist take on the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. While the beginning feels a little ham-fisted (some of the MC's insertions feel like the author breaking the 4th wall), it quickly becomes a rollicking multiverse adventure. I can't understate what a good time this book is; it's humorous and doesn't take itself too seriously while also imparting feminist commentary on fairytale archetypes. As someone who took college courses on comparative fairytales (at an Ohio university, nonetheless) and loves analyzing the similarities between tales across cultures and time, I deeply appreciated what this book did.

What an amazing and fun story, packing with action, multiverse and female support and power.

Zinnia has a rare genetic disorder; she is destined to die young, so since she was a child, she has an obsession with Sleeping Beauty, she has studied the different versions of the story and can identify with the story.
Surprisingly, its Zinnia's 21st birthday and her best friend Charm organizes a sleeping beauty themed party, the spinning wheel cannot be missing and when Zinnia pricks her finger with the spindle, instead of going into a deep sleep, she travels to another universe where she will meet a new version of the princess.

It is a short story, very entertaining, nothing is more beautiful than women who support other women, because Zinnia is determined to help the princess not succumb to the curse.

When things get complicated, with the help of Charm, Zinnia discovers how to attract other versions of Beauty, all from different universes, all strong and willing to help the princess to obtain the happily ever after she wishes.

I have LOVED Harrow's other two books and was quite excited to read A Spindle Splintered. I did not realize at first that it is a novella. And because of the length, everything happens quickly. So I was disappointed that I didn't have time to drop into a world and luxuriate there for hundreds of pages.
That said, I thought the premise was quite good. I loved the feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I thought the characters were well drawn and just snarky enough.

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was when my ARC request was approved for this book. I literally jumped up and down and yelled, YAY!!!! My husband looked over at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell him why I was dancing in the kitchen like it was Christmas morning and I just got a puppy. When my reply was “I got the book!! You know, the one I requested a few weeks ago!?!?!” he just stared at me for a moment before replying, “I was expecting a little more from that kind of reaction.”

He clearly just doesn’t get it!

Anyway, the anticipation is over and so is the book. Maybe because the book was so verrrrrrrry short. However, that is not a deterrent all on its own.

Don’t get me wrong, the book was great, but when it ended I was left a little wanting. I LOVED THE STORY but it felt rushed. There could have been sooo much more to this story and the characters. It almost gave the impression that the author did not trust herself to really dive in, or that she was rushing through so she could publish.

The ending did leave it open for a possible book two though, which I 100% WILL READ! I would really like to see a love interest in book two more than anything. Our MC, Zinnia, is so fascinating all on her own that she needs an equally awesome love interest.

Overall, I gave this book a 4-star rating because I enjoyed it and the imagination was on point. By far my favorite retelling so far!

A delightful little bonbon box of a novella, to relish in a single sitting. "A Spindle Splintered" is witty, coy, adventurous, and full of sly cultural references for fantasy genre lovers. The book also has asides and bon mots for Harrow's in-crowd of Twitter social justice warriors. If feminist flipped fairy tales are one of your favorite fantasy subgenres (think Margaret Atwood and Naomi Novik), you will sink into this retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" with a rapturous sigh. It's also a portal parallel-worlds fantasy, which is even better.

Zinnia Grey lives in Ohio in the near-present. She has a degree in folklore and suffers from Generalized Roseville Malady caused by corporate damage to the environment. She's not expected to live long. Her 21st birthday is expected to be her last.

Our erstwhile heroine is queer of course, having flirted with lesbianism before imposing a no-romance rule upon herself. She is comfortable without any complications of the sexual sort, not wanting to drag another person into her tragedy. Zinnia has been obsessed forever with the Sleeping Beauty story, so her bff gets her a spindle for her 21st birthday. When she pricks her finger, she is transported into another dimension, Perceforest, where she meets Princess Primrose, a standard cursed Sleeping Beauty who is drawn to prick her own finger and go to sleep. Primrose would rather not marry the dashing Prince Harold.

Zinnia and Primrose go in search of a way to break their respective curses. The moral of the story is: sometimes the story you are dealt is the story you are going to get—unless you decide to fight. And once you fight for a happy (happier?) ending for yourself, the fight may be long from over.

What a fun read! Alix E. Harrow's facility with myth and fairytale takes on a new form in this extremely genre-savvy and snarky adventure novella that is replete with literary and pop culture references, not to mention deep thinking about the way that fairy tales continue to reflect the truths of our modern lives.

Zinnia Gray is dying of a terminal illness and doesn't expect to see her 22nd birthday. Since childhood, she's been obsessed with the story of Sleeping Beauty, largely in part to its resonance with her own story: she's cursed from birth to have an expiration date, an eventual doom that will befall her when her adult life should only just be beginning. She knows all the retellings, Grimm and otherwise, and understands how messed up a story it is not only on the surface, but in the ways that it's an allegory for women being deprived of agency throughout history. On the night of her 21st birthday, right when she's facing just "weeks to months" left on the count-down timer of her life, she's inadvertently (okay, maybe a little advertently) sucked into a parallel world where a different, actually-cursed (like the magic kind) girl needs help thwarting her own preordained fate.

This book is touching, funny, and smart, though if you're looking for a seamless, mind-blowing multiverse story, this is not it (she can still text her best friend Charm from the alternate plane, and there is no fancy technology involved). Also, despite the fact that yes, there's magic heavily involved, it's not the most magical tale ever; it feels at times like stories themselves are the magical medium, and I almost wish Harrow had delved a little deeper into this idea and spun out the story a little further. But I'll settle for short and sweet! A Spindle Splintered is an entertaining and self-aware coming of age story that is perfect for people who love to read, especially those that love fairy tale retellings.

A Spindle Splintered comes out in the US on October 5, 2021. In the meantime I highly recommend checking out Harrow's most recent novel, The Once and Future Witches, a historical fantasy that does a lot with fairy tales as well!

Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book.

I love Harrow’s writing, world-building, and storytelling. This concept is incredible. I just wanted more! The book felt a bit light to me in terms of span and development... but what was here... I never have thought of Sleeping Beauty this way and never will again. I stayed up all night reading. A Spindle Splintered is sharp, magical remaking of a classic that will be a classic.

Is Alix Harrow my soul author? Did I stop reading this periodically to cry about it? Do I harbor a sad and plausibly insignificant wish that it could always feel like this, when reading? Well...yes.

"Sleeping Beauty is nobody's favourite. Romantic girls like Beauty and the Beast; basic girls like Cinderella; goth girls like Snow White. Only dying girls like Sleeping Beauty."

Zinnia Gray is terminally ill and waiting out the clock. It's why she connects with Aurora/ Briar Rose/ whatever name you know her by. Sure, they don't have wicked fairies and dragons in Ohio but the feeling of not being able to escape your curse (magical or genetic) is something she can relate to. But what if she has the opportunity to do more than passively wait for death? Getting pulled into another dimension on her 21st birthday (Into-the-Spider-Verse style), Zinnia has the chance to rewrite not only her ending but the fate of other Sleeping Beauties as well.

Going into A Spindle Splintered I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm not a Sleeping Beauty fan but I am a fan of Alix E. Harrow so I was excited to give this a shot. For a book centred around a dying woman it was rather lighthearted and fun. The witty one liners, cultural references, and quick pacing kept the tone of the story light despite touching on some dark topics (terminal illness, mention of sexual assault). Gender norms are challenged with humour. A Spindle Splintered definitely has feminist aspects but it's not as sententious as The Once and Future Witches.

I really have to emphasize that this was a fun read. The magical system isn't given more than a cursory explanation. I was left with questions and zero answers. The characters, although far from being flat, lacked a level of depth found in the author's other works making it harder to connect to them. That being said, it's only 128 pages long; if the author delved any deeper into the story or characters it would have slowed down the pacing. So really, those are minor complaints that have more to do with the nature of it being a novella rather than the story itself.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Fast paced and filled with wit, A Spindle Splintered is a refreshing take on a old fairytale.


Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review

Thanks to Tor and NetGalley for this eARC!

This novella was a fun tilt on a Sleeping Beauty story. I think anyone who liked <i>In Other Lands</i> will appreciate the self-aware fantasy tone here.

This is a novella by one of my must-read authors. I love how Harrow examines the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty and reimagines it in an interesting way.  I also love how I can tell that Harrow has done her research without being academic at all. I have pre-ordered.

Harrow has not disappointed with one of her books yet, and this does not disappoint. It is a fun multiverse Sleeping Beauty retelling that is packed full of delightful SFF and cultural references. I read it in a single sitting and would be happy to read more.

I love everything that Alix Harrow touches and this is no exception. A spiderverse of sleeping beauties?! Yes, amazing. It zips along like water flowing out of a faucet, it's touching and sad and smart and funny and sexy and queer and wonderful.

I had previously read Harrow's first two books and loved them. This was a great, short read that was a lot of fun. I probably would rate it quite as high as her novels but I think that has a lot to do with the format. Novellas are so short. It's nice to have a quick, short read but I really wanted more to the story. I look forward to reading more books from the author in the future!

5/5

Sleeping Beauty comes crashing into the multiverse by way of Alix E. Harrow, author of The Once and Future Witches and The Ten Thousand Doors of January. Destined to not survive her twenty-first birthday due to a rare genetic disorder, Zinnia Gray has always felt a strong affinity to sleeping beauty, someone who shares in her fate. Then miraculously her birthday arrives and nothing of note occurs, that is until her best friend decides to throw a birthday party worthy of sleeping beauty herself. All Zinnia does is prick her finger on the spindle of the spinning wheel and she’s transported far from her hometown to a strange world, one not so different from her own. Though the world may be lacking in some respects there in it also lies a girl desperate enough to escape her fate. Together Zinnia and Beauty rally other sleeping beauties from across the worlds to try to change their circumstances, taking their destinies into their own hands.

Well Alix E. Harrow certainly never misses the mark when it comes to crafting a fascinating story I would sell my soul to read immediately. This time it's a short sleeping beauty retelling that spans a little over a hundred pages, but crosses multiple worlds. I would say this is in the vein of Into the Spider-Verse since it deals with multiple dimensions and characters of similar titles joining hands. Just as her first two novels completely mesmerized me, this one was no different. Turns out even when Harrow writes a shorter novel I am still bound to enjoy it as much as the others, to the point where my only complaint is that I wish it was longer. Sleeping beauty was never one of my favorite fairy tales for the reasons Zinnia so aptly points out at the beginning of the novel. However, I am happy to say I have changed my tune now that Harrow has sunk her teeth into a reimagining of the story. This crossed a search for agency with the original tale so brilliantly I cannot stop thinking about it. There is just something about finding unity among those to which you share similar situations with that Harrow has exemplified in her writing time and time again. Though Zinnia and Beauty are from different worlds and backgrounds, there is a sense of solidarity that binds them and the other sleeping beauties together as they go forward on their quest. It really was one of the more compelling parts of the text. Not that the entire novel did not sway my emotions and make me have deep feelings at any other point than that. A Spindle Splintered is Alix. E Harrow’s love letter to the transcendence of sisterhood and the common struggles that bind all women. Ties that can bring us together oftentimes in strange ways, but are in no means any less powerful.

Trigger warnings: blood, genetic disorder, terminal illness, rape (mentioned)

Alix Harrow has quickly become my favorite author. This was a magical fantasy that I found myself taking copious notes on. Very powerful and beautifully written.

Writing: 4 / 5 Characters: 4.5 / 5 Plot: 4.5 / 5

I had such fun reading this book — clever and funny with plenty of gender benders, surprise twists, and sass. Short, too, at only 128 pages.

Zinnia Gray of Ohio is the Dying Girl. Afflicted with GRM -- a malady that always kills before its victims reach 22 — she has become obsessed with all things Sleeping Beauty (a girl with very similar problems). What follows is a funny and piercingly acute adventure through alternative narratives where an array of women try to alter the “crap” storylines they were given.

It’s a brilliant modernization, magnification, and multiplication of Sleeping Beauty stories, all come together with the spare prose and humorous asides that I love in Harrow’s writing. Some of the references to academic takes on folklore and feminism crack me up while simultaneously getting to the point of what is truly important. A favorite line referencing a female character ready for battle: “I know they promoted a reductive vision of women’s agency that privileged traditionally male-coded forms of power, but let’s not pretend girls with swords don’t get shit done.”

Great characters that I liked a lot, no BS, plenty of adventure, some cool self-reflection and growth (always enjoyable), and plenty of gender norm challenges that are playful rather than strident.

Harrow is right up there in my must-reads list.

A couple of other fun lines:
“My only friend in this entire backwards-ass pre-Enlightenment world is about to be married off to a sentient cleft chin.”

“We might not be able to fix our bullshit stories, but surely we can be less lonely inside them at the end.”