A Spindle Splintered is the latest novella to come from the mind of Alix E. Harrow, the author that brought us The Ten Thousand Doors of January. It's also the first part in the Fractured Fables series.

Zinnia Gray has always felt a special connection with the tale of Sleeping Beauty. Zinnia has known from a young age that she would never make it past twenty-one. Her illness felt reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty, and her young mind latched onto that connection.

Now, Zinnie faces her twenty-first birthday, and she intends to make it special. Granted, there is no way that she could have planned for what actually happened. For now, Zinnia finds herself in another world – facing the Sleeping Beauty herself.

"Sleeping Beauty is pretty much the worst fairy tale, any way you slice it."

Yes! I love everything about A Spindle Splintered. The plot, the characters, the sass, and the open discussion about the story of Sleeping Beauty. We can all agree that the original story is pretty messed up, right?

A Spindle Splintered takes all the different variations of Sleeping Beauty and mashes them into one story. It's an incredibly creative take on the matter, one that gave so much ownership to the leading lady. Ownership that they desperately needed, if we're being honest here.

I know; I'm probably being a little bit biased here. From the moment I saw 'Fractured Fables,' I knew I would love this series to death. So far, I have not been disappointed. I love that Harrow started with Sleeping Beauty. For those that are curious, it looks like she's going to work on Snow White (A Mirror Mended)– and once again, I am all sorts of here for that.

If you like it when authors take your favorite fairy tales and mix them up into something new and different, then you're going to enjoy A Spindle Splintered. If you feel that these stories are better left alone, maybe consider picking up something else to read?

This story had such a powerful message and I loved that the fantasy genre was used to deliver it. And at less than 200 pages it really packed a punch. For fans of retellings with a twist, A Spindle Splintered is a story I will think about for a long time.

a short and funny feminist retelling of sleeping beauty!! what else do i need? this was so funny and smarty. the writing will suck you in and take you down the rabbit hole.

Overall a good read ratings of 4 stars. Loved the chronic illness rep and the reimagined fairytale aspect. Would have liked a slightly longer book but still enjoyed

I am absolutely convinced that Alix E. Harrow can do no wrong. I was introduced to her writing two years ago when she released the sublime Thousand Doors of January. Since then, I have read many of her works, including short stories: The Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage, and Mr. Death, and I loved them all. Now, I have gotten the immense pleasure of reading her Novella length fractured fairy tale, A Spindle Splintered.

A Spindle Splintered is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty which is based on the fairy tale "La Belle Au Bois Dormant," by Charles Perrault, written in 1697. This original story inspired the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Briar Rose. But, most people are familiar with Sleeping Beauty because of the Disney adaptation 1959. The original fairy tale is about a young princess named Briar Rose cursed by an evil fairy to sleep for 100 years once she pricks her finger upon a spindle. Knowing how traumatic awaking alone would be, a good fairy put the entire palace to sleep to awaken once the princess does.

The original version of the story has the princess "discovered in her castle by a wandering king, who "carrie[s] her to a bed, where he gather[s] the first fruits of love." He leaves her there and where she later gives birth to twins. "Fruits of Love" means she was raped and impregnated.

There are obviously many issues with the original story. The idea of agency, body autonomy, and free will come to mind. It is one of the biggest things I noticed when I watched Sleeping Beauty, the Disney movie, as an adult. Harrow took the original story and put a refreshing take on it, giving the princess a mind, a heart, and desires for something more. It is a perfect place to fracture this fairy tale.

The story starts with Zinnia, our protagonist, about to turn 21. (Also, I love the flower name nod. The original sleeping beauty was Briar Rose; now we have Zinnia.) Zinnia suffers a long-term illness and knows that her life will be ending soon. She has always been a fan of Sleeping Beauty's mythology and knows how much Zinnia loves Sleeping Beauty; her friend throws her a themed birthday party, complete with a spindle. The spindle slips and Zinnia is whisked off to the world of the actual Sleeping Beauty.

Zinnia is a very modern woman, and although she has a significantly shortened lifespan, she tries to make the most out of her life. This is in direct contrast to the environment she is thrust upon. There is an air of helplessness to everything. Zinnia cannot help her future and impending death, and the princess cannot help the impending curse.

A Spindle Splintered is a coming-of-age story; finding one's own path, not the way laid before you, is a major theme, as is body autonomy. I won't ruin the twists and turns of the narrative. I loved what Harrow did here. Plus, a little science fiction multi-verse thrown in always will be a hit with me.

I recommend this story. Again, I love Harrow's writing, and A Spindle Splintered is another excellent story to add to your TBR.

Zinnia Gray has always been fascinated by Sleeping Beauty stories. She understands the feeling of knowledge looming over your life, whether that's of a curse or, in her case, of the fact that no one with her illness has lived past age 21. On her 21st birthday, her best friend, Charm, throws her a Sleeping Beauty themed birthday party. When Zinnia pricks her finger on the spindle Charm found, Zinnia is thrust into another world where fairy tales are very much real, and there's a princess desperate to escape her fate.

A SPINDLE SPLINTERED is an enjoyable take on a fairy tale with countless versions. I loved how we got to learn more about the history of the Sleeping Beauty story, ranging from the more pleasant versions like Disney's to the darkest versions. Fellow folklore enthusiasts will like Zinnia's vast knowledge of the fairy tale and seeing the strange world she enters through the eyes of a folklore scholar.

In addition to the folklore, I really enjoyed the friendships. Zinnia and Charm have a complicated history with Zinnia often trying to keep Charm at arm's length due to her illness. Even so, they've forged a strong bond, and you can tell how much they care about each other. Zinnia and Princess Primrose also have a great, slow-building friendship. Zinnia is ironically having to face the reality of her own situation in Primrose's world. It's through their friendship that Zinnia can see an unexpected path forward for herself (note, however, that this does not fall into the harmful magical cure trope).

Overall, A SPINDLE SPLINTERED is a quick, fun read filled with fascinating folklore and the power of friendship.

I have this really bad habit of getting books on Netgalley and then thinking, “Yeah, I’ll remember to review them around release date” and then uh… not doing that. So, this review is a bit late, and I’m sorry for that. Life happens, and it happens with shocking regularity. I do the best I can.

A Spindle Splintered is the first book I’ve read from Alix E. Harrow, and it will not be the last. I originally decided to go with this book because I absolutely love fairytale retellings (seriously, if I’ve said that once, I’ve said it a thousand times). Plus, I’ve heard a lot about her prose and I wanted to see them for myself. So, when you’ve got an author with killer prose writing a fairytale retelling, you’ve got something that puts my butt in the chair and keeps it there.

This book came at me from a direction I didn’t anticipate. I’m used to fairytale retellings all sort of following a similar pattern, and this one absolutely didn’t do that. A Spindle Splintered is a novella, another thing I didn’t realize until after I’d finished reading it (I try to go into each book I read as uninformed as possible). Now, I really enjoy novellas. I think, a lot of times, they can be more powerful than novels, and that’s usually because the author has to shove as much story into fewer pages, so each bit of it is precisely measured for maximum impact.

All of this works together to create a novella that really walloped me pretty good. It was a retelling unlike any I have ever read, written with evocative prose that occasionally hit like a hammer blow directly to the feels. What we have here is a book about someone with a chronic, terminal illness. Her name is Zinnia Gray, and it’s her twenty-first birthday. Zinnia, however, knows she won’t live to twenty-two. No one with this particular illness has ever lived that long, and so the book opens with a sort of heartrending, gut churning sorrow, a dark and ominous knowing. Her best friend wants to throw her a party to end all parties, and so she ends up celebrating her twenty-first birthday ala the Disney Princess Sleeping Beauty, in an abandoned castle, with a faulty spinning wheel, and her friends.

Only, as you’d expect, things don’t quite end up how anyone expects them to. Zinnia pricks her finger and ends up spiraling out into the multiverse where all Sleeping Beauties who have ever been, and will ever be, dwell. Her story gets tangled up in that of another Sleeping Beauty who is desperate to avoid the fate she knows she is destined for. Together they spin through this multiverse on a quest to wrest themselves from fate.

On its surface, this is an interestingly balanced book, with a relentless plot and constant forward motion. There’s wit and snark and love and friendship, passion and all the things that fuel it. Everything needed to make this a fun read is here. However, that’s balanced with weighty topics, like death, like terminal illness, like fate and all the discomfort fate provides.

It’s in these darker notes where the book really shone, which shouldn’t be surprising because I tend to gravitate toward dark emotional themes. However, it is these darker aspects of the book that I felt were both understated and where the true magic of what Harrow was doing shows. Yes, A Spindle Splintered is fun, and yes, I enjoyed reading it, but the deeper themes of autonomy, choice, individual will, and destiny were what I found truly gripping, and seeing just how deftly Harrow worked them into her narrative without overpowering any of the lighter aspects was truly inspirational.

At the core of it, Sleeping Beauty is a passive character. Her story is one of sleep, wherein she doesn’t even really appear to be the protagonist of her own story. Here, Harrow plays with that idea a bit, shows a multiverse of Sleeping Beauties, all of whom are eager, desperate, for something else. Some other fate. Some chance to be the protagonist in their story. Some small opportunity to make a choice of their own and see it through.

It was powerful to see that theme underpinning the book itself. Powerful to see how Harrow dealt with it and used it as a tool to fuel her narrative. Ultimately, there are similarities between Zinnia’s fate, preparing for her death, her passive role in an active story, and her struggles to come to grips with all that is befalling her through no choice of her own, and that of Sleeping Beauty. It’s no wonder she spent much of her life obsessed with the story of Sleeping Beauty, and when she finally finds herself confronted with the story, her bond with Primrose, a Sleeping Beauty, is forged and is deep indeed. Despite their many differences, their similarities are fundamental.

Ultimately, A Spindle Splintered was a fantastic novella that balanced a fun story with deeper, darker themes. Harrow’s writing was superb, straddling the knife’s edge of lyrical and utilitarian. This novella sets up an interesting, unexpected series, and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

I thought the overall idea was very fun and some of the individual lines were great. I even appreciate it more now because it looks like the series will follow Zin. I just think it tried to do one too many things in such a short of a book.

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow is such a solid introduction to Harrow’s work. I have never picked up anything by Harrow prior to this novella. Now? I just want to read all the things by Harrow. I think it helps that this is part of a series called Fractured Fables — I love retold fairy tales. Also — the back cover copy compares A Spindle Splintered to Into The Spiderverse which is my favorite super hero movie — and one of the only ones I like. Granted, I haven’t watched all the Marvel movies — but I just love that one. So, clearly I was VERY eager to pick up this novella. Yo, it delivered. It SO delivered.

Zinnia Gray’s life is on a time clock. You see, she has this rare genetic disease caused by some chemicals that impacted pregnant women in Roseville. No one else with her genetic mutation has lived past twenty-two. And so, Zinnia has always known that she was going to die at before her twenty second birthday. As the novella opens, we learn that her best friend Charm has set up a special birthday party for Zinnia in a local abandoned tower and themed it to be like Sleeping Beauty — which Zinnia is obsessed with. Zinnia ends up pricking her finger as part of the celebration and is thrust into the fairytale of another princess – Primrose who is cursed to also prick her finger and sleep for a hundred years. But, as you may have guessed, there’s more to the story and to the curse.

I think either you love or you hate novellas. Personally, I greatly enjoy novellas. And honestly, the length of A Spindle Splintered worked really well for me as an introduction to Harrow. I didn’t feel as though this novella dragged. It took me like three pages to really get into the story. Honestly I would have finished this all in one setting if not for life obligations. I loved how Zinnia came into her own and finally got some agency and moved beyond being the dying girl. Also, her best friend Charm? I would like an entire book about Charm.

This novella is perfectly contained and does a great job flipping Sleeping Beauty on its head — while also discussing the various versions of Sleeping Beauty. And oh — this book is a tactile beautiful experience as well. The pages contain remixes of Arthur Rackham’s silhouette art which really leant this fantastical feel to the story.

A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables #1) by Alix E. Harrow was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2021 and now that I've read it I can say that it's one of my favorite releases of the year as well. It's short, but Harrow does not waste a moment of this story. I've always enjoyed clever and creative, fractured fairytales and fairytale retellings, and this one certainly did it right. I've seen another reviewer mention this, but I totally agree that this reminds me of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse but for fairytales. It completely worked for me, and I can't wait to see what's next in this series.

This needed to be longer - I'm not sure why the choice was made to make it this short. Not enough time was given to learn about how the worlds worked and the portals, and to get to know the sleeping beauty from the other world well at all. Most of the story was filled with descriptions of the scenery - not much about interior monologues from the main character, motivations of the other characters, anything like that. It wasn't as well crafted as either of Alix Harrow's books.

My brief thoughts here https://www.bethfishreads.com/2021/11/what-i-read-in-october-part-2.html and on GoodReads

There is something comforting in reading stories about found family. Zinnia and Primrose bond not only on their quest, but over the shared, similar circumstances in which they find themselves. The relationships that develop in these situations are often some of the best-written in any media, and the absolute solidarity these two show is honestly what makes this book so compelling. It’s less a book about fairy tales and more a story about the power of sisterhood.

As Zinnia has a terminal illness, much of the conflict in this book is with herself – with her body, with her expectations, with her attitude towards her own demise. Not being chronically ill, I cannot state with any definitiveness how accurate the portrayal is. Some may be concerned that the fairy tale nature of the story would follow the “magical cure” trope, and while I don’t want to get too spoilery in my review, I will say that I think Harrow does a good job of navigating around it.

There is a bit of romance – not with Zinnia but between two non-POV characters – but actually a great portion of this book is getting a character out of a romance brought on by forced heteronormativity. As in, now that Primrose has “escaped” her “curse”, she is free to marry the handsome prince, who of course she does not want to marry at all. Princes aren’t her type, after all.

At this point, I would read anything Alix Harrow writes, even if it's a recipe.

This second novel is magical; the plot is original (especially for being a retelling - that's supremely hard to do), the characters are familiar but also so, so very different from the ones we know and love.

I appreciate how this book looks at gender roles in fairy tales - and then subverts them in the most satisfying ways.

Sleeping Beauty's story is told the way she deserves.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. But I actually waited too long to read that arc, so, I bought the finished copy and read that because I’ve loved all of Harrow’s writing so far. A Spindle Splintered was no different.
The story follows Zinnia, who isn’t likely going to live past her 21st birthday. She’s not cursed, just dying due to something in the water supply that her mother drank while pregnant with Zinnia. Her whole life, Sleeping Beauty has been her favorite fairytale. She’s read every version of the story she can find. So, on the night of her 21st birthday, she’s celebrating with her best friend, Charm, when she’s transported to another world, to another Sleeping Beauty. Here she meets Primrose and the two work together to try to change their fate.
This was a novella, so it’s super short. I absolutely wanted more of this story. I wanted to know more about the rules that Zin made for herself and more about her experience of leaving high school early and starting college early. I wanted more stories of her and Charm when they were growing up. I absolutely want to know more about the witch that we get to meet. Despite my desire to want more, this still felt like a fully-formed story with world-building and character development that I was happy with.
I really liked Zin. She knows she is dying and, at this point, is just waiting for it to happen. She literally says that she’s waiting out the clock. It was sad to think of her just waiting to die. But it sounded hard to live the way that she did. I really loved Zin getting to know Primrose. I liked that there was more to her than what we could assumed when looking at a princess. She’s brave and clever.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It talks a lot about different versions of the same story. Also there’s a female/female relationship that was so easy to love. I think that all the characters were ones that I got invested in very quickly. I loved the feminist aspect of the story and I absolutely cannot wait to read the second book.

A huge thanks to Tor for granting me access to an ARC. I've been unsure how to properly rate this as it wasn't at all what I was expecting going into it and given that I haven't seen the Disney film or read the Grimm story in YEARS and there are ALOT of references. So after finishing A Spindle Splintered I went back and rewatched the film and read the fairy tale and can say WOW this book was fantastic and an incredible reimagining/reworking of the classic tale for a modern audience.

This is a fun and yet fiercely feminist retelling that still manages to be a beautiful fairy tale in its own right. **Thanks to both NetGalley and Tor books for an eARC of this book in return for my honest review!**

This is a novella retelling of sleeping beauty in which a modern era young woman with an incurable disease finds herself in an alternate universe and in the middle of Princess Aurora's Sleeping Beauty story. Harrow's writing is what makes this story so great - the plot, the play on the traditional, the little twists and the ending were all good, but its writing and way she makes you look right at all the little moments in this story that is the real strengths.here.

Her imagery and analogies are so on point, and she manages to be both modern and blunt and yet lyrical and lovely at the same time. I definitely hopes she takes on another fairy tale retelling. And I have already recommended to customers who want a little more thought provoking retelling.

Content warning: chronic illness, rape (implied, not depicted)

Zinnia Gray has a chronic illness which will claim her life before she turns twenty-two. Charm, her best friend, throws a Sleeping Beauty-themed birthday party that accidentally causes a dimensional rift which sends Zinnia to the world of another Sleeping Beauty, Primrose. The two embark on a quest to wrench agency and salvation from their own crappy happy-ever-afters, while encountering a multi-verse of other Beauties.

This book is incredibly sad. There are constant reminders of Zinnia’s countdown, and the relationship between her and Charm is filled with so much angst. The love between them is firmly founded by their friendship, and strengthened by everything that unspools in these brief pages.

It’s wonderfully feminist in the way that the girls want to work together to save each other from their own crappy fates. The hope also comes from a place tinged with a wish these girls didn’t have to be strong in the ways that they are. It balances out the fairy tale fun of the story such that it works, with the constant emotive tension. The bit where they meet the Maleficent character is absolutely heart-breaking, and I’m not going to spoil it here. It just works.

It’s not my lane to speak to, but I do want to highlight that there is a bit of magical cure in which the havoc wreaked on Zinnia’s body is reversed at the end of the adventure, though the illness itself remains. If this is a trope you’d rather avoid, I’m not sure how much the series will work to subvert it, so that’s to be determined.

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow is a quick novella that takes readers into the story of Sleeping Beauty. This is the first, but hopefully not the last, Fractured Fable by the author.

With our lead Zinnia, she suffers from a rare condition that leaves almost everyone who has it dead before their 21st birthday. So, as her birthday approaches, her best friend Charm is determined to make their time together count.

(Slight spoiler, I mean, maybe if you've never heard the story of Sleeping Beauty) A chance encounter with an enchanted spindle leaves Zinnia exploring a mystical realm where she might have a second chance.

Sleeping Beauty isn't my favorite story, and maybe that affected my rating. I just wanted a little more depth of character.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

This is a wonderful novella--a "fractured" re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty story with a modern day twist. I'm shocked at how much I enjoyed this book, because I'm definitely not much into this genre, but Harrow gives the perfect feminist, lesbian-affirming twist to the tale.

Zinnia Gray is turning 21, and knows she's living on borrowed time. Afflicted with a disease that causes protein deposits to build up in her organs, she knows her life is short. Her lifelong obsession with all Sleeping Beauty-related stories spurs her best friend Charmaine to organize an epic Sleeping Beauty themed 21st birthday party in "the highest tower in the land" (the guard tower of a defunct penitentiary), complete with a spinning wheel on which Zin pricks her finger. Zin is transported to another dimension, a fairy-tale world with a perfect princess, Primrose, whom Zin knows she needs to save because she knows what's ahead for Primrose. But the events that follow aren't like any fairy tale Zin has ever read, and who knows what might happen to provide a happily ever after?

This tale is fast-paced and creatively told. I was rooting for the best outcome for all involved, and Harrow delivered that for me. There's a great deal of sarcastic humor throughout and I'm all for that! There are surprises around every corner, and I just loved the directions and twists the author took in her writing of this tale. The characters are unique and fun, and the dual timelines? dimensions? are also totally unexpected and fun.

I listened to this as an audiobook and Amy Landon's narration is fantastic. She provides the perfect voice for Zin and I believe helped me to be even more invested in the story than if I had read it on the page.

This is the first book in the Fractured Fables series, and I can't wait to see what happens to Zin and the crew in the next installment.