3.75 stars

Spellbound is character-driven fantasy retelling of Sleeping Beauty, set in the Kingdom of Bavaugh. After a long battle with infertility, the queen finally gives birth to an heir, a princess. The princess is presented to the Masters, all of who bestow a magical gift upon her; except one, who comes bearing a curse. When the queen unexpectedly gives birth to a second twin shortly after, she sets off the first in a series of deceits in a desperate attempt to save her daughter's life. Briar, who has been blessed with every gift the Master's could grant, is swept away in dead of night to be raised by Master's apprentice Sel in secret, while her sister Talia is raised in the castle with minimal freedom, due to the queen's fears and the risk of her ordinariness being discovered.

Spellbound takes place over the span of 17 years and is told from multiple perspectives. This book is marketed as a feminist retelling, purely because there is no prince to save the day and all the protagonists are women, but I feel like that is a bit of a bold claim. Unfortunately I'm noticing a trend in books marketed as feminist retellings/historical fiction, where the 'feminism' is simply a lack of male main characters OR a lot of female characters being victimised, and that's basically it. There was so much room in this book for meaningful commentary about women in power, and how women specifically suffer under class systems, but it's all very surface-level. I probably wouldn't have been so nitpicky about this if it wasn't literally marketed as feminist fiction. I also struggled with the lack of intersectionality in the conversation, which AGAIN, is probably only because I was specifically looking for it.

All that aside! I definitely enjoyed the plot and overall pacing. I think the author chose really clever spots to check in with each character/storyline. The magic system is simple but effective - I wouldn't recommend if you're looking for heavy fantasy because that it is not, but the fantasy elements are used sparingly in the right context. My favourite characters were Briar and Sel, who objectively drew the short straw and spend their years together parading as a family and moving unannounced at the drop of a hat. Sel, who originally agreed to take Briar from the queen due to the promise of a hefty reward, becomes enamoured with the girls and struggles to draw the line between guardian and mother as the years pass by. I also think the author did a great job of writing consistent and era-appropriate dialogue throughout the book.

This is the first Sleeping Beauty retelling I've read and I came away pretty satisfied. I rated it 3.75 stars, but honestly could've been 4.5 stars or higher if the feminist themes had been better ingrained. I think historical fantasy fans, specifically fans of the regent era, will really enjoy this if you they go in without expectations.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC copy of this book.

I love reading fairytale retellings and reimaginings and Spellbound did not disappoint! I was gripped from the first chapter and while the pacing of the overall plot was quite slow I found myself hooked waiting to see how the story would end.

It follows the POV of five characters: Briar who was cursed at birth (sleeping beauty), Talia her twin sister who is not cursed, Sel who is a training master, Queen Violana the twins mother and Meredith the lady in waiting to the Queen. The book follows the 17 years leading up to the twins birthday and the day that Briar's curse will finally come into fruition. .

The author is very descriptive and imaginative in her narrative and world-building. The pacing of this book was slow but I felt that I enjoyed the book nonetheless as each of the characters perspectives were very compelling. The ending resolved quite quickly and was bittersweet.

Thank you Penguin Random House AU, NetGalley and Georgia Leighton for the chance to read and review this e-ARC.

‘𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆.’

What a glorious retelling of Sleeping Beauty with a twin twist. I adore fairytale retellings, my favourite series to date being The Lunar Chronicles (which I read well over ten years ago!!). When I saw this on NetGalley, I literally leaped to request!!

The story has all the magical elements a fairytale lover dreams of; sorcerers, curses, forbidden magic, outcast Queens, confinement to island castles and names like ‘Lalious Grele the Mighty’. Spellbound follows multiple POVs, most namely separated twins Briar and Talia and their respective ‘Auntie’ and mother, Sel and Violanna. Their stories of self discovery, hardship and sacrifice, suffused with the essence of magic and romance, were such a joy to read. An enchanting little escape from reality after long work days. Conjures similar feelings to that of the Once Upon a Broken Heart series.

Spellbound is a very interesting retelling of Sleeping Beauty – what if the cursed princess had a twin? What if, after being cursed, she is taken away into hiding whilst her uncursed sister is raised in her place, as a way to somehow circumvent the curse? I loved how there were multiple povs in the story – from the two princesses Briar and Talia – to the Queen, her loyal head Lady in Waiting, and Sel, an apprentice to a Master (this world’s version of sorcerers). It really delves into the complicated relationships these women have, especially with the queen in regard to the princesses, longing for the princess she sent away into hiding whilst ignoring the one living with her in the castle. I didn’t really like the Queen’s character in that regard, although I understood her motivations. I really liked Sel’s character and the relationship that grew between her and Briar – a cursed child that was thrust upon her unexpectedly. There are nods to the original fairytales, with the names of the princesses, the ‘Blessing’, as well as spinning wheels making a surprising appearance towards the ending. Speaking of the ending… it felt a little anti-climactic? After all the build-up towards it, I wasn’t expecting it to be rushed and overcome so quickly. The ending felt like it was setting up a sequel, which if it was, fantastic, I can’t wait to read it! But it looks like this is intended to be a standalone… so, yeah, I didn’t feel that the ending wrapped things up neatly with the characters. Still, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Sleeping Beauty and female-centric retellings told from multiple povs.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-ARC.
This is a difficult one for me to rate, because while I appreciated the premise behind the feminist retelling of a well-known fairytale, with POV’s from multiple key women, I had issues staying engaged with this book. Even though this story touches on some adult themes, it seems to be written in YA fashion, and with the amount of POVs in this story I struggled to connect with the characters.
I would be interested in following this author in the future, but unfortunately this book wasn’t for me.