My review of Alix E. Harrow’s book A Spindle Splintered can be summed up in three words: read this book. But maybe I should elaborate…
A synopsis:
It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one.
Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.
Read this book if you enjoy: feminist retellings of fairy tales, plus masterful writing that somehow pulls off a light and charming tone with deep, honest, perspective-shifting observations.
I might just read this again for the pure enjoyment of it, and to keep myself busy while I wait for the sequel.
BOOK:30 