Spindle Fire Hardcover – April 11, 2017

I am a huge Sleeping Beauty fan and this book did not hit the mark for me. I wanted so much to love this story but the plot is strung out and the characters are not likable. The story revolves around two sets of sisters-Aurora and Isbe (whose adventures we follow) and Malfour and Belcour (the fairies responsible) so you think this will be a tale of sisterly love and family. Let me tell you-it is not. There is no family present and everyone has resentment and hates each other the whole book.Its biggest fault: THEY DRUG OUT AND POORLY WROTE THE "MYSTERY." While I do think unanswered questions can make a book mysterious, the way it was written just made this book annoying, drug out, and a bit confusing. Once we got the answers (at least the few that we do get), I was frustrated because there was no reason to prolong some of them and I did care about anything at that point.The story was unoriginal and just not that exciting. There were multiple love triangles (at least 3)-all of which I found unnecessary. I could hardly care less for ANY of the relationships in the book so I had no interest in finding out who ended up with who or whatever. I had a hard time pushing through the book and really wanting to know the resolve that the characters were destined to get. I really wish the writer didn't try so hard with all the "mystery" because it was just done so badly that eventually I just did not care. And good thing I didn't care, because you get no resolve. NOPE-they had to make this a series, with a cliffhanger ending that just gets you pissed you ever spent all that time reading this book to begin with.Poor writing and lack of interest for these characters made this a trudge and I am sad to not be fully enveloped in my favorite fairy tale. I doubt I will continue this series.

Actual rating: 2.5I didn’t really have a problem with the book except the fact that it was SO slow. It just dragged on and on with out getting to a climax really. The characters were okay if a bit boring. I liked the sister, Isbe, a little more than Aurora. She was more character driven and complex. The only time it got interesting was at the end of the book. I might read the second book only to find out what happens to the characters. There were many things left unresolved that I want to know. I’m not in a hurry to get to it, though.

This was a fun and different retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The beginning of the book started out strong with the story of sisters, Aurora and Isbe. The bond they had was very sweet. The middle of the book had me struggling a bit. Not exactly sure why. There were things going on but not at the level to make me stick with the book. I did like the separate worlds. Was a different take on what happens when you get the "sleeping sickness". The ending started to help explain things better and started to tie things up. There will definitely need to be a book 2 since there are still too many threads dangling to tie the story up neatly. Liked it well enough that I would be up to reading the next one in this series.

Really unique retelling of Sleeping Beauty: one sister lost her sight to a faerie, and the other lost her sense of touch and voice to another. One runs away, one gets pricked by a spindle needle. And it's totally different and cool what happens.There is a bit of a cliffhanger, however, so be warned.Can't wait for the next book!

I loved Spindle fire by Lexa Hillyer. What an interesting combination of fantasy and YA. While it may be about princesses, there is nothing prissy or girly about this book. It’s about empowerment. Hillyer’s retelling of Sleeping Beauty is inspired and the writing is beautiful. And it’s mature, even steamy at times, though not at all lurid. I don’t want to give away the plot because it kept me guessing the whole way through with many exciting twists and turns. I look forward to the next book in the series!

I loved reading this book. It's lovely and strange and plays around with different concepts and motifs under a familiar background. There is deep sisterly love at the heart of the book, and seeds of romance unexplored waiting on the sides for both sisters. After the events of this book I have no idea what awaits dear Aurora and Isbe in the next, but I cannot wait to find out!

Couldn't put it down! Took about 2 days in between other mundane tasks I had to attend to. One of the most compelling YA fantasy novels I have read so far. The world Lexa creates is beautiful and enchanting, with a thrilling twist to the story we now know as Sleeping Beauty. I hope there is a sequel in the future!

I almost stopped reading this book several times because the story line took about half the book to finally get going. It’s an eerie take on Sleeping Beauty and reminded me a lot of Marissa Meyer’s style, though I’m not sure if I like it or not. I’m still going to read the next book, as the last 50 pages are the most exciting and FINALLY give the readers some answers.

I think this may be the first obvious re-telling novel that I've actually reviewed on my website. I know that I read and reviewed Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh, but that didn't read like a re-telling at all, whereas Spindle Fire did. The connections between this novel and the original fairy tale were obvious. However, there were still big twists and turns in this novel that I really liked.It all started with a curse…Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood—and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls; and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape…or the reason for her to stay.When I first started reading Spindle Fire, I was a bit weary because I'm normally not a fan of re-tellings. They have to have big plot twists in order for me to really like them. Spindle Fire is a re-telling of Sleeping Beauty and does have the occasional twist and turns that make it slighter darker than the Disney animation and Hillyer has changed a few things up in her novel.First of all, Aurora actually has a half-sister called Isabelle (Isbe) who is the bastard daughter of the King and I absolutely loved the character of Isbe. She was strong-willed, brave, caring, devoted and free-spirited. She had accepted that she was a bastard child and would always be the lesser out of her and Aurora, but that doesn't stop Isbe from loving her half-sister dearly and doing anything for her. The relationship between Isbe and Aurora was amazing and I was so glad to see a positive, healthy portrayal of sisterly relationships. Aurora and Isbe didn't care that they were only half-sisters because they felt like each others soul mate.What I also liked about this book was that we got to see what happened to Aurora when she went into her deep sleep which was interesting. However this leads me onto the next point... The romance.“One night reviled, Before break of morn, Amid the roses wild, All tangled in thorns, The shadow and the child Together were born."― Lexa Hillyer, Spindle FireThe romance actually wasn't that great between Aurora and her love-interest. I thought it was bland, there was no foundation for the love-interest to happen other than her love-interest was the guy that saves her *rolls my eyes* BUT, I did like Isbe's love interest. It was just so adorable and unexpected. However, this book is set in 1313 and something to do with the love interests within the book (I'm not going to say what), doesn't match up with the time period. The *thing* that happened, wouldn't actually happen, it wouldn't be allowed and would be frowned upon by pretty much everybody.Whilst we're on the topic of the time period, this is something else that slightly let it down for me. There were times where you could tell that the novel was set in 1313 and this was shown by the way certain characters would speak or certain actions that would be undertaken. However, this wasn't consistent throughout the whole novel. At times, it almost seemed like I was reading a modern re-telling and not a re-telling that was set in the 14th century.It is the romance, the inconsistency of the time period, and the sometimes-basic-writing that made this book 3.5 stars. However, there is a sequel coming out in April next year and I am thoroughly looking forward to reading it, as the ending of Spindle Fire just left me with my mouth agape.Overall, this is an enjoyable book with a fair few nods to the Disney animation but also has its own twists on the much-loved classic. The sisterly relationship is probably one of the best things about the book and the character of Isbe was definitely a highlight for me and it's for these reasons that I recommend that anyone who loves a good fairy tale to read this book!

Good fairytale remake Quite dark spin! really happy with book

A beautiful and darkest version of the Sleeping Beauty tale. Magic. I can't wait for the second book. Amazing read!!!