Hi everyone! I’m partnering with Glasstown Entertainment to do a review for Spindle Fire for the upcoming release of the last book in the duology, Winter Glass (coming April 10, 2018!).
Title: Spindle Fire
Author: Lexa Hillyer
Publisher Info / Release: Harper Teen / April 11, 2017
Source: My own personal copy.
Rating: 4 / 5 *’s
Synopsis:
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.
Spindle Fire is a lush fantasy set in the dwindling, deliciously corrupt world of the fae and featuring two truly unforgettable heroines.
Alright, so jumping into this review! Let me first say that I am a sucker for Sleeping Beauty re-tellings. It’s one of my favorite Disney movies ever and I was so excited when I saw this book release last year along with it’s absolutely stunning cover.
The beginning of the book draws your attention right from the start, giving you information about our heroines of the book – Aurora and her sister Isabelle. The author immediately gives us information about their individual characteristics along with showcasing their close bond which is forged even more so when we find out that Aurora’s loss of touch and voice along with Isabelle’s loss of sight is what sets this story apart from any other retelling (along with a few more secrets the further you go along).
But the curse is still a very real problem in this retelling and on Aurora’s sixteenth birthday, a curse from the evil Faerie Queen Malfleur takes place when she touches a spindle and falls into a deep sleep. While the rest of the her castle thinks Aurora is asleep while the rest of them fall into the sleeping sickness with her, she is thrust into an unusual world where nothing is what it seems.
Once Isabelle gets word of her sister being in a deep sleep, she travels across the lands to find her one true love, a prince from a neighboring kingdom, to come and awaken her. Isbe goes through so many different trials to get back to her sister and help to awaken her while Queen Malfleur’s army is threatening their kingdom.
The story is mostly told through Isabelle and Aurora’s point of views but there a few others that helps the reader understand the plot more thoroughly. There were times as I was reading, I wouldn’t comprehend why something was happening at that point in time for the story until the next point of view gave more information. By the end of the book, everything has pulled together to show how all the different correlations and resemblances between other characters will test Aurora and Isabelle’s own relationship.
Lexa gives amazing details throughout the book regarding Aurora’s curiosity of touch and how Isabelle comes to terms with her blindness while embracing all of the advantages it gives her. Her words painted the story beautifully and I can’t wait to see how everything ties together in Winter Glass. Overall, I really enjoyed Spindle Fire and I would recommend it to anyone who loves retellings or fantasy settings.
Additional Information:
About the author:
Lexa Hillyer is the author of the young adult novels Spindle Fire, Winter Glass, and Proof of Forever, as well as the poetry collection, Acquainted with the Cold (Bona Fide Books), the 2012 gold prize winner of the Foreword Book of the Year Award for Poetry, and a recipient of the Melissa Lanitis Gregory Poetry Prize. Her work has been featured in Best New Poets 2012, and she has received various other prizes and honors for poetry. Lexa earned her BA in English from Vassar College and her MFA in Poetry from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine. She worked as an editor at both Harper Collins and Penguin, before founding the production company Glasstown Entertainment along with bestselling author Lauren Oliver. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, their daughter, and a very skinny orange tree.
Where To Buy:
–Amazon
–Barnes & Noble
–Books-A-Million
–Book Depository
And last but not least, make sure to check out the other lovely people on the blog tour! Let me know below what you think of Spindle Fire if you’ve read it and keep a lookout for the release of Winter Glass next week! Thanks for joining me!
a bookish peach 