A Spindle Splintered

By: Alix E. Harrow

Narrated by: Amy Landon

Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

"A vivid, subversive and feminist reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, where implacable destiny is no match for courage, sisterhood, stubbornness and a good working knowledge of fairy tales." (Katherine Arden, author of the Winternight trilogy)

USA Today best-selling author Alix E. Harrow's A Spindle Splintered brings her patented charm to a new version of a classic story.

It's Zinnia Gray's 21st 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 21.

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tordotcom

©2021 Alix E. Harrow (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2021 NPR Best Book of the Year

Very good

This book is great for pasting time and a thriller but not the best for children under the age of 10.

Pretty fun short YA

I love Alice Harrows writing but her attention to the delivery for he story was certainly for a younger audience YA audience. Writing quality was meh… it’s a great beach day read.

Quick Retelling

What a nice retelling. Bitter sweet laced in reality. Great for caregivers. Made me laugh several times and reminded me of friends that are family. Highly recommend.

Not the Best but Not the Worst

A.E.H. is an amazing writer and her characters usually have more depth and better backstories than the ones in this book, and for whatever reason it felt rushed. The heroin came off as ditzy and sort of dumb, but I think that had more to do with the narrator, although she did use some funny voices for various characters. Will still listen to Harrows “Mended Mirrors” when it’s released, but I’ll be totally disappointed if it’s like this one.

Sweet, fun, but not a lot of complexity

I enjoyed the basic concept and the characters, but the story was a bit simplistic. It’s a fun passive listen.

Always a fun time

Harrow doesn’t disappoint! I wish the reader had had a little more…I dunno…chutzpah. She was pretty bland and I found myself thinking that if I had read the book myself I might have felt much more excited during the exciting parts. But the story itself was really great. As usual.

Quick Retelling with LGBTQIA+ Rep

Quick new adult read with an LBGTQIA+ twist. Trigger warnings for hospitals. Trigger warnings for terminal illness, well not as deep as other works. It is still a great lesson.

The narrator did great job of making the characters sound young without making them sound like children. All of the main characters are adults, which is fantastic.

I listen to this right after listening to 10,000 doors of January. If you were expecting that kind of depth, this is not that it is however a different take on sleeping beauty. I find it a refreshing take. No spice. No gore. Check your medical triggers.

ANOTHER

Alix E. Harrow can do no literary wrong. This book, I like like it." *throws book on the ground* ANOTHER!"

best easter egg meme drop in decades.

no actual surprises, but that just means the story makes sense and is satisfying to its own rules. (MCU, GOT, Dr Who, I'm glaring at you...)

But "They're lesbians, Harold" legit killed me.

A Woman Who Controls Her Own Narrative

A new tale of an empowered sleeping beauty. A tale where women have a choice to choose their own destiny beyond the will of princes and kings. And "beyond shitty medieval gender roles." (my favorite line in the story).