The Bone Spindle

By: Leslie Vedder

Narrated by: Lindsey Dorcus

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

An instant Indie best seller!

Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones in this thrilling fairy-tale retelling for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and The Cruel Prince.

Fi is a bookish treasure hunter with a knack for ruins and riddles who definitely doesn’t believe in true love.

Shane is a tough-as-dirt girl warrior from the north who likes cracking skulls, pretty girls, and doing things her own way.

Briar Rose is a prince under a sleeping curse who’s been waiting a hundred years for the kiss that will wake him.

Cursed princes are nothing but ancient history to Fi - until she pricks her finger on a bone spindle while exploring a long-lost ruin. Now she’s stuck with the spirit of Briar Rose until she and Shane can break the century-old curse on his kingdom.

Dark magic, witch hunters, and bad exes all stand in her way - not to mention a mysterious witch who might wind up stealing Shane’s heart, along with whatever else she’s after. But nothing scares Fi more than the possibility of falling in love with Briar Rose.

Set in a lush world inspired by beloved fairy tales, The Bone Spindle is a fast-paced young-adult fantasy full of adventure, romance, found family, and snark.

©2022 Leslie Vedder (P)2022 Listening Library

Critic reviews

An Instant Indie Best Seller!

A Popsugar and Bustle Most Anticipated Title of the Year

An Amazon, Bustle, Gizmodo, and Goodreads Best Book of the Month

"Vedder weaves compelling character back stories into a complex plot, rich with detail and magic, and balances heart-pounding action with romance, travel, and thorough worldbuilding. This gender-flipped retelling effortlessly melds romance, adventure, and fantasy. Highly recommended.” (SLJ, starred review)

“A fast-paced and adventurous retelling of Sleeping Beauty.” (Tor)

Very fun but not perfect

Overall this was a fun and unique retelling of Sleeping Beauty. However there were some flaws.

Pros:
-The magic system was very thought out.
-The LGBT rep felt natural and worked well with the story. It even helped explore the different cultures and how they integrate LGBT people into their society.
-The world felt real and lived in.
-The characters used weapons other than swords (just a personal pet peeve of mine. There have literally been hundreds of different kinds of weapons throughout history. Why don't more fantasy books explore this?)
-The author did a great job in working with the strengths and weaknesses of the two main characters. It was clear that they were two peas in a pod even during their first scene together.
-The characters actually felt like teenagers. They didn't feel too naive or far too experienced for their age.

Cons:
-Overall the story felt a bit rushed. While one love story felt understandably cautious given the time frame (at least through the perspective of one individual), the other love story felt like they were in lust rather than love. Though granted, this could just be a character trait for that individual.
-There was far too much telling rather that showing. There were moments where the tension would have worked so much better if the auther would have shown the danger rather than just have the character describe how much danger they were in through inner dialog.
-The ending almost felt like a deus ex machina. I won't go into detail but basically a certain character came in at the 11th hour and it felt very forced.


MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD


-There is a situation that a character is in that was the cause of so much drama that felt to be unnecessary. The character mentioned that she couldn’t tell anyone about her plight but didn't explain why or at least not very well. Even if her situation couldn't be improved I felt would have at least resolved a lot of heartache and frustration if she would have just been honest with her friends and family. Even if they couldn't do anything about it, knowing why she was acting the way she was would have helped ease their minds at least a little.

Cute and fun story

Easy to listen to while I was at work. Fun story that was fully explained but it did end on a cliffhanger. Also it was a very PG book.

Indiana Jones meets Sleeping Beauty in this fast-paced and enjoyable gender-flipped retelling

Wow, what a fun ride! I'm a big fan of fairytale retellings, and THE BONE SPINDLE is now officially at the top of my favorites list. While I loved all the characters, my favorite part of the book was the budding friendship and natural chemistry that builds between Fi and Shane, who initially at best only tolerate each other. The world building is also very well done, and the story builds to an excellent crescendo that left me wanting more. (Seriously, I can't wait for book 2!)

For audiobook fans, the book is narrated by Lindsey Dorcus who does an excellent job bringing all of the characters to life.

If you're a fan of fairytale retellings, Indiana Jones or well plotted and paced fantasy, I highly recommend. This one gets a well-deserved 5-stars from me.

Absolutely loved

I’ve read a lot of YA as a middle school teacher in an effort to get more kiddo engaged in reading and I’ve grown to really appreciate great writing combined with great, relatable characters. Love the two female leads and the depth given to their back story and development. I so appreciated the lack of love triangle that so often crops up in YA novels. I was completely engaged in the world and can’t wait to read the second book!

A good story

I loved the elements of fables in the story, I honestly can't get enough of this genre of fantasy. I will definitely be reading the whole series. Pretty good story overall but not without flaws. I get writing complex flawed characters, but certain tropes are just frustrating. One of the characters, despite being described as smart, is constantly acting very irresponsible by hurting people's feelings and endangering loved ones in an attempt to not do exactly that. I would love to see some growth in them, but by the end of the book, they are still prioritizing their selfish reasons for being emotionally unavailable and it helps no one, not even themselves.

hoping for a sequel next year

Lindsey Dorcus was an excellent narrator. She did voices very well and never felt monotone. Leslie Vedder wrote settings so well! I felt like I was actually there. I could imagine the curse marks easily.
I'm intrigued to see where this story will go next. I'll be on the lookout for sequel(s?) in the coming years.

Sleeping Beauty Retelling & Reversed

Here we are again in the mania of modern retelling haha. But seriously, Vedder took a nice take on this. Ofc there are some flaws, especially in characterization of Shane and Fie ('strong' in the conventional masculine way) and the obvious antagonist 🔺️I do love that Vedder stuck to some of the 'original' fairytale plot points with their spin on it. Now, the performance by Dorcus was just amazing. It was emotional and each of the three POVs were distinct that I had no problems. Overall, cliché but a good read I'd want to see more of.

so bored.

I just found these characters un interesting and their banter was boring and very sort of standard. and I felt like the pacing was bad I don't know if it was the reader or what but it just was boring.