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Sign up todayThornhedge
Narrator
Jennifer Blom
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Length
3 hours 43 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“A both sweetly and bitterly enchanting spin on Sleeping Beauty, this story of a gentle toad fairy and the horror she keeps locked in a tower is not one you’ve heard before! T. Kingfisher’s world-building is immersive - she’s capable of building entire castles out of just the echoes of timeworn tales. I highly recommend Thornhedge for fans of Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series and Alix Harrow’s Fractured Fables series! ”
— Megan • Underground Books
From USA Today bestselling author T. Kingfisher, Thornhedge is the tale of a kind-hearted, toad-shaped heroine, a gentle knight, and a mission gone completely sideways.
There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.
Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?
But nothing with fairies is ever simple.
Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…
"The way Thornhedge turns all the fairy tales inside out is a sharp-edged delight."
—Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor
T. KINGFISHER (she/her) writes fantasy, horror, and occasional oddities, including Nettle & Bone, What Moves the Dead, Thornhedge, A House with Good Bones, and A Sorceress Comes to Call. Under a pen name, she also writes bestselling children's books. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, dogs, and chickens who may or may not be possessed.
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Reviews
"I opened, I devoured. Absolutely delightful and full of charm and truth." —Naomi Novik, New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education
"Immensely charming, unexpected, full of heart, I was utterly delighted by this incredibly original retelling of Sleeping Beauty." —Katherine Arden, bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale
"Kingfisher never fails to dazzle."—Peter S. Beagle, Hugo-, Nebula-, and Locus-Award winning author of The Last Unicorn
“T. Kingfisher’s delicate, bittersweet style of fantasy is like nothing else on shelves at the moment and, as a result, she’s an author whose work I would read without knowing one single fact about it. But, in case you need facts, this Sleeping Beauty retelling with a twist is a perfect blend of sharp-edged humor and horror-tinged heart.”—Paste Magazine
“Haunting and unusual—a unique retelling of a classic tale!" —Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of the Tortall series
"The way Thornhedge turns all the fairy tales inside out is a sharp-edged delight." —Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor
"Thornhedge is Vernon at her most Vernon-est. . . . There is whimsy and heart and pain. This story is both kind and brutal as it shows how narrow the power of love is.”—Locus
"Toadling will break your heart and mend it at the same time, and that is how you know that Thornhedge is a story by T. Kingfisher. I loved this book so much."—Travis Baldree, New York Times bestselling author of Legends & Lattes
"Kingfisher’s trademark wit and compassion transforms “Sleeping Beauty” into a moving meditation on guilt, grief, and duty, as well as a surprisingly sweet romance between outsiders. There are no false notes here.”—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
"At every turn, Kingfisher subverts familiar fairytale tropes into a fresh, complex, and extremely human story about loneliness, and the protective barriers we put around ourselves." —Sunyi Dean, author of The Book Eaters
"Kingfisher weaves elements of fairy tale, folklore, and history in this beautifully crafted story of loss, endurance, terror, and kindness. Thornhedge is sheer magic from beginning to end!" —Juliet Marillier, author of the Blackthorn & Grim and Warrior Bards series
"This marvelously fractured fairy tale takes a well-known and well-loved story and turns it completely around. . . . Highly recommended for anyone who loves to see fables fractured into new and different shapes, similar to Alix E. Harrow’s A Spindle Splintered.”—Library Journal, STARRED review