A Spindle Splintered is a modern, feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty combined with Into the Spider-Verse but for different versions of sleeping beauties. I loved it.
I've loved Alix Harrow's previous books so I knew I would love this one too. Her writing style is so beautiful. Reading this novella with my eyes made me want to go back and reread her other books with my eyes since I've only listened to their audiobooks. There's something about visually reading her writing that makes it captivating in a whole new way. I will read anything she releases.
I did not know the story of Sleeping Beauty before reading this novella (the shame, I know), so I actually had to ask my husband to tell it to me so I could compare it to what was going on in this story. I legitimately didn't even know that she pricks her finger on a spindle and that's how she falls into an accursed sleep. (I haven't seen the Disney movie.) I'd recommend familiarizing yourself with the Sleeping Beauty story beforehand since this retelling is based on it and subverts a lot of normal fairytale tropes.
In this story, it is Zinnia's twenty-first birthday, and she has a rare disease and essentially has a year left to live since no one else with the disease has made it past twenty-two. I won't say how, but Zinnia ends up getting transported into a medieval version of a Sleeping Beauty tale and teams up with her counterpart sleeping beauty to try to save them both before their "curses" take over.
I absolutely loved the illustrations and the fact that they were on nearly every page of the story. Even though they didn't always match the story, they added an ethereal and fairytale-like quality to the book. They were all done by Arthur Rackham, who is a classic children's book illustrator. I thought this was particularly neat, especially since our protagonist, Zinnia, mentions his work at one point.
A Spindle Splintered is funny, fast-paced, engaging, and surprising. I loved the ending, too. I'd definitely recommend it in general, but I think any fairytale fans out there will particularly enjoy it.
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