Gold Spun

by Brandie June

Overview

If Nor can’t spin gold, she can always spin lies.

When seventeen-year-old Nor rescues a captured faerie in the woods, he gifts her with a magical golden thread she can use to summon him for a favor. Instead, Nor uses it for a con—to convince villagers to buy straw that can be transformed into gold. Her trick works a little too well, attracting the suspicion of Prince Casper, who hates nobody more than a liar. Intent on punishing Nor, he demands that she spin a room of straw into gold and as her reward, he will marry her. Should she refuse or fail, the consequences will be dire. Desperate for help, Nor summons the faerie’s aid, launching a complicated dance as she must navigate between her growing feelings for both the prince and faerie boy and who she herself wishes to become.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780744301748
Publisher:	CamCat Publishing
Publication date:	06/08/2021
Series:	Gold Spun Duology , #1
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Brandie June spent most of her childhood onstage or reading, as both activities let her live in fantastic stories. She moved to Los Angeles to study acting at UCLA, and eventually branched out into costume design and playwriting. While she spends most of her free time writing, she will still take any excuse to play dress-up, especially if it involves wearing a crown. She happily promotes more stories as a marketing director for kids’ films and anime. When not writing or marketing, she can often be found doing aerial arts, playing board games, drinking too much espresso, and coming up with new art projects. She lives with her husband, two spoiled rescue pups, a spoiled cat, six fish tanks, and five bookshelves. You can find out more about her at www.brandiejune.com and follow her @brandiejune.

Editorial Reviews

"June shines in this retelling of Rumpelstiltskin . . . with memorable characters that will appeal to a broad range of fantasy readers." -SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

From the Publisher

03/08/2021

Familiar fantasy film and bestseller clichés jumble together as this whirlwind YA reimagining of “Rapunzel” sticks with surface-level treatments of class and romance. War orphan–turned–con artist Elenora Molnár, 17, supports her three brothers via theft and petty scams. When she rescues stunningly beautiful faerie Pel from bounty hunters and learns that his blood magic can transmute wool into gold, Nor launches her next con: “mystical straw” that spins into gold. She’s quickly caught by 19-year-old heir to the throne, Prince Casper, who makes a bargain: if she can spin gold to fund his fay war, he will marry her; if not, exile. When she and Pel unexpectedly deliver, Nor is swept into petty court politics and the chance to be a “queen of the people” while war brews with the fay. But Pel, Casper, and Nor’s unwitting love triangle and her own lies threaten to undo everything. June’s debut strings together quantities of tropes—some with misogynist overtones—that never quite cohere into a focused narrative, resulting in material that seasoned YA readers will find outmoded. Ages 13–up. Agent: Steve Hutson, WordWise Media. (May)

Publishers Weekly

05/01/2021

Gr 7 Up—Nor Molnár has always done whatever it takes for her family to survive and has become an adept con artist in the process. Finding herself in possession of a thread of pure gold from a faerie, she develops her best plan yet: Convince the people of a local village she can spin straw into gold. When Prince Casper happens upon her scheme, he attempts to call out her trickery by bringing her to the palace and ordering her to transform the remaining straw for the kingdom. Confronted with precarious odds and a marriage proposal, Nor must continue to spin her lies or face the consequences. June shines in this retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin," giving the perspective of the miller's daughter from the traditional fairytale. There is an emphasis throughout on the cautionary tale that everything comes with a price, as characters navigate through their choices. Nor is a strong, albeit flawed, protagonist who readers will invest in. The supplemental characters are equally captivating and their individual stories weave together a page-turning journey. VERDICT An enchanting retelling with memorable characters that will appeal to a broad range of fantasy readers. A strong choice.—Aliza Mangefrida, Honeoye-Falls Lima Central Sch. Dist., Rochester, NY

School Library Journal

2021-02-05
A con job goes awry in this retelling of “Rumplestiltskin.”

Elenora “Nor” Molnár is a grifter, pulling small sleights of hand and chicanery to keep herself and her three brothers, Finn, Devon, and Jacobie, fed. Orphaned by the Southern War between Reynallis and Faradisia, they’ve led a hard-luck life. When Nor’s unexpected rescue of Pel, an errant faerie, brings her a rich reward, it also attracts the unwanted scrutiny of heir apparent Prince Casper. Recently returned to Reynallis and unprepared to assume kingship, Casper needs a way to replenish the royal treasury in preparation for war against the raiding fay of Magnomel. First a prisoner, then an eager pupil, Nor adjusts to life at court—defeating mean girls, learning etiquette, falling for Casper—while also trying to keep her relationship with Pel a secret. The setting is vaguely pre-industrial European, the era anywhere between the 16th and early 19th centuries, and most characters read as White, although the Faradisians have dark skin. The protagonist is caught in a trite love triangle while same-sex love among secondary characters is presented as a politically, rather than socially, fraught issue. Readers seeking a fresh take on fairy tales deserve better than this generic retread.

A lackluster spin on a familiar fairy tale. (Fantasy. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews