Spindle Fire (Spindle Fire Series #1)
4.2
5
5
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Hardcover
USD
16.19
$16.19
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780062440877 |
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| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 04/11/2017 |
| Series: | Spindle Fire Series , #1 |
| Pages: | 368 |
| Sales rank: | 668,652 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d) |
| Age Range: | 14 - 17 Years |
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Customer Reviews
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Spindle Fire (Spindle Fire Series #1)
4.2 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
5 reviews.
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Spindle Fire is actually a retelling of Sleeping Beauty! This story has seeds of the story that we know, but there are some considerable differences (yay!).
In this version Aurora cannot talk and she cannot feel pain. Those traits have been tithed (traded) away from her thanks to her parents for other fairy gifts that they deemed more important for a princess to have. And she has an older half sister named Isabelle. Isabelle cannot see. Her eyesight has also been tithed away by her parents.
The two have an amazing relationship despite them being so different. Aurora is light and beautiful where Isabelle is dark. Aurora finds solace in stories and Isabelle loves adventure. Two sides of the same coin almost, but their love for each other transcends all.
This is actually where the regular Sleeping Beauty story comes into play. Isabelle was going to be sent away to live in a convent once Aurora was married to a prince (originally supposed to be Prince Phillip) so Isabelle ran away with her friend Gil. Aurora then chased after her sister... and one thing led to another and she pricked her finger on the ever famous spinning wheel that puts her to sleep.
Then things happen to both of them and the story unfolds.
The writing of Spindle Fire feels as though you are reading a fairy tale which only adds to its flavor. It is almost musical in the way that it reads. It instantly pulled me into the world and drowned me. I loved it. I had absolutely no problem imagining this story and the characters within.
I also loved that the story only had little seeds of the original fairy tale and then takes it on to its own new story. There is enough there that you can tell where it has come from, but it is different enough that you don't feel like you are reading the same old story.
I also enjoyed the characters. I actually cannot tell you which sister I liked the most. They each have their own traits that made them their own. They had things I liked and things I didn't, but that only made them more real in my mind. I mean, who likes everything about anyone? And I definitely felt that, especially Aurora, had some character growth and I can only hope to see even more of that in the next book. I do think some of the side characters and their relationships with our main characters fell a little short though and felt some what forced at times. However, the main characters definitely shined.
In short, I really enjoyed this retelling and thought it was done very well!
This review is based on a digital copy provided by Glasstown Entertainment in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.
Find more of my reviews here:
https://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/
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Rich, vivid and imaginative this story captured me from the first page.
This tale is told in an interesting way, present tense which at first might have seemed odd, seemed to plant me there in the moment. Instead of knowing that it had happened I was there experiencing Isbe and Aurora's world.
And what a world it was, rich in explanation without dumping information on top of information it helped me feel submerged into the world and furthered the feeling of being part of it.
While this is a retelling I'd like to say that it holds some of the same principles but it is a reimagined story, beautifully crafted. Everything about the story is unique - Aurora is unable to feel and cannot speak and her half-sister Isbe is blind, they are princesses but they are not feeble. Their character development is impeccable throughout the tale.
The pace of the story was a little slow, given the sort of narrative it is, but all in all it was a wonderful tale. Sleeping Beauty is perhaps one of my favorite retellings to read and this one did not disappoint.
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Intoxicating and spellbinding, Lexa Hillyer's Spindle Fire is an intricate take on Sleeping Beauty.
Spindle Fire introduces us to Isabelle and Aurora, two sisters that couldn't be any more different. The child from the king's illegitimate affair, Isabelle has always been the unwanted child, only deemed useful by the king and queen when her sight was snatched and used to make her sister Aurora more appealing. Isabelle hasn't let it get her down, however; her bond with her sister is stronger than most, and she's always been known as the strong-willed, fearless, and albeit slightly reckless daughter of the king. Aurora is quiet and reserved - two characteristics that aren't helped by her inability to speak and feel. However, there's more to her than just that - she has an incredible way of seeing things, and more importantly, describing them to her sister.
While I enjoyed getting to know both sisters, my favorite was Isabelle. I loved how adventurous and strong she was, how she would go to the end of the world to save her sister, no matter how bad things became. I also enjoyed the transformation Isabelle experienced. Prior to leaving the castle walls she’s never been completely alone, and while at first, she’s shaky about it, it turns out she has everything in her power to succeed. Aurora also experiences a transformation over the course of the book. Similar to her sister, Aurora’s never been truly alone – she’s grown used to have Isabelle communicate for her. Suddenly, given a voice as well as the ability of touch, she finds out that maybe everything she’s believed all her life – especially regarding her parent’s choices – weren’t necessarily the best.
The plot in Spindle Fire was another part I enjoyed. It was filled with adventure, sisterly bonds, and even a touch of romance. I especially enjoyed the wide range of settings and the challenges each presented. From the sea to the castle to the world Aurora is placed in, there wasn’t a time where I wasn’t fully immersed in the respective worlds, dying to know what would happen next. I also found it refreshing that while there was a sleight touch of romance for both Aurora and Isabelle it wasn’t a big focus of the book. I do hope, however, that we’ll see more of certain boys in the future – especially the uncertain fate of one.
Lastly, while Spindle Fire has adventure and romance, its heart consists of the bonds between sisters – how they can make or break you, and more importantly, that at the end of the day your life is up to you. I loved seeing two very different sister relationship over the course of Spindle Fire – the strong one between Aurora and Isabelle and the dark, twisted one between the Fae.
The only aspect that brought Spindle Fire down a little in my eyes is the same problem I saw with Heather Fawcett’s Even the Darkest Stars – the first book problem. A large portion of Spindle Fire revolved around setting up the world and the characters, and while I appreciated the time Lexa placed into this, there was a certain lack of spark that arose- a lack that never let me go from “really enjoying” to “outright loving.”
Regardless, Spindle Fire is perfect for fans of dark fairy tale retellings. I can’t wait for book #2. I have so many questions!
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Among fairytales, Sleeping Beauty is quite simple in the fact that the main plot is just a sleeping curse and a dashing prince who wakes her with a kiss of True Love. But Spindle Fire adds layers of complexity to this old fairytale, developing the story of the faeries, as well as the princess' gifts. Think like what Snow White and the Huntsman was for the story of Snow White. While the original did not involve a sister, Spindle Fire adds an older illegitimate sister, who crosses kingdoms to save her sister from the sleeping curse, developing a story about sisterhood than just a tale of True Love's Kiss.
Firstly, in the world of Spindle Fire, faeries are a race apart from humans with magical powers, but they also live like the nobility. They are sort of grey characters who live to take specific tithes - usually what they want the most. This creation of the faeries and humans' relation with respect to rulers and powers plays a major part in the motives of Malfleur (the Maleficent of this tale). The tithing that humans give to the faeries in exchange for gifts is the basis of the woe in our fairytale. Aurora's parents, in an effort for vanity or plain stupidness, tithe away the two sister's senses - Aurora's voice and touch, and Isabelle's sight. So, we have two physically disabled heroines, who are sort of like emotional supports to each other, and a close bond between them despite the differences in their status and their paths. The story, though mostly told from Aurora's and Isabelle's POV, occasionally folds back into the past to tell pieces of the puzzle from the narratives of other characters like Bellecoeur (Mal's twin sister), Malfleur and other faeries of import. The story of Aurora and Isabelle sort of reflects the one of Bellecoeur and Malfleur, in that something is between them, but in the former, Isabelle is ready to sacrifice it for her sister, while in the latter the thing that comes between them rends the world apart.
Additionally, the romance in this book is slow-building, with Isabelle's quest to find the prince for Aurora makes her fall in love with said prince (I loved that whole arc), while Aurora in the other world is trying to fight back to hers with the help of a hunter who is desperate for a way out. The focus isn't on the romance and it acts more like a nice addition to the plot, which I liked. Hillyer's beautiful prose weaves it all together - the story of the faeries, the story of the sisters, and the story of these two sets of lovers, - into an enchanting story that I honestly couldn't stop reading. This is a wonderful start to a duology, and I can't wait to get the other part of the story.
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