Thornhedge

Thornhedge is the only T. Kingfisher book I hadn't heard of before I accidentally found it at a library I visited last month. It's a dark, twisted retelling of Sleeping Beauty. 

I love retellings of classic tales, especially when they have darker themes than the originals, so I figured I'd like this book, but I didn't expect to fall so in love with its heroine, Toadling. She's kind, curious, but cautiously so, and has a strong sense of what's right. And she can turn into a toad. What's not to love?

I also didn't expect this retelling to twist the original tale as much as it did. So many pieces of the story I am familiar with were molded into something completely different, until only the most important foundational aspects of Sleeping Beauty remained. Instead of a simple story about a lovely princess cursed by an evil queen, Thornhedge is a short story with much more depth. We're presented with the question of nature vs. nurture, there are moral quandaries, and there are relationships deeper than the insta-love of a prince who kisses a sleeping princess.

Thornhedge is one of my favorite retellings of all time and I will easily recommend it to anyone who is a fan of T. Kingfisher, a lover of fairytales, or just, you know, a person.