#I love Toadling

[freckles-and-books]

Halfway through this one and LOVING it so far.

[jjelliacee]

she was such a small, inoffensive toad and such a small, inoffensive human

[kaypanda]

⚠️Spoilers⚠️

Page 127

Toadles the fortune teller is the best thing I have ever read!! And he doesn’t work for less than 5 kritters, lol. Tadg and Toadles are going to get rich off this scheme!

[salmonseagull]

Toadles!! My guy!

[libraryleopard]

Adult fantasy novella

Toadling is a human changeling stolen away by the faeries and raised as one of them and now guards a thorn-shrouded tower, keeping away knights and princes who hope to break the curse

When an idealistic knight arrives after years alone, Toadling must confront what she's been guarding within the tower

Turkish Muslim love interest (light M/F romance unfolds across the novel)

[coldest-bowl-of-soup]

In response to the Neil Gaiman news I would like to share some other authors and books that I think people who like Neil Gaiman’s books would like. Since while Neil might not be the person we all thought he was, his stories are undeniably good. Though there are also so many other authors that write amazing stories. So hopefully this might help someone find another author whose writing you will love just as much. Please share other books and authors you like.

If you liked: Coraline -

The Babysitter Lives by Jones Stephen Graham

High school senior, Charlotte babysit twins the night before Halloween only to find out that she isn’t the only one haunted by the past. This book features a POC lesbian protagonist and an alternate universe.

If you liked: Anansi Boys

The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die - Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay

A story of three generations of women. Pishima died at 70 years old is intent on haunting her family for forcing her in perpetual widowhood since her husband died when she was 12. Somlata marries into the once proud family and attempts to save the family while being haunted by her husband’s aunt. Then there is Boshon a rebellious teenager yearning for love. It’s a story of family, magical realism, womanhood.

If you liked: Stardust

Nettle & Bone - T. Kingfisher

Marra, a third born Princess goes on a journey to save her sister from an abusive husband. Unfortunately, her target is a crown prince of a powerful country so she must search for help before starting her journey. Filled with impossible tasks, a gravewitch, fairy godmothers, and magic this book is a fun yet dark spin on traditional fairy tales.

Thornhedge - T. Kingfisher

Dark retelling of sleeping beauty told in the point of view of Toadling a human raised by fairies tasked to protect the young princess. A novella that puts a new point of view of a classic tale.

If you liked: Good Omens

The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker

A story about a golem created to be a wife of a man who died coming to America and a Jinni released in New York City. Set in 1899, this story is about friendship, love, and finding a place in a new world. Featuring slow burn love and a bit of excitement.

The Golem of Brooklyn - Adam Mansbach

A Brooklyn art teacher accidentally creates a golem, a creature made of clay to protect the Jewish people during times of violence. After learning to talk after binge watching tv the golem becomes determined to take down a group of white nationalists.

I also liked the following authors:

Darcy Coates - she writes amazing ghost stories

Darcie Little Badger - read Elatsoe, it is so good

[asexualbookbird]

insert Imagine Dragons Radioactive Gasp Here

Hi. Coming up for air. I'm surrounded by yarn ends and fabric scraps I'm sweaty and covered in paint. I was a tiny bit productive this July! Made lots of progress on the Irish Lullaby Blanket, painted our balcony, started a few projects I really shouldn't have, and oh yeah! READ EIGHT BOOKS?? Who am I. I'm twelve books ahead of schedule according to goodreads, eleven by StoryGraph standards. It's wild. It helps that my library is holding an adult summer reading bingo contest and I fully intend to fill out the entire board.

The City We Became by NK Jemisin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- WAOW. I initially rated this four stars, but sitting on it and coming back to it now, it was absolutely a five star read. I would love to reread it, the world was intriguing, and the AUDIO NARRATOR WAS STUNNING! I do try not to judge the contents of a book by it's narrator, but what a performance! When library bingo is over, I'm listening to book two ASAP.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Oh look! A Classic I actually enjoyed! I don't want to judge horror on whether or not I'm scared, because it IS kind of tough to get to me, but this was fun! I could see the spooks! Even if it wasn't spooky For Me, Personally, it was still a fun time!

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Oh. Ouchie. A shortie, but a goodie, I'm kicking myself for returning the ebook immediately because I would've liked to go back and reread bits of it if not ALL of it. A not exactly new take on fae, but an interesting one that I actually enjoyed.

Starling House by Alix E Harrow ⭐⭐⭐⭐- I did NOT intend to read this directly after Hill House but I am SO glad I did. THE PARALLELS!!!! The circular story!!!! THE STARLINGS!!!! I laughed, I cried, I yelled at Arthur, there were surprises I genuinely didn't expect, but made so much sense in hindsight. I don't exactly buy the romance, but I'll let it slide this one time.

Ghost Station by SA Barnes ⭐⭐- Two stars is Very Generous. And I'm sticking to it because the concept is still intriguing and if you squint there was some Leech stuff going on. Maybe I should just reread Leech. Sigh. Ophelia was hired to do ONE. JOB. To make sure none of the team members have Want To Murder Disease. And then Birch shows signs of Want To Murder Disease and she KEEPS IT QUIET BECAUSE *checks notes* HE KNOWS HER DAD HAD WANTS TO MURDER DISEASE. Everyone is stupid. They're scientists and everyone is fucking stupid. It wasn't scary, because EVERYONE WAS FUCKING STUPID. Biting all of them.

Thornhedge by T Kingfisher ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Oh T Kingfisher, you have never disappointed me, why do I read anything else. Another fun take on the fae! It's so hard to get me to like a fae book, so GOOD JOB KINGFISHER! I liked the new take on Girl Locked In A Tower, I liked that Toadling was surrounded by love and still encouraged to do what makes her happy. Again, I almost reread (listened. Whatever) this immediately just for funsies. Another banger from T Kingfisher.

The Sun and The Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro ⭐⭐⭐ - I've been waffling on this rating a LOT. Disclaimer that I haven't read any of Riordan's stuff since the OG Percy Jackson series, and that was ages ago so I can't compare this to that. This was a fun little book, but it felt a little heavy handed with the themes even for a middle grade. It doesn't make me want to read more, but I'm not mad I read it at all.

The Scapegracers by HA Clarke ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Okay. Listen. Look. Look at me. Was this The Perfect Book? No absolutely not. Was it a banger? Did I have fun? YES ABSOLUTELY YES! It's a book I could've needed in high school, but I wouldn't have been mature enough to appreciate it so I'm glad I have it NOW. Angry Queer Teen Girls will run the world. And I'm here for it. So looking forward to the rest of the series, I need to know what sort of mischief these girls get up to. I hope they curse another fuckboy. They deserve it.

BONUS! I also watched The Haunting of Hill House on netflix! One bingo square said "read a book then what the movie" and I really thought Mike Flanagan's Hill House was a movie but no it was ten (10) hours of spooky fucked up family dynamics. Also Nate Ford was there. Naturally. It was good! It was creepy! I wanna watch it again JUST FOR THE TREE HOUSE. I was skeptical when I first started because who the hell are you people (Steve, Shirley) but no it was fun! But also. Fuck Steven and Shirley. Congrats to Theo and moving in with her girlfriend of one week, peak lesbian stereotypes. Biggest complaint is with Mike Flanagan and his need to not only kill cats, but get close up shots of said dead cats. What's up with that my dude. What did cats ever do to you?

Plans for August (how am I saying that) are The Bone Season side by side comparison with the first edition and the tenth anniversary edition. I'm counting that as two books, I think, because it IS two books, and looking at them next to each other, there's a pretty sizable difference in page count! No clue about word count. This is part of book bingo (reread a book you didn't enjoy the first time), and this has helped me realise that I've been avoiding this for a Reason. I truly and surely did not enjoy The Bone Season and have no desire to experience that again. Don't know what to do with this information. So. I'm rereading it. Yay.

I have a few sewing projects I'm working on, and I am SO CLOSE to finishing the Irish Lullaby Blanket! It's exciting! So lets go!! Bring it on, August!!

[carmillapixel]

Little sketchy painting of Toadling from Thornhedge by @tkingfisher . I sketched her originally as soon as I finished the book when it first came out, but I redid it digitally with some colour recently after spotting it in my sketchbook. I really love her, she’s so sweet.

I can’t recall if she has clothes in the book, but in my head she didn’t when she was watching over the castle in the thorns, as she was mostly in toad mode, and you don’t need clothes when you’re a toad. I couldn’t easily picture what clothes she would even want to wear. I have another (the original) version without the tasteful lily pads, which I prefer, but I guess this one is less risky to post!

[godzilla-reads]

🐸 Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

A Sleeping Beauty retelling, this book focuses on a changeling child, a poor knight, and a fairy godmother named Toadling who is tasked with keeping a blessing and a curse.

Toadling may be my favorite character. She is apologetic, nervous, and always trying to do the right thing. This story had so many layers to it and I was surprised that only 116 pages contained so much! I love that Toadling is not beautiful and her family is not beautiful by normal standards. I love that she ends up befriending Halim even though she keeps telling herself not to. I love that in the end, they did what needed to be done.

Such a good book.

[agardenandlibrary]

Books Read in April 2024

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

I LIKED IT. Fun fairy tale retelling. I love the child-eating swamp creatures. Has Toadling eaten a human child? Unclear!

Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold:

Memory

Komarr

A Civil Campaign

(all destined for the podcast)

The Five Crowns of Okrith series by A.K. Mulford:

The Evergreen Heir. It was great to follow Neelo and see their story. I think I would’ve liked to hear Talhan explain himself a little more. The jump from “we’re besties” to “suddenly I am very serious about being your partner” was ??? am i too ace for this, is that what’s happening.

Book 5 soon!

In the Forests of the Night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Written when the author was 13! What can I say. It was written by a 13 year old. (complimentary)

Kiesha’ra series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes:

Hawksong

Snakecharm

Falcondance

Wolfcry

Wyvernhail

Hawksong was my favorite.

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

Deeply ironic to have finished this book the day before I went to a Hozier concert right before I had to get up at 4am to go to the airport. Sorry, Mr. Walker, I'm a dumbass.

Very informative and easy to follow. Lots of neat information!

[mybrothercainmybrotherabel]

Exploration

TW: hanging, colonial gun violence

Jasper led the way through the woods of the Human Realm with his friends Dexter, Kirce, Archie, and Blythe behind him. Was he using this excursion as an excuse to show off?

Perhaps a little.

Out of the five of them, he had the most experience in the Human Realm. So when Kirce, the girl he had a massive crush on for the past six months, started talking about how much she wanted to visit, he had jumped on the opportunity to be a guide.

“It’s kind of creepy here, isn’t it?” Dexter said. He had been reluctant to agree to come in the first place, ever since people started going missing a few years ago rumors were circulating that the Human Realm was no longer safe.

“What do you mean?” asked Archie.

“I figured in the Human Realm we would see Humans.” Dexter said, “But we’ve been walking for at least a mile and I haven’t seen anything. It’s weird. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.”

“You can always go back if you’re too scared.” Blythe teased.

“I am not scared!” Dexter retorted quickly. “If anyone should be scared it should be you. You don’t even have a palisman yet.”

Blythe, who was Dexter’s younger sister turned red. “If you brag about that stupid thing one more time I’m going to shove the whole staff up your…”

Kirce’s palisman, Toadles jumped on Blythe’s head and croaked loudly.

“Knock it off,” Kirce said, “You two are worse than children.”

Jasper’s palisman, a blue jay named Elinor rolled her eyes. Jasper smiled at Kirce, to show that he agreed with her and was happy that at least the two of them were mature and reasonable. Kirce however wasn’t looking back at him, his heart sank a little.

“What was that?” She asked.

“What was what?” Jasper followed her line of sight, he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“I saw something move in the trees.” Kirce said.

“It was probably just an animal,” Jasper replied,

“There are a lot of them over here.” He hoped whatever she had seen was familiar to him, he would love to have the chance to impress her with his vast knowledge of Human Realm fauna.

“What if it’s a human?” Blythe asked excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to see one!”

“It could be a witch hunter.” Archie said, “OoooOOOOoooooOoo….”

He wiggled his fingers right behind Kirce’s ear. Kirce elbowed him in the stomach.

“Knock it off, it’s not funny!”

“Kirce, I have been coming here for years,” Jasper reminded her, “and I have never seen one of these so-called witch-hunters. Relax. Most humans will go out of the way to avoid you, and the ones who don’t are more curious than dangerous.”

“Hmm…” Kirce didn’t looked convinced. “Toadles, go check it out anyways.”

Blythe rolled her eyes. “Worry wart.” She said, “No offence, Toadles.”

Toadles responded with a croak, though Jasper did not know him well enough to tell whether or not he was offended.

What happened in the following few moments happened so fast that Jasper could hardly keep up. There was a loud cracking noise immediately drowned out by a scream of anguish as Kirce nearly collapsed onto the ground. Jasper rushed to her side as Dexter and Archie cast a plant spell to pull whoever was hiding out into the open. A human boy fumbled to hold onto his own strange looking staff as he was hoisted into the air by Dexter and Archie’s vines. He dangled by his ankles and the staff slipped from his hands and clattered down amongst the tree vines. It took Jasper a moment to realize that the boy��s staff was dripping in bright green magic. Palisman blood…

Kirce was nearly hysterical.

“You’re going to pay for that!” She screamed, summoning fire to her hands.

“Kirce, stop!” Jasper grabbed her arm.

“He killed Toadles!” Kirce screamed, “I’m going to kill him! I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!”

Dexter, Blythe, and Archie all turned to try and console Kirce, or restrain her. Jasper had heard it said that the pain of losing one's palisman was enough to drive a witch mad with anguish. Kirce wasn’t thinking straight. In the state she was in, she could easily lose control and end up hurting herself or one of them. Jasper was too preoccupied trying to calm her down that he didn’t even think of watching the human. The next thing anyone knew, the human had escaped.

Kirce ripped herself away from her friends’ restraint.

There was a loud bang that rattled Jasper’s eardrums.

He saw Kirce’s body fall back and hit the ground as if time had stopped moving properly.

“KIRCE!” He screamed, he fell to his knees beside her. Blood poured from a hole in her chest.

Her eyes stared blankly at nothing.

Jasper shook.

She was dead.

She was dead.

For a moment no one could move. No one could breathe. No one could think.

When thoughts returned to Jasper’s mind they all repeated the same thing.

He killed Kirce.

The human killed Kirce.

Fury filled Jasper’s mind and body.

The world seemed to turn red, red like the blood blossoming across Kirce’s dress.

Instantly, Elinor transformed into a staff in Jasper’s hand. This human was going to die. He was going to pay for Kirce’s death with his own blood.

Before they could act there was another boom, like the one that had killed Kirce. More humans rushed forward from the trees, several of them carrying the same staffs that the boy had. Others had various other weapons.

Outnumbered, Jasper mounted his staff and took to the air.

A moment too late he realized that Blythe did not have her own palisman yet.

He summoned shards of ice around her to try and fend off the humans, Dexter and Archie each summoned their own defenses, but there were too many humans.

“BLYTHE!” Dexter screamed, as his sister was pinned down by the mob of angry humans.

“We have to go!” Archie shouted.

“Not without Blythe!” Dexter insisted.

Jasper dove for his younger friend.

BANG!

Before his eyes, Elinor exploded from the front of his staff. He felt it in his chest.

One moment she was there, the next she was nothing but a spray of bright green magic.

One moment his heart was beating, the next it was shattered like the shards of palistrom wood that flew back to hit his face.

The world was spiraling.

There was no up, no down, no future, no past.

Just that moment of watching Elinor explode in front of him.

He felt an arm around him, but was too disoriented to realize it was Archie’s until they were almost back to the portal. They crossed the threshold and collapsed into the red grass on the other side.

“We have to go back!” Dexter shouted. “We have to go back!”

“Are you insane?” Archie asked, “They’ll kill us!”

“They have Blythe! They have my sister!”

“Did you see how fast they murdered Kirce? That human didn’t even draw a spell circle. Blythe is probably dead already.”

Dexter jumped on Archie and started punching him.

“She’s my sister!” he screamed, “She’s my little sister!”

Jasper was still in shock, still covered in the splatter of Elinor’s blood, but Dexter was right. They couldn’t leave Blythe.

He forced down his own grief and tried to keep his hands from shaking as he pulled out the vial of Titan’s Blood and re-opened the portal.

“You’re mad.” Archie said. “They’ll kill you, too.”

“If she’s still alive, we have to try.” Jasper said.

Dexter and Jasper returned to the Human Realm. They stumbled through the underbrush, trying to follow the sounds of shouting. Jasper felt half asleep. The world seemed like a blur of nightmare and reality.

They caught up with the crowd of humans. Dexter tried to run ahead, but Jasper held him back, evaluating the scene before moving. Jasper didn’t think there was anymore room in his mind for horror. Between seeing Kirce’s body lifeless on the ground and watching Elinor explode before his eyes, it seemed impossible for any more atrocities to take place within such a short amount of time.

Then he saw Blythe’s body.

She was hanging from her throat in the branches of a tree as the Humans gathered around. Her face was bloated and purple, blood seeped from her eyes which were bulging out of their sockets. Jasper had just enough sense left in him to body block Dexter before he could run out and expose them both. He put his hand over his friend’s mouth and wrestled him back deeper into the woods. They managed to make it back to the portal before Jasper vomited. Before he knew what was going on, Dexter was on top of him. Jasper didn’t even feel the first couple of punches. He wasn’t even fully aware of what was going on until Archie pulled Dexter off.

“You said it was safe!” Dexter shouted. “You told us the Human Realm was safe! You had been there dozens of times! You said there was nothing to worry about!”

Jasper tasted blood in his mouth. His brain still couldn’t quite connect the pain coming from his face with the blood pouring from his nose or the fists that just assaulted him.

“I…I thought…” He struggled to speak, “I…Nothing like this had ever happened before…”

“Blythe is dead!” Dexter screamed, “Kirce is dead!”

“I…” The world still didn’t make any sense. Jasper was shaking.

“It should have been you!” Dexter shouted, “You were the one who led us there! If anyone should have died, it should have been you!”

Jasper couldn’t disagree.

He was still in a daze when he stumbled home. Upon seeing the blood covering him, his mother ran to his side. His little sisters stared at him in terror. Both of them were still in their nightgowns, stuck in the house after catching the common mold at school. If they hadn’t been sick, surely, they would have gone with. Evelyn was older than Blythe by two years after all. What if they had been there? They would be dead now, too, just like Blythe and Kirce were.

Jasper couldn’t breathe. He broke down. None of the boys talked to each other again after that. None of them fully disclosed what they had seen. Jasper made a new palisman, and Blythe and Kirce’s deaths were chalked up to tragic accidents. But Jasper never forgot, and he made a vow to himself that he would never lose anyone else like that again.

[redheadgleek]

Books read July-September

July The Grace of Wild Things by Heather Fawcett. A completely enchanting Anne of Green Gables retelling. Utterly delightful and unique. Book Lovers by Emily Henry. My first book that I’ve read of hers and it set high standards for the rest of them. I loved the characters, I loved the romance, and it just made me feel all the feelings. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh (audio). A retelling of a Korean fairytale that I knew nothing about. I loved the voice actor (she sounded a lot like Christina Chong from Strange New Worlds). Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune (audio). Drove to Yellowstone and back and this was one of my listens. I think it was even better as an audiobook – the voices were great. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I loved this book and I didn’t think I would, but it was written for my generation and dealt a lot with college and nostalgia and evolving friendships. A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. I don’t like her horror as much as I like her fairy tales and fantasy. A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland. A m/m romance set in a fictional Islamic-like world. The world building was fantastic, the magic building was disappointing, and the romance was sweet, if slow-building. The Celebrants by Steven Rowley. I almost gave up on this entirely after the first chapter, because it felt pretentious and dull and “look how adult we are because we are talking about using drugs”, but I kept reading because I liked the premise and by about half way through, I realized that i really liked the story and most of the characters. College nostalgia seems to be my thing right now, and this really captured that friendship – they just all needed less reliance on substances when having conversations. It made me want to do something similar with my friends.

August: Strange Planet by Nathan Pye. I really like his comics so this was a fun quick read from the library. In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune (audio). The book on the drive back from Yellowstone. I didn’t really like the voice actor, which is surprising because I loved his voices in The House in the Cerulean Sea. The rhythm of his voice was off-putting. Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. Second book of the Arc of the Scythe series. A very solid second book. Nottingham: The True Story of Robyn Hood by Anna Burke. A gender swapped Robin Hood story – fast read and fun. The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson. Friend recommendation. My first Brandon Sanderson read. This was a well developed little novella and an ending that surprised me and yet fit quite well. The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran (audio). Truly depressing but important look at how systemic racism and blatant racism lead to the wealth gap. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. Lovely book, with interwoven characters, and plenty of gray humor. The Moon by Night by Madeleine L’Engle. I had a hankering to reread this after my failed to launch summer romances. Definitely felt the age of this book (written in the 1960s) and the pacing is much different than I remembered, but still some sweet parts. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. I don’t even know how to describe this book. Space opera meets Faust? Foster by Claire Keegan. So much atmosphere packed in this short story. Beach Read by Emily Henry. Not quite as good as Book Lovers, but a close second. They just never read on a beach… Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land by Toni Jensen. Book club. This was unexpectedly powerful and the theme of gun violence through was subtle but important. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. This was definitely a “you are my story had I had done what I could not do” for me so it probably hit me a little differently than others. It worked well as a When Harry Meets Sally rewrite. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher. A short Sleeping Beauty retelling of a sort. I adored Toadling. Meet the Austins by Madeleine L’Engle. Went back to read book 1 since I felt like I had missed things with the Moon at Night. I don’t know if I’ll read the whole series again. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. I keep expecting really terrible things to happen to her characters so I’m on edge when reading, but it’s never as bad as I fear.

September: Happy Place by Emily Henry. I was quite in my unhappy place by the end of this book and could grumble about it for hours. The Toll by Neal Shusterman. I can understand why there was some disappointment with the ending of the trilogy but I thought it was quite fitting and I loved the last chapter. Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg. Made me really miss Ruth Bater Ginsberg, but I also liked the focus on how friendships enrich adults lives (I’m liking this theme of friendship much better than the problems with mothers of the first half of the year). A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, and The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik. Friend recommendation. I found the 1st person narrative to be claustrophobic as it was all stream of consciousness and the world-building a little too pretentious, but the story was still enjoyable. Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall. His books are always hit or miss for me and this one fell into more of the miss bucket – the mystery solved itself halfway through, the next quarter was my least favorite romance trope, and then it was off for another mystery.

Currently reading: Firekeeper’s Daughter (tried this one on audio and it was too much teenager angst, so reading it instead, Braiding Sweetgrass (audio), The Romance Rx (I’m so determined to find a good doctors in training story. I’m a quarter of the way through and can tell you that this won’t be it).

Friend recommendations still to go: The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel, Sweet Like Jasmine by Bonnie Gray, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.

[ijustkindalikebooks]

Review: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher.

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? If only. 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…

I honestly read this ARC more than once, because I loved it so much - I am coming fast to the conclusion that T. Kingfisher could never make a bad book, and this is another good example of that.

I can't explain how much I love Toadling. When all the pages were done, all the filled up 89 pages of this book of my copy, I was not ready to leave her. I need more of Toadling, she's such a wonderful character who really delivers on every page. I want a play of this book, it would be so good (in fact a play of this book with the Horrible Histories cast, don't at me).

The plot moves well and leaves you wanting more. I loved every page as this story develops and it takes its twists and turns. What I really love about it is how Halim's and Toadling's characters develop and how their relationship blooms throughout this story. I wanna talk about this book to so many people. I wanna force it in people's hands.

I loved this book, I will read T. Kingfisher's work as soon as they appear.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

[sophia-sol]

Thornhedge, by T. Kingfisher

This is the latest T Kingfisher dark fairy tale retelling, and like, if you've read these by her before then you know the kind of thing you're getting into. And I have, and I do, and as always I am here for it.

I don't have a great deal to say about this one, but in this particular case the T Kingfisher trademarked "practical heroine who does the hard thing that needs to be done" is also a bit of a wet blanket. I love her.

Also, I love that in the end Toadling doesn't actually have to decide between exploring her connection with Halim and returning to the love and acceptance of her greenteeth monster family, because she's going to outlive him by centuries, so she can go hang out with him while he's alive and then go home again after.

[ilikereadingactually]

Thornhedge

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

GOSH. i went into this knowing nothing, and having read none of the author's other work aside from Dragonbreath and Hamster Princess (written under the name Ursula Vernon). and listen, i love Dragonbreath and Hamster Princess, i sold a lot of them when i was a bookseller, i still recommend them for friends' and coworkers' kids. but i was not prepared for Kingfisher's grownup writing! @digger1649 never steers me wrong, and he's been telling me i will really like Nettle & Bone, and suggested i request the galley of Thornhedge, and now here i am in that extremely pleasant dreamy state where my heart is so full of love for this book above all others.

this is top tier galaxy brain fairy tale retelling. roles are twisted around, not in a way that makes the story's origins unrecognizable, but in a way that gets my brain whirring wondering what's going to happen next. even when it became clear what the "twists" were, i was shocked and terrified at just the right times, i fell in love with sweet and sheltered Toadling, i fell in love again with gentle Halim, i cried buckets as usual, i want to go to sleep with my face just above the surface of the water in a swampy tangle of my magical pond creature adopted family. it's a story about persistently choosing kindness and love even when it doesn't change evil, it's a story about perspectives, and it hits me personally really hard right now at a time when i feel like i'm starting to emerge from a long holding-pattern-rut.

this is also a quick read, i think technically a novella, which is such a lovely bite-sized delight in my reading life and i'm glad there are more novellas around than there used to be!

the deets

how i read it: an e-galley from NetGalley! excited to pick this one up when it comes out! it's so nice to feel a little bit like i'm on top of what's new and good.

try this if you: dig fairy tales and changeling stories, delight in a sweet and good and unassuming main character, get weepy about found families, or ever just wanted to be a toad so that life would be simpler.

some lines i really liked: another one where i have to resist the urge to just reproduce the entire book here

She learned that her ideas of beauty were wrong and of no use to anyone. In her world, the Eldest was the most beautiful, swollen with power and secrets and the deaths of her enemies. Duckwight was beautiful, with her patience and her quick, many-jointed fingers. Reedbones, who had enormously long, thin arms and who could swim side to side like an eel, swifter than a kelpie could run, was beautiful. Toadling, who was small and slow and could not breathe water, did not consider herself beautiful, but it hurt to learn that she was homely and her family were considered among the most hideous of Faerie.

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"Next?" said Toadling. "I'm supposed to hurl this mixture of moly and salt in your face," he said doubtfully. "But that seems quite hostile." "Do it." She closed her eyes. She felt an absurd smile on her face and couldn't quite stop it. He still could not bring himself to hurl the mixture. She felt salt and herbs patter gently on her cheek. It did exactly nothing.

---

The moonlight was silver and the grass dense as fur. Toadling sat by the banked fire, watching the hillside shake itself and become a hare with eyes that held the moon.

pub date: August 15, 2023!

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4/5

Book Blurb: 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.

*A very special hardcover edition, featuring foil stamp on the casing and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.*

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…

Review:

There is a princess in a tower under a sleeping spell, but this is the story of the fairy tasked with guarding her and the gentle knight on a mission that has gone sideways. Toadling was stolen from her family by fairies and instead of being killed and discarded. she was raised and loved by the creatures in the warm waters of faerieland. Yet once she became an adult she was asked a favor: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. It sounds like a simple quest but it very much is not and the blessing goes wrong and now centuries later Toadling is still standing guard over the sleeping fairy, trying to keep knights, princes, and people away from the sleeping terror. Yet when a wayward knight approaches the bramble and tells her that he is here to break the curse... a curse that Toadling will do anything to uphold... chaos ensues. This was such an interesting take on the Sleeping Beauty story but told from the perspective of the fairy and I had fun with the unique changes made to the story. Overall it was a really fun read!

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*