Author: Rhiannon Thomas
Published: February 24th 2015
Series: A Wicked Thing #1
Genre: YA Fantasy
POV: 3rd person, past tense
Pages: 352
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: electronic ARC
Source: Edelweiss
Rating: Tea Party
Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining ofSleeping Beauty and what happens after happily ever after.
One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.
Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.
As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.
Rhiannon Thomas weaves together vivid scenes of action, romance, and gorgeous gowns to reveal a richly imagined world … and Sleeping Beauty as she’s never been seen before.
Highlights: What happened after the kiss? Rhiannon Thomas explores this idea, beginning her novel with the kiss that wakes Sleeping Beauty from her cursed slumber. But life isn't much of a fairy tale for Aurora, who is treated more like a pawn in a game of chess. True love and the happily ever after is hardly what Aurora wakes to. Instead, she finds secrets, rebellions, and the realization that she'll have to claim the life she wants to have, because no one is going to hand over the perfect happily ever after ending. Thomas' writing style has a nice flow to it, which makes A Wicked Thing easy to breeze on through in a matter of hours.
Lowlights: As much as I wanted to fall in love with this book (Sleeping Beauty retelling!), I was simply bored throughout a good portion of the story. The romance was frustrating (both of them), and Aurora barely did anything until the conclusion. She was, in my eyes, a very passive character throughout most of the novel. The ending proved to be more intriguing, so I'm guessing the sequel might have more story to it, but this novel was ultimately a bit underwhelming.
Rating: Tea Party: Liked, 3 out of 5. While I found myself feeling slightly bored with the story, the last 50 or so pages picked up the pace, excitement, and finally gave Aurora the chance to become a character with agency, instead of merely a pawn for someone else to control. I have high hopes that the sequel will be the story I was looking for when I opened this novel.
I received an electronic advanced copy of this novel from the publisher for review consideration.
This is no way affected my opinion of the novel.
Sorry to hear this turned out to be disappointing but at least it seems to have improved by the end. Hopefully book two will be better and have a stronger protagonist. I have a copy of this for review but I've put off reading it because of negative and mixed reviews from other bloggers. I love fairy tales retold and I had high hopes for this one :(
ReplyDeleteThe ending was intriguing - I just wish more had happened in the pages leading up to it. Always love fairy tale retellings, but this one didn't quite hit the mark! :(
DeleteThe slowness of parts is what had me dnf this one. Glad you found some things to enjoy though
ReplyDeleteI probably should have DNF'd it too. The ending was great, but the pacing / storyline leading up to it was underwhelming.
DeleteStunning review Lea. <3 But aw, I'm sorry you ended up feeling disappointed in this one :\ That is never any fun. But yeah, the romance seems so annoying o.O Not a book for me at all, lol. Though the rest seems good :) I'm glad you still liked some things. <3
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carina! There were some enjoyable aspects - not exactly my cup of tea, though.
DeleteI can't remember exactly what I rated this one, I think it was also a 3 though. I agree with everything you've said here and yes, passive is exactly how I would describe her. Oh and I was just waiting and waiting for that Prince to grow a backbone. I will probably pick up the second, however, because the ending did really start to pick up and lay the groundwork for a potentially better story arc in book two. Great review!
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