I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow Series: Fractured Fables #1
Published by Tor.com on October 5 2021
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 128
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A fun, laugh-out-loud contemporary take on Sleeping Beauty, with a feminist sensibility, that made me cheer.
I’m a huge fan of Alix E. Harrow’s novels, so I was quite curious to see what she would do with the novella format. And I’m happily surprised by how much I enjoyed this! A Spindle Splintered is surprisingly funny, a subversive take on fairy tales, an interesting mix of contemporary fiction and the traditional fairy tale, specifically the story of Sleeping Beauty.
Zinnia Gray is about to turn twenty-one, and it’s a miracle she’s still alive. Zinnia, you see, has been battling a deadly disease her entire life called Generalized Roseville Malady. She got it in utero from her mother, who unknowingly ingested tainted drinking water while she was pregnant. Zinnia keeps the disease at bay with pills and medical treatments, but no one with GRM has ever lived past the age of twenty-two.
Now on her twenty-first birthday, Zinnia’s best friend Charm has arranged a surprise party in the town’s abandoned penitentiary tower, a party mimicking the tale of Sleeping Beauty. The centerpiece is an actual spinning wheel, and just like the story, Zinnia decides to prick her finger on the spindle. But when she does, she’s transported to an alternate world where an actual princess named Princess Primrose of Perceforest is about to reluctantly wed her intended Prince—or prick her finger on her own spindle and sleep for a hundred years, a curse given to her by a wicked fairy when she was a baby.
Zinnia thinks this might be her last chance to change her fate, as well as the fate of Primrose and the many other versions of Sleeping Beauties in other dimensions. But first, she and Primrose must visit the wicked fairy who gave her the curse…
I absolutely loved Zinnia’s voice. The story is told in first person, so the reader quickly gets to know her personality. I loved that Zinnia, who understands that she doesn’t have long to live, wastes no time in doing what she wants—graduating high school early and enrolling in college so that she can get her “useless” degree in Folk Studies and Anthropology. And yes, by “Folk Studies” I mean she studied fairy tales, how cool is that? Harrow delves into the history of the Sleeping Beauty mythos, citing many versions of the tale from medieval times to the Disney incarnation in the present day. Zinnia wryly comments that Sleeping Beauty is “the worst fairy tale,” and that “Only dying girls like Sleeping Beauty.” As a scholar of fairy tales, she knows that some of the earlier versions involved such horrors as rape and murder (and in fact many fairy tales have their roots in horror), and when she is transported to Perceforest, she has visions of some of these horrific versions and the poor women who are suffering in their own dimensions.
This was such a quirky combination of contemporary and old fashioned elements. Zinnia and her bestie Charm are able to communicate via text, even after Zinnia disappears (and those texts were some of the funniest parts of the story)—although her phone battery is only at 35% when the story begins. The author also adds some humorous bits about cancel culture, and several of her characters are queer, which made for a nice twist to the traditional fairy tale. Harrow’s sparkling sense of humor comes through even in this shorter form, which makes the story a breeze to get through.
But I did like the way she countered all the humor and the absurd situations with some serious elements, like Zinnia’s disease, for example. Even though GRM is a made-up malady (this is a fairy tale, after all), it’s basically a chronic illness, and I thought Harrow’s approach was thoughtfully done.
There’s a nice twist at the end, a nice hopeful twist, as the reader wonders whether Zinnia will be able to rewrite her own story and finally go home again. I had a lot of fun with this, and I’m thrilled to see that Zinnia’s tale will continue in the sequel A Mirror Mended. Lots of fun for fans of fractured fairy tales, and not to be missed if you’re a fan of Alix E. Harrow.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
My copy should be arriving this week! I’m so looking forward to it… but I didn’t realize it was a novella, and I didn’t realize it would be funny! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Can’t wait!
I hope you enjoy it!
This sounds really good. I was actually a bit wary of reading Alix E. Harrow cos I sometimes get stuck on stories with ‘beautiful prose’. But then I read her short story Mr Death and then The Once and Future Witches for the Subjective Chaos awards and I’m a life long fan now. I knew A Spindle Splintered was a sort of Sleeping Beauty-based fairy tale type book but didn’t know the specifics of how, and I like the sound of the way she’s done it. Having read The Once and Future Witches, you can tell she has a deep love of fairy tales and folklore and she’s such a wonderful writer, so I’m def looking forward to this novella.
This one doesn’t have the “beautiful prose” of her other books at all, the narrator is really funny so it’s a completely different vibe.
Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorite fairy tales and I really like the sound of this retelling. It sounds different and unique and funnt so I’m definitely intrigued now. Also have been meaning to read Alix E. Harrow foreveeer.
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…October Of Books Giveaway (INT)
You should try her, her stories are so good!
Great review! I’m so glad you liked this. I still haven’t read anything from this author so I think this will be my introduction to Alix E. Harrow’s work. 🙂
She’s really good, I would recommend her novels too:-)
I definitely wasn’t expecting to hear that this one is so funny! So glad to hear you enjoyed it. This sounds like it was a really great read.
The humor was a nice surprise!
I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever read a fractured fairy tale, and I’m not sure. I had to look up what the phrase even meant. 🙂 I’ll admit, when I hear a story is a retelling of a fairy tale or even of an old story I’m immediately skeptical, not sure why. But it’s great to hear how much you enjoyed this. Perhaps I’ll give it a try one of these days.
I actually love her novels better, but this was very well done, considering how short it is.
This sounds great. I didn’t realize it was a novella. Excellent review Tammy!
Anne – Books of My Heart recently posted… The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens
Thanks Anne! It’s very short but well done.
Nice! This sounds even better than I thought it would. I was a little hesitant with it being a novella but you’ve sold me on it. 🙂
I’ve read some really good novellas this year, and this is definitely a good one!
Hoping to start this one next. I am intrigued by your description of the final twist 🙂
Enjoy!
This sounds really good. I’ve only read Ten Thousand Doors so far but that convinced me I definitely want to read more by Alix E. Harrow 🙂
You should! I’ve really loved everything I’ve read of hers:-)
It would seem this story is packing a LOT of narrative threads for a novella, which makes it doubly intriguing: I am aware of Alix Harrow’s works – even though I have not managed to read them so far – and this shorter story might very well be a nice “entry level” work, and much easier to fit into a busy TBR…
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…THE WISDOM OF CROWDS (The Age of Madness #3), by Joe Abercrombie
It would be a good place to start:-)
I haven’t read this author, but have wanted to. Didn’t realize the books were funny! Now I’m even more interested. Great review!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Blog Tour Review: Code of Ethics by April White
Her other books aren’t as funny, but this one was:-)
Thi genuinely sounds like SO much fun! Funny and subversive is definitely a combination I like!
I really enjoyed this one too (and need to write my review like, yesterday heh). I had no idea it would have such humor either. I was so excited to find out that the story would be continuing as well (I had no idea when I read it that it was part of a series). So glad you enjoyed it too!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…It Starts at Midnight is Eight!
Ohh – how can I resist, firstly this author, secondly a fairytale retelling. I have to.
Lynn 😀