Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Thornhedge is a beautifully written and engaging fractured fairy tale mashup by T. Kingfisher. Released 15th Aug 2023 by Macmillan on their Tor imprint, it's 128 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
The author is prolific, readable, engaging, and has some really really good and perceptive observations to relate. She does a wonderful job here of helping the reader examine their own ideas about what it means to be a monster and what lies in the notion of true beauty.
It's a fairy tale, and as such, there's a dreamlike quality and form to much of the prose. It's so amazingly well written that readers will encounter passages which require a pause to reflect on the writing. Just breathtaking.
Five stars. This is a must-have for library acquisition and a must-read for fairy tale and classic fantasy fans. For readers who love Katherine Arden, Naomi Novik, and Alix E. Harrow, the author will undoubted already be on the radar.. but for the lucky few who haven't stumbled across her work yet, you're in for a real treat.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reviewed by annieb123 on
Reading updates
- 24 February, 2024: Started reading
- 24 February, 2024: Finished reading
- 24 February, 2024: Reviewed