The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder (The Bone Spindle #1) January 11, 2022 by Razorbill Young Adult Fantasy
The Bone Spindle is a young adult fantasy retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, but with gender swapped main characters. Briar Rose (the Sleeping Beauty of the story) is a prince, and Filore, a treasure hunter, is the one destined to rescue him from his one hundred year sleep. Now, a fairytale retelling is enough to get me in the door, but gender swapped and with a comparison to Sorcery of Thorns in the description? I am 100% all in.
The main storyline in The Bone Spindle follows Fi and her companion Shane as they traverse across the countryside trying to get to the castle to rescue Briar after Fi’s finger gets pricked by the bone spindle on a treasure hunting job (marking her as the one to save him).
One thing I loved was the magic and mythology of the world. Obviously some aspects of the story are fairly pre-determined if you’re reading a retelling of a classic fairy tale, but I thought that the way the threads of the Sleeping Beauty story were woven into the world of The Bone Spindle was creatively done.
I adored the two main characters. Fi, having grown up with two parents who were also treasure hunters, loves the old stories and treasure hunting, not for the actual value of any treasure, like gold or gems, but for the knowledge she can gain. Shane is more the fight first, ask questions later type of girl, and so the two of them work well as a team, though it takes them a bit of time to get used to each other as partners. Their relationship goes from standoffish partnering out of necessity to one of real friendship as the book progresses. Briar is also pretty great, though the reader doesn’t get to know him as well as the girls. Each chapter follows a different character, and it seemed like Briar had the fewest chapters, as he was introduced later in the story and not really the focus. But he’s charming and I liked seeing his relationship with Fi grow as well. Plus their banter was spectacular!
My main issue with The Bone Spindle was fairly significant to me as a reader. There are a lot of flashbacks which I felt broke up the flow of the main plotline. When I was about a third of the way through, I noted that every time I got distracted and set the book down was at the start of a flashback scene. These scenes took me out of the main story, and especially in the beginning of the book, they didn’t always give every piece of the past story — for some of the more crucial past events, more details were revealed with each flashback — so they felt inconsequential and distracting.
I also had some small complaints about the ending, which wasn’t completely satisfying, (though not to the level of cliff-hanger unsatisfying) but I realize that it is a set-up for a sequel. Additionally, there’s a plot twist at the end which I felt like I saw coming a mile away, and normally I am completely incapable of guessing plot twists, so do with that what you will.
I don’t think that my issues with the book are necessarily deal breakers for all readers. If you’re intrigued by a gender-swapped Sleeping Beauty story, then you’ll likely enjoy The Bone Spindle regardless of some clunky sections.
Grade: B-
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