The Bone Spindle is an incredible YA fantasy debut from Leslie Vedder who delivers a smoothly confident and finely polished gender-flipped fairytale retelling. While the YA market has been saturated with retellings of every fairytale under the sun, many falter in the execution with the main issue always being maintaining a balance between honouring the source material and offering a compelling original twist. In The Bone Spindle, the author combines the tale of Sleeping Beauty where the roles are gender-flipped (already a fun premise!) with heroines you could easily imagine starring in Indiana Jones, The Mummy, or Tomb Raider.
As the daughter of two historians, Fi has an abundance of book smarts and a boundless fascination with learning new facts and unravelling puzzles which she applied to a successful stint as a treasure hunter—until her ex-boyfriend betrayed her. Now branded by the Butterfly Curse, Fi isolates herself from her loved ones to search for a way to free herself from the curse, determined not to allow herself to grow close to anyone again…until Shane convinces her to sign on for one last job.
Shane is the polar opposite of the prim, bookish Fi, but she’s also in the position of striking out into the world on her own, leaving her family behind for the greater good. With her fierce determination, brash confidence and trusty battle-ax, Shane makes a living as a huntsman for hire and treasure hunter. When she finds a map with magical inscriptions, she knows that Fi is her best chance to decipher the clues left behind by an ancient Order of Witches and lead the way to a massive payday.
The growing bond between the two girls is the highlight of this book with Fi and Shane beginning as untrusting reluctant allies, but a slow-burn, ride-or-die epic friendship brews between them as they embark on a madcap adrenaline-filled adventure. It’s rare to see female friendship given this much care and nuance when normally romantic relationships are the priority in YA fiction, and every page of their snarky, banter-filled interactions is a sheer delight. I love how they make each other become better versions of themselves and the character growth along their journey is excellent as we see Fi learn to lower her guard and trust Shane with her secrets and then see Shane in turn make herself vulnerable to Fi.
While the girls’ friendship is a major element of this book, that isn’t to say that there isn’t any romance! Fi’s love interest is Briar Rose, the prince under a sleeping spell hidden away in a tower waiting for the kiss that will awaken him. While it’s commonly believed to be True Love’s Kiss, Fi balks at the mere notion of love and wants nothing to do the handsome prince that is apparently her destined match.
The most intriguing and successful part of The Bone Spindle is that it isn’t a one-to-one retelling of Sleeping Beauty; characters aren’t lifted from the original tale and dropped into these pages, instead central concepts are taken and rewoven in a fresh, unique manner that serve the plot and deepen the world-building. Rather than Aurora and Briar Rose being the same person, for instance, Aurora is the first Witch Queen and any Witches descended from the royal line are given the second name Rose. The Maleficent-equivalent is the Spindle Witch, who makes a bargain to save Briar’s life as a baby in exchange for prized secret spells from the Order of the Rose, but when her magic takes his mother’s life as the toll for curing his illness, the grief-stricken king banishes her from the kingdom. And the rest is history…
The Bone Spindle has many strengths, specifically the fantastic relationships developed between Fi and Shane as well as Fi and Briar, but the weakness that stood out was the comparatively lacking relationship between Shane and her love interest, a mysterious witch. Shane is infatuated with Red from the moment she sets eyes on her and there isn’t much depth given to her feelings aside from insta-love. Sure, one of her personality traits is a weakness for pretty girls, but the lengths she goes to for Red don’t make sense given how little foundation their romance is built on. As this is book one, hopefully the sequel fleshes out their relationship in more depth and gives more reason for the reader to invest in these girls ending up together.
A fairytale retelling that is a standout in its field, The Bone Spindle offers not one but two compelling heroines that readers are sure to fall in love with, an entertaining and fast-paced action-adventure plot with a couple sneaky twists and lush worldbuilding that effortlessly transports you into this magical kingdom filled with Witches, ancient ruins and hidden treasure.
The Bone Spindle is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of January 11th 2022.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones in this thrilling fairytale retelling for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and All the Stars and Teeth.
Fi is a bookish treasure hunter with a knack for ruins and riddles, who definitely doesn’t believe in true love.
Shane is a tough-as-dirt girl warrior from the north who likes cracking skulls, pretty girls, and doing things her own way.
Briar Rose is a prince under a sleeping curse, who’s been waiting a hundred years for the kiss that will wake him.
Cursed princes are nothing but ancient history to Fi–until she pricks her finger on a bone spindle while exploring a long-lost ruin. Now she’s stuck with the spirit of Briar Rose until she and Shane can break the century-old curse on his kingdom.
Dark magic, Witch Hunters, and bad exes all stand in her way–not to mention a mysterious witch who might wind up stealing Shane’s heart, along with whatever else she’s after. But nothing scares Fi more than the possibility of falling in love with Briar Rose.
Set in a lush world inspired by beloved fairytales, The Bone Spindle is a fast-paced young adult fantasy full of adventure, romance, found family, and snark.
I haven’t heard of this one before, but I recently read Malice. Bone Spindle sounds just as good if not better.