5 Reasons to Read The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder

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.

Note: Thank you to the author and publicist for sending me an e-arc of this book! This does not affect my review. All my opinions are honest and unbiased.

Genderbent Sleeping Beauty Retelling!

I don’t know about you but the moment I see or hear the word ‘retelling’ I just go running in that direction. I’m a huge fan of retellings, especially Disney and fairytale retellings! I’ve got to admit that Sleeping Beauty isn’t my favourite tale but when I heard that this is going to be a gender-bent fantasy retelling I was all in. And unlike the original tale, we get to see and know so much more about the sleeping beauty, aka Briar the witch, because he appears in bits and pieces as an apparition of sorts, thanks to his magic. It really gives the readers a chance to connect with him.

Oh the Snarkiness, the I-Don’t-Like-You-But-We’re-A-Great-Team Duo

Okay, this might be very specific but I love snarky, poles apart duo teams! I had such a fun time reading about Fiona and Shane’s clashing personalities! They act like sisters, always bickering and refusing to compliment each other even when they both admire certain qualities in the other. Fi is a private, quiet, strategic historian whereas Shane is a loud, reckless and soft-hearted treasure hunter. They make such an amazing team and both of them together made me laugh throughout the book.

A Fantasy Set in a World Where Queer is the Norm

If you’ve read some fantasies and gone through lots of reviews you’ll soon come to know that as readers we often complain that fantasy worlds aren’t queer normative. As in, if you have the choice to, why can’t you make your world a world where queerness is considered ‘natural’ and ‘normal’ and not discriminated against. And I’m happy to report that The Bone Spindle has a queer normative world. It isn’t explicitly stated of course but there are certain scenes (ones I can’t speak of cause spoilers) that explore that nobody discriminates queerness in this world, which is honestly so refreshing for me to read about.

The Beautiful Magic System and Intricate Worldbuilding

The worldbuilding and magic system in this book are vast and expansive and quite well-written! I still feel that there’s a lot we didn’t get to regarding the witches and their magic and I hope we see more of that in the next book. The world building was slightly overwhelming at certain points but it did set up everything very nicely and there wasn’t one scene where I wasn’t able to visualise everything in front of me. I loved the settings that the story took us too and all the puzzles and relics we explored as well, I think those were my favourite.

Powerful Female Characters that Stole My Heart

I’m a sucker for powerful female characters and I got three this time! Admittedly Red wasn’t my favourite. I feel her main personality trait is being mysterious and her personality is just a switch going on and off. I also didn’t really like the romance between her and Shane because it felt quite forced but still, she was shown as a powerful character and I admire her for that. I especially fell in love with both Shane and Fi who are such strong characters with dynamic personalities and pasts. I absolutely adored reading the bits about Shane’s past and I really do hope that gets to play more of a role in the next book. And I can’t get over how badass Fi is when it come to solving puzzles and mysteries and just generally being awesome. Reading about the two of them fighting against all odds really made me smile and root for them throughout the book 🙂

All in all I would definitely urge you to go pick up this book. Like I mentioned, the romance between Red and Shane didn’t work out for me although I did like what went on between Briar and Fi. But both the romances are insta-love of sorts so take that with a grain of salt if it isn’t your preferred trope. While some of the twists are fairly predictable I did have an amazing time reading this book and practically flew through it! Can’t wait for the next book to see where these characters will be going but gosh I have a long wait ahead of me…

Is The Bone Spindle on your TBR yet? What do you think of it based on my review?

What are some upcoming sapphic fantasies on your radar?

Do you like reading retellings as well? Tell me some of your favourite retellings in the comments below 🙂