Thornwood by Leah Cypess

Thornwood recasts the tale of Sleeping Beauty as a castle-bound mystery, with twists and turns at every corner.

Thornwood by Leah Cypress. Delacorte Press, 2021, 260 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: Ages 10-15

“First, let’s get this out of the way: the fairy tales don’t mention me. They wouldn’t. The stories you’ve heard are all about my sister, Sleeping Beauty, with her gorgeous hair and lovely eyes, blah blah blah.” Eleven-year-old little sisters just tangle up the story line, but this is a story that needs to be untangled. When the 100-year sleeping curse ended, Briony found herself holding one end of the yarn. The prince, as prophesied, is just about to kiss her sister Rosalin, after which everything will be fine. But wait—wasn’t the kiss supposed to happen before anyone else woke up? Why is Briony even awake? And why did she wake up in the tower room with the fatal spinning wheel and no less a personage than the fairy godmother, spinning away? And where is everyone else?

Some retold fairy tales are spoiled (for me, at least), by a too-contemporary feel of the narrative. This one begins that way with the blah blah blah, but the tale itself is taken seriously. The fairies are not accessories but main players, and the story hinges on what they’re up to. They don’t have much use for humans, whom they envy as much as they torment:

“You humans have such an abundance of life, and you have no idea how to use it. There’s so much we can do with the minutes you fritter away playing games, the breath you waste on chatter, or just a few drops of your blood.”

Briony and Roselin have no time to waste. The relationship between the sisters takes center stage: not a simple matter of rivalry, for they love and care for each other. But there’s also a history of resentment and condescension that they must overcome in order to work together. The plot, as twisted as the thorny forest that surrounds the castle, eventually works out to a happy ending, and fairy-tale fans will enjoy getting there.

Overall rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 3.75
• Artistic/literary value: 4.25

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: Other retellings of the Sleeping Beauty story are Spindle (set in a New England milltown) and Spindle’s End (included in a retrospective on Robin McKinley).
• Resource: A Fairy-tale Booklist for family read-alouds.
• Reflection: “The Invasion of Fairland,” or how so many modern retellings of fairy tales get them wrong.

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