The Bone Spindle

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

Content warnings:
One of the characters was previously in an emotionally abusive relationship where their male partner became continuously territorial and refused to let them leave. He eventually used magic to stop them leaving, and they were punished as a result. To give more specific details will give major spoilers for the book, so all I will say is that they have a permanent physical and magical reminder of what he did to them.

There is a part of the book where the character meets their abuser again, while the meeting is done on their own terms, the abuser does attempt to manipulate and humiliate them. These scenes may be difficult for people who have been/are in abusive relationships.

The Bone show more Spindle is an action packed fantasy adventure that for the most part didn’t feel like a fairytale remake to me. It could quite easily be an original fantasy novel if I didn’t know anything about Sleeping Beauty, and I loved this take on retelling a fairytale. For those who are all about the fairytales, don’t worry, there is plenty of fairytale goodness in The Bone Spindle too. However, Vedder hasn’t made The Sleeping Beauty mythos integral to the protagonist’s lives. The protagonists aren’t Aurora, or anyone related directly to the fairytale; they’re treasure hunters!

Fi is a bookwormy historian who would much rather spend time hunting down ancient treasures in old ruins than having anything to do with fairytales princes. But when an accidental prick of her finger binds her to Briar Rose, a prince who’s been asleep for a hundred years, Fi finds herself in a world of magic and Witch Hunters. Her life is already complicated enough, and I loved that the tag line on the cover is so deeply sarcastic. Kiss the prince, break the curse. If only it was that simple.

But who wants simple? Simple is dull! And Vedder definitely does not do dull. Fi is accompanied by Shane, a fellow treasure hunter who has been Fi’s partner and her competition at times. The result is a lot of snark, a begrudging acceptance of aid on Fi’s part and a partnership that grows into a stronger friendship. Like Fi, Shane has her own secrets and her backstory is fascinating. Throw in a random mystery witch that Shane keeps running into and there are so many juicy things happening in The Bone Spindle.

The genderflip of the whole fairytale genre, especially of this particular fairytale which relies heavily on the whole damsel in distress trope is brilliantly done. I couldn’t help but think “this is a more ideal world” when it comes to gender and sexuality, while reading this novel. Even in families where succession is an issue, sexuality is not an issue. While I grimaced at the idea of a lesbian woman from a royal family having to sleep with a man to secure an heir rather than adopting a child (hence the “more” ideal, rather than ideal world), at least two women could marry and rule. It was refreshing not to read a fairytale retelling that rehashed the same bigotry over and over.

Briar is an intriguing character who doesn’t seem to know exactly who to be, or who he is. That’s to be expected when you’ve been in a magical sleep for a hundred years and everyone you know is dead. Like Fi and Shane, there’s much more to his story than just being the cursed prince and on top of everything he’s grieving a loss he never realised he would have to experience. What he expected to happen when he awoke, I’m not sure, but his kingdom in ruins and the life he knew to be everyone’s ancient history was probably not it.

Vedder manages to keep everything balanced, and I didn’t feel that there were too many moving parts. Instead, it just felt like an extremely interesting story and universe that I devoured. I can’t wait to see where the story leads in the next book!

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A YA fantasy retelling of sleeping beauty where the enchanted beauty is the prince and the rescuer is a former noblewoman turned treasure-hunter. Fi is not only a former noble but also living under a curse placed upon her by a former partner, so she really does not want to become partners with Shane the huntsman but needs her to guide her to a magical treasure stash. Together the venture into the lost wilds and find the treasure Fi is after, but Fi pricks her hand on an enchanted rose which means she is the one who is supposed to wake up the fabled sleeping prince and restore the land. Fi is not convinced. And incidentally, she does not believe in love at first sight, destined love or any other nonsense about love.
The blurb for this show more compares the story to Indiana Jones but it was much more like a D&D campaign. show less

Fi, a treasure hunter with an interest in historical artifacts, teams up with Shane, a tough warrior with an interest in treasure. Both young women have secrets in their past that they don't want to talk about. When they discover a tower with treasure of interest to them both, Fi touches an ancient spindle and finds herself caught up in the prophecy of Briar Rose, the cursed sleeping prince in the next kingdom over. After touching the spindle, a (mostly) incorporeal version of Briar Rose accompanies Fi throughout her adventures. Can Fi and Shane get to the castle and wake the sleeping prince?

I picked this up and put it down for what seemed like a long time (over a week, at least). There are some pacing issues, and a whole lot of show more communication issues that could be solved by everyone just laying their cards on the table, so to speak. I do enjoy a retold fairy tale, but I felt like the impact of the gender-swapping in this one was undercut by having Briar as a character who could sometimes use his magic to become corporeal, and by him saving Fi when she falls in the lake immediately after pricking her finger. I also didn't realize that this is the first book in a trilogy, so there are significant loose ends (though nothing I'd call a cliff-hanger) at the end of the book. I'm probably not interested enough in the story or the characters to continue on. show less

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in what looks to be a duology. I borrowed this as an audiobook from my library.

Audiobook Quality (4/5): I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was well done. The narration was great and easy to listen to. No complaints about the audiobook.

Thoughts: I was super excited to read this because I normally really love fairy tale mash-up types of books. This was okay. It's one of those young adult fairy tale mash-ups that has more of a middle grade tone to it...this leaves you a bit confused about the intended audience. I also did not realize this was the first book in a series when I got it, so there is a lot left unresolved.

The book alternates mainly between two characters Fi and Shane. show more Occasionally we hear from Briar Rose as well. Fi and Shane end up on a quest to free Briar Rose from the curse that has trapped him in eternal sleep. Of course nothing is ever simple and Fi has her own curse to deal with as well.

I think my main issue with this book was the pace of the story. Our characters spend a lot of time in their own heads thinking about their feelings about things. It is great to have some of this to give our characters depth; but there was way, way too much of it in this book and it really bogged the story down.

The characters are fairly one-dimensional (despite all the time we spend in their heads) and the story and writing style are very basic which, again, makes this feel like a more juvenile read. I almost stopped reading this at a couple of points because it was just sooo slow and I was sooo bored.

There is some humor in here but it wasn't nearly as funny as I was expecting. I did appreciate the idea behind the characters. I also liked the idea behind the story and the world presented here; unfortunately the execution just wasn't there.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay but flawed. This is a YA read that feels much more like a middle grade read because of the simple writing style, one dimensional characters, and simple plot. We spend way too much time “listening” to characters hash out their feelings in their own head and this really bogs the story down. This was also way less funny than I thought it was going to be, mostly it was just slow. I don’t plan on continuing with this series. show less

The best part of Bone Spindle is that homosexuality et al. isn't a talking point, big deal, or controversy. This story is set in a queer normative world. Imagine that.
The magical system is interesting and the world building is well-done.
I enjoyed the characters, especially Shane, who I felt showed a lot of growth over the course of the story.
I'm excited to read any other books in this series.

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 show more 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. show less

The Bone Spindle é um debut YAzão que é um reconto não só de A Bela Adormecida, mas de Chapeuzinho Vermelho também.

A parte de Indiana Jones na sinopse não é mentira: Eu achei que o livro ia focar só em romance, mas a maior parte dele gira em torno de uma aventura As protagonistas Fi e Shane saem à procura de um tesouro e, no meio disso tudo, a Fi espeta o dedo em um fuso e fica conectada com o Briar Rose, o príncipe adormecido e em apuros. Daí, ela tem que ir até o perigoso reino onde ele tá adormecido para ambos se salvarem dessa maldição.

Os personagens são bem rasos, mas se a história fosse pura aventura eu nem teria me importado e teria dado 3.5. O problema é que os capítulos onde a ação acontece são show more constantemente interrompidos por capítulos de flashback que fazem toda a exposição, explicação de backstory etc que destroem completamente o ritmo da leitura. Eu detesto quando livros fazem isso (não você, locke lamora, eu te amo mesmo assim!) pq não é sempre que eles são estruturados de uma forma que não atrapalhe a narrativa.

Tiveram certos momentos que eu tava muito perdida sobre pq elas estavam em tal lugar ou fazendo tal coisa, até eu me lembrar que a finalidade era chegar até onde o corpo do Briar Rose se encontra...

Os romances desse livro achei meio qualquer coisa. Shane e Red tinham uma dinâmica interessante, mas eu achei o romance entre Fi e Briar muito instantâneo e forçado (a desculpa deles estarem conectados pela maldição não me convence, sorry).

Esse livro pelo que parece vai ter continuação, talvez eu leia se lembrar... show less