My Rating: Somewhere between 2.5 and 3 hearts
Thoughts on the Novel: As a fairy tale, the story of Sleeping
Beauty was never one that I felt the need to reread or re-watch. But, since I
love seeing what an author is capable of doing with a retelling, I decided to give Rhiannon
Thomas’ A Wicked Thing a try.
A Wicked Thing is very much a character-driven story. After being woken
up with a kiss and finding out that all the people she’s ever known are
dead, Aurora is a girl who’s thoroughly confused about what to do and believe. This
isn’t surprising given that she was locked in a tower while growing up so that
she would remain safe. Now, she’s expected to marry a person who a book claims
is her true love, and be the saviour for her suffering kingdom. Aurora, however, just
wants to be free from the constant expectations placed upon her.
Although I liked the characterization of Aurora, it took a long time for her to decide
to not simply be a pawn for other people to manipulate. As a result, I eventually
got bored of the story – so much so that I considered DNF’ing it at several
points. In addition to the slow pacing, there was also no romance. However, I
would say that there are three potential love interests for the sequel.
A Wicked Thing was released in February 2015 by HarperTeen.
Comments
About the Cover: That pose looks like an uncomfortable position to fall
asleep in for a century.
In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (HarperCollins) for free via Edelweiss.
I've read mixed reviews about this one, but I do like how it seems realistic (I mean for even a fantasy book) that she would have no clue what was going on and feeling disoriented. I'm definitely interested but thanks for the heads up on the slow pacing.
ReplyDeleteI was beyond excited to read this one Z, and then reviews started coming out for it and they were less than enthusiastic, and some of that excitement waned. I did pick it up but it didn't grab me, like you said, it takes Aurora a long time to stop letting everyone around her make her decisions, and while I understand she's dealing with a lot, it definitely slowed the story down. Maybe the next one will work a little better!
ReplyDeleteI've seen quite a few negative reviews on this one now so I'm going to be skipping it, but I'm glad you enjoyed a few aspects like the characterization of Aurora. "That pose looks like an uncomfortable position to fall asleep in for a century." LOL.
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