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Summary
Summary
"The Storyteller Queen lives, and her name is E. K. Johnston." -- Rachel Hartman, New York Times best-selling author of Seraphina
The follow-up to A Thousand Nights , Spindle is the feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty where the princess saves herself and owns the narrative.
The prison is crumbling. Through years of careful manipulation, a demon has regained her power. She has made one kingdom strong and brought the other to its knees, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When a princess is born, the demon is ready with the final blow: a curse that will cost the princess her very soul, or force her to destroy her own people to save her life.
The threads of magic are tightly spun, binding princess and exiled spinners into a desperate plot to break the curse before the demon can become a queen of men. But the web of power is dangerously tangled -- and they may not see the true pattern until it is unspooled.
Author Notes
E. K. Johnston is a Canadian author and a forensic archeologist. Her books include The Story of Owen, Prairie Fire, A Thousand Nights, Spindle, That Inevitable Victorian Thing, and Exit, Pursued By a Bear.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6 Up-Following in the footsteps of Johnston's A Thousand Nights, this is a new spin on "Sleeping Beauty." Despite taking the perspective of Little Rose's potential savior, the story has a decidedly feminist slant, focusing on the princess's growth, power, autonomy, and eventual self-rescue. Johnston fleshes out the narrative with an adventuring party of two additional boys, a girl, and a malevolent female spirit manipulating a prince. Of particular note, this fairy-tale retelling describes characters as having dark skin. There are additional feminist touches, such as making spinning a creative (and gender-neutral) national occupation. The writing is a mix of stately prose and a conversational tone. The balance of fantastical elements and modern sensibilities, though awkward at times, will intrigue most middle to high school readers. VERDICT Hand this clever work to fans of the companion book.-Erin Reilly-Sanders, University of Wisconsin-Madison © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
In a "Sleeping Beauty" reimagining (set generations after its companion novel A Thousand Nights), spinner's son Yahsaa and his friends run away with their kingdom's princess to break the curse that will let a demon possess her. Lyrical writing fits the slow unfolding of the plot, which focuses on character relationships and an organically growing romance. In comparison, the bittersweet ending feels rushed. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A blonde, brown-skinned princess, cursed at a birthday party to a certain death and saved by a weak magic that promises sleep instead, all tied to a spindle: you know where this one is going, although this is as much reinterpretation as retelling. Generations after the Storyteller Queen defeated the demon who controlled a king and killed his many wives (A Thousand Nights, 2015), demons remain imprisoned, but one has spent the time plotting and growing stronger. Kharuf and Qamih, rival kingdoms, are the demons pawns, particularly cruel Prince Maram and lovely Princess Zahrah, the Little Rose, cursed to become a vehicle for the demon. Narrated by spinner and fighter Yashaa, who, with the help of three friends, rescues and then eventually falls in love with Zahrah, this retelling is needlessly complicated. It depends too much on familiarity with the companion novel and does little with its Middle Eastern influences; indeed, such flourishes as gold-dusttrailing piskeys and sprites seem Disney-fied, while the demons here are purely evil rather than complex natural forces. The often lovely writing and the surprising and original ending cant redeem the underdeveloped characters, unsubtle repeat imagery, or bland romance. This companion to the stellar A Thousand Nights shares the trappings but not the spirit. (Fantasy. 12 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Not for the first time, Johnston turns a familiar story on its head. In this companion to A Thousand Nights (2015), a demon has waited many generations to seek vengeance for her banishment. Kharuf, one of two twin kingdoms, is all but ruined when the demon curses its five-year-old princess, called the Little Rose. If she resists, then her people suffer; if she gives in, then the land will be ruled by a demon queen. A decade after the curse is placed, a young, exiled spinner named Yashaa returns to Kharuf with three companions, carrying much anger against the Little Rose. But the girl herself is not what he expected, and Yashaa becomes entangled in a quest to help her. The dramatic ending is perhaps too sudden after the gentler pace of most of the story, but spare text, subtle romance, and Arabian folklore make this an evocative reworking of Sleeping Beauty where sleep, for the heroine, is less a side effect and more a power. Quietly lovely and unique.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2016 Booklist