Welcome to Swoony Boys Podcast! Today is our stop on the tour for Spindle Fire hosted by Irish Banana Tours! Today we are sharing our thoughts on this book and author, Lexa Hillyer. While you’re here, don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post! You don’t want to miss it! But first, let’s start with the 411:
***About the Book***
Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer
Published by HarperCollins on April 11th, 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Retellings
Pages: 351
Goodreads Buy the Book 
Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king's headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.
And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora's blood--and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.
As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.
Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls; and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape . . . or the reason for her to stay.
***Our Review***
What We Loved:
Give us a cover like this and tell us that we are basically getting Sleeping Beauty with more fae and you’ve already sold us on a book. We LOVE a good retelling and we loved Lexa Hillyer’s Proof of Forever so we were excited to read Spindle Fire. Here were a few of our favorite things we found within its pages:
- Writing Style– You guys, Lexa Hillyer has a way with words. Her prose is absolutely gorgeous and we don’t think we’ll ever get enough of it.
- Characters– You can probably guess the names of some of these characters, but there’s also a new crew added to those you know. We loved so many of them and we loved the twists and differences between Hillyer’s characters and the originals.
- Retelling– We love retellings that take a unique spin on the original while still maintaining the heart of the story. Spindle Fire does exactly that. There were definitely twists and turns that we didn’t see coming.
Um...Not So Much:
With any book there are things that we wish were a little different, even if it’s just selfish changes. Here are a couple of things we could have done without:
- The ending– Holy wow. We kind of wish we had waited for book two to read them both! We don’t handle cliffhangers well. Needless to say, we need the rest now.
- Pacing– Every once in awhile we had to reread sections because so much was going on that we couldn’t keep up! That makes for a fast read, but we had to be careful not to lose any content in the quick pacing.
Overall, we had MANY more positive things to say, and we honestly just can’t wait to get our hands on the conclusion.
What We Think Will Happen Next:
There’s not much we can say here without giving away the ending, but it’s safe to say that we are anxiously waiting on the sequel. We have so many questions we need answers to and we can’t wait to see how this story ends!
Bottom Line:
Spindle Fire is a fresh and imaginative retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Beautifully written, its pages are filled with royalty & fae. We are anxiously waiting on the sequel.
Verdict:
| Rating Report | |
|---|---|
| Cover |  |
| Characters |  |
| Plot |  |
| Writing | |
| Swoon |  |
| Overall: | 3.5 |
***Meet Lexa Hillyer***
Lexa Hillyer is the co-founder of Paper Lantern Lit, former YA editor, and author of Proof of Forever. Lexa is also an award-winning poet: Her first collection, Acquainted with the Cold, won the Melissa Lanitis Gregory Poetry Prize as well as the 2012 Book of the Year Award from ForeWord Reviews. Her poetry has been anthologized in Best New Poets 2012, and has appeared in several journals. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their daughter.
***GIVEAWAY***
Good luck and happy swooning!
Make sure you check out the rest of the tour stops below:
Week 1:
- 4/3: Lost In Lit – Bookish Inspirations
- 4/4: Ex Libris – Review
- 4/5: The Irish Banana Review – Makeup Inspirations
- 4/6: Reads All the Books – Review
- 4/7: In Wonderland – Guest Post
Week 2:
- 4/10: Book Scents – Review
- 4/11: The Fake Steph – Q&A
- 4/12: Swoony Boys Podcast – Review
- 4/13: The Bookkeeper’s Secret – Mood Board
- 4/14: The Story Sanctuary – Review
Thanks for the review! I can’t wait to read this retelling. I love that this book has great characters and is action packed.
Nice! I’m curious about this one! So far the consensus is that this isn’t one to be missed! Might have to add this to my wishlist sooner rather than later! Nice review!
THank you for the warning about waiting for book 2! I like a heads up, even if the 2nd book is not to come up for a while. 🙂
Love retellings and if its well done I’m so there. I think I can handle cliffhangers but if its too intense I’m not so sure.
Sounds like a cool twist on a classic fairy tale. I love the idea that the prince doesn’t just show up, but that there is a journey (in many ways) to get him.
Sounds great–there are so many retellings out there–mostly of the same 2-3 fairytales–so it’s nice to see a different one for a change. And that cover! It’s so pretty yet kind of eerie at the same time. Thanks for hosting. 🙂
I find the colored pencil colored star rating system to be oddly appealing. Maybe its the cheery colors, but I do like the shaded in /pencil look too!