Published by: HarperTeen, February 24th 2015
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling
Pages: 352
Format: Ebook
Source: HarperTeen, via Edelweiss
Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of Sleeping Beauty and what happens after happily ever after.
One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.
Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.
As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.
Rhiannon Thomas weaves together vivid scenes of action, romance, and gorgeous gowns to reveal a richly imagined world … and Sleeping Beauty as she’s never been seen before.
The blurb promised spellbinding and dazzling but I found this book to be missing that. A Wicked Thing is pretty much on one level, and that level is an alright story set in that one fantasy/historical world, you know the one - the one in every fairy tale retelling. They all have different names, but the worlds feel the same, with no distinguishing features to be found.
The fantasy part doesn't come into most of this book, despite Aurora being cursed, and I found it lacking the magic I was hoping for. A heartfelt or sweeping romance might have made me like the book more, as would a main character I could connect with, a more evident threat, a world that was unique or actually explored, or a story that was more there. I was just about interested enough in the plot to reach the end, but most of the book was flat. Being honest, my favourite character was Roderick, and I thought he was very under-appreciated by Aurora even if I understand why she disliked him.
It took me until around 70% to finally find a bit of what I was looking for - danger, magic, excitement - but by then I'd already zoned out. Maybe you'll like A Wicked Thing more than me, but I found it to be monotonous and too much alike so many other, better, books.
[EDIT: just found out this is the start of a series, which explains the lack of everything. Guess the actual story is in the other two books. Boo.]
Characters ★★★☆☆
Setting/world building ★★★☆☆
It's never a good idea to make the first book in a series nothing but setup. :/
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about fantasy now adays, it's pretty disappointing when it's not well developed or unique.
Sorry this one wasn't for you Saruuh, better books in the future!
This is the second review of this book that I have read, and yours is pretty similar to the other one. I don't think I'll be picking this book up because I have already read a mediocre retelling of Sleeping Beauty (BRIAR ROSE by Jana Oliver), and that was more than enough to last one lifetime for me.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that the good part came along so far into the story. Boo. I don't like ti when the first book in a series is just a scene setter.