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Title: The Bone Spindle
Author: Leslie Vedder Genre: Fantasy Series: Bone Spindle trilogy Fairy-tale Inspiration: Sleeping Beauty Age group: Young Adult Author website: https://www.leslievedder.com/ |
“Great.” Shane smacked the table. “Then you’re hired. Standard agreement: All treasure goes to me, all books and historical stuff to you, and nobody touches any magic relics.”
My thoughts
Filore (goes by Fi) is a treasure hunter, in the spirit of Indiana Jones. She loves artifacts and history and learning magical languages.
Shane, the Huntsman, is her adventuring partner. Her trusty companion is her axe, which she uses to get herself both in and out of trouble. And yes, that does seem to be a reference to Red Riding Hood, as we also come across a girl named Red, and there are also wolves.
Briar Rose is the sleeping prince, saved not from death but from being controlled by the evil Spindle Queen. Briar is also a witch, providing him a way to still communicate with Fi, but also putting him at risk to falling to the darkness. This also gives the couple a way to form an actual relationship before the kiss, avoiding all the squicky consent issues.
This book has plenty of action, adventure, and romance. It doesn’t have the tone of many fairy-tales, but contains plenty of content references. It was a fun read. I loved the characters. I love that the world-building normalized LGBTQ characters and lifestyle. Not only is there no prejudice against them, but one kingdom even has rules in place for how to handle getting an heir if the new ruling couple is of same sex.
The party has plenty of other obstacles to face however: traps, terrain, witch hunters, and knowing who to trust.
Warning, this is the first in a trilogy, so though the main curse is resolved, there are plenty of threads still left to wrap up. I look forward to the sequels. I wonder if they will include references to more fairy tales.
