She’s not a princess . . . but then, he’s no prince.
Polyhymnia is deep in enchanted sleep. High in a tower, behind an impenetrable barrier of magical thorns, she sleeps, dreams, and falls ever deeper into her curse.
Woken by a kiss, Poly finds herself in an alien world where three hundred years have passed and everyone she has ever known is dead. Luck, the enchanter who woke her, seems to … who woke her, seems to think she is the princess. Understandable, since he found her asleep on the princess’ bed, in the royal suite, and dressed in the princess’ clothes.
Who cursed Poly? Why is someone trying to kill her and Luck? Why can’t she stop falling asleep?
And why does her hair keep growing?
Sometimes breaking the curse is just the beginning of the journey.
“A roller-coaster ride of creative and fantastic fairy tale retelling! I think I just found a new favourite author!” -Wishful Endings Book Blog
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This is one of the few books I rated 5 stars with no hesitation. There are more typos in Spindle than the other excellent indie books I’ve reviewed, no hyphens to be seen and the book’s semi-lyrical style at the beginning can be off-putting and sometimes hard to follow. Yet it’s unmistakable from the start that this is a clever, quirky and well-designed story worth seeing through.
From a unique “thread”-based magic system that the reader is dropped into without explanation, to fantastical settings (a movable village that is a spiral), to genuine action, and to lovely, funny characters (an enchanter whose catch phrase is “huh” and a boy who would rather be a pet), Spindle never disappoints. This is a true gem in the indie book world, if ever so slightly flawed (the grammar police side of me says that; the excited reader doesn’t care!). There are plenty of fun and interesting fairy tale retellings out there, but Gingell really makes this one feel like her own. She doesn’t just put a twist on it, she origami folds it into an entirely new and fascinating shape.
In short, I can’t wait to read what comes next!
This series ended up being my favorite discovery last year. This book in particular stands out as a delightful homage to Diana Wynn Jones, but it has a story and world all its own. I adored the quirky characters, the inventive magic, and the twists and turns of the plot.
I loved this book!
Polly is such a fun protagonist and not at all who you would expect to wake up from sleeping for a very long time. She has no idea what’s going on and neither do you but that’s OK. You get swept up into the story and it’s a very fun adventure!
Luck got on my nerves more than once and I wanted to slap him upside the head and tell him to COMMUNICATE but I think that’s what the author intended and he did end up growing on me and had a certain charm in the end.
Melchior is one of my favorite characters!. Even though he is sarcastic and just a little bit sketchy he is also perfect. I can’t really say more without spoilers so you should just read the book!
I’m a huge fan of this author’s Between series and wanted to try something else from her. Spindle was awesome! It’s weird, a little wacky, and I loved every second of it.
This book plops the reader right into things and it took me a bit to really get my bearings, to figure out what was going on. But that was part of the fun. Poly’s missing a lot of her memories, so as she slowly starts remembering, things begin to take shape and make more sense. I was reading as fast as I could to try to figure everything out.
Spindle has a bit of a Sleeping Beauty feel to it, but Poly’s not a princess and Luck’s not the prince. I found the nod to the classic tale to be so great. I had such a fun time reading it and am anxious to check out the rest of the series.
Good, clean fantasy and a good mystery! I liked the characters, the story was well-written and it kept me guessing until the end. I plan on reading the next book in this series. I also liked the author’s “Shards of a Broken Sword” trilogy
Not my most favorite. However, I’m glad I read it and would read another book by this author.