This was one of the books where I borrowed it and then let it sit. If it didn’t have a deadline to return it, it may have never have gotten read because when I have high hopes for the book (and from the cover and description I definitely did), sometimes I don’t dare to start the book because: 1) what if I don’t like it? or 2) if I read it, then I’ll never have the ability to read it again for the second time.

Anyway, enough about me being weird. Spindle Fire is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Princess Aurora is beautiful and charming and has no voice or a sense of touch because those two things were “tithed” (aka bartered away) to fairies in exchange for her being so lovely. Her half-sister, Isabelle, is blind (another fairy tithe) and despite the fact that they should hate each other (or at least, Isabelle should resent Aurora), the two of them are really close.

I love the bond between the sisters but sadly, most of the book has them spent apart. Aurora pricks her finger on a spindle and falls into a sleep/enters a strange realm, also triggering a sleeping sickness. Isabelle, who ran away to escape being sent to a convent, hears about her sister’s strange sleep and goes on a journey to find her. So basically, they spend most of the book apart. I think this book is the first in a series so I’m hoping that the second book is going to feature this sisterly bond in a major way.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the setting of this book! Basically, faeries used to rule the land and while humans are mostly in charge now, there are still faerie Lords and Ladies and even a Faerie queen. I thought this concept, as well as the idea of tithing and the mirroring of Isabelle and Aurora with twin fairy sisters to be an original twist on the story and really enjoyed it.

The only thing I did not enjoy was, perhaps predictably, the love story. Aurora’s one made no sense, possibly because she didn’t actually need one to achieve her goal, and Isabelle’s one took such a weird turn. I cannot say more but I definitely did not like where it was going when the twist happened, though I’ve grown resigned to it.

Overall, I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the two main characters! I love how strong their sisterly bond was and I really cannot stress that enough! While I’m not enthused about the romance subplots, that’s pretty much me with most romance subplots so I’m still looking forward to reading the next book in this series.