A Wicked Thing
by Rhiannon Thomas
Series: A Wicked Thing #1
Published on February 24th 2015
by HarperTeen
Genres: Retelling, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss
Goodreads
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.
I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review.
This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I love fairy tale retellings if they’re done right. I’ve been looking forward to A Wicked Thing for quite some time because of that, but unfortunately… While I enjoyed reading it, A Wicked Thing kind of underwhelmed me in the end.
A Wicked Thing tells the story of Sleeping Beauty, one hundred years after she fell asleep. She wakes up to a kiss of a handsome prince and a kingdom that has been waiting for her return. According to the stories, she should be living happily ever after now, but Aurora knows the truth is nothing like a fairy tale. Her family is long dead, her so called true love is a stranger and her whole life has been planned out by people who may not have the best intentions. As if that isn’t enough, Aurora fears that the curse has left another mark on her.
I did enjoy this book. The writing was beautiful and the world-building was very solid. The romance didn’t take too much away from the story at all and the characters were all great. You know, I hated some of them because they were awful, I liked others, I felt for the main character and all that. I loved Finnigan the most. I felt bad for Aurora, but I didn’t like the fact that she didn’t do much for most of the novel. She just went with everything and let others push her around. It was only in the last third of the book that she started thinking for her own.
There was a small twist that I honestly did not expect near the end. But… I felt like I’m missing a few chapters at the end. Just as the climax started to build, it ended for me. I don’t feel like this first book accomplished anything. Not even when it comes to the romance. There are three possible guys for Aurora, but it never goes anywhere. I thought it would for one of them, but that stops and then I thought she’d grow closer to another one, but that doesn’t have a chance to go anywhere because the book ended.
A Wicked Thing is beautifully written and in my opinion best read when you have at least the second book to read right after it. All in all I wanted a bit more, but I still recommend it to fans of retellings and fantasy.
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I hate it when the endind is too abrupt and you feel like you are missing something! That’s the worst! I’m at least glad that you found some redeeming things in this one Bee!
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
Yeah, I hope the sequel is better!
Twitter: Liza
I’ve seen mixed reviews for this one and I’m not sure if I should start the series. I do love retellings and the cover is so pretty. Oh, well, I guess I might 🙂
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
I would give it a try! 🙂
Twitter: The Infinite Limits of Love
I don’t like the romance doesn’t go anywhere and that it doesn’t feel like anything significant happened in the book. I was really excited for this book, but the more reviews I read, the more I’m put off! I think for now, I’ll be skipping this.
Great review!
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
I think it’d be best to wait until the sequel comes out. If the sequel is better than the first book, you should give it a go!