Thornwood by Leah Cypess - ADVISABLE

Thornwood (Sisters Ever After) by Leah Cypess, 260 pages. Delacorte Press (Random House), 2021. $17 

Content: G (some danger) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

It’s Rosalin’s 16th birthday and the whole kingdom knows what is supposed to happen – today Rosalin is supposed to prick her finger on a spindle and die – or fall into a 100-year sleep. Her younger sister, Briony, has been living with this forever and knows that all spinning wheels have been banished from the castle. But after waking her sister to prepare for the party, Briony goes back to her room and doesn’t remember anything until she wakes up on the floor of the tower room - next to a spinning wheel! When she rushes to find Rosalin, a handsome prince is on the verge of kissing her sister awake, which should break the curse. Until it doesn’t. Not only is the castle still surrounded by the thorn hedge, but the thorns are getting more aggressive. And not only has 100 years gone by, but several centuries have passed. Briony knows there is a way out of all of this, but she can’t seem to get anyone to listen to her. 

A solid, lovable, Sleeping Beauty twist. It does remind me of E.D. Baker’s Wide-Awake Princess series, but my fairy tale readers are the most voracious. 

 Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS