When "A Wicked Thing" Just Isn't

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Title:  A Wicked Thing
(A Wicked Thing #1)
Author:  Rhiannon Thomas
Format:  eARC, Audio
Length:  337 pages, 8hrs. 42mins
Publishers:  HarperTEEN, Blackstone Audio
Rating:  2 stars


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.  -Goodreads


My Thoughts
So...
Sleeping Beauty wakes up and...
Nothing.
For page after page, there is nothing.

She makes little to no progress in finding out about the world around her, and allows herself for be repeatedly cowed by everyone around her.
She often says "to herself" that she should speak up.  When the time comes to do so however, there is nothing.
Crickets!

The prince that awakens her is just as much of am ineffectual pushover as she, and together they manage to be remarkably boring.


One of the few times times that the Princess, (pun fully intended) does decide to grow a pair and sneaks out of the castle...
Lo and behold...she meets a boy!

You would think that things would take a turn for the better from there, but sadly...no.

This is a story that has the ability to go anywhere and be anything; due to the fact that the original  work ends with "happily..."

Instead, what happens is that things happen around the Princess, but never to her.  She sits on the sidelines, while intrigue, murder, and plots take place all around her.  She is always tentative, unsure, and questioning.
Even the point at which she is confronted by the the villain from her past, the outcome is rather lackluster.

This is a beautifully written story.  Which is why, when reading it, one becomes desperate for the time when it will find its wing, take flight, and soar into literary greatness.  This story however, is mired in the quicksand of stage-setting that often marks the downfall of first books in a series.
The author does wonderful job setting the stage for promised adventures in book two.  Book one however, is sadly only the echo of said promise...unfulfilled.





About Rhiannon


Rhiannon Thomas
Rhiannon Thomas is a recent graduate from Princeton University, where she studied English and Japanese, and smuggled bubble tea into the library on a regular basis. She now lives in York, England.

As well as reading and writing YA fiction, she runs the blog FeministFiction.com, where she discusses TV, books, and all kinds of fannish things from a feminist perspective.

I don't hang out on Goodreads much, so if you want to contact me, please swing by my personal website or message me on Twitter.

  

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