kayladaniella's review against another edition
2.0
"A drop of blood, a drop of hope. The sleep of death broken with a single kiss."
The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder is an adventurous debut novel. I enjoyed it, yet it lacked in several areas. It is a fairytale retelling—Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Type: 1st in a triolgy
POV: 3 POV's, third person, past tense
Age Rating: 12-17 years old
~Synopsis~
Cursed princes are nothing but ancient history to Fi—until she pricks her finger on a bone spindle while exploring a long-lost ruin. Now she's stuck with the spirit of Briar Rose until she and Shane can break the century-old curse on his kingdom.
"Spells allow us to channel that natural magic for a task, but the bigger the spell, the greater the risk of unintended consequences."
~Writing and Setting~
Vedder's writing was very simple—too simple. It didn't flow nicely and it really dragged me out of the story. For emotional scenes, because of the writing, I was never really struck with any high emotions. This book is based on backstory and worldbuilding, but everything we needed to know to understand the novel was in the prologue, crammed into a few short pages. I wish Vedder could've spread out the history in a way that makes it understandable, as their is so much going on in this book. One thing I did like though was the flashbacks. They were very interesting, but unfortunately there was just so much excessive information in this book.
"'Yes, Briar,' Fi snapped, a little louder than she meant to. 'We could die at any moment. I have no idea how I ever slept before.'"
~Plot~
The actual plot is very much like the classic Sleeping Beauty. The kiss breaks the curse. I liked the adventure elements but it was still very lacking. It's a 400 page book yet so much happens in backstory and not much happens in their current time. The pacing is all over the place, fast, then slow, then fast, and so on. It was just all a bit too much past and not enough present. And what did happen in the present just felt as though the author just shoved unfortunate events at them because stuff needed to happen. A lot of it didn't progress the story at all. Lastly, the romance aspect felt uncomfortable for both romances and it honestly just didn't work.
"'Do you believe in love at first sight?' Briar's smile was half teasing, half serious, and Fi felt her stomach do a little flip-flop.
'I find it highly improbable,' she said.'"
~Characters~
I didn't like Fi and didn't like reading in her POV even more. She was annoying and just not likeable. I didn't like the drama she had with her ex, it was just unnecessary and didn't add to the story. Shane wasn't my favorite, but she was much better than Shane. She at least had a little snark with her attitude and short height. My favorite character was Briar Rose. What an angel! He is the perfect soft, sweet, gentle golden retriever boy and he was perfect in every way. He's what really made me finish the book. Even though we only had a very limited amount of chapters in his POV, they were always my favorite.
"'You really are nothing like a typical prince,' Fi said.
'Would you like me better if I were?' Briar asked.
'No,' she said. 'Not one bit.'"
~Overall~
The Bone Spindle was a bit of a disappointment. While I liked it for the most part, the backstory was confusing, too much was going on, and there was just a lot of unnecessary stuff added. But, I would still recommend for anyone who wants to give it a chance. And, it doesn't hurt to own a book with like the prettiest cover I've ever seen.
"What kind of person walks away from someone in trouble?"
2.5/5 stars
The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder is an adventurous debut novel. I enjoyed it, yet it lacked in several areas. It is a fairytale retelling—Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Type: 1st in a triolgy
POV: 3 POV's, third person, past tense
Age Rating: 12-17 years old
~Synopsis~
Cursed princes are nothing but ancient history to Fi—until she pricks her finger on a bone spindle while exploring a long-lost ruin. Now she's stuck with the spirit of Briar Rose until she and Shane can break the century-old curse on his kingdom.
"Spells allow us to channel that natural magic for a task, but the bigger the spell, the greater the risk of unintended consequences."
~Writing and Setting~
Vedder's writing was very simple—too simple. It didn't flow nicely and it really dragged me out of the story. For emotional scenes, because of the writing, I was never really struck with any high emotions. This book is based on backstory and worldbuilding, but everything we needed to know to understand the novel was in the prologue, crammed into a few short pages. I wish Vedder could've spread out the history in a way that makes it understandable, as their is so much going on in this book. One thing I did like though was the flashbacks. They were very interesting, but unfortunately there was just so much excessive information in this book.
"'Yes, Briar,' Fi snapped, a little louder than she meant to. 'We could die at any moment. I have no idea how I ever slept before.'"
~Plot~
The actual plot is very much like the classic Sleeping Beauty. The kiss breaks the curse. I liked the adventure elements but it was still very lacking. It's a 400 page book yet so much happens in backstory and not much happens in their current time. The pacing is all over the place, fast, then slow, then fast, and so on. It was just all a bit too much past and not enough present. And what did happen in the present just felt as though the author just shoved unfortunate events at them because stuff needed to happen. A lot of it didn't progress the story at all. Lastly, the romance aspect felt uncomfortable for both romances and it honestly just didn't work.
"'Do you believe in love at first sight?' Briar's smile was half teasing, half serious, and Fi felt her stomach do a little flip-flop.
'I find it highly improbable,' she said.'"
~Characters~
I didn't like Fi and didn't like reading in her POV even more. She was annoying and just not likeable. I didn't like the drama she had with her ex, it was just unnecessary and didn't add to the story. Shane wasn't my favorite, but she was much better than Shane. She at least had a little snark with her attitude and short height. My favorite character was Briar Rose. What an angel! He is the perfect soft, sweet, gentle golden retriever boy and he was perfect in every way. He's what really made me finish the book. Even though we only had a very limited amount of chapters in his POV, they were always my favorite.
"'You really are nothing like a typical prince,' Fi said.
'Would you like me better if I were?' Briar asked.
'No,' she said. 'Not one bit.'"
~Overall~
The Bone Spindle was a bit of a disappointment. While I liked it for the most part, the backstory was confusing, too much was going on, and there was just a lot of unnecessary stuff added. But, I would still recommend for anyone who wants to give it a chance. And, it doesn't hurt to own a book with like the prettiest cover I've ever seen.
"What kind of person walks away from someone in trouble?"
2.5/5 stars
daisy_books's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
neera_exlibris's review against another edition
The characters read way too young for their ages.
jillselwyn's review against another edition
5.0
how are these authors doing it, first The Midnight Girls, now this? these gay decently high stakes fantasies are so fun what the heck, anyway rtc.
apow1071's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pestanitasg's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
callieash_ro's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
scrollsofdragons's review against another edition
3.0
Briar's a cutie
Rating:
Characters - 2.5
Plot - 2.5
Enjoyment - 3.5
Writing- 3
Relationships - 3
World Building - 2.5
Originality- 2
For a total of 2.71 rounded to 3
Rating:
Characters - 2.5
Plot - 2.5
Enjoyment - 3.5
Writing- 3
Relationships - 3
World Building - 2.5
Originality- 2
For a total of 2.71 rounded to 3
garbutch's review against another edition
2.0
This is another one that just didn't particularly stand out to me. I did at least like the character of Shane, and there wasn't anything specific wrong with this book. It just felt like there wasn't really tension or stakes, even when there was. They basically go on a quest for treasure and then that sort of goes sideways with some witch stuff and journey to awake a sleeping kingdom. The characters are cute in their jokes together, but again, not really any sense of tension or suspense for me. I ended up going through it faster than I normally read not out of enjoyment or craving the story, but out of wanting to finish it. I feel like the worldbuilding has all the bones of something incredible but it just felt casual to me. Again, I read audiobooks largely, so the narrator may have influenced this, not I'm not sure as I don't have an immediate comparison.