A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon ThomasPublished by: HarperTeen on February 24, 2015
Genre: Fantasy, Retelling, Romance
Pages: 352
Source: Edelweiss
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★
A spinning wheel. A prick of a finger. A terrible curse.
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 fairytale.
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. Everyone expects Aurora to marry her betrothed and restore magic and peace to the kingdom before revolution tears it apart. But after a lifetime spent locked in a tower for her own safety, Aurora longs for the freedom to make her own choices. When she meets a handsome rebel, he tempts her to abandon everything for a different kind of life.
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.
A Wicked Thing is my favourite fairy tale retelling in a long time! It felt like a breath of fresh air. It kept pretty true to the Sleeping Beauty story I knew, but it breathed some fresh life into it. There were subtle (and not so subtle) differences and unique twists. It felt both familiar and brand new at the same time! I really like that in a retelling.
I loved how much I was able to feel for Aurora. Imagine falling asleep then waking up 100 years later to realize that your entire family is dead, your home has grown and changed, you’re thrust into this stranger’s arms and told to marry, and your whole existence is weighed down with expectations. I felt SO BAD for her! I wanted to reach out and hug her, especially because no one else seemed to care about how she was feeling. They just expected her to marry the prince, do as she’s told, and make the people happy.
I could really sympathize with Aurora and feel the stress she was under!
I also felt really bad for the price, Rodric. He was a very nice guy, but he was kind of boring so I understood completely why Aurora didn’t love him. He was nice, gentle, and kind, but kind of a bland guy. I felt a bit sorry for him!
My one gripe with A Wicked Thing is that by the end, I felt like very little had actually happened. This didn’t bother me while I was reading; I was never bored or anything. But when I reached the end, I felt like everything just came down to the wedding and that was it. There was nothing ‘bigger’ than that. It’s heavily implied that this will be a series and that there’s more to come, but I still wish we could have seen more action and bigger events in this first story… especially with the rebellion. The stage was certainly set, but that part wasn’t developed very well.
But other than that, A Wicked Thing was a damn cool retelling! And holy cow, it had a really intense ending. It was a lot… bloodier than I expected! Like… wow.
The Verdict
I enjoyed this one, but I had more trouble with what you said about the ending. In the end I felt like I missed a couple of chapters in the end.
I loved this one too. Aurora’s feelings were so well described, I could completely understand her and I was really sad for her.
I liked Rodric. Maybe I am romantic, but I kinda hope that it will turn out he WAS her true love and they will end up together.
This is such a cool take! It’ll be cool if it’s a series. Is it just me or does it feel like fairytales are going on darker themes now? 😀
I am glad you liked this one, I have it to review. I am sort of hit and miss with retellings so I am curious about this one.
I got this book on my TBR list. I am looking forward to it even more now. Thanks for the great review!
This is on my TBR. Glad to hear you liked it! That always gives me more confidence that I will like it as well haha. I just read my first fairy tale retelling, Splintered, and loved it! I want to read more of them 🙂
I’ve read a couple of negative reviews of A Wicked Thing but I’m glad to hear you liked it 🙂 I was super excited for this one and now some of that excitement is coming back. Great review!
THis looks like such a great read nut UGHHH I don’t like this cover.
Sorry you don’t like the cover. 🙁 I know that can be a huge turn off if you don’t like it.
I’m glad you liked this one. I on the other hand, did not like it at all. Unlike you, I was bored during the book because like you said, not much happened. I also wasn’t a huge fan of Aurora. I found her to a bit bland as well, like you mentioned about Prince Rodric. Glad you enjoyed it tho!
Aw I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy it. 🙁 I hate it when that happens!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this book, Ashley, because I’ve been eyeing it and watching the reviews pour in to see if it’s worthy of being on my TBR list. And I think it might now earn a place on there, because I love fairytale retellings, and when I can really sympathize and feel with a character, a book impacts me so much more than it would otherwise.
I feel like retellings are the hardest to get right. I rarely like them but I always try them. Gonna have to read this one and give it a chance.
I love retellings so I’ll DEFINITELY be picking this up! Brilliant review, Ashley! <3
It’s so refreshing when the author gives you enough of the world so that you can actually put yourself in the MC’s shoes! So glad you liked this one Ashley!
YAY, finally a positive review! I’ve been seeing mainly mixed reviews of this one 🙁 I’m glad you enjoyed this one though, I cannot wait for it’s release, lovely review ! 🙂
Thank you! I hope you love it. 🙂
I really want to read this book!I haven’t read a Sleeping Beauty retelling so far,and I’ve challenged myself to read atleast one retelling per fairytale this year.Hope I can get around to read this book soon.
Great review Ashley!