by Robin McKinley
publisher’s synopsis
The evil fairy Pernicia has set a curse on Princess Briar-Rose: she is fated to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into an endless, poisoned sleep. Katriona, a young fairy, kidnaps the princess in order to save her; she and her aunt raise the child in their small village, where no one knows her true identity. But Pernicia is looking for her, intent on revenge for a defeat four hundred years old.
What I Liked:
-McKinley has a unique writing style. The opening chapter charmed me, talking about a country so thick with magic that the teapots required regular descaling. That kind of gives you a little bit of an idea of what her writing is like.
-McKinely’s spin on the fairy gifts was fun. I won’t say anything so I don’t spoil it. 🙂
What I Struggled With:
-Character ages. By the end of the book, I had ages for most of the characters figured out, but Rosie is the only character with a stated age for a good chunk of the book. And on the note of character ages. . . there’s a romance subplot between two characters of vastly different ages that was a little weird.
-The fourth part of the book fell a little flat for me. Some things were also confusing during that section, which was a little disappointing since it was the climax.
-Time jumps. There were several points during the novel when a scene jumped back in time to a past event, sort of like a flashback. However, the time change wasn’t always the clearest, so it threw me off a little.
Overall:
Spindle’s End is a fun take on Sleeping Beauty. However, I didn’t love it like I do McKinley’s other novel, Beauty.
Cautions: five instances of a swear word used for its actual meaning; one British swear word; three instances of swearing; non-graphic violence; light romance; three kisses; brief mention of unmarried fairies having children; SPOILER: a girl kisses another girl to break a spell, non-romantic
Hailey Huntington 
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