Review of A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas

Advance Review of Rhiannon Thomas' A Wicked Thing

Release Date: February 4th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:




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.  




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This beautiful re-telling of after Sleeping Beauty wakes from her 100 year sleep brings a totally new perspective on what happens when the happily ever after that was always promised isn't so happy.


It has been many years since I read any version of the Sleeping Beauty tale, so I had to look up what happened in the original. Like most people, I mainly remember Disney's version, which like most fairy tales is skewed for a younger audience. It was hard to separate all the versions in my head, so at times I found that I was confusing myself.


I enjoyed this story, once I read up on the original, but wish Thomas had stated in an Author's Note which version that her story is based around... or maybe even wrote her own version of the tale. But maybe that can be a task for another book in the series, a prequel.


Seeing as how this is an Advance of the book, I don't want to give anything away. I will give you a little of what I liked that will not ruin the story for you. Once we began hearing Aurora's back story, I liked that Thomas had not made the tale centered on Magic. While there was a curse and an evil witch, there are not a ton of Fairies around trying to save the day. While I would enjoy one or two Fairies, I am not a huge fan of stories centering on Fair Folk. I am very happy that this is not your typical happily ever after. If it was, it wouldn't be as exciting as it was. The Prince is not the perfect, manly, swoon worthy character you expect. He is young, scrawny, and awkward. This opens up the door for other love interests, or maybe she will pick the nerd. That would change things up, right? I am happy that this is 1 of a series of books that will center on Sleeping Beauty. While I love series like Cinder, I want to know more about Aurora.


I hope you enjoyed what I've told you about this story, because I am very happy with the outcome so far. It was a beautiful tale that was anything but predictable. I definitely recommend this to fans of classic fairy tale re-telling's, as well as fans of strong female characters. If you have any questions about what you should read, please feel free to message me at any time or comment in this blog entry.