Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?

My Review 

Author: Stacey Jay

Pages: 400

Publication Date: December 9 2014

Source: Library

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Dear Princess of Thorns, 

I love you beyond words. However, seeing as humanity is not yet capable of communicating the depths of our feelings without some verbal cues, I am forced to use words to convey my utter appreciation for you. 

I luh you. 

Aurora, is awesome. She is loud, proud, and stubborn as hell. She has a destiny and refuses to back down from it. She is willing to do the most ridiculous things to get what she wants, and her go-getter attitude is the fucking bomb. I wish she could be real so we could be BFFs and tbh I've always loved squirrels. She never takes shit from anyone, and she made mistakes, but she was so passionately herself, so loud and free and wild in the most gloriously Aurora-way ever, and I love her for it.

Niklaas... his character development was ON FLEEK. He started out gorgeously quippy, (I mean, a freaking sun god? What's not to like?) yet I could not appreciate his casual, much manly man misogyny. But he learned grew through deeply analyzing his feelings and finally, he saw women as people. I love that. I love Stacey Jay for the extremely delicate way this was covered. Niklaas was an asshole, but other parts of him were lovable, like his wit, his sense of duty, and his stubborness too. Damnit, Niklaas and Aurora are the most stubborn couple that ever was and that will ever be.

I ship it.

The best part was that Jay wrote about Niklaas' past and why he had grown up, socialized to believe in certain things, and how he finally overcame it. #feminism #geteducated

And then, Princess of Thorns, there is the lovely spirit of destiny. All the lovely components of Sleeping Beauty are twisted into something new while maintaining the spirit of the original fairy tale. This was done through the writing. I always thought Stacey Jay was a great writer, but it was not until Princess of Thorns that I truly appreciated the poetry of her words. Stacey Jay incorporates mystique into every word, and her creative use of perspectives elevates Princess of Thorns. Different characters with complex motivations are revealed, and the story has a few moving parts that converge in a satisfying climax and resolution.

Princess of Thorns is mostly a romance, and Aurora and Niklaas eclipse everything else in the story. There is a great evil that they both fight, but that is very secondary to Aurora learning to use her fairy gifts, and frankly, I enjoyed the banter between the two so much that I did not care about the overall plot as much as I may normally. I was under a spell.

Princess of Thorns, you are no retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty is the inspiration, and there are direct links to the original tale, but the story is something completely different, and it is wonderful. It is full of castles and wars, corruption and hate. This is a journey between Niklaas and Ror, and frankly, I wish Stacey Jay's kickstarter was still running because I love these characters and I wish I could read more about them. Alas, it's too late now, and I can only hope that Stacey Jay will one day write another book and I will read it.

Princess of Thorns, to me, is definitely on the level of other brilliant retellings by the likes of Jackson Pearce and Rosamund Hodge. I recommend this for fans of the other two, or fans of gorgeous writing in fantasy.

-P.E. 

Author: Stacey Jay
Date of Publication: July 23 2013
Pages: 391
Source: Library

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

Review:

The romance was incredible. You know it's a big deal when I, not known for my love of romance, thought it was great. The love was sweet and profound, and some lines had me almost in happy tears. It's amazing to read about a love so pure.

Of Beast and Beauty is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in a new planet. There are two main POVs. Isra, Princess of Yuan, has pretty much been hidden away in a tower for most of her life. Gem, a Desert Dweller, is a warrior setting out to protect his tribe from starvation. Naturally, both sides hate each other.

My pitiful explanation of the premise behind Of Beast and Beauty doesn't do the story justice at all. There are many layers and mythological aspects to the story. Overall though, the story felt less like a fantasy or sci-fi than another fairy tale. Isra and Gem's love is not coincidence; it's fated.

I'm not saying there is insta-love, because there isn't. Isra and Gem both start out curious about each other. They consider hurting the other for their own goods, but slowly they change.

Of Beast and Beauty is a very character oriented story. There is action, but the book draws you in with beautiful words rather than thrilling sequences. This style works very well for the fantastical romance of Of Beast and Beauty. The characters do change, and the reader experiences the growth with them. There is absolutely no confusion as to what is happening.

The story is well executed, and I was fully engrossed in it. The ending in particular, with some revelations, had me desperately hoping for a happy ending. I think overall, Of Beast and Beauty is an extremely clever retelling, because it takes all the best elements  of the original fairytale and makes them its own. The theme of beauty is well explored, and I think my favourite part is that neither Isra or Gem are fully beauty or beast. There's more to the story than that.

One thing I didn't like was that the writing was almost too much at times, and especially early on, the plot was slow. At one point, Isra discovered something she needed a little too conveniently, but that's where the whole fated part comes in, I suppose.

Overall, Of Beast and Beauty was an incredible romance and a fantastic retelling. 4 stars.

-P.E.