Review: A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas

A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas
Publisher- Harper Teen
Published- Feb 24th 2015
Pre-Order- Amazon / B & N

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.

My Thoughts:
A Wicked Thing, is a really cool take on this retold fairy tale. We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty. She pricks her finger, falls into a deep sleep and awakens with true loves kiss. But, what happens after Princess Aurora wakes up? Well, in Rhiannon Thomas version, it ends up a little something more then happily ever after.

First off, I have got to say that I'm in love with Thomas's writing style. It's pitch perfect, crisp and beautifully enchanting. I love the dialogue- so quaint, formal and eloquent and the setting makes me want to reach in the pages and live in the story. I have loved fairy tales since I was a little girl and always thought the story of Sleeping Beauty was such a grand romantic idea of finding your one true love, but in A Wicked Thing, I was entertained with the idea that Aurora could possibly want something more. After all, she doesn't even know who Prince Rodric is and is mourning the lost of her family and adjusting to the fact that it's been a hundred years past. Overwhelming is an understatement. Thomas paints a beautifully imaginative world where our dear Princess dares to be something else then the role of smile-and-be-silent. Aurora has fire and magic in her veins. She's daring, adventurous and full of sass. My heart really goes out to her and the confusion that is her life. Being pulled in so many directions between Prince Rodric, Prince Finnegan, Tristan and the evil witch Celesine, it's no wonder Aurora is a very lost creature that is tangled in a political game with so much death and despair, and yet she still remains ever kind hearted and compassionate. 

All of these characters are so incredibly well written. Each with a voice and personality that blends wonderfully with the tone and setting of the entire length of the story.

Rodric is kind, caring, thoughtful and very sweet. He's awkward and maybe a little naive, but he is very loyal to his family and his kingdom and believes that fate will guide him through.

Finnegan is your typical charmer. Arrogant, overconfident and presumptuous, but it's his mischief nature that draws me to him the most.

But I think it was dear Tristan who surprised me the most and I'm not sure I liked the direction his character took. At first he seems so playful, enthusiastic and full of life, but at last, he wasn't who I though he was.

Now, don't let the list of boys fool you into thinking we have multiple love stories, each want something from Aurora, some motives pure, while others are not, but love was never a real big factor in this book, or at least not yet. However, I did have a great time learning about each character and what they brought into Aurora life and this beloved fairy tale.

~I think my only complaint would be that this was slightly repetitive and that nothing was resolved by the end of the story nor do we know which direction Aurora will go. Still, I enjoyed being introduced into this promising new world and knowing that there is still more to come given the ending we got. 

All in all, I had a lot of fun with this book. It's unique and probably one of the best done retold fairy tale books I've read. The writing is truly lovely and fantastic while these characters captivated me throughout the entire escape. A promising start, an amazing debut, I greatly look forward to seeing more.   

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