Hello Blogging World!

Jonny

I’m Jonny, and I want to move to Sleeping Beauty’s world! The jam sessions I’d have with the birdies and other animals would be epic!

Misty

I’m Misty and this was a definite step up from our last reads together.

This buddy read and rant is for A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables #1) by Alix E. Harrow. 

Blurb:

It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no one has lived past twenty-one.

Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

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***Brief disclosure***

Jonny is an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate and earns a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post. It’s a great way to help him keep things running on his blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

Buddy Read Book Rant:

Jonny

So Misty, how did you feel about this book overall? I thought it was a lot of fun. There’s just something so entertaining about fairy tale retellings and reimaginings. I was hooked from the first page. When I saw the words “chauvanist as shit” I knew we were in for a fun story.

Misty

I enjoyed it. I struggle with books that are fantasy but take place in our world and I did struggle a bit to get on board with that in this one but it was a good story.

Jonny

I get what you mean. I can get a little intimidated by high fantasy reads, but this wasn’t super overwhelming and was mishmashed with our world in an interesting way that made it easier for me to get into. I love portal fantasy!

Misty

Yeah high/epic fantasy is not for me. To me this one was very easy to understand. I guess for me I just prefer my fantasy to have very little of our world. I know I’m not explaining it well.

Jonny

Agreed! From page one I understand everything pretty well that was introduced and that’s good storytelling. Oh, gotcha. So maybe the story would’ve worked better for ya if Zinnia actually belonged in the fantasy world rather than being a visitor?

Misty

Yeah probably but don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed it as is just having it part in our world and part in a fantasy world just kind of threw me off a little bit and I kept having to remind myself that we were in our world as well so that why there’s a cell phone.

Jonny

I totally get it. Ooo, that brings up something I was curious about. Normally in portal fantasy, anything that typically works in reality won’t work in a fantasy world, especially cell phones. I think that was something of a small plot hole because there’s legit no cell phone towers in the world she’s in. But I did really really love the feminist vibes in this one. It was very girl power and screw the patriarchy and I was here for it!

Misty

You know I didn’t even think about there not being any cell towers in the fantasy world. I didn’t even question why the phone was still working. Yes I loved the feminist vibes and screw the patriarchy as well. That’s was probably my favorite thing over all.

Jonny

I honestly didn’t either until you just mentioned it. That’s why I loved these little convos. I catch extra stuff I sometimes miss in my reviews. Yeah it was great and not too overhanded. Things like abortion and unwanted marriages were important to the story but it was balanced really well with the adventure and fantasy of it all. If I were stuck in that world I would’ve definitely apprenticed under Zellandine to learn some awesome magic!

Misty

I love buddy reading with people because they always catch things that I wouldn’t necessary watch on my own and it’s fun to chat through things with someone. Yeah I never felt like the author was trying to shove her beliefs down our throats at any point which has definitely been the case with some books in the past. Oh I loved the little twist with Zellandine. I wasn’t expecting that at all.

Jonny

Exactly! I can get tunnel vision on what I make note of when reading alone so it’s nice to broaden my view with someone else. Right, the topics were really important to the characters involved and I liked some of the twists and surprises along the way.

Okay, so I did take a glance at the next book’s blurb and it continues Zinnia’s journey. Is there anything you’re hoping for in the next book?

Misty

Yes exactly the same for me especially if there’s romance involved. I will zero in on the romance and forget about everything else.

Wait this is part of a series?? I thought it was a standalone.

Jonny

Yep, it’s a series! There’s a second one out and the author is currently working on the third one. I kinda love it because the first story is relatively short and you can just blaze through it.

I’m hoping that Zinnia will find some romance and maybe even learn some magic along the way. That and a more direct villain would be nice. In the first book, the villain is more broad.

Misty

How the heck did I completely miss that? I wonder if they are all going to be on the shorter side??

Honestly I don’t know what I want from the second book since I didn’t even think there was a second book. You know I would never say no to a romance and based off the synopsis I’m not sure if we will be getting a true villain or not.

Jonny

It’s okay. We’ve been reading up a storm so we were bound to miss something at some point. Yeah, I think they’re all gonna be under 150 pages or so.

Yeah, I want at least the beginning of a romance in the next one, but it didn’t sound like there would be just one villain so it may be a case by case thing. Would you be up for trying out the second book? I’m really interested in knowing how her new life in the fantasy world is going to pan out.

Misty

I love a short quick read. Yes I’m definitely interested in reading the second book. I probably want be able to start it immediately though.

Jonny

That’s cool with me! I need a book to read while I’m on my writer’s retreat, so that would be perfect!

Misty

Sounds like a plan.

Jonny

Okay, hooray! Thanks again for reading this one with me, and I can’t wait to dive into the next one. 🙂

Misty

I’m glad we finally found one we enjoyed. Look forward to reading the next one with you soon.

That’s A Wrap!

Thanks for joining us on our buddy read and rant of A Spindle Splintered! We had a lot of fun, and hope you did too! We will definitely be doing some more buddy reads in the future, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, why not check out Misty and Jonny’s other fun buddy reads?

Buddy Read: Monster Blood For Breakfast!

Buddy Read: Creep from the Deep

Buddy Read: Revenge of the Living Dummy

Buddy Read: Shadow War

Buddy Read: Shadow Flames

Buddy Read: Shadow Pawn

Buddy Read: Shadow Walker

Buddy Read: Slewfoot

Buddy Read: Cemetery Boys

Buddy Read: Ravensong

Buddy Read: Wolfsong

Buddy Read: Magic Bites

Buddy Read: The First to Die at the End

Buddy Read: They Both Die at the End

Buddy Read: Under the Whispering Door

Buddy Read: The Burning World

Buddy Read: Warm Bodies

Buddy Read: The Wicked Deep

Buddy Read: The Locke & Key Series

Buddy Read: Dark Lover

Buddy Read: Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain

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