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A Wicked Thing

(A Wicked Thing #1)

Rhiannon Thomas (Goodreads Author)

3.29 · Rating details · 3,994 ratings · 776 reviews

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 unders ...more

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Kindle Edition, 352 pages

Published February 24th 2015 by HarperTeen

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Lists with This Book

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2015 Releases

752 books — 1,447 voters

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UKYA in 2015

147 books — 284 voters

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Rating details

· 3,994 ratings · 776 reviews

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Nov 10, 2014 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: why-do-i-hate-myself

“I dub thee . . . Mouse.”
“Mouse?”
“Were you expecting something more regal?”
She shook her head and took another sip of mead. The sweet burn down her throat made her daring. “Why Mouse?”
“You look like you’re hiding away.”

Setting: Sleeping Beauty's castle. Aurora wakes up to find a strange boy kissing her.

Aurora: *gasps softly* Wha?...How...Who...

Prince: *stammers*

Aurora: But...wha? Huh?

Prince: *stutters*

Aurora: Who...? *stares in shock*

Prince: *chokes* MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!

QUEEN: (in caps) AH HA! ...more

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Nov 10, 2014 Faye, la Patata rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, conspiracies, death, dark-and-gritty, supernatural, disappointed, emo-done-right, dragging, medieval, unreliable-heroine

Check this review on Xpresso Reads!

Have you ever wondered what happened after Sleeping Beauty woke up from her slumber? Pondered if she really did live a "happily ever after"?

Well, A Wicked Thing is here to tell you that story. At least... one of the possibilities, anyway.

And it ain't exactly pretty.

This was me after I turned the last page. Emotions = A rollercoaster.

Retellings can be awesome and it can be a pain in the rear. Awesome, because you're already familiar with the basic elem ...more

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Dec 21, 2015 sreeja rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-reads

i read this arnd 2014 i think (thats ages ago)?? but i still rmb parts of it because this is probably one of the shittiest books i've read till date
Well i didn't know better back then and got lured in by the pretty dress on cover trope; and to say it was torture to finish it would be the understatement of the year. I realised that i didn't give reasons for my low ratings so here i am trying to rmb things that i don't wanna.

photo youre-invited-to-suffer-join-2468000_zpsl6rkmuxk.png

IK i probably sound harsh but honestly nah, just don't read ...more

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Jan 06, 2015 TheBookSmugglers rated it really liked it · review of another edition

After reading the author's work and essays over at Feminist Fiction (http://feministfiction.com/), I will be reading her book as fast as you can "gimme"

ETA TO ADD REVIEW

A Wicked Thing is a reimagining of the fairytale Sleeping Beauty, a variant that as far as I understand, combines the Disney version’s Aurora and Perrault’s version. It opens as Aurora opens her eyes when a prince kisses her lips awakening her from a one hundred year slumber and it closes with a question mark.

The in-between is a ...more

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Aug 14, 2014 Rachel (APCB Reviews) rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: disappointments, 2015-debuts

Initial Review: Thank gosh that's over with. Awkward dialogue, mediocre writing, poor characters, hardly any plot development. Pass.

Read the full review @ A Perfection Called Books

Although I was excited for this book, I had no idea what to expect. Only in the midst of reading A Wicked Thing did I start to form the idea of what I thought or wanted to happen. Unfortunately what actually happened was a lot less eventful and just plain slow. This book had its flaws, yet I enjoyed some aspects of it. Initial Review: Thank gosh that's over with. Awkward dialogue, mediocre writing, poor characters, hardly any plot development. Pass.

Read the full review @ A Perfection Called Books

Although I was excited for this book, I had no idea what to expect. Only in the midst of reading A Wicked Thing did I start to form the idea of what I thought or wanted to happen. Unfortunately what actually happened was a lot less eventful and just plain slow. This book had its flaws, yet I enjoyed some aspects of it.

I think I'll start by stating the things I liked about this book. I love Aurora's devotion to her people and how she genuinely cares for them. Too often in these types of books the royals claim they care for the people yet they don't show it. Aurora, through her thoughts and actions, truly conveys how much she cares for her people, and I really liked that. There's unrest in the city. People are unhappy and are starting to fight back. The tension behind it all was exciting. Unlike other fairytale retellings that put a twist to the story, A Wicked Thing is more of a continuation. It's the "What next?". Rhiannon weaved in all of the Sleeping Beauty details so well; in terms of retellings this one was great!

The writing was fair, yet the dialogue was awkward and flat in places. Speaking of flat, these characters!! Although I admire Aurora, she's aloof and so very unfeeling. I sympathized for her and her situation but couldn't connect with her. Her thoughts and feelings were quite unrealistic based on what had happened to her. There are fleeting mentions to her parents and her sadness and torment over losing them, but all in all she doesn't seem too upset about sleeping for over a hundred years and losing her family. The other characters were nothing special. The prince, Rodric, was bashful and shy beyond annoyance. I couldn't get a read on Isabelle. All I can think is meek. The queen and king were both total brats, but of course that's to be expected. Even then, I didn't see much character development. They were so cynical and calculated and cold, I wish we delved more into their characters. Prince Finnegan was the only mildly interesting character. Snarky and sexy, the only person actually "alive" in this book. The world-building was sparse as were descriptions in general.

I flew through this book, yet I felt as though nothing happened. Barely any action or romance occurs in this book. The plot hardly developed, I felt that the pacing was quite off and that this book was just filler. It wasn't a good start to the series, but it had a good end. It sets up the next book to be good, or at least I hope so. Although not my favorite, I think I'd recommend this book to people who are looking for a unique fairytale retelling. ...more

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Jan 14, 2014 Alyssa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-releases

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 24, 2015
Rating: 3 stars
Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

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 bo ...more

flag 18 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2014 Ashley rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, e-arc

Looove!

This was my favourite retelling in a long time. It felt very true to the Sleeping Beauty story I knew, but the author breathed some fresh life into it. She really made me FEEL for the main character. I felt so bad for her situation!

My one disappointment was the ending. Not the ending ending—that part was epic. I just mean where the story left off. Looking back over the whole book, I felt like not much was actually accomplished. At the end, what did Aurora achieve, really? Not much. I wasn ...more

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Sep 06, 2014 shady boots rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: covergasm, surprised-i-didnt-hate, meh-it-was-okay

Going into this book, I was fully prepared for it to be a very slow-paced story that focuses more on the political aspects than the fantasy elements, due to some of the reviews I've stumbled upon. While at first I thought I was going to be bored, it actually managed to keep me entertained. The story wasn't too bad, and while I think the characters could've used a bit more depth, I didn't mind them.

One gripe I have is that Aurora herself can be very passive most of the time. There were many momen Going into this book, I was fully prepared for it to be a very slow-paced story that focuses more on the political aspects than the fantasy elements, due to some of the reviews I've stumbled upon. While at first I thought I was going to be bored, it actually managed to keep me entertained. The story wasn't too bad, and while I think the characters could've used a bit more depth, I didn't mind them.

One gripe I have is that Aurora herself can be very passive most of the time. There were many moments where I was tempted to light a fire under her ass. Wake her up, so to speak. ((Har-dee-har. Me maek an j0ke lawlz.)) Throughout a huge chunk of the book, she's pretty much like a puppet that's constantly getting her strings pulled by multitudes of people. For someone who clearly didn't want to be controlled, she kept letting herself be controlled, from my observation. So that was pretty frustrating for me. Granted, the author didn't totally make her lack a backbone. There are a few moments where she grows some girl balls and takes action, stands up for herself. But they were just that: few. I needed more.

And regarding the love interests, as far as I can tell there are three possible choices. Yeah, a love square for once. That's different (not in a good way, mind you). I guess you could argue that one of them isn't supposed to be a love interest, but I don't know. There's a lot of moments in this book that make me think otherwise. There's the asshole, the sweet one, and the one in between that has both qualities. (For those of you who have read the book, I'm pretty sure you can match all those traits with their names, respectively.) I kinda didn't really care for any of them though, to be totally honest.

Overall, I guess I'm a bit disappointed at how much this book screams "HA I BET YOU THOUGHT I WAS A STANDALONE BUT NOPE I'M TOTES THE FIRST BOOK OF A SERIES TROLOLOLOLOL BTW HERE'S A CLIFFHANGER BYE" with how little plot development happened in it. I still don't know if I'd pick up the sequel when it comes out. Not that I don't wanna read it, I just somehow doubt that this book would leave much of an impression on me in the future. ...more

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Nov 03, 2014 Aimee ♥ | Aimee, Always rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: arc

Well that was disappointing.

Aurora was an okay and very realistic character, but that's pretty much the only good thing I can say about this. The pacing was off, the plot was nonexistent...

Full review to come closer to the release date.

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Mar 12, 2016 Lala_Loopsie [fire breathing B!tch Queen] rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: meh

I was pretty sure i had this shelved as currently-reading, but no worries, there are no hard feelings,Goodreads(mostly)

The book started out quite boring. Everyone, and i mean everyone was good. I mean, how could they be evil. Only the evil Witch/evil-being can be evil. If a woman asks for protection because she is accused of having magic, putting her in a dungeon is not bad by any means, the King just wishes to protect the country. A mom is going to make a 6 year old marry a 20 year old when sh ...more

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Jul 28, 2014 Jen (The Starry-Eyed Revue) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: girl-power, 2015, arcs, fantasy, magic-time-travel, edelweiss, fairytales-revisited, reimaginings-retellings

An advance copy of this novel was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are my own.

This review can also be found at The Starry-Eyed Revue.

I'm on a roll with fairy tale retellings lately! This one isn't my favorite -- it's not even based on my favorite tale -- but I loved how this retelling turns the original on its head. The Disney version of Sleeping Beauty would have us believe that the happily ever after begins with the kiss, but A Wicked Thing explores how A An advance copy of this novel was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are my own.

This review can also be found at The Starry-Eyed Revue.

I'm on a roll with fairy tale retellings lately! This one isn't my favorite -- it's not even based on my favorite tale -- but I loved how this retelling turns the original on its head. The Disney version of Sleeping Beauty would have us believe that the happily ever after begins with the kiss, but A Wicked Thing explores how Aurora might feel at being awakened from a long slumber by a handsome prince and finding her entire world has changed.

I think the aspect I appreciated the most in this story was Aurora's characterization. She is not the damsel-in-distress we've been led to believe. Aurora wakes up from a hundred year slumber, unaware of how long she's been asleep or that she's essentially alone in the world. And yet, she refuses to accept that her only choice is to marry the handsome prince who awoke her, even if his family and their subjects all believe that her waking and subsequent marriage to the prince who made it happen is what will save the kingdom.

For a story that starts with a kiss, there was a distinct lack of actual romance in the book. There are actually three would-be suitors in the story, but of them all, I preferred the one that Aurora probably found the most vile. I just love a helpful rogue...sue me. Of the other two, one is the sweet but guileless Prince Rodric who awoke her from her slumber and the other is an acquaintance she made in secret outside of the castle. Two of the three presume to use Aurora for their own purposes, though there may be real feelings involved. It's hard to tell so early in the game. The other is simply a good friend and wishes to do whatever is necessary to save the kingdom from its current blight. I liked and despised one and all at least once at some point throughout the story.

When I started this novel, I'd seen nothing indicating that this would be a series. That always irks me a bit, to be reading and getting closer and closer to the end of the novel and still see no resolution in sight. But, with this novel, I didn't mind quite as much because of Aurora's considerable growth as a character over the course of the book. She wakes up, and instead of resigning herself to the role set before her, she questions the future of the kingdom at the hands of the current king. Aurora wants her kingdom to return to the magnificence she knew before the curse struck, and she knows that she must trust her heart in order to make it so. She is good at heart, but Aurora must make some hard decisions in order to ensure the safety of her kingdom in the future.

A Wicked Thing started off slow. Okay, painfully slow, with Aurora cowing to her kingdom's current rulers at first and walking around for the first third of the book in complete indecision. But I'm glad I forged through that because seeing Aurora break free of that damsel-in-distress façade was worth it. This story is not the uplifting, romantic story from your childhood. It's tragic and sad in equal parts, but Aurora's determination to set things right left me hopeful. And her story is only going to get more interesting now that she's taking charge of her future.

GIF it to me straight:

...more

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Aug 08, 2014 Giselle rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-electronic, 2015, age-young-adult, from-publishers, requested-for-review, from-edelweiss, genre-romance, dnf, retelling

~~OOh a Sleeping Beauty retelling!~~

-----------------

I'm DNFING this at 30% for now. Might come back to it later but the fact that there's already three possible love interests is turning me off. Also I was really bored with nothing happening whatsoever.

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Sep 18, 2013 Mel (Daily Prophecy) rated it really liked it

Shelves: fairytales-retellings, read-2014, disappointing-af, edelweiss

3.5 stars
http://thedailyprophecy.blogspot.nl/2...

It's not one of my favorite fairytale retellings, but it's definitely a good story. I liked what Rhiannon did with the story. She managed to take Sleeping Beauty and turn it into something new. The realistic approach to the tale gave it an interesting twist.

---
When Aurora awakes she is immediately thrown into a new life she’s not ready for. While she is trying to deal with the fact that the world lived on, Aurora is used as pawn in a political pla 3.5 stars
http://thedailyprophecy.blogspot.nl/2...

It's not one of my favorite fairytale retellings, but it's definitely a good story. I liked what Rhiannon did with the story. She managed to take Sleeping Beauty and turn it into something new. The realistic approach to the tale gave it an interesting twist.

---
When Aurora awakes she is immediately thrown into a new life she’s not ready for. While she is trying to deal with the fact that the world lived on, Aurora is used as pawn in a political plan. I could feel her confusion and unsettling feeling, which shows that Rhiannon has a great writing-style. I flew through the pages, but I never found myself completely hooked to the story. The plot was a bit slow every now and then and I missed something, but I can't point out what.

I like that this book was character-driven, because Aurora was a good character to be around. With the blink of an eye Aurora’s whole life is turned upside down and her reactions felt very real to me. I loved how she tried to fight against her marriage with a complete stranger. Just because he woke her up and is supposed to be her ‘true love’ because a story says so, doesn’t mean Aurora feels the same way. It was a great change in storyline and better than the sappy love-at-first-kiss like the original tale. Aurora stands up for herself and tries to get a grip on her life, but it’s hard to change decisions made outside your power.

The other characters are less fleshed out. I disliked her ‘true love’ without a real reason. He is not a bad guy, but he has no spine and he knows he is being used by his parents, but he let it happen. I don’t care for those type of characters, but at the same time it was a nice contrast with Aurora. It’s good that the damsel-in-distress part was changed by making the prince weak.

The background story of Sleeping beauty was nicely done. It’s great how Rhiannon combined original aspects with her own twists. Let me just say that the Witch is going to play a big role in Aurora’s life. I also liked how we get the information about what happened while Aurora was asleep. There were no information dumps and we still get the whole picture.

The thing that annoyed me was the ending. I was expecting a stand-alone, but the ending is so unresolved and now it's clear this is the first book in a series. I would like to read more about Aurora – it’s just disappointing that I wasn’t aware of that fact. It made the ending feel abrupt and it came out of nowhere. Nevertheless, I look forward to it. ...more

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Jul 08, 2014 Nikki rated it liked it

Shelves: retellings, released-2015, series-starter

This review can also be found at my blog, There were books involved...

-----------------------------

You know that book? The one that might not be The Most Amazing Thing Ever, but it's pretty entertaining, and it makes you smile while you're reading it? This was that book for me.

...Until the last 25%.

See, the problem with not-amazing-but-fairly-happy-making books is that, for them to be memorable and recommendable, they need to also have a strong ending. At least for me. I want to be able to s ...more

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Mar 08, 2015 Nereyda (Nick & Nereyda's Infinite Booklist) rated it liked it · review of another edition

I love fairy tales and retellings and gorgeous covers. I was really excited about this one because it wasn't a retelling as much as it was a twist in the 'after the fairy tale'. The fact that Aurora didn't automatically fall in love with her 'prince charming' was another reason why I wanted to read this book. A Wicked Thing had soooo much potential, but the slow-paced plot and lack of clear character development took some of my enjoyment away from the book. It started off really well, but slowed I love fairy tales and retellings and gorgeous covers. I was really excited about this one because it wasn't a retelling as much as it was a twist in the 'after the fairy tale'. The fact that Aurora didn't automatically fall in love with her 'prince charming' was another reason why I wanted to read this book. A Wicked Thing had soooo much potential, but the slow-paced plot and lack of clear character development took some of my enjoyment away from the book. It started off really well, but slowed down somewhere in the middle. Luckily, the end of the story picked up again and made me interested in the story again and curious to see what happens next for Aurora.

When Princess Aurora wakes up from her sleeping spell, she discovers that years have passed and that her whole family has died. The handsome stranger who woke her up with a kiss and is destined to be her 'true love' is nothing more than a stranger. Her whole life has been planned and deciding without any input from Aurora and she knows that she isn't out of danger yet. I love all Disney movies, especially the princess movies (that's an understatement). But Sleeping Beauty is probably my least favorite one, probably because we get so little Aurora time. I really liked seeing Aurora trying to figure out who she is, what's going on and what she wants in the book, something that was clearly missing from the movie. I loved that she didn't simply accept that she was supposed to be with the prince, just because someone told her it was her destiny.

While I liked this one, I always felt like I was waiting for something more. I wanted more story, more information about the characters and more action. This is one of those not-really love triangles since it's pretty obvious early on that Aurora and her prince have no chemistry and no feelings for each other. I really liked the chemistry between Aurora and the rebel, but I wanted more. I really liked the way things ended, not a cliffhanger (to me anyway) but in a 'to be continued' kind of way that definitely will make me pick up the next book in the series.

Audiobook Comments: Shannon McManus is a great audiobook narrator that I've heard a few times now and I really enjoy her. While she isn't one of those narrators that I would consider a favorite of mine, I really can't say that I have any complaints about her. When I see a book narrated by her, I know that I will get an enjoyable and professional quality performance. I know a few readers were bored by this book, but I never felt bored with the audio. However, I'm not sure if I would have finished it if I had to actually read it. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series on audio too.

3 out of 5 stars

Book Mood Board: A Wicked Thing! by nereyda1003

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Read full review & more of my reviews at Mostly YA Book Obsessed

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Jul 07, 2014 Nasty Lady MJ rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Really 2.5 stars. To see full review click here.

Sleeping Beauty has to be one of the laziest fairytale characters. All she does is sleeps…

Until this book.

But I slept in this book. It made me tired, the sad thing is, when I started it I was excited. There were a lot of things about it that I liked, but in the end.

I was so bored.

I think part of this one’s problems is that it really is falling into the popular trend of fantasy novels right now. True, it has the fairytale retelling (or post fairytal ...more

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Aug 19, 2014 Sarah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, reviewed, 2015-reads, cover-love, retellings, fairy-tales, 2015-releases

Quick mini review!

What I liked:

☀ Aurora is a great main character who I found to be surprisingly likable.
She's independent, smart, stubborn and mature. For someone who has been asleep for 100 years, she adapts quickly and doesn't whine.
Of course it's a big bonus that she's a book lover.

☀ This was a fun twist on the tale of Sleeping Beauty and something that I didn't except.

☀ Very quick read.

☀ There's a wonderful friendship between the main character and a younger girl, and it's the kind of si ...more

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Mar 04, 2015 Michelle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

RTC.

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Nov 25, 2014 Alicia Batista (Addicted Readers) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, blog-tour, arc-own, fantasy, r2r, review-copy, some-romance, arc-paperback, spells, cover-love

Well...I'm not sure how I feel about this one? It's one of those books that you love to hate!

It was good, in it's own kinda slow paced, not what I was expecting kinda way. I do like it, but... something about it is not clicking like I hoped it would...

It kinda left me feeling like this...

description

~~~~~~EDITED REVIEW~~~~~~

3.5 Stars

A richly entangled web of lies, deception, murder plots, schemes, and a thirst for power, A WICKED THING breaths a whole new version of the classic fairytale we've all see ...more

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Jul 11, 2014 Debby rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: debut, books-that-linger, covergasm, for-review, own-read, favorites-fantasy, series-completed, debby-books, series-starter, reviewed

First read: February 2015
Second read: February 2016 - and still SO so good ♥

4.5 stars

Here's a thing I almost forgot: how much I love Sleeping Beauty. In fact, as I read A Wicked Thing, which fits with the tone and story of the Disney movie, I realized it was probably my favorite Disney movie when I was little. My favorite Disney princess for sure. A Wicked Thing is an absolutely stunning debut that just about left me breathless.

A Wicked Thing is like an alternate ending to Sleeping Beauty. In th ...more

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Jan 10, 2014 Paige (Illegal in 3 Countries) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, favorites, series-finished

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I got from Amazon Vine.

This is one of those books I got a review copy of despite expecting it to be merely an okay book. Why? Who knows. Maybe it’s my dislike of all things Disney and how fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty are now too intertwined with Disney to be considered on their own most of the time. Maybe it’s my general wariness for fairy tale retellings. Maybe it’s that the jacket copy doesn’t seem all that exciting. Whatever the See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I got from Amazon Vine.

This is one of those books I got a review copy of despite expecting it to be merely an okay book. Why? Who knows. Maybe it’s my dislike of all things Disney and how fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty are now too intertwined with Disney to be considered on their own most of the time. Maybe it’s my general wariness for fairy tale retellings. Maybe it’s that the jacket copy doesn’t seem all that exciting. Whatever the case, I got the book anyway. My verbatim reaction when I finished reading was “Well, that was unexpected.” IT WAS. Thomas wrote the book I didn’t know I wanted and deconstructed the hell out of Sleeping Beauty while she was at it.

For some reason, few of us think about what comes after the prince’s kiss in Sleeping Beauty. We all know the fairy tale formula of “and they lived happily ever after” and rely on true love’s kiss to assure us they lived happily ever after. But do they? In Aurora’s case, no. The prince whose kiss wakes her up definitely isn’t her true love, but he wakes her up nonetheless and she is nooooot happy to be waking up to a stranger’s smooch. Thus begins the deconstruction of everything about Sleeping Beauty and it is beautiful. We don’t find out why his kiss woke her up, though. That question lingers and I really hope the sequel gives me a solid answer. “Just because” ain’t good enough for me.

Aurora has three very different love interests that all represent different things for her–Prince Rodric kindness (this one is a stretch, admittedly, but he’s the one who brings her back and his kindness gets her through so much), Prince Finnegan power, and Tristan freedom–but this book is not about the romance. If you’re coming to this book hoping for romance or depending on it, you will be disappointed. Their characters aren’t developed very well either, so you may not even find one worth shipping with Aurora. (Honestly, I ship her with herself and wish for her to be asexual. but that probably won’t happen. Why? BECAUSE SHE IS WONDERFUL AND WELL-DEVELOPED AND THAT MAKES ME FORGIVE THE LACKLUSTER CHARACTERIZATION OF EVERYONE ELSE.)

A Wicked Thing is 100% unabashedly about Aurora and I love it for that. This book is about her finding herself in a world that is no longer the one she knew, one where she’s no longer afraid of a witch’s curse putting her to sleep but has something much worse to be afraid of: political intrigue and a kingdom teetering on the edge of revolution. The queen of this time is far from kind to Aurora and tries to make her be someone she’s not, but even that is understandable. She’s what it looks like when a woman submits to something she hates in the name of survival. Aurora is what it looks like when a woman fights that “destiny” and gets tired of being rendered powerless.

Crying is okay, but AWT!Aurora doesn’t do it often. She makes plans.

Maybe you know this already, but my one huge issue with fantasy YA is when the worldbuilding requires an explicitly misogynistic world in order to make its point about feminism. See: Defy by Sara B. Larson and The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons. It’s like a hammer to your skull and dying of bad feminism is a horrible way to go. Thomas does the exact opposite of this because she makes it clear Aurora is dealing with microaggressions, not outright misogyny. Microaggressions are much harder to deal with.

Some groups and people are explicitly misogynistic and openly consider women lesser than men, but for most, misogyny is much more subtle and deals in microaggressions. People vote for a white man over a woman of color because the white man seems more trustworthy. Grown women are referred to as “girls.” People make assumptions about what a woman or girl will/will not like solely because of their gender (i.e. a girl will choose a romance movie over an action movie).

As the long-awaited princess whose family is no longer in power, she is expected to sit quietly and look pretty and let the current ruling family do as they please even when it’s harming her country. Because she’s just a girl who was locked in a tower most of her life, she can’t possibly understand what’s happening or do anything. But she does. People try to trap Aurora in a very tiny box, but she lets the hands pushing her in think they’re winning before she bites every single one during her beautiful political statement during her wedding near the end of the book. What she’s fighting is much closer to what everyday women fight and thus says more than just “YAY WOMEN.” It says women are capable and diverse and under so much pressure from every angle and may have to fight every step of the way, but the pain will be worth it in the end.

Meanwhile, all Defy by Sara B. Larson d0es is say that women are in fact people. How novel. (I should feel bad for picking on this particular book, but it’s my go-to example for how not to write feminist themes in YA because it does so very badly and with all the subtlety of a crashing plane. Plus I hated it.)

I’m definitely here for A Wicked Thing‘s sequel and more of Thomas’s works. If you like feminism in your fantasy YA with gender relations that more closely resemble our own as well as a fairy tale deconstruction, get thee to a bookstore of some sort and buy this book. ...more

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Jan 27, 2015 Melissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook-i-own

*I listened to the audiobook*

When I asked on Instagram how people experienced this book, I received “weird” and “different” as a response. It made me a little nervous and worried, because the reviews on Goodreads aren’t splendid either. But I already bought it on Audible, so I had to give it a chance.

First of all, saying this is a retelling is wrong. It’s just continues the story of The Sleeping Beauty we all know so well (with the slight change that it starts where she’s kissed). I think that’ ...more

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Sep 14, 2014 Maria (highinthebooksky) rated it did not like it · review of another edition

A no from me ...
it had potential but it turned out a huge let down! the last 100 pages couldn't keep my attention I just read them so I could get through the book ... I didn't feel connected to the characters at all... I couldn't care less about them ... that's sad because I really wanted to read a good sleeping beauty retelling but I guess this wasn't for me...

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Jul 08, 2014 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: who-moved-my-standalone, bitches-get-shit-done, scribd

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

For more reviews, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.

Once again, I have been tricked. Bamboozled. Let the record state that A Wicked Thing is the start of a series and not a standalone. It’s not that I have anything against series, but I do like to be able to decide to start one. Reading a standalone is different because you expect everything to wrap up and this didn’t wrap up. Her journey is just beginning and why oh why can we not know it’s a series? So ju Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

For more reviews, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.

Once again, I have been tricked. Bamboozled. Let the record state that A Wicked Thing is the start of a series and not a standalone. It’s not that I have anything against series, but I do like to be able to decide to start one. Reading a standalone is different because you expect everything to wrap up and this didn’t wrap up. Her journey is just beginning and why oh why can we not know it’s a series? So just know that. Either it’s a series or my rating is wrong and this book is awful and doesn’t resolve at all, but I don’t think that’s the case.

For some reason, I had a bad feeling about A Wicked Thing. It was something about the cover, though I do like it, or maybe the title or the fact that I don’t tend to like HarperTeen books unless they’re contemporaries. Still, I cannot resist a fairy tale retelling and was really excited to read it. This time, my bad feeling was wrong, though perhaps it was just picking up on the surprise series. A Wicked Thing engaged me right from the beginning, when I found that I quite enjoyed both the writing and the narrative voice.

The concept of A Wicked Thing is really awesome. The novel opens with the kiss. Aurora’s sleeping and wakes up to this guy she doesn’t know kissing her. And telling her that now they will get married and live happily ever after. She reacts like most people would: she’s rather freaked out. To her, it’s as though a single day has passed, not one hundred years. Unlike the usual version, the others in the castle died. Now she’s alone a hundred years in the future and learning that her prone form was basically a tourist attraction. That would be the rudest awakening ever without a doubt, and I love that Thomas considers the practical awkwardness that Aurora’s situation entails.

Rhiannon Thomas has a lot of fun highlighting the difference between the fairy tale and the reality. See, the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale that we know is told about her in the kingdom. She’ll wake to the prince’s kiss and the kingdom will prosper. Aurora, though, doesn’t believe this. I mean, why would an evil curse end with her being able to save her kingdom in the future? Good point, Aurora. Thomas made me look at some aspects of the tale that I’d never given much thought to and I love that a lot.

The other thing that I think Thomas does really well is making people a bit morally ambiguous. Even Celestine, the evil witch, seems to me to be an unclear force. What was her ultimate aim? I’m really curious about the hints of her past that we’ve gotten and would like to know more. Iris, the current queen, too, seems to possibly have hidden depths, reminding me of the queen in the kdrama Goong.

The characters really needing more development at the moment are the love interests of Aurora, of which currently she has three. There’s the prince who kissed her awake, Rodric, who so far seems kind and awkward but lacking in personality. Then there’s a visiting prince, Finnegan, a debonair flirt with potential depths. Finally, there’s the boy who works at the local pub, Tristan. Nothing’s been decided romantically yet, so I don’t mind much, but I’d really like to see more personality from all three guys, because I can’t have a real ship if they don’t have real personalities.

As is occasionally the problem in YA novels, my main issue was that Aurora often seemed to have too much freedom. Mostly, Thomas did a good job highlighting how trapped she is in her position, but somehow she sneaks out pretty easily. This is at least addressed, but I was still side-eying it. More troubling is the fact that Aurora was regularly allowed to speak with Prince Finnegan or even others without a chaperone or guard. The King and Queen know that he’s working at cross-purposes to their own, but allow their son’s soon-to-be wife to speak with this guy without a guard present? Yeah, I don’t think so. Much of the plot wouldn’t be possible without Aurora having this freedom to speak without anyone overhearing, but it’s so unbelievable.

Even though I’ve been tricked and that annoys me, I’m certainly going to be reading more about Aurora’s journey. I think Aurora’s got a lot of potential for an amazing character arc. Right now, she’s not very strong but she wants to be and I think she could learn. I hope to see that happen. ...more

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Jul 04, 2014 Sana rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-in-2015, arcs

A Wicked Thing is one of those retellings that Rhiannon Thomas did something different with by taking a fairy tale and forwarding its plot. We all want to sometimes read on to find out what happened after the happily ever after because surely, all the troubles don't just end. A Wicked Thing confirms they don't. But as much as the concept is interesting and the twist to the fairy tale unique, I found A Wicked Thing lacking.

Aurora has been asleep for a century and as per the curse of Celestine the A Wicked Thing is one of those retellings that Rhiannon Thomas did something different with by taking a fairy tale and forwarding its plot. We all want to sometimes read on to find out what happened after the happily ever after because surely, all the troubles don't just end. A Wicked Thing confirms they don't. But as much as the concept is interesting and the twist to the fairy tale unique, I found A Wicked Thing lacking.

Aurora has been asleep for a century and as per the curse of Celestine the witch, has been kissed countless times by a number of princes only to be woken up by the most dull of them all, Prince Rodric. The people of Alyssinia rejoice for Prince Rodric is the son of King John the Third and Queen Iris of Falreach, the current rulers of Alyssinia.

As can be expected, Aurora is devastated to be woken up after a century only to find that the world as she knew it to be is no longer. Forced to marry a stranger within weeks and being warned by the Queen to not step out of line and do as expected from her, Aurora is reluctant, to say the least. Naturally, she tries to resist and prolong the inevitable wedding that is said to bring prosperity into the land of Alyssinia once again. As much as she wants her land to prosper, Aurora isn't ready to sacrifice herself for the good of Alyssinia.

Feeling utterly trapped, Aurora sneaks out of the palace from the escape route in her tower for a few hours at night where she meets Tristan, a bartender. The next day, Prince Finnegan of Vanhelm arrives with an offer to help her escape her fate. Torn about who to trust and who not to, Aurora feels overwhelmed and starts to resent poor Prince Rodric as the one responsible for everything.

At first, Aurora is portrayed as naive and unaware who just knows that marrying the prince isn't what she wants to do. The realization that everyone is out to gain something from her even from people she didn't expect it from is a welcome one. The secondary characters aren't fleshed out much as Queen Iris is mostly two-dimensional in her supposedly evil tactics and Prince Rodric is just meh. The only character that I did feel anything about was Prince Finnegan who hails from a country where dragons live. I do want to see more of him in the sequel.

As much as A Wicked Thing is character-driven, it hardly moves forward plot-wise and the shocking twists are only mildly surprising. When there's hardly anything happening, one would think that that twists in the plot would be a welcome surprise, but they failed to blew me over. A Wicked Thing is a series starter and as series starters go, it promises a lot of awesomeness in the future, like dragons and a different side of Aurora as she discovers herself more. However, what I would have liked to see in A Wicked Thing is a gradual character development of Aurora instead of shocking-discovery-BAM-character-growth as well as going beyond to where the book just ended. In all, A Wicked Thing is an okay, nothing out of the ordinary start to a series that has a potential to be mind-blowing. ...more

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Oct 16, 2015 Jo-Jo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2015

We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty...the beautiful princess who was cursed by a sorceress to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and then fall asleep until the kiss of a handsome prince wakes her many years later. Well, this is the story of Aurora after the kiss wakes her from 100 years of sleeping... her family is long dead, the world outside her castle is completely changed from what she remembers, and all the subjects of the kingdom expects for her waking to fix all the We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty...the beautiful princess who was cursed by a sorceress to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and then fall asleep until the kiss of a handsome prince wakes her many years later. Well, this is the story of Aurora after the kiss wakes her from 100 years of sleeping... her family is long dead, the world outside her castle is completely changed from what she remembers, and all the subjects of the kingdom expects for her waking to fix all the problems that exist in the realm. Not only that, the kingdom her family once ruled with kindness and fairness is now being ruled by a cruel king.

I have noticed from reading other reviews of this book that many people didn't like how Aurora seems to follow everyone else's lead even when she feels it's the wrong thing to do. She doesn't exactly show herself as someone who has a backbone- at least not on the outside. She chooses to not speak up at times it may help and then realizes that the moment for speaking up has passed on and it's too late to change anything even if she did speak now. I feel that her personality being like this makes the story more realistic. I mean seriously, who would wake up being a total badass after sleeping for a hundred years in what is essentially a completely different world, after being locked away from visitors and people for the first 18 years of her life? That would make no sense. I feel like her being a bit timid and quiet comes from her being brought up to act like a proper princess and the shock of waking up to find everthing she has ever known is basically gone. As the story progresses, though, I think her personality blossoms and the Aurora that is on the inside starts coming out for all to see. The author did a great job of making this transition feel real and natural.

I went into reading this with no expectations. I always enjoy fairytale retelling so I wasn't surprised to find myself swept up in this story too. I was able to read this in just a few hours...it was interesting, fun, and had plenty of adventure and mystery to go around. I had no idea how the story was going to end or what decisions Aurora was going to make to get herself out of a completely impossible situation- I really feel like this is what made the book an exciting one to read. If books like this interest you, I would highly recommend reading this one. ...more

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Nov 10, 2014 Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-books, arc-book-read

What is Sleeping Beauty didn't want to end up with the prince? What if there was no happily ever after, or at least none the story books told of?

What if things were more sinister than singing maidens and broken curses. What if nothing was how it was told? What if the queen and king were just as wicked as the one who put a curse on the princess and no one was really what they seemed.

I loved that rather than a retelling, this is more of a continuation of the story. A story that takes place after t ...more

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Jul 09, 2014 Christina (Confessions of a Book Addict) rated it really liked it

Shelves: for-review, arc, ya-fantasy

We all know the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, but what if Aurora woke up from her long sleep to find that things in her kingdom have gone downhill and she actually isn't very happy. That's what happens in this Sleeping Beauty retelling that puts a twist on the classic fairy tale. Aurora, who was woken up by Prince Rodric's kiss, should have been overwhelmed with joy to meet her true love. But that's not the case. She isn't instantly in love with Prince Rodric and on top of it, her kingdom is in a ...more

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Jun 09, 2015 Nastassja rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: retellings, young-adult, did-not-finish, skipping-pages, fantasy

DNF at about 30%

I am done struggling with this book. I only picked it up because I saw some praise for this book from my favorite Sherry Thomas, I wasn't even intrigued that this book is Sleeping beauty retelling, my only thought was: "If one of my favorite authors enjoyed this book, it must be quite interesting". So I started reading. And I felt nothing toward this book or it's characters. The language was good but it felt like everyone is still in slumber, maybe this book lacks pace, maybe I'd

...more

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Jul 28, 2014 Stacee rated it liked it

Shelves: edelweiss, read-in-2014

3.5 stars

Sleeping Beauty is my favorite. I love Aurora {and Maleficent} and pretty much everything about it. So of course I lost my mind when I saw this book.

It's quite an interesting premise. I love that it questions the entire idea of the happily ever after. I did struggle with Aurora a bit because she seems to be so idle. I get that she is dealing with a lot of things, but there wasn't a lot of forward motion. There were some interesting secondary characters {Hello, Finnegan}, but there was ...more

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YA Buddy Readers'...: A Wicked Thing (A Wicked Thing #1) by Rhiannon Thomas - Starting April 6th 2017	2	9	Apr 08, 2017 11:34AM
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About Rhiannon Thomas

Rhiannon Thomas

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Rhiannon Thomas is an English Lit grad from Princeton University. She currently lives in York, England, in the shadow of a 13th century Gothic cathedral. When she isn’t lost in YA fantasy, she writes about feminism and the media on her blog, FeministFiction.com.

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Quotes from A Wicked Thing

“Burn them all, little dragon.” — 13 likes

“She had spent years locked in a tower, unable to see anything of the world but the scarp of forest beyond her window, but stories had provided her escape. New books, old books, dramas and histories and fantastical adventures, stories of ordinary lives, stories of dragons and demons, murders and mysteries and myths from long ago. A hundred possible worlds, more true to her than her own, more compelling than a life of staring at the same walls and same trees, waiting for the day when the lock would click and she would finally be allowed to be free. A story could not hurt her.” — 8 likes

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