Synopsis:
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.
“I never thought what happens after Sleeping Beauty wakes up would keep me at the edge of my seat, breathlessly turning pages. But Rhiannon Thomas has taken the familiar and the cliched and turned it into a tense, fast-paced read full of plot twists and revelations, set in a world at once intriguing and perilous.” - Sherry Thomas, author of The Burning Sky
“The book is welcome twist on the classic helpless-princess-saved-by-dashing-prince one expects from a fairy tale…. Fairy tale and fantasy fans alike will breeze through this retelling and eagerly await her next chapter.” - School Library Journal
“One of the best fairytale retellings I’ve ever read. Thomas uses the well-known back story of Sleeping Beauty to craft an entirely new future for Aurora that is anything but happily-ever-after. Starting the story after the moment that usually signals the end of the fairytale gave this book an original spin and makes it stand out among of sea of simple retellings. Don’t miss this great debut!” - Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI
Hello! Here's my interview questions for the Rhiannon Thomas and A WICKED THING blog tour! I absolutely adored the book!
1) I loved (or at least loved to hate) all the characters in your book, A Wicked Thing. What character was the most fun to write about?
Definitely Prince Finnegan! He didn’t appear in the book at all until about the third draft, when I decided I needed Aurora to meet an Important Person for some reason I don’t even remember any more. But he was so much fun to write, so I decided he needed a bigger role. Then literally everyone I gave the book to – all of my friends, my agent, my editor – said, “I really like this Finnegan guy. More, please?” Luckily, he was as easy to write as he was fun to write, so I was more than happy to give him more to do!
2) Continuing this idea, what character was the trickiest to write about?
I’d say the witch, Celestine. Her voice and character were really tricky to pin down. In the end, things only clicked after I mentally cast Natalie Dormer as the part – then the whole creepy witch thing fell into place.
3) This Sleeping Beauty retelling is not like the light disney tale we all know. What was it like telling a darker and more realistic side of the story?
It was a lot of fun! I love poking things and questioning things and asking “what if?”, and fairy tales have so much potential for that. Also, if I can get all English Lit nerd, I did a lot of research in college about “happy endings” and how they’re often not really all that happy, and applying it to fairy tales – where things get wrapped up far too neatly for logic – seemed perfect to me.
4) If you fell asleep for over a century, what would be the first thing you'd do once you woke up and discovered how much time had passed?
Honestly, I’d probably check my email, and then be disappointed that no one had messaged me in 99 years except Amazon. Then I’d jump on the future-version of the Internet (assuming a dystopia hell hasn’t descended on the world) and read up on everything I missed.
5) Also, if you were locked up in a castle all day, what would you do to keep from being bored?
Does the castle have Netflix and computer games? Probably not. I want to say I would read and write and be creative, but being locked in a tower all day is making me think of every time I’ve been on a long flight. I pack my bag full of books and my DS and my tablet and crossword puzzles and paper to write on and my ipod and a million other things, and then spent the entire flight sitting and sulking about how I’m bored and have nothing to do. Sooo it’s probably be like that.
6) Finally, would you please tell me a unique fact about yourself?
I supposedly live on one of the most haunted streets in Britain. I’ve yet to see a ghost, but I do get entertained by the city ghost tours that stop outside my apartment every night.
Follow the A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.
Rhiannon Thomas is a recent graduate from Princeton University, where she studied English and Japanese, and smuggled bubble tea into the library on a regular basis. She now lives in York, England.
As well as reading and writing YA fiction, she runs the blog FeministFiction.com, where she discusses TV, books, and all kinds of fannish things from a feminist perspective.
I don't hang out on Goodreads much, so if you want to contact me, please swing by my personal website or message me on Twitter.
Open to all US, UK and Canada residents | Must be 13 or older to enter
FIRST PRIZE: Win (1) signed copy of A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas plus a spinning wheel charm bracelet. The bracelet is from https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KawaiiCandyCouture.
SECOND PRIZE: Win (1) of (2) signed copy of A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas.
