From the bestselling author of Anatomy of a Misfit comes a subversive and feminist take on Sleeping Beauty, sure to appeal to fans of Damsel and To Kill a Kingdom.
The dark and deadly world of Heartless meets the empowering twist of Cruel Beauty in this thrilling, unpredictable, multigenre retelling of one of the most beloved fairy tales: where instead of falling asleep to await her prince, this sleeping beauty finally wakes up.
Bitsy is no one’s ideal princess.
She’s heard it all: that it’s a shame she’s so plain, so lacking in grace. That the best thing for her to do is simply wait (and wait some more) and hope some prince will grant her a happy ending.
Then Bitsy pricks her finger on a spindle and falls down, down, down.
Into a world where cutthroats and con artists are more common than curtsies. Where no one ages and everyone is beautiful. Where an inscrutable evil rests at its core.
A land where Bitsy’s fate and her future are solely in her own hands—and neither are what she expects.
What will she find in a world where fairy tales are nightmares?
- A Twisted Sleeping Beauty Retelling: Instead of a gentle slumber, Bitsy is plunged into a deadly world where waking up is only the beginning of the nightmare.
- A Fiercely Feminist Fairy Tale: This princess doesn’t need a prince. Labelled "plain" and "lacking," Bitsy discovers her own strength when she’s forced to carve out her own future.
- Trapped in a Dangerous New World: A land of eternal beauty, ageless inhabitants, and cutthroat secrets lurks beneath the surface, ruled by an inscrutable evil.
- High-Stakes YA Adventure: From shadowy swamps to a decadent, cruel city, Bitsy’s journey is a non-stop fight for survival full of unexpected allies and deadly enemies.