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.
In a kingdom built on dark secrets and dangerous beauty, what does it take to survive?
- A Dark Fantasy Retelling: This isn't your mother's fairy tale. When Princess Bitsy pricks her finger, she isn't cursed to sleep—she's plunged into a brutal reality where survival is the only happy ending.
- Portal to Another World: Forget enchanted castles. Discover a treacherous land of eternal youth, where a mysterious elixir holds the kingdom captive and being anything less than beautiful is a death sentence.
- Strong Female Protagonist: Told she was too plain and quiet to be a proper princess, Bitsy must find a strength she never knew she possessed to navigate a world of assassins, schemes, and a terrible secret at its core.
- Found Family: To make it out alive, Bitsy must learn who to trust among a band of hardened warriors and a cynical con man, forging alliances where she once only saw enemies.
