Hello! I have had an overwhelming amount of schoolwork, but thankfully, the school year is almost over for me, and I have only a week left. I’m hoping that once school gets out, I’ll have more time for reading and blogging! Anyways, now I am going to move on to my review of this book! Aurora and the Thief, by Becky Bird was released just a few days ago, on May 25th, and I am very excited to share my thoughts on this novel!

Going into this book, I was expecting to read a Sleeping Beauty retelling. And I did. The plot just wasn’t at all what I expected. That wasn’t a bad thing though.

I was excited from just looking at the synopsis for this book. I definitely see the sexism in fairy tales such as Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. The princesses’ reliance in men is horrible, so I was thrilled how Aurora and the Thief flipped those princessy stereotypes. Aurora is independent, speaks her mind, is an incredibly sword fighter, not to mention that she is marvelous at punching idiotic boys in the face. I thought that Becky Bird did a really great job of weaving the different characters histories and personalities into the plot.

Sometimes, middle grade novels have wonderful characters and excellent writing, but the plot seems kind of basic and boring. This was not at all the case with this book. Yes, there were indeed wonderful characters and excellent writing, but the plot was one hundred percent not boring.

The description of the characters and events in the book was fantastic. I felt as if I could picture Peter’s face as he fell, beat in a sword duel once again. I saw those silk robes, I could see them being snatched from prince Adam by Philip, maybe the worst thief in the history of middle grade fiction.

But the description took second place next to the dialogue. Oh, the dialogue was hilarious! I seriously laughed out loud several times because of how funny it was.

Actually, scratch that. The description got third, because having Aurora narrate the story, including her own death, made the book all that more enjoyable. Seriously, I don’t think that I’ve ever read a book where the narrator dies, then is brought back from the dead by her servant. (And don’t freak out, that was all in the synopsis with no spoilers. I would not do that to you.)

If you haven’t picked up yet, I think that Aurora is incredible and totally deserves to narrate her story. But Aurora’s not the only character that I love.

Martha, Philip, Adam, Miles, Elspeth…

The list goes on and on and on because there are a lot of very well written characters in this book. There are a lot of characters who you really get to know throughout the book, and all of their personalities are so unique, interesting, and engaging.

Becky grew up in small country town Australia.  

Her favourite memories of her childhood involved weekly trips to the book store after Saturday sports. 

Becky loves fast paced stories, cats (most animals really) and strawberries 🙂 
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When she’s not writing YA fiction, you’ll find Becky bushwalking, at the movies, and chilling with family and friends.

Website | Goodreads

A retelling with a few changes, a princess who swordfights, a stuck up prince, and a thief with an obsession for silk robes. Who couldn’t fall in love with this sweet, hilarious, and marvelously written middle grade novel? I sure did!

My rating: 5/5 stars

Recommendable: Yes

To who? Those who love fairy tale retellings and are in search of a hilarious, interesting, middle grade novel with an amazing narrator and an amazing main character.

Have you read Aurora and the Thief? What did you think of this review? Chat with me in the comments below!