Curse of the Thirteenth Fey: The True Tale of Sleeping Beauty

by Jane Yolen

A reimagining of Sleeping Beauty from a master storyteller.

Gorse is the thirteenth and youngest in a family of fairies tied to the evil king's land and made to do his bidding. Because of an oath made to the king's great-great-ever-so-many-times-great-grandfather, if they try to leave or disobey the royals, they will burst into a thousand stars.

When accident-prone Gorse falls ill just as the family is bid to bless the new princess, a fairytale starts to unfold. Sick as she is, Gorse races to the castle with the last piece of magic the family has left--a piece of the Thread of Life. But that is when accident, mayhem, and magic combine to drive Gorse's story into the unthinkable, threatening the baby, the kingdom, and all.

With her trademark depth, grace, and humor, Jane Yolen tells readers the "true" story of the fairy who cursed Sleeping Beauty.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairy Tales, Fiction, Retellings, Middle Grade, Fairy Tale Retellings

304 pages, Hardcover

First published November 8, 2012

About the author

Jane Yolen is a novelist, poet, fantasist, journalist, songwriter, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s book author who has written more than three hundred books. Her accolades include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, the Kerlan Award, two Christopher Awards, and six honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Born and raised in New York City, the mother of three and the grandmother of six, Yolen lives in Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

If you're looking for a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, I'm afraid this isn't going to impress you much.
The story itself revolves around the fairy who 'cursed' the princess. But it's also not like the new Disney reimagining of Maleficent, so it doesn't have that Why Did The Good Girl Go Bad? flavor to it.
And I think you probably need to know that going into the book in order to keep you expectations in line.

Ok, so what is this story about?
A section of a young (13ish years old) fairy's life is being retold by an anonymous narrator. And, yes, part of her story includes why a princess ends up sleeping for 100 years.
But she's not an evil fairy, and while Sleeping Beauty's story is very important to the plot, it only pertains to the ending.
What the book addresses is why all of these fairies bothered to come to a random princess' christening to begin with. And I have to admit, the author did a really good job keeping me interested in the reason for all of the gifts being bestowed on a royal baby.

Another cool thing about the book is the way the author wove together the tale of Puck, Mab, Banshee, elves, and the different fey courts. It was definitely worth reading just to see the way their stories were retold.

As a side note, somewhere in the middle of the book, I began to fear that I was about to have to endure another Immortally Old Dude and Waaay too Young Girl romance. I'm happy to report that Yolen found (what I thought was) a refreshing way to remove the creep-factor from the plot.

Recommended rainy-day reading!

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always original, imaginative, and magical, Jane Yolen again journeys into the Sleeping Beauty tale with unique fey mythology and an interesting history. However, 95% of the novel is not about Sleeping Beauty at all and the fairies featured feel shallow and hasty. By far, the best character is Gorse’s elven father; I could read an entire novel about him. Overall, while the writing is top-notch Yolen, the tale itself is murky and repetitive.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first Jane Yolen book I read that I have not particularly enjoyed. I felt like it tried too hard to be something else - to conform to some type of genre or something. It just wasn't typical Jane Yolen. I did manage to get through the entire book, and if I could describe it in one word, I would say "muddled". I just wasn't invested in it. I had such high hopes for a Jane Yolen novel, but it just wasn't for me.

[Cloie Rainilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short and sweet story. Characters and plot thin but likeable. I just couldn't resist reading another book about the Fey. I would read it again and recommend it.

2.8 Stars...maybe?

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not just the brilliant imagination but how detailed and complex the world and relationships are that make this book magical. The elements of the Sleeping Beauty tale are there and even though they are important, they take a back seat to the world that Yolen has imagined. Gorse is the thirteenth fairy who goes on her own adventure before she makes it to the christening of Sleeping Beauty. Through no fault of her own, but rather a self-absorbed, exiled fey prince cuts the line meaning that the young princess will live only a short while. Gorse’s mother softens the curse to a hundred years which also will release the Shouting Fey family from doing the bidding of the kings and queens to whom they have taken an unbreakable oath. This story is fun and entertaining as well as providing a strong heroine who is brave, clever and smart.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved this book until I was about two-thirds in and realized there was no possible way Gorse's situation could come to a valid resolution in the book's remaining pages. The ending felt a bit forced and hurried and as much as I wanted everything to work together for Gorse (who was really a likeable narrator), I felt like bringing Grey back to age thirteen before the resolution of everything was a strange choice that wasn't supported by the framework of the story's mythology. I usually love Jane Yolen and she is kind of the fairy tale master... but this one just didn't work for me.

[Kate Forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Yolen is a wonderful writer of fantasy and historical fiction for young adults, and has a particular interest in fairy tales that has long drawn me to her work. The Curse of the Thirteenth Fey is a reworking of the Sleeping Beauty tale, told from the point of view of the thirteenth fey (the one that cast the curse of death on the princess). Its written with a great deal of humour and charm, and all ends happily (even though the princess and her family are really not very nice people).

[Mender · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the beginning of this story I fell in love.

The world is enchanting. The language babbles like a brook. There are made up fantasy games and rules that are mentioned but not explained, giving the feel of a real world that extends far beyond the borders of the pages.

I started reading this and thought, this is everything I'm looking for in a story. This is what I *want*.

And at no particular point did that ever fade. It just never blossomed either. Our heroine doesn't demonstrate any particular ingenuity, or growth.

The one character who has had the most growth during the story has everything he's learned over presumably centuries undone by a spell.

And Sleeping Beauty doesn't show up until the very end, not that I was reading for it anyway. But given its lack of connection to the plot it would have been a nice quirk to stumble upon, rather than having it printed on the front cover.

But the beginning? Sublime.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously? Clumsy, unedited. The cover has nothing to do with the story. The first dozens of pages of text are almost all telling of fey and family history, most of which isn't very relevant and most of the rest of which could be revealed during action. Even before that, there's a chart of the family tree, and most of those characters aren't relevant either, really.

And then when things did come together, they still didn't really. Our girl kept knowing things that had apparently been just told to her, but weren't told to us. Or she'd make hypotheses from grand leaps of limited clues, and always be right. It also felt like Yolen had several stories she kinda wanted to tell, and she forced them into one novel instead of giving them each space.

I'm sorry, but I know she can do better, and I know readers deserve better. Choose another fairy-tale retelling instead; there are plenty.

[Lenni Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had low expectations for this book since I bought it from the Dollar Tree. That’s why I was so excited to find that the first 80 pages were really good. But then the main character gets stuck in a cave and spends the majority of the book there. After that, I was bored for the rest of the book. Sometimes I was even a bit confused - especially towards the end - although most of my questions were answered.

I think that if the author hadn’t put the part about the cave, or if less time was spent in it, I would’ve enjoyed the book more. At the beginning, Yolen’s writing style reminded me a lot of Gail Carson Levine. If you’ve been following my reviews for a while, you’ll know that Levine’s book Ella Enchanted is one of my favorites.

I was sad that this book didn’t like up to its potential. The author has skill, and the book could’ve been so much better.

There’s nothing more to say other than I hope this review was helpful!

[Lydia Gunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd say this was a book for about 10-13 year olds. Very silly and magical. There first several chapters bounced around a lot in time and followed useless rabbit trails. Had very little to do with Sleeping Beauty. But it was kind of cute overall.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

A retelling of Sleeping Beauty that has almost nothing to do with Sleeping Beauty. Well written, but not satisfying.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not particularly impressed with this book. The plot was thin, and the characters pretty good but not deep. The magic system of Shouting the fey spells was interesting, but needed more depth, history, and development. Every little section of plot was drawn out and lacked overall structure.

I suppose I expected more scope in the setting of a fairy tale, more of a journey to different fantastical lands, but the main character, Gorse, mainly stays in one location for 70% of the book, with one obstacle, one villain, and very few antagonists.

There's almost no buildup of tension and tougher and harder obstacles as the story progresses. There's no progression really! The plot is static. There are only two major events in the entire book.

I appreciated that Gorse is a sickly person, always prone to headaches and fevers, but still manages to be capable and resourceful and brave, despite her various maladies. That was a good character trait! However, by the end of the book, I got really tired of hearing on every other page about how her headache was worse, and then her headache was better, but then her headache came back again. Agh. That got boring really quickly.

I really liked Gorse's relationship with her Father, both of them reading like mad in his massive library! Their whole dynamic was the best part of the book!

I got the impression that Gorse is supposed to have a close relationship with her brother Dusty, but I didn't see that in their dialogue or anything. Dusty is just kind of .... there. He's not much of a character, and mostly made of cardboard and pepper.

A somewhat entertaining read. I read it all the way to the end, and I didn't hate it. I was curious enough to find out how the story ended for the characters.

The ending was really quick, and wasn't particularly inventive or exciting. Suddenly, everything is resolved and we all go home happy, and I needed more of a denouement.

[Melanie H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorse is the 13th child of a Shouting Fey mother and elven father. She is part of a family that has been forced out of the ancestral home (Under the Hill) and have to live tied to the land by the ruling family. But they are allowed to stay and are protected by the ruling family so long as they respond to the family's Bidding. If they are Bid to do something and they refuse the entire Fey family with burst into a thousand stars.

So when the family is Bid to bestow gifts on the newborn princess all of the family heads towards the castle. All except Gorse who is sick in bed. When she wakes up and finds herself alone she quickly rises, grabs the last of the Fey gifts to give (a spindle with the Thread of Life) and runs for the castle. However along the way she falls into a trap set by a prince who was exiled for Cursing people. The prince is stuck in the underground caves with his cousin and best friend Grey. From these two Gorse learns of their exile and realizes that they were forced out by her ancestors and that these two men are actually her family. But how long have they been in these caves?

Prince Orybon, who is quite unpleasant, makes Gorse take an Oath that she will find a way to set them free from the Magickal Gate that is keeping them in. Gorse is not sure how she will do this but she doesn't have a choice. If she does not find a way out she will burst into a thousand stars.

A fun retelling of Sleeping Beauty by master storyteller Yolen.

[Miss Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

After not being all that enchanted with Snow in Summer, my first offering from Jane Yolen, the grand fairytale master of America, I was trepidatious to jump into another. But the premise was too tempting to pass over.

And I was rewarded with a lovely fairy story that follows Gorse, the youngest scion of the Shouting Fey and considered by her family to be the One. The One to break the curse that has plagued their family for three generations and led to their being tied irrevocably to the land never to leave. Exiled many years ago for the deeds of another, they sought refuge in the kingdom and swore an oath of fidelity and obedience to the king who gave them sanctuary and his protection. But the promise extended beyond that benevolent king and now they are bound to do the bidding of the royal family, whatever it may be. However, should they fail to accomplish the task - even if it be an impossible request - they will shatter into a thousand stars. So staying is incredibly dangerous, especially as the requests of the royal family have become more and more frequent and outlandish.

Lovely story and it was great to see this take on Sleeping Beauty. Only wish was for a stronger finish.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorse is the thirteenth child born to her Shouting Fey mother and elven father, and she gets a little magic from each of them. But all that magic is at the service of the royalty of their kingdom, who long ago gave them refuge from the Unseelie and who have kept them as serfs ever since. When the king has a little daughter, he commands Gorse and her family to give the princess blessings. Gorse, fresh from an adventure underground with trolls and fey princes, accidentally curses the princess to die at age fifteen. Luckily, her mother is there to transmute the curse into something that might save them all. I loved Gorse's odd but cozy family life, and the magical spells and power limits of the fey are truly wonderful. Gorse herself is a nicely distinct girl who uses a good deal of thought and wit in her adventures instead of relying purely on magical power.

I've been disappointed by Yolen's recent work, but this is quite good! It draws heavily on a short story published previously, but the middle part is entirely new, so I think Yolen is back to publishing imaginative fantasy tales! I'm so pleased.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad but not great. The story started to really drag and I had to force myself to read it. I finished it more on principle than actually wanting to hear the end.

I wouldn't call it a re-telling of Sleeping Beauty. It felt like Yolen forgot the subtitle of her book, then remembered at the last minute and hastily added Sleeping Beauty to the end. I wish someone had warned me about this before I picked it up.

[Brin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I respect Jane Yolen as a children's author and I do love a few of her books, she's not my favorite. I didn't feel like her expertise translates well into novel form. There's a little bit of dryness, I guess, that makes her storytelling lack the magic I look for in fairy stories. The storyline is interesting, though only thinly tied to Sleeping Beauty: most of the story doesn't have anything to do with the ending with the curse much at all.


***spoiler alert***
Storyline:
Gorse is the thirteenth child of the seventh child in the Shouting Fey family. There is much lore, spell making, and growing up. Gorse reads a lot with her Elven father.

When her family is summoned to the christening of the king's daughter, Gorse is late and gets caught in a fairy trap, where she meets a Fey price and his guard who are caught in a curse prison. Gorse must help them escape to get out herself. She successfully blows up the cave walls surrounding the magicked prison gate. The Fey prince bursts into a thousand stars for not keeping an oath, and his guard turns into his 13-year-old self who he was when the curse was put on him.

Gorse makes it to the christening but makes a mistake in her gift, giving the princess a short life. Her mother fixes the mistake but there is a knot that needs untying in the princess's life: she and the kingdom shall fall asleep until the knot comes undone.

When the time comes for the kingdom to fall asleep, Gorse's family comes to secure the castle in a thorny spell for a hundred years, thereby releasing themselves from their due to the unfair Bidding of the royal family.

[Sarah Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book, "Sleeping Beauty" told only very peripherally from the point of view of the princess. The "Shouting Fey," who live in the world, date back to complications between the Seelie and Unseelie courts which lived under hill. Their chief magick--much magick being lost to them--lies in their shouts, which are very individual. In exchange for the human king's protection they are bound to do his bidding.
Gorse, the thirteenth fey, falls through to under hill in her haste to catch up with the rest of the family at a christening after she has been ill. An unseelie prince has been cursed by his father to remain under hill, and hopes she can help him break down the gate which could have at any time given way to true repentance, only he is a cruel and arrogant prince, whose power, to curse, is what created difficulties for him initially. The relationship between the Seelie and Unseelie courts is not dramatically opposed: they exchange young princes for fostering. A young lord has come with the prince into his exile.
A nice touch is Gorse's father, an elf originally from Ireland, a committed truth-teller by virtue of being an elf and despised by most of the women of the family. He keeps the library, and encourages Gorse to read. There is a hole in the library and when he reaches through it he finds books about the past, present and future (and possible).

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorse (weird name, in my opinion) is the 13th and youngest child of a family of Shouting Fey except her father is an Elf. They are stuck in the King's kingdom and forced to do his bidding. Even though Gorse suffers often from various illnesses, her extended family believes she might be "The One" to break their bond with the King. This story is supposedly about Sleeping Beauty, but it's really about Gorse, her evil great-great uncle, and how she manages to use her wits and education (she's one of the few fey who like to read) to escape from an enchanted cave. Clever and funny, I enjoyed reading this story and was glad I did, but I'm still scratching my head over the flimsy tie to Sleeping Beauty.

[Tanya · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I was in college, I had to read James Joyce's Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. Because I'm a class A procrastinator, I didn't read it till the night before the test. The whole thing. And it made zero sense. I don't think it would have made sense if I had taken four months, which is how much time I took on this book. And this book is not Joycean by any stretch but it made about as much sense.

So there you go. I have read many great Jane Yolen books. This is not one of them. I found it in a Dollar Tree when I was shopping with my mom, so I was excited to get a find. It was not much of a find but I finished it anyway.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have never read any fey novels until this one. I saw it on a list of clean books for teens, so I thought I'd read it and see if it was worth passing on to my girls. It was not my favorite book. It was pretty clean. There is a little bit of romance, but no kissing or anything. A little bit of innuendo though. What I didn't like about the book was that it felt very muddled. Sometimes I did not understand what the narrator was trying to get across because the plot was so choppy. Honestly, I didn't love the way it was written. I put it back in the library bag and did not pass it on to my kids.

[Pamela Bronson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has very little to do with Sleeping Beauty herself (and what we hear of her is not appealing) but is about the 13th fey herself, who is coincidentally 13 years old at the time of presenting gifts to the newborn princess.

I like Gorse, the young fey, and I enjoyed the book, though it gets rather dark after a few chapters, kind of literally, since she falls into a trap and ends up in a cave from which there seems to be no escape. But things get better and Gorse learns to appreciate even cave trolls.

I don't think I'll keep it, though. It's definitely not one of Jane Yolen's best.

[Amy Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love fairytale retellings, but this one was just OK. It was not very much about Sleeping Beauty, but the 13th fairy who caused all the trouble in the original fairytale. She’s sort of modern in feel, in that she loves to read about science (and their solutions involve logic, scientific knowledge, plus magic), and she’s cutesy and klutzy like a Disney princess from the last two decades. Tbh, I was bored for some of the book. Content considerations: some curse words, situational ethics (lying, how the aunts get their babies, killing) I would consider this twaddle, though probably harmless.

[Brynna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think this is really a retelling, though it is titled as one. The connection with Sleeping Beauty distracts from the best parts of the story. I found myself often wondering when we were going to be back to the main plot, not realizing that we were already there.
I think it would have been far better with a little tighter prose and plot. A fun read as is, but another round of editing could have made it really good.

[Moriah Snell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not what I expected. I love Jane Yolen's writing, and this is a great book. It just doesn't focus every much on the retelling of Sleeping Beauty that it's billed as. So I was slightly disappointed. That said, CURSE OF THE THIRTEENTH FEY is phenomenal.

The characters are strong, the plot is original, the antagonist is unexpected, and the story does more than simply function. All in all, Yolen delivers a riveting backstory for Sleeping Beauty's Evil Fairy.

[Becky Rhoades · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely a very charming story. This story gives you another look into a possible Malificent story but with more happily ever after version. This story is more about the fey and leads you up to how and why the princess becomes Sleeping Beauty. You never know anything about the fey when it comes to Sleeping Beauty, just that they are there to deliver magical gifts. So this is an inside look at the fey and their purpose in the story of Sleeping Beauty. The fey's story and why they are tied to the land and the king and how they get untied to everything they are so used to for years.

[Alaina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a longtime Jane Yolen fan but...I kinda hated this book? I really REALLY wanted to like it. I enjoy fairy tales reworked. It's possible that it's meant for younger readers than I am used to (I read a lot of YA, but maybe this one is more for middle grades). The main character is annoying. The fairyland Yolen imagines up isn't fun. The whole thing reads like a movie -with the awkward, #relatable heroine and the madcap family full of annoying brothers and wacky aunts- but not a good movie.

[Nico · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a struggle to get through. I'm also not the intended audience.
This is not really a story about sleeping beauty at all. But about a the 13th fey sibling and their back story. Sleeping beauty does factor in at the very end.
The story telling seemed rather meh. But I think it would be very age appropriate for a 11-13 year old.
I personally would not re read this again and hence I can only give it a 2.

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was alright you could tell the author did some research on fantasy and folklore to add further elements to the book but there were parts that seemed intentionally dumbed down. It read like a fantasy book one minute then a tumbler post the next. The romance was also weird with an age gap that then disappears with time travel stuff, but still weird because they’re related by adoption and it feels like those odd step sibling relationships.