Thornhedge

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novella!

From New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher, Thornhedge is the tale of a kind-hearted, toad-shaped heroine, a gentle knight, and a mission gone completely sideways.


*The very special hardcover edition features a foil stamp on the casing and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.*

There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

"The way Thornhedge turns all the fairy tales inside out is a sharp-edged delight."
—Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor

Also by T. Kingfisher
Nettle & Bone
A Sorceress Comes to Call
What Moves the Dead
What Feasts at Night
A House with Good Bones

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Published Aug 15, 2023

128 pages

Average rating: 7.92

49 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

RubyReads
Jun 06, 2025
6/10 stars
It was alright. Confusing at times but overall a short sweet story that can be used as a palette cleanser.

Not much else to say here lol
MrsCarlson21
Mar 29, 2025
5/10 stars
I wanted more. I wouldn't have picked this book off the shelf myself but it ended up being very interesting and the ending left me very intrigued with the future for the characters. I picked this book due to the Community Favorites Challenge on Goodreads.
GenderClown
Jan 27, 2025
10/10 stars
What a fun little book! I adored Toadling. Quite short, so I read it over lunch and on the bus ride home. I think I’ll have to check out some of the authors other works now.
Anonymous
Dec 12, 2024
8/10 stars
Kingfisher puts so much imagery and emotion into so few pages and I will always eat it up
blewballoon
Nov 21, 2024
10/10 stars
love the unconventional protagonists that T Kingfisher writes. I loved Toadling. I loved the knight. I know twists on classic fairy tales are not new, but this felt like a really fresh and unique story.

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