The Severed Thread by Leslie Vedder Book Review

The Severed Thread by LEslie Vedder Book Review

Leslie Vedder’s debut novel The Bone Spindle, a gender-bent reimagining of the tale of Sleeping Beauty, absolutely knocked it out of the park with the action, the found family aspect, the romances, and the worldbuilding. When the opportunity came up to read and review the sequel, I jumped at the chance. What started out as a simple quest for treasure has changed Fi and Shane’s life forever – the action in The Severed Thread picks up with the group on the run from the witch hunters and the Spindle Witch as they attempt to get Briar (the legendary prince Fi woke with a kiss) to the last refuge for witches and save the kingdom. The Severed Thread expands on the existing worldbuilding from The Bone Spindle. Readers get to learn more about the different witches, the witch hunters, and the kingdom as a whole. I loved getting to learn more about Andar’s history and how the Great Witches got their titles. The Rose Witch in particular has been a big character over the course of the series so far, and I appreciated the little stories here and there that allowed readers to learn more about her. There is a lot of character development for the main players in the story (Red, Shane, Fi and Briar) as they work towards the Spindle Witch’s defeat. For example, every relationship (both romantic and platonic) in the ragtag group has been affected by their past trauma. They have to work through their challenges to make meaningful progress towards a happily ever after, and that felt more real to me than when two lovers just magically fall into each other’s arms (because in real life, it takes work to maintain any relationship).

It was interesting to see how Fi and Shane’s relationships with Briar and Red respectively are at opposite ends of the spectrum – Fi is trying hard not to fall in love with Briar due to fears of repercussions from her butterfly curse, and Shane is head over heels in love with Red while Red is holding her at arm’s length (due to her association with the Spindle Witch). Readers who love young adult fantasy books filled with action, engaging storylines, and lots of humor should definitely pick up The Severed Thread today. After the events of book one and two (and a cliffhanger ending), I’m eager to see how the story ends in the final book (to the best of my knowledge, the series is intended to be a trilogy). CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence, Blood, Captivity, Abusive and Manipulative Relationships (Historical)