Just finished reading The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman which is a beautifully illustrated story.

This really is a gorgeous little book, a reimagined mishmash of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty with a bit of dark and creepy thrown in for good measure.

Now, whilst I do love a good fairytale retold, particularly when they come in such lovely packages, I wasn’t totally bowled over with this one.  Don’t get me wrong – it’s not a bad book, just not as good as I expected and I think I’ve genuinely surprised myself to be honest because I quite literally usually adore everything that Neil Gaiman does and I practically love him (not in a stalker-lets-boil-the-pets sort of way!)

It is a good story with an interesting twist in the tale and modernised in terms of a Queen coming to the rescue as opposed to a dashing knight in shining armour and I certainly wouldn’t discourage anybody from reading as, like I said, it is good.  It just didn’t have that certain something that I can’t usually put my finger on but I always find in a Gaiman book that makes me want to run out and gush like a maniac.

It is a lovely book though and I have already ordered Hansel and Gretel as well – I just need to be more measured with my ridiculously high expectations I suppose – at the end of the day you can over hype something all by yourself.  And, just feast your eyes on that cover!