By Christine McFaul
Young adult fantasy novel Gold Spun by Brandie June is a modern retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale. The way the book ends, or rather doesn’t quite end, suggests there may be plans for the storyline and characters to be continued in future books.
Gold Spun opens with 17-year-old protagonist, Elenora, or Nor for short, rescuing a beautiful and enigmatic faerie, Pel, from his human captors. To repay her kindness, Pel gifts Nor a golden thread and the ability to summon him for one further favour.
Blameless victims of the Southern War between Reynallis and Faradisia, Nor and her three brothers have learned to get by without parents or home. Left to fend for themselves, they’ve relied on a combination of grit, thieving, and cons to survive. So, it doesn’t take long before they concoct the ultimate grift using Nor’s newly acquired gold. But in doing so, they unwittingly draw the attention of 19-year-old Prince Casper, newly returned to a depleted Reynallis to assume the crown. If there is anything Prince Casper hates more than a faerie (who he believes are responsible for the death of his brother, the late King) it’s a liar. Soon Nor finds herself a prisoner at Prince Casper’s castle. Initially held against her will, it takes surprisingly little time for Nor to begin falling for the Prince, a pursuit which entails becoming entrenched in mastering dinner etiquette, learning to choose the right dresses, petty arguments with other women at court, being mansplained politics, and of course, keeping her relationship with Pel a secret.
Now, I stan a modern take on the classics, and fairy tales are such rich fodder for unique, dark, empowering, incisive, and layered re-imaginings (think upcoming Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas). And while I loved June’s unexpected choice to riff on Rumpelstiltskin, I was disappointed to find the narrative relatively uninspired.
June’s worldbuilding is undercooked. Lacking specificity and dedication, it orients the reader with, at best, a vaguely “old-time-y” feel. And though it is touted as a ‘modern re-telling of a fairytale,’ it reads mainly as white and heteronormative as the fairy tales of yore.
“I was actually looking at a faerie…He looked stunningly, painfully beautiful. His hair was gold, not simply golden blonde, and it shone in the morning light. His large almond eyes were deep, emerald green and his skin was pale almost luminous.”
While the pacing is done well and June can tell a story, Gold Spun simply does not offer anything new or interesting to challenge or delight its readers. Instead, it resorts to an uninspired love triangle and a myriad of cringe-y tropes to drive the plot. A swing and a miss that today’s savvy readers of YA are likely to find tired given other choices on the market.