Creeping Beauty
Will be published approx. on 28. September 2023
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-0-06-242247-7 (ISBN)
Description
From the bestselling author of Anatomy of a Misfit comes a subversive and feminist take on Sleeping Beauty, sure to appeal to fans of Damsel and To Kill a Kingdom.
The dark and deadly world of Heartless meets the empowering twist of Cruel Beauty in this thrilling, unpredictable, multigenre retelling of one of the most beloved fairy tales: where instead of falling asleep to await her prince, this sleeping beauty finally wakes up.
Bitsy is no one's ideal princess.
She's heard it all: that it's a shame she's so plain, so lacking in grace. That the best thing for her to do is simply wait (and wait some more) and hope some prince will grant her a happy ending.
Then Bitsy pricks her finger on a spindle and falls down, down, down.
Into a world where cutthroats and con artists are more common than curtsies. Where no one ages and everyone is beautiful. Where an inscrutable evil rests at its core.
A land where Bitsy's fate and her future are solely in her own hands-and neither are what she expects.
In a kingdom built on dark secrets and dangerous beauty, what does it take to survive?
A Dark Fantasy Retelling: This isn't your mother's fairy tale. When Princess Bitsy pricks her finger, she isn't cursed to sleep-she's plunged into a brutal reality where survival is the only happy ending.
Portal to Another World: Forget enchanted castles. Discover a treacherous land of eternal youth, where a mysterious elixir holds the kingdom captive and being anything less than beautiful is a death sentence.
Strong Female Protagonist: Told she was too plain and quiet to be a proper princess, Bitsy must find a strength she never knew she possessed to navigate a world of assassins, schemes, and a terrible secret at its core.
Found Family: To make it out alive, Bitsy must learn who to trust among a band of hardened warriors and a cynical con man, forging alliances where she once only saw enemies.
The dark and deadly world of Heartless meets the empowering twist of Cruel Beauty in this thrilling, unpredictable, multigenre retelling of one of the most beloved fairy tales: where instead of falling asleep to await her prince, this sleeping beauty finally wakes up.
Bitsy is no one's ideal princess.
She's heard it all: that it's a shame she's so plain, so lacking in grace. That the best thing for her to do is simply wait (and wait some more) and hope some prince will grant her a happy ending.
Then Bitsy pricks her finger on a spindle and falls down, down, down.
Into a world where cutthroats and con artists are more common than curtsies. Where no one ages and everyone is beautiful. Where an inscrutable evil rests at its core.
A land where Bitsy's fate and her future are solely in her own hands-and neither are what she expects.
In a kingdom built on dark secrets and dangerous beauty, what does it take to survive?
A Dark Fantasy Retelling: This isn't your mother's fairy tale. When Princess Bitsy pricks her finger, she isn't cursed to sleep-she's plunged into a brutal reality where survival is the only happy ending.
Portal to Another World: Forget enchanted castles. Discover a treacherous land of eternal youth, where a mysterious elixir holds the kingdom captive and being anything less than beautiful is a death sentence.
Strong Female Protagonist: Told she was too plain and quiet to be a proper princess, Bitsy must find a strength she never knew she possessed to navigate a world of assassins, schemes, and a terrible secret at its core.
Found Family: To make it out alive, Bitsy must learn who to trust among a band of hardened warriors and a cynical con man, forging alliances where she once only saw enemies.
Reviews / Votes
"Andrea Portes writes with the tip of a knife, shape-shifting between characters and laying bare their darkest secrets." - Dylan Landis, Normal People Don't Live Like This"Anika's droll voice shines, and her emotions are palpable. After a heartbreaking tragedy, Anika's ending . . . will leave readers cheering." - School Library Journal
"Fifteen-year-old Anika Dragomir throws her arms around us and draws us in from the very beginning... Droll, intimate, often laugh-out-loud funny narration carries the reader through more than 300 pages... Anika's winning voice may just be the star of Portes's first young adult novel." - New York Times Book Review
"Anika Dragomir is the funniest, snarkiest, most insightful misfit a reader could ever hope to meet. I laughed my way through Anatomy of a Misfit right up until the very end, when the book broke my heart into a million pieces. This is a beautiful, brave and powerful novel." - Melissa Kantor, author of Maybe One Day and The Breakup Bible
"Portes writes with such cool grace we almost forget to be astonished by her narrative's complexity." - Matthew Specktor, American Dream Machine
"Portes's short chapters and staccato narration make for a quick and compulsive read." - Publishers Weekly
"Quick, light, and fun. Bitsy is a character readers will root for." - School Library Journal
Praise for Andrea Portes:
"[Portes] tempers gruesome scenes with Daffodil's likable and chatty personality, and creates a memorable novel reminiscent of John Bellairs stories." - Publishers Weekly
"The chills here are on par with The Shining. Readers [will] know to be very, very afraid." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"For all that the title claims, something spooky is happening in this house. This is a horror book that pokes fun at itself and the genre, managing to be both spooky and funny...[with] an interesting twist at the end." - School Library Journal
Praise for ANATOMY OF A MISFIT:
?"It's rare that a book can be as funny and absolutely delightful as it is moving and thought provoking, and Anatomy of a Misfit is both." - Lauren Oliver, author of Before I Fall
"A self-deprecating and highly memorable heroine whose bawdy, laceratingly funny narration makes her instantly endearing while also revealing her flaws, uncertainties, and ethical quandaries." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A romance filled with seriously funny dark humor and tragedy." - Kirkus Reviews
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Target group
Children/juvenile
US School Grade: Eighth Grade and over, Interest Age: From 13 to 99 years
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 214 mm
Width: 146 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
406 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-242247-7 (9780062422477)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Andrea Portes is the bestselling novelist of two critically lauded adult novels, Hick, her debut, which was made into a feature film starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Alec Baldwin, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne, and Juliette Lewis, and Bury This. Her first novel for young adult readers, Anatomy of a Misfit, was called "perfection in book form" by Teen Vogue. Her other YA novels include The Fall of Butterflies and Liberty: The Spy Who (Kind of) Liked Me. Andrea Portes's spooky, timeless middle grade debut is Henry & Eva and the Castle on the Cliff.
Andrea grew up on the outskirts of Lincoln, Nebraska. Later, she attended Bryn Mawr College. Currently she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Sandy Tolan, their son, Wyatt, and their dog, Rascal. You can visit her online at www.andreaportes.squarespace.com.
Andrea grew up on the outskirts of Lincoln, Nebraska. Later, she attended Bryn Mawr College. Currently she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Sandy Tolan, their son, Wyatt, and their dog, Rascal. You can visit her online at www.andreaportes.squarespace.com.