Spellbound by Georgia Leighton
Published by Random House
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Adventure, Cosy Fantasy, Fairytales, Compulsion, Enchantment, Various Magic, Magic Users, Royalty Characters
My Rating:
Published on: 24th April 2025
Pages: 432
Disability Representation: Chronic pain, anxiety and mobility aid (cane).
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In a remote castle perched atop a windswept island, a long-awaited royal heir is born. In accordance with ancient custom, a blessing ceremony takes place to bestow the princess with magical gifts – along with a terrible curse.

But this is not the love story you may think you know.

There is no enchanted sleep for the princess, and no handsome prince to save the day. Just three women, who together concoct a desperate plan of misdirect that changes the course of all their lives.

Except dark magic cannot be tricked, and as the end of the curse edges closer, Violanna, Meredyth and Sel each has a choice to make.

They can wait to find out if the worst will happen, or they can turn to face the coming storm . . .

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

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Spellbound by Georgia Leighton is a retelling of the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty. This book tells the story of multiple women, and how their lives changed after a terrible event. The book begins with the birth of a princess, the heir of a kingdom where magic is met with disapproval and suspicion. The Queen is from a kingdom where magic is acceptable, and newborns are traditionally given blessings by the Masters of Magic. It is a tradition that the Queen insists take place after the birth of her daughter, and the King indulges her. What should be a joyous occasion turns into a nightmare as a dark sorceress appears and curses the Princess to die when she’s seventeen. 

The Queen, desperate to save her child, ropes in a visiting mage to hide the princess and protect her until the curse ends, one way or another. Sel came to the Blessing in place of her recently deceased Master with the hopes of finding a Master to finish her apprenticeship. She did not expect to leave with a newborn baby in her arms, a part of a secret plan that only the Queen and her Lady-in-Waiting knew about. 

To keep the cursed princess hidden Sel wanders the kingdom as she raises her. Meanwhile, another girl is raised in her place. In Spellbound the narrative follows the two girls as they grow up, raised in completely different situations. Their story is told through the narrators of Sel, the Queen and her Lady-in-Waiting, Merydth, while the girls are young and later when they become teens, through their own narratives. 

Unlike the original and other retelling I’ve read, the curse laid by the dark sorceress does not include a sleeping curse. I liked the way the blessings given to the princess were interpreted and entwined with the magic system. While the magic system is interesting, other than the curse and a few other situations, there is very little magic on the page. I would have liked to see more active magic on the page since the entire book is based on an act of dark magic.

I enjoyed Spellbound while I was reading, and couldn’t put it down. But looking back at what I had read, I realised that it wasn’t that substantial and what kept me reading was the need to know how everything ends rather than the story itself—finishing this novel satisfied that need, however, the ending itself was less so. At present Spellbound appears to be a standalone novel, and in that context, the way each character’s story arc ended felt incomplete. They make more sense if this is the first book in a series as many felt incomplete as if their stories were set up for another book. 

I found Spellbound to be an intriguing retelling, taking the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty in a new direction and ultimately that is what I am looking for in a fairytale retelling. This is an enjoyable easy read for anyone who loves fairytales.

About Georgia Leighton

Georgia Leighton lives in London with her family. Her debut adult novel, SPELLBOUND, is a reimagining of the classic fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty.

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