The Castle Behind Thorns
#6283.95 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2014 Reading commitment Low Merrie Haskell Last reviewed 2026-11-01
Overview
The Castle Behind Thorns is a standalone fantasy novel by the American writer Merrie Haskell, published by Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, on 27 May 2014. It is set in medieval Brittany and draws on the Sleeping Beauty tale and on Breton saint legends. Sand, a blacksmith's apprentice, finds himself in a ruined castle ringed by thorns, where mending broken things has unexpected effects, and he meets Perrotte, a girl who lived there long before. Their friendship and the castle's history drive the story. Haskell's other novels, The Princess Curse and Handbook for Dragon Slayers, are separate books, and no sequel is listed.
Fairy-tale retelling · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Castle Behind Thorns Merrie Haskell
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Castle Behind Thorns | 2014 | 1 | core | 3.95 (1,774 ratings) |
A standalone Sleeping Beauty-inspired fantasy set in medieval Brittany.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Castle Behind Thorns? The Castle Behind Thorns's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Castle Behind Thorns finished? Complete (2014).
- How much reading does The Castle Behind Thorns take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is The Castle Behind Thorns ranked? #628 in this site's official ranking, based on 1,774 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #628?
Ranked #628 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.95 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (1,774 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.05 behind #627, Kingdom of Dust.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 2k ratings · Ranks #628 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment fairy-tale retelling fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what The Castle Behind Thorns and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Buratino Fairy-tale retelling · Complete · Low commitment · 4.05
- The Princess and the Goblin Fairy-tale retelling / Portal fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.04
- Ella Enchanted Fairy-tale retelling · Complete · Low commitment · 4.02
- The Princess Curse Fairy-tale retelling · Unfinished · Low commitment · 4.02
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.95 across 1,774 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: 27 universes; 5 candidates ruled out; older open items closed accepted 2026-11-01
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Kirkus Reviews Tier 2
- Publishers Weekly Tier 2
- The Book Smugglers joint review Tier 2
- Changing Hands listing Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-01
Rule: Core Canon = The Castle Behind Thorns (2014).