Beauty Sleep

Rating:
Summary: a nice story.
Review: This is a retelling of sleeping beauty (as you've probably heard before) but this retelling does so slightly differently. It focuses on what growing up with a curse hanging over you can be like, the fact Aurore has to stay away from the kitchen and ladylike tasks such as embroidery. It also shows how it must feel to have everyone knowing that they'll lose you in your 16th year, including your parents and subjects, and how this effects you as a heir to the throne.

When the curse starts effecting the kingdom with messed up magic causing all sorts of twisted things to happen, Aurore runs away to where there are no people she can affect with the curse. It is in La Foret that she meets Prince Ironheart and.... I'll let you read the book.

In this retelling you meet a charming, lively and likable heroine that you wish to succeed.

However, I felt the story was lacking something... it just felt a bit underdeveloped and is a very quick read. I think I would have enjoyed it more if some of the other characters stood out as much as Aurore (Ironheart actually is quite vivid as well) and if Dokey had gone into more depth with how Aurore felt knowing after 16 years she'd wake up a 100 years later! That seems like quite a big deal to me and although Dokey's explored it more than most I think she could have done so more.

One more thing that bothered me.... the ending, I'm not going to give anything away but... it was just a bit... dodgy. The guy is really nice and it's good they end up together but I think Aurore should have known him some other way. (This won't make sense but read it and it might)

A bit predictable, a bit short and a little dodgy in the end, but apart from that it's a really good read! I don't think there is a particular age range that it wouldn't be suitable for but over 13's might be looking for something more...