Book Review: A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

I love fairy tales. I can read Hans Christian Anderson and the Grimm brothers' stories all day long and not tire of them. Fairy tales have a prominent place in the folklore of every country. They're what we tell to our kids as bedtime stories, what we tell to our sons and daughters as examples of how love should be, and what we often use to scare our kids with into behaving. So whenever I find an author who can take a fairy tale, in this example Sleeping Beauty, and re-tell it in a whole new way, I'm sold! Here's the summary:

Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for 62 years. Left in a stasis tube in a forgotten subbasement, she is awoken with a kiss by a boy. Rose has missed out on so much. Her parents and boyfriend are all long gone and the world is completely changed. And she is the heir to an interplanetary empire. Some view her as a threat and try to have her killed while most just view her as a freak. All Rose wants is to fit in and try to make a new life for herself. But first she needs answers. With the help of her new friend Otto and Bren, the boy who woke her, Rose tries to learn why she was forgotten and who wants her dead. In the process, the once pushover Rose blossoms into a strong young lady and discovers alive a person (or people) she thought she'd lost forever.

**When I first picked up this book, I thought it'd be similar to Beth Revis' Across the Universe because both main characters are in stasis tubes or sorts and are accidentally woken up. Well that's the only thing these two books have in common. Rose is easy to sympathize with in the beginning even though she is such a pushover. I mean lots of young girls just want to please their parents. But Rose's parents are awful! They put her in her stasis tube every time they want to take a vacation or just don't feel like being parents. Why hire a babysitter when you can just put your kid to sleep? I kept wanting to yell at Rose to fight back! Then 62 years pass and you are even more mad because these people forgot about their own kid! And Rose is left to fend for herself in a world drastically different and without any loved ones to help her. The boyfriend who always stood by her side and fought for her, all her friends, all long gone. Everyone is horrible to her and calls her a freak. Rose grows stronger and stronger and endures all the pain and attempts on her life like such a heroine. Her arc is wonderful and the new friends she makes are just what she needs. Though she doesn't get all the answers, she does find out who is trying to kill her and why. But the best surprise comes at the end when she discovers the someone(s) who are still alive. I cried! A Long, Long Sleep is an amazing retelling of Sleeping Beauty that poses the idea that just because you've been asleep for 62 years doesn't mean the world stopped for you. What do you do when everyone you love and the world you know has moved on without you?

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments below. And don't forget to check back tomorrow for an exclusive excerpt from my manuscript!!