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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Beautifully written, and a truly remarkable revisitation of the tale. This is very much grown up territory, and there's nothing lighthearted about this story--but it's lovely.
Great take on the fairy tale... definitely makes you think.
A creative retelling of Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty). Difficult to put down!
Becca Berlin, a young woman who works at a local newspaper, experiences a deep loss when her grandmother passes away. As a child her grandmother always told the story of Sleeping Beauty to Becca and her sisters, and as she grew older and more feeble-minded began to tell everyone that she herself was Briar Rose. On her death bed, “Gemma” made Becca promise that she would find the castle that Briar Rose lived in, and find the prince and understand the story. So begins Becca’s quest to understand her grandmother’s hidden past, which leads her on a trip to Poland and into the heart of the dark times of World War II.
This book was wonderful! I loved it. The end section seemed to drag on for a long time and overall the book was pretty graphic, had homosexual content, and language, but it was well-written and the story was really captivating. I'm fascinated by Holocaust stories and this is definitely another book to add to my list of favorites in that genre.
This book was wonderful! I loved it. The end section seemed to drag on for a long time and overall the book was pretty graphic, had homosexual content, and language, but it was well-written and the story was really captivating. I'm fascinated by Holocaust stories and this is definitely another book to add to my list of favorites in that genre.
The back cover says this book is for ages 16 and up, but it reads as if it was written by a 12 year old. Becca's sisters are terribly one-dimensional and their only role is to be terrible people so Becca looks like a saint, when in reality she is such a boring person. The fairy tale aspect is extremely contrived and doesn't add anything.
I was originally drawn to this book because of the name. I love the story of Briar Rose, it is my favourite fairy tale. This book is beautifully written and the story that is interwoven with the fairy tale is hauntingly told.
The story of Becca’s Gemma is one that so many people lived and most did not survive through. It sheds light on the horrors of the holocaust and that real life is sometimes far from happily ever after.
I would give this book more stars if I could but I will have to settle for just 5. I would highly recommend this to anyone and everyone should read it.
The story of Becca’s Gemma is one that so many people lived and most did not survive through. It sheds light on the horrors of the holocaust and that real life is sometimes far from happily ever after.
I would give this book more stars if I could but I will have to settle for just 5. I would highly recommend this to anyone and everyone should read it.
Wow this was a great book. It is a mix between the story of Sleeping Beauty and WWII concentration camp survivor story. It would be a great book for people interested in World War II history. The story is about a granddaughter looking for information about her grandmother right after she has died. The grandmother would always tell the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty and after looking the granddaughter finds out her grandmother was a real sleeping beauty rescued by a prince.
This was really good, until it wasn't. I didn't want or need that raunchy stuff and I don't think the story needed it in such detail either. I find it interesting that it was classified as Teen. It seemed kind of adult to me.
This is a loose retelling of Sleeping Beauty, combined with a story about a extermination camp in Poland. A grandmother named Gemma tells her granddaughters her version of Sleeping Beauty. When the grandmother is on her death bed she asks one of the granddaughters,Becca, that she was Briar Rose and asks Becca to find the castle and the prince. Once again Jane Yolen’s writing has taken me to another place and time and I throughly enjoyed it.
A retelling of Sleeping Beauty for the modern age but definitely not for children.