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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this! It kept me very interested, and I liked the detail and how I was constantly trying to think of how Gemma's story actually took place. I was just, a bit disappointed with how the ending was wrapped up. Like, once Josef started talking, or it started sharing his story, it got a little rushed. I don't know. I just think it threw it off a little with how detailed and paced the beginning was.
Yolen is a great writer. This book was so simple, yet so engaging.
Becca's grandmother, Gemma, has always told her the story of Sleeping Beauty and ends it by saying that she is Briar Rose, the princess rescued by the prince. Before Gemma dies, Becca promises to find her castle and her prince. With only the details from the fairy tale, Becca finds this task impossible until her family finds a box of pictures and documents that Gemma has never shared with them. Becca takes these mementos and tries to piece together her grandmother's life.
I thought that this was an interesting retelling of Sleeping Beauty because it was part mystery, part fairy tale, part historical fiction. I found myself quickly turning the pages trying to find out who Gemma was--was she really Sleeping Beauty? Or was she just crazy? Once Becca finds out her grandmother's history, the tale comes together in a satisfying ending which I don't want to give away.
I wish that some of the characters were more well-developed, (like why is she so interested in Stan? Nothing about him seems all that interesting.). And I wish some they had spent a little more time explaining why they didn't ever ask Gemma about her history (I mean her own daughter didn't even know much about her own mother. And they lived in the same house!) But those small flaws don't take away from this enjoyable quick read.
I thought that this was an interesting retelling of Sleeping Beauty because it was part mystery, part fairy tale, part historical fiction. I found myself quickly turning the pages trying to find out who Gemma was--was she really Sleeping Beauty? Or was she just crazy? Once Becca finds out her grandmother's history, the tale comes together in a satisfying ending which I don't want to give away.
I wish that some of the characters were more well-developed, (like why is she so interested in Stan? Nothing about him seems all that interesting.). And I wish some they had spent a little more time explaining why they didn't ever ask Gemma about her history (I mean her own daughter didn't even know much about her own mother. And they lived in the same house!) But those small flaws don't take away from this enjoyable quick read.
What a haunting and beautifully written book. Each morsel is doled out in perfect increments and leaves you begging for more. Jane Yolen is a master storyteller, and this book proves her talent.
Don't let the title of the book fool you. While there is a Fairy Tale Element to this tale, the main focus is around the life of a (fictional) woman who survived the Holocaust. This book tells a very haunting story.
I think what I most closely related to was Becca's close relationship to her grandmother, Gemma. When Gemma passes, Becca makes a promise to find out Gemma's past, however, no one in the family knows much about Gemma - not her real name, not where she was from before coming to America, nothing about other family or whether there was any, not even Gemma's birthdate.
All Becca has to go on is a box full of miscellaneous items: photographs, some documents with limited information, news clippings, several small keepsakes; and a fairy tale - one that Gemma told time and time again to Becca and her sisters growing up; a slightly untraditional version of Sleeping Beauty...
There was a lot in this book that was fairly slow paced, but because of the way that the book was written, in small chapters, with excerpts of scenes from the past of Gemma telling the girls bits of the Briar Rose story, the pacing worked well.
"But one of the good fairies," Gemma said, "had saved a wish. 'Not everyone will die. A few will just sleep. You, princess, will be one.'"
The Briar Rose story is told in short two page chapters at a time, and between each current day chapter, you get a bit more of the story in sequential order. The further you get into Gemma's history, the more sense the story and its parallel to the fairy tale makes.
I think what I most closely related to was Becca's close relationship to her grandmother, Gemma. When Gemma passes, Becca makes a promise to find out Gemma's past, however, no one in the family knows much about Gemma - not her real name, not where she was from before coming to America, nothing about other family or whether there was any, not even Gemma's birthdate.
All Becca has to go on is a box full of miscellaneous items: photographs, some documents with limited information, news clippings, several small keepsakes; and a fairy tale - one that Gemma told time and time again to Becca and her sisters growing up; a slightly untraditional version of Sleeping Beauty...
There was a lot in this book that was fairly slow paced, but because of the way that the book was written, in small chapters, with excerpts of scenes from the past of Gemma telling the girls bits of the Briar Rose story, the pacing worked well.
"But one of the good fairies," Gemma said, "had saved a wish. 'Not everyone will die. A few will just sleep. You, princess, will be one.'"
The Briar Rose story is told in short two page chapters at a time, and between each current day chapter, you get a bit more of the story in sequential order. The further you get into Gemma's history, the more sense the story and its parallel to the fairy tale makes.
There are many worthy explorations of the Holocaust, enchanting retellings of Sleeping Beauty, & charming books by Jane Yolen. "Briar Rose" could have been all these things, & yet it is not a one.
I should have noted the cringeworthy & completely unnecessary #MeToo Red Flag moments of the Editor hitting on his 23-year-old beautiful jr. reporter & dropped the book as soon as he grabbed her by the chin to look into her eyes. Luckily the storytelling is extremely forgettable & I expect I'll be liberated of the bad memories.
I should have noted the cringeworthy & completely unnecessary #MeToo Red Flag moments of the Editor hitting on his 23-year-old beautiful jr. reporter & dropped the book as soon as he grabbed her by the chin to look into her eyes. Luckily the storytelling is extremely forgettable & I expect I'll be liberated of the bad memories.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
emotional
sad
medium-paced
The idea of the plot drew me in, but I felt like the writing was awful. It had a lot of potential, but some of the descriptions and dialogue were hard to follow, or repetitive. I loved the first half-ish of this book, but then quickly became bored as the mystery was finally being solved. The romance threaded throughout was unnecessary and didn’t make sense with the rest of the story. Overall not the worst book I’ve ever read, but a disappointment for sure.
Becca Berlin's grandmother Gemma told her the fairy tale of Briar Rose so many times as a child that at 23 she can still remember every word. Following a deathbed promise to Gemma, Becca sets out to learn the truth behind the stories. Gradually, she discovers that Gemma's fairy tales are true, but that there's nothing fairy-tale-like about the truth behind them.
Yolen gives depth to the story by breathing life into several minor characters and romantic subplots. She blends of historical and contemporary narrative to unite the adult Becca with her childhood self and her teenage grandmother.
Although the story was well written, I found it still to be lacking...something—I'm not sure what. Perhaps what bothers me is that the connection between the fairy tale and the history is fairly clear from the beginning, although I don't see any way it could have been obscured. Other readers who are bothered by the main plot being clear from from the beginning might to well to avoid this book.
Yolen gives depth to the story by breathing life into several minor characters and romantic subplots. She blends of historical and contemporary narrative to unite the adult Becca with her childhood self and her teenage grandmother.
Although the story was well written, I found it still to be lacking...something—I'm not sure what. Perhaps what bothers me is that the connection between the fairy tale and the history is fairly clear from the beginning, although I don't see any way it could have been obscured. Other readers who are bothered by the main plot being clear from from the beginning might to well to avoid this book.