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A review by caityg
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
4.0
This book uses the story of Briar Rose as a metaphor and there is no magical element at all.
Jane Yolen has done an amazing job at connecting the classic fairytale ideas of good and evil with real history, and creating this haunting retelling of sleeping beauty. Briar Rose is a reminder of a time period that we all want to forget about.
When i first saw this book on a friend's bookshelf a few years ago, i was compelled to read it, and borrowed it from her.
It sat on my bookshelf for about 2 1/2 years, where i forgot about it, until the other day, when i finally decided to pick it up and read it. And i am so happy i did.
Briar Rose is such a deep and complex novel, and there are a million different concepts to expand on. I wouldn't even know where to start.
Briar Rose reminds us that the Jews were not the only group to be persecuted- and the group that is mostly focused on in this book is homosexuals. I didn't really realise that so many different groups of people were killed- I always just thought it was the jews.
the structure of Briar Rose is unique- In Briar Rose, every odd chapter (in the main part of the book) is a flashback to the main character's (Becca) childhood, where she and her sisters are told the fairytale of Briar Rose. Readers can then connect the actual fairytale to the metaphoric use of it in the novel. I think this was a clever way to help readers understand the connection.
This story made me interested to find out more about the time period and all that happened.
caitlin :)
Jane Yolen has done an amazing job at connecting the classic fairytale ideas of good and evil with real history, and creating this haunting retelling of sleeping beauty. Briar Rose is a reminder of a time period that we all want to forget about.
When i first saw this book on a friend's bookshelf a few years ago, i was compelled to read it, and borrowed it from her.
It sat on my bookshelf for about 2 1/2 years, where i forgot about it, until the other day, when i finally decided to pick it up and read it. And i am so happy i did.
Briar Rose is such a deep and complex novel, and there are a million different concepts to expand on. I wouldn't even know where to start.
Briar Rose reminds us that the Jews were not the only group to be persecuted- and the group that is mostly focused on in this book is homosexuals. I didn't really realise that so many different groups of people were killed- I always just thought it was the jews.
the structure of Briar Rose is unique- In Briar Rose, every odd chapter (in the main part of the book) is a flashback to the main character's (Becca) childhood, where she and her sisters are told the fairytale of Briar Rose. Readers can then connect the actual fairytale to the metaphoric use of it in the novel. I think this was a clever way to help readers understand the connection.
This story made me interested to find out more about the time period and all that happened.
caitlin :)