A review by shgmclicious
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

This is hella dated now (it would actually be a pretty interesting candidate for that modernization trend that's so popular today, since the research methods and all would be TOTALLY different), but it's still rather good, and I could see it doing well transferred to screen. (I volunteer to adapt it.) The end is a bit rushed, as you might expect from something that makes so much of its mystery, but all in all, it's quite compelling, and it's interesting how it's totally about adults more than about children, and since Elizabeth Wein has made such stories about young adults (as in "adults who are young" and not teens) in WWII so popular, this might get a lot of readers were librarians to sell it as a readalike. Also, if you want more YA about 18-25-year-olds, this one's it.

Anyway. Very interesting way of using the fairy tale but not obsessively relying on its every aspect as a metaphor, even if, as I said, the end gets rushed and tries to explain too much too quickly. A good read overall.