A review by carlybrooke
Crown of Slumber by R.L. Perez

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This was a unique retelling of Sleeping Beauty, and I enjoyed some of the other aspects added into the plot to make it original. This book contained some twists that I didn’t see coming and that made the story more interesting. R.L. Perez really made sure to put her own spin on things and make the story deeper than just a sleeping curse. The female main character, Aurelia, did come off as naive and immature. Her indecisiveness was annoying at times, but I think this was just meant to be part of her character. The male main character, Fenn, was charming and likable but he also had his flaws. While I did enjoy the story and the romance, I felt like the romance aspect happened too quickly. And this was supposed to be enemies to lovers but it didn’t happen in a way that made you really feel the angst of that trope. There was more telling by way of internal thoughts from the characters rather than showing how they were enemies and slowly falling for each other. I felt this could have been executed better. I did love the dragons, especially Mal of course, and I also loved how magic was incorporated. There was some spice but due to how immature the relationship between the main characters felt (and how childish Aurelia acted), it made the spicy scenes feel a bit cringy. The character development was lacking and I wish there had been more world building. As a whole this book wasn't horrible, but it didn't get me excited either. I loved the ideas the author had and I enjoyed some aspects of the story, but overall it was just a decent read for me. 

Thank you to the author, R.L. Perez, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!