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A review by beyourparachute
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
4.0
I have to admit when I first picked up this book I was mostly curious as to how the tale of Sleeping Beauty would be woven into a book about the Holocaust.
I didn't immediately love the story, though, I did enjoy the trade off between past telling of the fairytale and present, but I was slightly put off by some of the characters. Becca was a little flat for me, but not totally unlikable. I found her sisters, Sylvia and Shana, a bit too self-absorbed and was turned off by that - especially when they were visiting their dying grandmother, Gemma, but as the story began to pick up, I was able to cast those feelings aside and really get into the story.
I thought the Castle section to be the most interesting part of the book, though it was often times hard to read because of the horrible things that were being done by the Nazis. I had to take a few breaks while reading because of that.
I thought the way in which the story was told was done very well. I thought it was clever of Yolen to bring in Josef's character and allow him to tell his story and let that lead into an explanation of Gemma's past.
Overall, I thought it was an excellent and powerful story.
I didn't immediately love the story, though, I did enjoy the trade off between past telling of the fairytale and present, but I was slightly put off by some of the characters. Becca was a little flat for me, but not totally unlikable. I found her sisters, Sylvia and Shana, a bit too self-absorbed and was turned off by that - especially when they were visiting their dying grandmother, Gemma, but as the story began to pick up, I was able to cast those feelings aside and really get into the story.
I thought the Castle section to be the most interesting part of the book, though it was often times hard to read because of the horrible things that were being done by the Nazis. I had to take a few breaks while reading because of that.
I thought the way in which the story was told was done very well. I thought it was clever of Yolen to bring in Josef's character and allow him to tell his story and let that lead into an explanation of Gemma's past.
Overall, I thought it was an excellent and powerful story.