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mirificmoxie 's review for:
Briar Rose
by Jane Yolen
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I like fairy tale retellings IF they are done in a original way. Cinderella has been done to death. I've been in a Magical Realism phase lately, so a modern retelling of a classic tale with non-magic explanations definitely intrigued.
I came across Briar Rose on goodreads and was captivated by the premise. The main character, Rebecca, has heard her grandmother's strange version of Sleeping Beauty all her life. It's a unique version where the evil fairy comes with silver eagles, the castle is surrounded by a different type of briar, and when the prince kisses the princess awake no one else in the kingdom awaken. Rebecca never thinks much of this until while her grandmother is dying she claims that the story is true and that she was Briar Rose. The grandmother elicits a deathbed promise from Rebecca to track down the truth. I don't want to give anything away, so I will just say that what she uncovers goes back to World War II.
The very idea of this book is so powerful. I was astounded by such an original and moving story. The premise of the book definitely gets a five, but the overall book gets four stars. I felt that it could have dug just a little deeper. SpoilerYolen could have really hit the Sleeping Beauty/Holocaust analogy out of the park. But the ending was a bit abrupt. I also did not like her romance with her boss who is twelve years older than her. It felt like that plot line was just thrown in there to give Rebecca a chance at the typical "happy ending." Although this was in the adult section and the library and the main character is twenty-three, it did at times seem more like a YA book. But I did enjoy it. It's a very quick read (barely 200 pages), and I would definitely recommend it.
I will warn readers that this is not a happy, fluffy, Disney sort of fairy tale. This is much more like [b:The Complete Fairy Tales - The Brothers Grimm|23127308|The Complete Fairy Tales - The Brothers Grimm|Brothers Grimm|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1409459813s/23127308.jpg|42675562] in tone.
This review fulfills the "Book You Can Finish in a Day" category of the Popsugar reading challenge.
http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2015-36071458
I came across Briar Rose on goodreads and was captivated by the premise. The main character, Rebecca, has heard her grandmother's strange version of Sleeping Beauty all her life. It's a unique version where the evil fairy comes with silver eagles, the castle is surrounded by a different type of briar, and when the prince kisses the princess awake no one else in the kingdom awaken. Rebecca never thinks much of this until while her grandmother is dying she claims that the story is true and that she was Briar Rose. The grandmother elicits a deathbed promise from Rebecca to track down the truth. I don't want to give anything away, so I will just say that what she uncovers goes back to World War II.
The very idea of this book is so powerful. I was astounded by such an original and moving story. The premise of the book definitely gets a five, but the overall book gets four stars. I felt that it could have dug just a little deeper. SpoilerYolen could have really hit the Sleeping Beauty/Holocaust analogy out of the park. But the ending was a bit abrupt. I also did not like her romance with her boss who is twelve years older than her. It felt like that plot line was just thrown in there to give Rebecca a chance at the typical "happy ending." Although this was in the adult section and the library and the main character is twenty-three, it did at times seem more like a YA book. But I did enjoy it. It's a very quick read (barely 200 pages), and I would definitely recommend it.
I will warn readers that this is not a happy, fluffy, Disney sort of fairy tale. This is much more like [b:The Complete Fairy Tales - The Brothers Grimm|23127308|The Complete Fairy Tales - The Brothers Grimm|Brothers Grimm|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1409459813s/23127308.jpg|42675562] in tone.
This review fulfills the "Book You Can Finish in a Day" category of the Popsugar reading challenge.
http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2015-36071458