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Once Upon A Time - Cameron Dokey
Beauty Sleep: a retelling of "Sleeping Beauty"
"ONCE UPON A TIME" IS TIMELESS
The Princess Aurore has had an unusual childhood. Cursed at birth, Aurore is fated to prick her finger at the age of sixteen and sleep for one hundred years -- until a prince awakens her with a kiss. So, to protect her, Aurore's loving parents forbid any task requiring a needle.
The Princess Aurore has had an unusual childhood. Cursed at birth, Aurore is fated to prick her finger at the age of sixteen and sleep for one hundred years -- until a prince awakens her with a kiss. So, to protect her, Aurore's loving parents forbid any task requiring a needle.
Unable to sew or embroider like most little princesses, Aurore instead explores the castle grounds and beyond, where her warmth and generosity soon endear her to the townspeople. their devotion to the spirited princess grows as she does.
On her sixteenth birthday, Aurore learns that the impending curse will harm not only her, but the entire kingdom as well. Unwilling to cause suffering, she will embark on a quest to end the evil magic. The princess's bravery will be rewarded as she finds adventure, enchantment, a handsome prince, and ultimately her destiny
186 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 2002
34 people are currently reading
9551 people want to read
About the author
Cameron Dokey
52 books945 followersCameron Dokey is an American author living in Seattle, Washington. She has a collection of over 50 old sci-fi and horror films. Cameron was born in the Central Valley of California. Cameron grew up reading classical literature and mythology, perhaps due to her father, Richard, being a teacher of Philosophy, Creative Writing, and Western Literature.
Cameron has one husband and three cats, and is the author of over a dozen young adult novels. Her favorite read is J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings." Her favorite TV show is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
When she's not writing, Cameron likes to work in the garden and is learning to quilt.
Cameron has one husband and three cats, and is the author of over a dozen young adult novels. Her favorite read is J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings." Her favorite TV show is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
When she's not writing, Cameron likes to work in the garden and is learning to quilt.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 665 reviews
October 11, 2019
What. Just. Happened?!
I'm pretty sure I'm going to be spoiling everything from here on out, so for anyone who doesn't want spoilers, just know that it was a good book till it hit the 90% mark and went off the rails.
Alrighty. I liked the way the story was told, and I (mostly) liked the voice of the heroine, Aurore. I even liked why she was cursed to start with, the way the curse played out, and how she spent her 100 years asleep. Plus, I absolutely loved the length of the book. Not too long, not too short - perfect!
Ok, so the ending is really where it went wrong for me. Now, there's this thing authors sometimes do when retelling fairytales that I kind of despise. And Dokey absolutely did it.
They decide to inject creepy shit that used to happen regularly back in the day into their new version of the tale.
BECAUSE REALISM!
The entire time Aurore and Oswald (ironically known as Prince Charming) are fighting back and forth, I had this vile tingling that kept crawling up and down my spine. And as the story went on, and evil/snarky Oswald was slowly replaced by a kind/loyal Oswald, I became ever more nervous.
But I thought surely Dokey won't go there...
And then she left and went into the spooky woods to stop the curse from tearing her kingdom apart.
OhThankGodShe'llBeGone100Years!
So, it wasn't Oswald (her first fucking cousin, Oswald!) who ended up going into the woods to 'rescue' her, and it wasn't Oswald who palled around with her for a week on a quest, and it wasn't Oswald who 'woke her with a kiss' after she accidentally stabbed herself with a sewing needle.
It was Oswald's great-grandson, Charles.
Huh. Well, they're still technically related, but at least their kids won't have one eye and four teeth to share between them, right?
Ok, the best part is that cousin Oswald has done a great job as the steward of her kingdom, and all of her people have prospered under his guidance, while he and his children and grandchildren have kept the throne warm for her return. Oh! And because of his promise to wait for her he's even still alive! Yay! The old friends can reunite!
EXCEPT.
When he gives her his blessing to marry his grandson, she confesses her love for him, kisses him, and the magic turns him young again.
So. They. Can. Marry.
I get it. Royal cousins (even siblings) used to marry all the time.
I don't care.
When I read a retelling, I want it to be retold without the skeevy bits.
And when you add in that fact that he's already been married, had kids, and watched his grandchildren grow up over the hundred years she was gone...?
The ending ruined what had been an otherwise charming book.
RUINED IT.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to be spoiling everything from here on out, so for anyone who doesn't want spoilers, just know that it was a good book till it hit the 90% mark and went off the rails.
Alrighty. I liked the way the story was told, and I (mostly) liked the voice of the heroine, Aurore. I even liked why she was cursed to start with, the way the curse played out, and how she spent her 100 years asleep. Plus, I absolutely loved the length of the book. Not too long, not too short - perfect!
Ok, so the ending is really where it went wrong for me. Now, there's this thing authors sometimes do when retelling fairytales that I kind of despise. And Dokey absolutely did it.
They decide to inject creepy shit that used to happen regularly back in the day into their new version of the tale.
BECAUSE REALISM!
The entire time Aurore and Oswald (ironically known as Prince Charming) are fighting back and forth, I had this vile tingling that kept crawling up and down my spine. And as the story went on, and evil/snarky Oswald was slowly replaced by a kind/loyal Oswald, I became ever more nervous.
But I thought surely Dokey won't go there...
And then she left and went into the spooky woods to stop the curse from tearing her kingdom apart.
OhThankGodShe'llBeGone100Years!
So, it wasn't Oswald (her first fucking cousin, Oswald!) who ended up going into the woods to 'rescue' her, and it wasn't Oswald who palled around with her for a week on a quest, and it wasn't Oswald who 'woke her with a kiss' after she accidentally stabbed herself with a sewing needle.
It was Oswald's great-grandson, Charles.
Huh. Well, they're still technically related, but at least their kids won't have one eye and four teeth to share between them, right?
Ok, the best part is that cousin Oswald has done a great job as the steward of her kingdom, and all of her people have prospered under his guidance, while he and his children and grandchildren have kept the throne warm for her return. Oh! And because of his promise to wait for her he's even still alive! Yay! The old friends can reunite!
EXCEPT.
When he gives her his blessing to marry his grandson, she confesses her love for him, kisses him, and the magic turns him young again.
So. They. Can. Marry.
I get it. Royal cousins (even siblings) used to marry all the time.
I don't care.
When I read a retelling, I want it to be retold without the skeevy bits.
And when you add in that fact that he's already been married, had kids, and watched his grandchildren grow up over the hundred years she was gone...?
The ending ruined what had been an otherwise charming book.
RUINED IT.
November 2, 2022
A much more unique retelling than I expected! It had a slow start, but amped up nicely, and I definitely did not expect the ending. 3.5 stars.
May 30, 2017
”’The prick of a finger. One sharp wound. One bright drop of blood. That’s all it will take to cut your life down. Sixteen years, I give you, ma petite Aurore, lovely as the dawn.”
What the fresh hell was this????
Looking back on this series, it’s hard for me to see what I found so appealing about this series when I was in middle school. These books were always in the paperback loan section at my library, and since I hadn’t graduated to the general YA section (if there even was one; the YA boom didn’t come until I started high school), I gravitated towards the books in this series. Reading them now as an adult in my early 20s, my perspective has completely changed. I haven’t even mildly liked a single book in this series, which is saying something. As a whole, all the books have the same overarching problems; the book stays nowhere near true to either the original tale or (as I suspect) the Disney princess films that they market themselves after, and the true love aspect is botched horrifically. You know there’s a problem when the relationships in the Disney movies are slow burn romances compared to the relationships in this series.And with this book in particular, the relationship is not only extremely fast moving but down right disturbing. I’d take Prince Phillips creepy stalking in the woods over this so-called ‘romance’ any day.
We all know how the story of Sleeping Beauty goes; a princess is born in a magical kingdom, but the proud parents forget to invite the evil witch to the christening. In her pissed off state of being, the evil witch casts a spell over the girl proclaiming that on her sixteenth birthday, she’ll prick her finger and fall into a deep sleep. However, the spell is modified so that the spell can be broken with true love’s kiss. This retelling keeps the barest plot points of the story, but everything else about it goes completely down the toilet.
Before we get into the mess that was the plot, one thing you should know about this book is that the narration style is very casual. It’s first person told by Aurore, but her style of telling the tale is very blasé. It’s as if she’s talking you in a Starbucks coffee shop over Unicorn Frappuccino’s rather than telling you a tale. She also breaks the fourth wall a la Ferris Bueller, so if you aren’t a fan of that, you won’t like this book. I also got the impression that if she were a real live person, she wouldn’t ever shut up because she kept going on and on and on AND ON about the most mundane things without any of her dialogue moving the plot along. Extremely frustrating!!!
Now onto the disaster that was the plot (spoilers ahead, but since they’re so ridiculous I might as well just give them to you now…)
Like I said before, Dokey’s retelling has the bare minimum of the original so that you know the plot is Sleeping Beauty. But everything else has been turned upside it’s head. Gone is the fairy godmother (she leaves right at the beginning of the novel never to be heard from again.) The evil queen? Yeah, she appears a grand total of one time to curse Aurore and then she disappears too. SO MANY DISAPPEARING PEOPLE. We’re never given an explanation as to why they disappear; they just do. Instead of them, we get cousin Oswald, aka Prince Charming (meant as a dig because of his less than charming personality). Even though Aurore is the daughter of the king, she isn’t a girl, so she can’t inherit. Oswald is the one who is going to take her father’s throne… until her father changes his mind and names Aurore as his successor.
Aurore has a pretty happy childhood for the first sixteen years, being allowed to do as she pleases for the most part. But after her big Sweet Sixteen, everything starts to go wrong (ironically, this is also when the book starts to go horribly wrong. Art meets life, I guess). It also happens to be the pesky year that Aurore is supposed to prick a certain finger and be awakened by a certain true love.
So she ventures off into the Forbidden Forest to find answers. While there, she meets a man named Ironheart, who is the son of a king. Despite his name, he’s actually quite clumsy and aloof. He’s in the forest to find the princess Sleeping Beauty and wake her up with true love’s kiss. And of course Aurore doesn’t tell him that she’s the Sleeping Beauty he’s looking for. They putter around the forest doing God knows what, because the author forgets to explain to us what the hell Aurore is supposed to be doing in the woods IN THE FIRST PLACE. I swear, there are so many plot holes this book would sink a ship.
On their journeys in the forest, Ironheart trips over himself and busts his cheek open (See? Told ya.) Aurore offers to sew up his cheek and what do you know…
She pricks her finger. And she never even told the poor dude that she’s the Sleeping Beauty.
So off to dreamland she goes. Probably overflowing with joy, Ironheart kisses her and she wakes up. YAY!! Happily ever after, right?
Wrong. You have no idea how wrong you’re about to be.
I think it’s finally time to throw in the towel with this series. This was one of the worst fairytale retellings I’ve read in a long time, if not the worst. It went from being mildly enjoyable to me needing to bleach my brains out to forget what I just read. The missing plot holes, the juvenile characters, and the extremely disturbing final act has pretty much put me off from rereading any more of this series. This is one story that should have kept on sleeping for the next 100 years.
Someone please put it back to sleep.
If you’re looking for an author that does fairytale retellings right, read Donna Jo Napoli’s works. She’s a master. My personal favorites are Zel (a Rapunzel retelling), and Beast (a Beauty and the Beast retelling told from the Beasts POV). But for the love of everything good and holy, PLEASE DON'T READ THIS BOOK.
What the fresh hell was this????
Looking back on this series, it’s hard for me to see what I found so appealing about this series when I was in middle school. These books were always in the paperback loan section at my library, and since I hadn’t graduated to the general YA section (if there even was one; the YA boom didn’t come until I started high school), I gravitated towards the books in this series. Reading them now as an adult in my early 20s, my perspective has completely changed. I haven’t even mildly liked a single book in this series, which is saying something. As a whole, all the books have the same overarching problems; the book stays nowhere near true to either the original tale or (as I suspect) the Disney princess films that they market themselves after, and the true love aspect is botched horrifically. You know there’s a problem when the relationships in the Disney movies are slow burn romances compared to the relationships in this series.And with this book in particular, the relationship is not only extremely fast moving but down right disturbing. I’d take Prince Phillips creepy stalking in the woods over this so-called ‘romance’ any day.
We all know how the story of Sleeping Beauty goes; a princess is born in a magical kingdom, but the proud parents forget to invite the evil witch to the christening. In her pissed off state of being, the evil witch casts a spell over the girl proclaiming that on her sixteenth birthday, she’ll prick her finger and fall into a deep sleep. However, the spell is modified so that the spell can be broken with true love’s kiss. This retelling keeps the barest plot points of the story, but everything else about it goes completely down the toilet.
Before we get into the mess that was the plot, one thing you should know about this book is that the narration style is very casual. It’s first person told by Aurore, but her style of telling the tale is very blasé. It’s as if she’s talking you in a Starbucks coffee shop over Unicorn Frappuccino’s rather than telling you a tale. She also breaks the fourth wall a la Ferris Bueller, so if you aren’t a fan of that, you won’t like this book. I also got the impression that if she were a real live person, she wouldn’t ever shut up because she kept going on and on and on AND ON about the most mundane things without any of her dialogue moving the plot along. Extremely frustrating!!!
Now onto the disaster that was the plot (spoilers ahead, but since they’re so ridiculous I might as well just give them to you now…)
Like I said before, Dokey’s retelling has the bare minimum of the original so that you know the plot is Sleeping Beauty. But everything else has been turned upside it’s head. Gone is the fairy godmother (she leaves right at the beginning of the novel never to be heard from again.) The evil queen? Yeah, she appears a grand total of one time to curse Aurore and then she disappears too. SO MANY DISAPPEARING PEOPLE. We’re never given an explanation as to why they disappear; they just do. Instead of them, we get cousin Oswald, aka Prince Charming (meant as a dig because of his less than charming personality). Even though Aurore is the daughter of the king, she isn’t a girl, so she can’t inherit. Oswald is the one who is going to take her father’s throne… until her father changes his mind and names Aurore as his successor.
”For many years now we have let the spells spoken over Aurore in her cradle tell us who she is. Now the time has come for her to tell us who she I as well.”Now mind you, the relationship between Oswald and Aurore is hard to define in the beginning. They’re cousins, but you’re never quite sure if they like or loathe each other. But no matter what you think, it probably won’t be even close to what the actual answer is. More on that later.
Aurore has a pretty happy childhood for the first sixteen years, being allowed to do as she pleases for the most part. But after her big Sweet Sixteen, everything starts to go wrong (ironically, this is also when the book starts to go horribly wrong. Art meets life, I guess). It also happens to be the pesky year that Aurore is supposed to prick a certain finger and be awakened by a certain true love.
So she ventures off into the Forbidden Forest to find answers. While there, she meets a man named Ironheart, who is the son of a king. Despite his name, he’s actually quite clumsy and aloof. He’s in the forest to find the princess Sleeping Beauty and wake her up with true love’s kiss. And of course Aurore doesn’t tell him that she’s the Sleeping Beauty he’s looking for. They putter around the forest doing God knows what, because the author forgets to explain to us what the hell Aurore is supposed to be doing in the woods IN THE FIRST PLACE. I swear, there are so many plot holes this book would sink a ship.
On their journeys in the forest, Ironheart trips over himself and busts his cheek open (See? Told ya.) Aurore offers to sew up his cheek and what do you know…
She pricks her finger. And she never even told the poor dude that she’s the Sleeping Beauty.
So off to dreamland she goes. Probably overflowing with joy, Ironheart kisses her and she wakes up. YAY!! Happily ever after, right?
Wrong. You have no idea how wrong you’re about to be.
I think it’s finally time to throw in the towel with this series. This was one of the worst fairytale retellings I’ve read in a long time, if not the worst. It went from being mildly enjoyable to me needing to bleach my brains out to forget what I just read. The missing plot holes, the juvenile characters, and the extremely disturbing final act has pretty much put me off from rereading any more of this series. This is one story that should have kept on sleeping for the next 100 years.
Someone please put it back to sleep.
If you’re looking for an author that does fairytale retellings right, read Donna Jo Napoli’s works. She’s a master. My personal favorites are Zel (a Rapunzel retelling), and Beast (a Beauty and the Beast retelling told from the Beasts POV). But for the love of everything good and holy, PLEASE DON'T READ THIS BOOK.
December 29, 2012
Arrrrghhhhhh! WHAT DID I JUST READ?!
This installment In the Once Upon a Time series centers around Aurore, a girl destined to fall into a deep sleep at the age of 16.
This story quickly dismisses any notion that this will be anything similar to the Disney version; or the Grimm brothers's version for that matter. There aren't evil witches or fairy godmothers or anything like that. The "sorceress" that casts the spell on Aurore is called Jane. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? PLAIN JANE IS SUPPOSED TO BE IN CHARGE OF AURORE'S WHOLE LIFE. I shouldn't care about this, but I really do.
Aurore is a strong willed girl, always stands up for herself. I admired that about her, but I didn't feel like it was antything different than all the other Once Upon a Time stories. Now, this story is COMPLETELY predominant with plotholes. I can't believe there are such high ratings, when upon finishing the story I didn't know what had occured.
I found the ending abrupt and the characters underdeveloped. So many details left unsaid made me feel lost at the end of the story. It was nice, but there are definitely far better retellings from this series, like Golden or Before Midnight. Did I even read the same book as everyone else? *sigh* 1.5 stars
This installment In the Once Upon a Time series centers around Aurore, a girl destined to fall into a deep sleep at the age of 16.
This story quickly dismisses any notion that this will be anything similar to the Disney version; or the Grimm brothers's version for that matter. There aren't evil witches or fairy godmothers or anything like that. The "sorceress" that casts the spell on Aurore is called Jane. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? PLAIN JANE IS SUPPOSED TO BE IN CHARGE OF AURORE'S WHOLE LIFE. I shouldn't care about this, but I really do.
Aurore is a strong willed girl, always stands up for herself. I admired that about her, but I didn't feel like it was antything different than all the other Once Upon a Time stories. Now, this story is COMPLETELY predominant with plotholes. I can't believe there are such high ratings, when upon finishing the story I didn't know what had occured.
I found the ending abrupt and the characters underdeveloped. So many details left unsaid made me feel lost at the end of the story. It was nice, but there are definitely far better retellings from this series, like Golden or Before Midnight. Did I even read the same book as everyone else? *sigh* 1.5 stars
May 24, 2017
This was... interesting. At about 60%, I thought I knew where it was going. Turns out, I did not.
Aurore was a fun character to read about. The way she smashed the mold of fairytales was really funny to me, and overall, she was such a strong person that it was kind of inspirational. I didn't really approve of how she treated her mother (if I said some of those things to my mother... oh boy...), but considering she had such a huge curse hanging over her head and still was able to function, yeah, she was really cool.
Ironheart is on my list of fictional boyfriends. I love this dork.
So yeah, it wasn't my favorite, but it definitely wasn't my least favorite. I would still recommend it to people like me, who haven't read all that many Sleeping Beauty retellings, because this one was still quite an original take on the story.
Yeah.
Aurore was a fun character to read about. The way she smashed the mold of fairytales was really funny to me, and overall, she was such a strong person that it was kind of inspirational. I didn't really approve of how she treated her mother (if I said some of those things to my mother... oh boy...), but considering she had such a huge curse hanging over her head and still was able to function, yeah, she was really cool.
Ironheart is on my list of fictional boyfriends. I love this dork.
So yeah, it wasn't my favorite, but it definitely wasn't my least favorite. I would still recommend it to people like me, who haven't read all that many Sleeping Beauty retellings, because this one was still quite an original take on the story.
Yeah.
August 11, 2016
What a surprise! You know most of these books are fairly predictable, which I don't mind, but this one wasn't. Don't get me wrong it's not like a thriller with major twists at every page, but I honestly didn't have everything figured out from the beginning. A totally refreshing change.
Aurore is of course the girl with that golden hair and startling eyes, but she is different apart from that. Though her curse at first is a hindrance, in some weird way it turns into an advantage. She explores as much as she can, and she has her cousin Oswald to thank for that. She learns to start a fire, shear a goat and countless other things that seem "unprincess like". Once she is sixteen havoc starts to ensue upon the kingdom and she knows what she has to do...or at least she thinks she does.
One of the things I enjoyed the most was the host of secondary characters. In fairy tales they tend to play minor roles, but here they certainly stand out more. Go into this like you haven't heard the fairy tale before because in all reality I think it's better than the original Sleeping Beauty. I mean how cool is it to be helpless and asleep for years on end? I can answer that: it's not cool. Dokey defintely knows how to weave a story and make things come full circle. What I like so much about this series that they are light reads, and you know they'll make you smile. This one has to be the most romantic of the fairy tales oddly enough. What I did think was kind of off was how much she told about the ending. I've read a lot of Dokey's other retellings and it's not usually her style. I just wonder what made her do it here. That aside this retelling is one of the most original of the series; a total heart warmer for all those romantics out there.
Aurore is of course the girl with that golden hair and startling eyes, but she is different apart from that. Though her curse at first is a hindrance, in some weird way it turns into an advantage. She explores as much as she can, and she has her cousin Oswald to thank for that. She learns to start a fire, shear a goat and countless other things that seem "unprincess like". Once she is sixteen havoc starts to ensue upon the kingdom and she knows what she has to do...or at least she thinks she does.
One of the things I enjoyed the most was the host of secondary characters. In fairy tales they tend to play minor roles, but here they certainly stand out more. Go into this like you haven't heard the fairy tale before because in all reality I think it's better than the original Sleeping Beauty. I mean how cool is it to be helpless and asleep for years on end? I can answer that: it's not cool. Dokey defintely knows how to weave a story and make things come full circle. What I like so much about this series that they are light reads, and you know they'll make you smile. This one has to be the most romantic of the fairy tales oddly enough. What I did think was kind of off was how much she told about the ending. I've read a lot of Dokey's other retellings and it's not usually her style. I just wonder what made her do it here. That aside this retelling is one of the most original of the series; a total heart warmer for all those romantics out there.
December 29, 2007
I don't think I can even start to describe this book...it's...very "unique". I read the book all in one read and had nightmares that night. It was crazy. Not because this book was scary, but the plot and the suspense makes you think so hard about it, you could not take your mind off it. It's really incredible. I was quite disappointed though that what I thought the "disney" version was suppose to be correct..wasn't in fact...in this book. There were no fairies, witches, flying broomsticks..it was very awkward finding that out. And the part where Aurore sleeps for a hundred years? Went into the forest? She only went in for a day when she saw Prince Ironheart..then, how could 100 years past so quickly in only to her-a few matter of days? And for goodness sakes. Prince Charming aka Ironwill aka Aurore's cousin is THAT old! It doesn't even explain how he can live so old. And...IT"S HER COUSIN! THEY ARE RELATIVES. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of people out there smooching their sisters and brothers and stuff like that, but in a "disney" princess kind of way? IRONWILL doesn't even save her, he makes his grandson do it. I thought the kiss could only be waken by true love's kiss. Ironheart isn't her true love..Ironwill is. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? Goodness, I could write a whole response to literature about this, but I reccomend you read it, it'll leave you with mountains and loads of brain thinking and questions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2009
I was completely at a loss on how I was going to rate this book. It’s not that I didn't like the story or the writing. It just wasn't what I expected, mostly just the ending though. I'm sure others would think that the ending was obvious but I was actually surprised.
The princess Aurora is the type of princess everyone loves. She does everything from archery to sheering sheep to embroidery. She may not be good at everything but she tries it all. She is terrible with the royalty stuff such as dancing and she can't seem to be very graceful. Aurora isn't a spoiled brat of a princess. She cares for her people and is practical minded.
As in most Dokey books that I've read the real adventure doesn't happen until about half way. I think Dokey does this to give you a sense of the character, setup for the adventure, and establish the protagonist's relationship with her family/freinds. I like the relationship she has with her parents. The relationship with her cousin has it's ups and downs but it ends well.
There is a happy ending. I like a happy ending so that wasn't the problem. Aurora was happy but there were things that didn't quite sit right with me because I'm not sure that I would've been able to be happy with how things went down. I thought about it and decided that if Aurora could accept it then I might as well too.
The princess Aurora is the type of princess everyone loves. She does everything from archery to sheering sheep to embroidery. She may not be good at everything but she tries it all. She is terrible with the royalty stuff such as dancing and she can't seem to be very graceful. Aurora isn't a spoiled brat of a princess. She cares for her people and is practical minded.
As in most Dokey books that I've read the real adventure doesn't happen until about half way. I think Dokey does this to give you a sense of the character, setup for the adventure, and establish the protagonist's relationship with her family/freinds. I like the relationship she has with her parents. The relationship with her cousin has it's ups and downs but it ends well.
There is a happy ending. I like a happy ending so that wasn't the problem. Aurora was happy but there were things that didn't quite sit right with me because I'm not sure that I would've been able to be happy with how things went down. I thought about it and decided that if Aurora could accept it then I might as well too.
November 18, 2021
You're gunna Luuuuuurv this.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Dnf it if you are not into incest.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Dnf it if you are not into incest.
Read
June 30, 2017Review to come.
April 22, 2021
1.5 stars rounded down. I usually round up, but...
*inhales deeply*
Okay.
So.
I really enjoyed most of the book. The descriptions were nice and fanciful, the characters felt real, the fairytale element was clear even though it was also clear this tale deviated from the core story of sleeping beauty significantly.
Honestly, the writing and editing isn't the best. It was at times vague, repetitive, and/or confusing, but I was still enjoying the story so I thought I'd give it probably 3 stars.
*Spoiler below*
And then....and then Aurore's cousin who she had a strangely close relationship with that I just chalked up to being siblings originally was revealed to be her one true love! He waited for her for 100 years and they get married and have many children! Yay, right?
NO.
I don't care how romantic you write it. Ew. No. I don't care if in the time the book was roughly placed first cousin intimacy was okay. Today, in this society, it is very wrong and very gross. I could have given a pass for like a fourth or fifth cousin that was raised alongside the crown princess, but not a first cousin.
It's even more upsetting because we spend a significant chunk of the book watching her cute budding romance with her fifth-great-nephew or something like that. Still weird, but I was willing to give it a pass because I was still enjoying the book before Aurore decided to commit incest right at the end.
By the way, I read this series as a tween and didn't remember anything about Beauty Sleep until I read it. Now I remember that middle school me was also grossed out. Sigh. Also, the bit about the world falling apart because she hadn't fallen victim to the curse was too dark. It didn't really fit the tone of the rest of the book.
TL;DR: Could have forgiven some of the bad writing in favor of the cute fairytale-ness if it wasn't for the incest at the very end.
*inhales deeply*
Okay.
So.
I really enjoyed most of the book. The descriptions were nice and fanciful, the characters felt real, the fairytale element was clear even though it was also clear this tale deviated from the core story of sleeping beauty significantly.
Honestly, the writing and editing isn't the best. It was at times vague, repetitive, and/or confusing, but I was still enjoying the story so I thought I'd give it probably 3 stars.
*Spoiler below*
And then....and then Aurore's cousin who she had a strangely close relationship with that I just chalked up to being siblings originally was revealed to be her one true love! He waited for her for 100 years and they get married and have many children! Yay, right?
NO.
I don't care how romantic you write it. Ew. No. I don't care if in the time the book was roughly placed first cousin intimacy was okay. Today, in this society, it is very wrong and very gross. I could have given a pass for like a fourth or fifth cousin that was raised alongside the crown princess, but not a first cousin.
It's even more upsetting because we spend a significant chunk of the book watching her cute budding romance with her fifth-great-nephew or something like that. Still weird, but I was willing to give it a pass because I was still enjoying the book before Aurore decided to commit incest right at the end.
By the way, I read this series as a tween and didn't remember anything about Beauty Sleep until I read it. Now I remember that middle school me was also grossed out. Sigh. Also, the bit about the world falling apart because she hadn't fallen victim to the curse was too dark. It didn't really fit the tone of the rest of the book.
TL;DR: Could have forgiven some of the bad writing in favor of the cute fairytale-ness if it wasn't for the incest at the very end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2023
After re-reading Anne’s review of this book, going to 2 stars and my copy is off to the donate pile. Room for more books, woot, thank you Anne!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2008
This is not the first "once upon a time" book that I read and therefore I picked it up with some preconceived notions... The first one I read was Midnight Pearls which I didn't like all that much and after reading Beauty Sleep i've decided that that was because it was written in third person. This style just made MP seem stilted and fake where as Beauty Sleep (BS just seemed wrong) felt very warm and inviting.
This book is written in the style of a journal with Aurore recounting the events of her life. She is not the perfect little princess, she likes play in the dirt, hates to embroider and paint, and is constantly butting heads with her mother. Her voice is very warm but not overdone, which is an issue I have with a lot of teen fiction - it just feels like too much at some points. But here the character is authentic and funny as a young woman struggling with the hand she was dealt.
The only part that kinda bothered me about this story was the fact that she ends up marrying her first cousin... Their relationship is very believable and incredibly sweet but the references to him as her cousin persist and it just irked me. This might just be a personal problem however.
Otherwise, this book is incredibly well done and the author has done a wonderful job of flushing out this beautiful story. I look forward to reading more of these books!
This book is written in the style of a journal with Aurore recounting the events of her life. She is not the perfect little princess, she likes play in the dirt, hates to embroider and paint, and is constantly butting heads with her mother. Her voice is very warm but not overdone, which is an issue I have with a lot of teen fiction - it just feels like too much at some points. But here the character is authentic and funny as a young woman struggling with the hand she was dealt.
The only part that kinda bothered me about this story was the fact that she ends up marrying her first cousin... Their relationship is very believable and incredibly sweet but the references to him as her cousin persist and it just irked me. This might just be a personal problem however.
Otherwise, this book is incredibly well done and the author has done a wonderful job of flushing out this beautiful story. I look forward to reading more of these books!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2009
I must first admit, I love retold fairy tales. But I will also have to admit, if you are going to rewrite a classic it better be amazing.
It's been a few years since I've read it but from I can remember: This story is a somewhat modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty as the title will reference. There's still thorns to travel through, a prince, an old king, and a villain.
What threw me off was the ending. I DISLIKED it very much. It left me with a ... gross feeling. I suppose in the olden times that was considered okay, but if the book is going to appeal to a modern audience it must also appeal to our distaste of incest.
It's a short read if you would like to read it, took me about a few Saturday afternoon hours in high school.
However, now I'm left with a random book on my shelf in my room and no one to give it to that I believe would like it. Willing to sell or swap, send me a message.
It's been a few years since I've read it but from I can remember: This story is a somewhat modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty as the title will reference. There's still thorns to travel through, a prince, an old king, and a villain.
What threw me off was the ending. I DISLIKED it very much. It left me with a ... gross feeling. I suppose in the olden times that was considered okay, but if the book is going to appeal to a modern audience it must also appeal to our distaste of incest.
It's a short read if you would like to read it, took me about a few Saturday afternoon hours in high school.
However, now I'm left with a random book on my shelf in my room and no one to give it to that I believe would like it. Willing to sell or swap, send me a message.
January 16, 2025
bruh. there are 20 chapters. 1-18 were great! i super enjoyed. but then POW!!!! chapter 19. WHATTTT THE FREAKKK HAPPENED!!!!! she was in love w her cousin?! who shes viewed as an annoying annoying OLDER BROTHER ALL HER LIFE?! he was eight when she was born?! and he loved her all her life?! thats a pedo!!! he wanted her dad to call him son?! thats incest!!!! they were literal blood cousins!!! incest!!!! i was already kind of weirded out by thinking ironheart and her were going to end up tg... bcs technically they were related (very distantly, so i looked passed it) BUT THEN SHE ENDED UP W BASICALLY HER BROTHER WHAT THE FREAK. it lowk would have been 4 stars if ironheart and her ended up tg. but they had to include incest. 2 stars is lowk generous too. ALSO i was like wow this is so heartwarming they used to be rivals and now they like each other, theyre family🩷 so sweet.. but they ended up liking each other a little too much....
August 25, 2010
Great fun! I was truly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book -- especially since I was not fond of Snow, another book in the Once Upon a Time books. The changes to the story and the characters were clever and seemed very true to the spirit of the wonderful story of Sleeping Beauty. The book is told in first person, which is not my favorite style of writing, but I still found it difficult to put this one down until I was finished.
(I enjoyed this one so much that I realized I hadn't liked Snow as much as I originally thought and have changed my rating on that one! They do have different authors which is probably the difference.)
(I enjoyed this one so much that I realized I hadn't liked Snow as much as I originally thought and have changed my rating on that one! They do have different authors which is probably the difference.)
July 16, 2008
This has become my favorite book. It was SO amazingly good! At first it went along like your typical Sleeping beauty, but what made it a novel after my heart was the fact that the princess, Aurore, takes things into her own hands, and leaves everything that she loves behind in order to save her whole kingdom. But by doing so, she manages to find true love.
Towards the end, my hands were shaking because I was so afraid, I had gotten very into the story, and I was gasping, and my eyes were wide, and then at the very end, my smile was so wide, I thought my face might crack.
Towards the end, my hands were shaking because I was so afraid, I had gotten very into the story, and I was gasping, and my eyes were wide, and then at the very end, my smile was so wide, I thought my face might crack.
April 3, 2020
This is a very fun retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Very different and original. I loved it and thought the writing was well done and fun to read.
January 14, 2011
I really enjoyed the story up to a point. It was unexpectedly interesting and surprising. I liked the characters, I thought Oswald was a deeper character than you would usually expect from a fairy tale prince. I liked how the 'evil fairy' was described, not entirely evil.
But then, that was it, in a way. I liked how the relationship between Aurore and Oswald was portrayed, and even though they are cousins I kept saying in my head 'second cousin, third cousin...' it didn't bother me as much as how the story ended. I guess Oswald and Aurore should end up together, their connection being kind of obvious from the start. But I think there could have been a better way to do that. For heaven's sake, the guy married, had a wife , had children, watched them die, basically had a life... and after all this years he still nurtures this same feeling for this little girl? Please... then he just goes off and marry her and has more children? PLEASE!!!!
I also think Ironheart was not the one for her, although he was sweet, a whole life story had been already built for Oswald and Aurore. maybe with a little more work, not such a rushed journey, they could have fallen in love.
I was really frustrated by this book because I liked it so much at the beginning, but the ending...
That must have been another way to make this relationship work otherwise, no? this way was just yikes!
But then, that was it, in a way. I liked how the relationship between Aurore and Oswald was portrayed, and even though they are cousins I kept saying in my head 'second cousin, third cousin...' it didn't bother me as much as how the story ended. I guess Oswald and Aurore should end up together, their connection being kind of obvious from the start. But I think there could have been a better way to do that. For heaven's sake, the guy married, had a wife , had children, watched them die, basically had a life... and after all this years he still nurtures this same feeling for this little girl? Please... then he just goes off and marry her and has more children? PLEASE!!!!
I also think Ironheart was not the one for her, although he was sweet, a whole life story had been already built for Oswald and Aurore. maybe with a little more work, not such a rushed journey, they could have fallen in love.
I was really frustrated by this book because I liked it so much at the beginning, but the ending...
That must have been another way to make this relationship work otherwise, no? this way was just yikes!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2011
What could have been an interesting twist on such a familiar fairy tale is just not fleshed out enough to satisfy me. Themes of a deep magical world, opposites at war with one another and Prince Charming starting out not-so-charming hold a lot of promise. None is fully realized though. I'm not even sure where Sleeping Beauty and Oswald ever really fell in love.
Normally, I have no problem with a first-person narrative. This book seems the poorer for it. Perhaps because Aurore sounds no more like a princess in her speech than I. I get that she is a princess of the common people, less interested in princess-like things. But so is Goose Girl yet she still has a grace about her. Much of the dialogue does not fit the fairy-tale world. It seems too modern. Aurore saying things like waking up from a "nap from hell," and Oswald telling the princess to shut up. It does not fit. Not to mention the fact that this is supposedly a mysterious and complex world, but when faced by it Aurore's response is, "Well, this is annoying." An over-simplification I find, well...annoying.
This is a short, lighthearted read. For that I did enjoy it. There is nothing I super hated. It got me back on Goodreads. So three stars. (Maybe two and a half.)
Normally, I have no problem with a first-person narrative. This book seems the poorer for it. Perhaps because Aurore sounds no more like a princess in her speech than I. I get that she is a princess of the common people, less interested in princess-like things. But so is Goose Girl yet she still has a grace about her. Much of the dialogue does not fit the fairy-tale world. It seems too modern. Aurore saying things like waking up from a "nap from hell," and Oswald telling the princess to shut up. It does not fit. Not to mention the fact that this is supposedly a mysterious and complex world, but when faced by it Aurore's response is, "Well, this is annoying." An over-simplification I find, well...annoying.
This is a short, lighthearted read. For that I did enjoy it. There is nothing I super hated. It got me back on Goodreads. So three stars. (Maybe two and a half.)
September 16, 2016
It wasn't the worst story I've ever read, and I was enjoying it, but it certainly wasn't the best. The ending was... gross. I was squirming while reading it because of how gross it was. I was just too grossed out.
The book would have been a solid 3, but the ending ruined it for me.
I gave it 2 stars, because the writing was good, and it started off well. I liked the Introduction, but I can't really say that I had any favorite moments other than that, or favorite characters.
I liked that Aurore wasn't your typical princess, that she preferred getting her hands dirty, but that was pretty much all I liked about her. Not that she was a dislikeable character per say.. she was just bland. None of the characters really had much depth to them.
And did I mention the ending was gross? Because it was. (Sorry, but I can't get passed it.)
The book would have been a solid 3, but the ending ruined it for me.
I gave it 2 stars, because the writing was good, and it started off well. I liked the Introduction, but I can't really say that I had any favorite moments other than that, or favorite characters.
I liked that Aurore wasn't your typical princess, that she preferred getting her hands dirty, but that was pretty much all I liked about her. Not that she was a dislikeable character per say.. she was just bland. None of the characters really had much depth to them.
And did I mention the ending was gross? Because it was. (Sorry, but I can't get passed it.)
May 2, 2012
I'd give this book 2 and a half stars if I could,it was little more than OK but I can't say I liked it a lot. It was a good retelling of the Sleeping Beauty, and I liked Aurore, Ironheart, Oswald, and Aurore's father (probably the best king ever, he almost brought tears to my eyes). But the whole magic-all-around-you stuff was rather confusing, there were a lot of gaps in the story (like how she met Ironheart while she was still awake when supposedly she ought to have been asleep for the years to pass and how the sleep only lasted like five seconds or so). Nah, it was quite good, but I prefer Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep,by Gail Carson Levine for a funnier, wittier, more charming retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
November 28, 2010
What bothered me most was this one scene where the main character is caught in a hailstorm, where the hail stones are as big as fists. One of them hits her on the head, and she's fine.
Not too long ago, I experienced a horrible hailstorm, where the hailstones were as big as golf balls, and THEY caused thousands of dollars of damage for people all across the city. They broke a few of my windows, dinted cars, even killed one of my chickens. Imagine what hailstones the size of fists could do...
Because of this, most of the catastrophes in this story seem totally unbelieveable. I would have at least liked the author to have had researched, or at least use common sense.
Another bother was the tone of the story. It made the narrator and main character sound like a pompous, spoilt brat.
Though, I really liked the flow of the story, and the unique perspective on the classic fairy tale.
Not too long ago, I experienced a horrible hailstorm, where the hailstones were as big as golf balls, and THEY caused thousands of dollars of damage for people all across the city. They broke a few of my windows, dinted cars, even killed one of my chickens. Imagine what hailstones the size of fists could do...
Because of this, most of the catastrophes in this story seem totally unbelieveable. I would have at least liked the author to have had researched, or at least use common sense.
Another bother was the tone of the story. It made the narrator and main character sound like a pompous, spoilt brat.
Though, I really liked the flow of the story, and the unique perspective on the classic fairy tale.
April 22, 2013
I chose this book as a palate-cleanser of sorts - something fun and quick to read between novels. It turned out to be exactly that. I wasn’t completely absorbed by the novel and it deviated away from the original Sleeping Beauty story a little too much for me, but it did surprise me at times.
December 3, 2021
3.5 stars
November 29, 2022
I had this on my want to read shelf since 2009– and book club finally made me get around to it. Maybe I would have liked it more back when I first wanted to read it but I feel like a lot of things were left unexplained. I guessed some things accurately and the things I was hoping for the book to fill in for me- it never did. I was just more confused. Maybe when I go to book club we can figure it out together.
October 31, 2024
While well written, this one was kind of boring. It also has incest, which I'm not putting in spoilers. So there is that. Not... her cousin incest like I first suspected but still his like great grandson.
This is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty without the fairies, but there is magic.
This is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty without the fairies, but there is magic.
Read
October 26, 2017This was a very unique re-telling and I enjoyed it very much. Short, but sweet.
February 12, 2022
I love fairy tale retellings! This one is very creative and varies enough from the original take to not make it completely predictable. So, a fresh perspective, gives life to an old story.
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