What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
► UNSOLVED: One specific book
>
YA Sci-fi/Fantasy Sleeping Beauty Retelling with a Twist: Repeating Curse
date
newest »


I think it’s all from the princess’s POV, but I could be wrong about that.
This is a YA retelling of Sleeping Beauty with a twist: instead of pricking her finger and falling asleep, the princess has been cursed (possibly by her aunt) to lose consciousness randomly for short periods of time (30 seconds to a minute if I recall correctly). I think it’s degenerative, in that she passes out for longer and longer periods over time(?). She’s not in hiding; she lives in the castle, and her family is trying to figure out how to cure her.
Three scenes are very vividly in my mind:
1) The princess is walking with a bodyguard(?), and one second she’s mid-conversation with him, and the next second she’s waking up to find him holding her up to keep her from falling. She asks him something like, “How long this time?” And he answers “ 30 seconds”, I think. They are both worried because it’s becoming more often.
2) In another scene, there is a laboratory/special room(?) that the royal family uses to “view” the curse. They can see it around the princess, and can see when it is about to “activate,” so they tell her to lie down so that she doesn’t fall and hurt herself.
Spoiler Ahead
3) One of the last scenes is when there has been a showdown, and the princess’s love interest almost dies. There is the obligatory near-death/don’t-leave-me angst before he recovers.
Thats all I can remember. I can’t recall any names of characters, or anything about the love interest. I was popping these books like happy pills, and my attention span was very short, so I don’t think I finished it (I remember that end scene because I skipped ahead). It has such an interesting twist on an old tale that I want to try it again.
Thank you for your help!