Reviews
Book #16 Read in 2018 Briar Rose by Jane Yolen This is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty with a holocaust twist. It could appeal to both historical fiction readers and those who like fairy tales. Becca is looking into the past of her recently deceased grandmother who survived the holocaust. Becca heads to Poland to find answers....will she?
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. (view spoiler)[Yolen 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." (hide spoiler)] 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 The Complete Fairy Tales - The Brothers Grimm 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-...
Such a beautiful retelling of the Holocaust & sleeping beauty...
I have the complete set of the Grimm Fairy-Tales, and there are so many that I haven’t read! They are very short, as one would know, so I have decided to read each one and give them a review. Some are very vulgar, some are very cute and some don’t even make sense. Some of them are well known fairy-tales and some have never been told. Some are fairy-tales we know but are not the same because they have been downplayed for the children. Okay, so if you have seen Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, you know what happens in this book. The actually old fairy-tale Sleeping Beauty is NOT the same as the movie (and you shouldn’t let your kids read it). But this one is pretty close to what the movie is. Except the fairies are wise women. And there are thirteen of them (including the one who gives the curse to the poor innocent baby).
