Name: Sleep Like Death
Rating: 3.3125 (8 reviews)

Kalynn Bayron

Sleep Like Death

I really wanted to enjoy this book. ‘This Poison Heart’ by the same author was a 5 star read for me, but the sequel and now this book haven’t hit the way I wanted them to. I will start off by what I enjoyed. I always like a retelling that mixes up what we know about a story. It was refreshing to see the changes made to the original Snow White. She also included other well known fairytales and added her own spin to them as well, which was cute. 

That being said, the plot never truly picked up for me. The pacing threw me off the entire book, and even just getting into it was a slow start, personally. I understand that this is a YA novel, but something about the writing style made it seem even younger than the target audience — almost middle grade. That’s not a bad thing necessarily, as I still very much enjoy certain middle grade books… but not when I’m expecting to read something a little more advanced. 

The characters themselves were either annoying or underdeveloped and one dimensional. The main character was impulsive in a way that made her stupid and a danger to everyone around her. The supposed adults in the book were barely any better and seemed very childish to me. I did really like some of the members of a family we meet a little ways into the story. They were lovely. But overall, I just didn’t build a connection to anyone for real, and I especially didn’t understand the love match that was supposed to have been made. It felt forced and honestly, quite unnecessary. They did nothing to deserve their romance in my opinion. 

Continuing on, I didn’t comprehend the magic system at ALL. I have nothing much to add onto this but anyone that had magic in this story, I didn’t get the extent of their powers and needed a better explanation of what they can do. 

Like I said at the beginning of all this, I am disappointed at how this unfolded for me because I really wanted to get into more of Bayron’s books, but as I have only enjoyed one of the three I’ve read from her, I feel like her stories may not be for me. I do think a young teenager would greatly enjoy this kind of storytelling though, and would recommend it for someone between 11 and 14. 

Nik ✨

I really wanted to enjoy this book. ‘This Poison Heart’ by the same author was a 5 star read for me, but the sequel and now this book haven’t hit the way I wanted them to. I will start off by what I enjoyed. I always like a retelling that mixes up what we know about a story. It was refreshing to see the changes made to the original Snow White. She also included other well known fairytales and added her own spin to them as well, which was cute. 

That being said, the plot never truly picked up for me. The pacing threw me off the entire book, and even just getting into it was a slow start, personally. I understand that this is a YA novel, but something about the writing style made it seem even younger than the target audience — almost middle grade. That’s not a bad thing necessarily, as I still very much enjoy certain middle grade books… but not when I’m expecting to read something a little more advanced. 

The characters themselves were either annoying or underdeveloped and one dimensional. The main character was impulsive in a way that made her stupid and a danger to everyone around her. The supposed adults in the book were barely any better and seemed very childish to me. I did really like some of the members of a family we meet a little ways into the story. They were lovely. But overall, I just didn’t build a connection to anyone for real, and I especially didn’t understand the love match that was supposed to have been made. It felt forced and honestly, quite unnecessary. They did nothing to deserve their romance in my opinion. 

Continuing on, I didn’t comprehend the magic system at ALL. I have nothing much to add onto this but anyone that had magic in this story, I didn’t get the extent of their powers and needed a better explanation of what they can do. 

Like I said at the beginning of all this, I am disappointed at how this unfolded for me because I really wanted to get into more of Bayron’s books, but as I have only enjoyed one of the three I’ve read from her, I feel like her stories may not be for me. I do think a young teenager would greatly enjoy this kind of storytelling though, and would recommend it for someone between 11 and 14. 

Sleep Like Death

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