Sunday, March 9, 2014

While Beauty Slept

While Beauty Slept, by Elizabeth Blackwell
Series? No
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books, a Penguin imprint
Date: Feb 20, 2014
How did I get this book? free Advance Reader's Copy from the publisher via Shelf Awareness for my honest review
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
GoodReads | Author | Publisher

Right around the time I started this book, I also started seeing glowing reviews for it pop up all over the place. They were actually making me nervous because I kept wondering what I was missing. I was at the point where I wasn't really in the groove of the story yet and didn't know what to make of all the positive feedback. But once I was about 200 pages in, everything started coming together and I was hooked! I know that is a long time to get invested in a story, but I'm glad I didn't give up and knowing how everything plays out, I would absolutely love to re-read this one with a greater appreciation of earlier events.

Basically this is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty as if the fairy tale could have "really" happened, told from the perspective of Elise, a servant at the castle and companion of the young princess. There is still a curse, but there are no magic spells or dragons or anything like that. It's not true historical fiction, but it definitely reads like historical fiction which I thought was a completely fascinating take on the subject (and is what originally piqued my interest.) There is not a specified place or time period, but it has a definite medieval feel.

Being the lifelong Disney fan that I am, I had to do my homework on this one -- what fun is a retelling without revisiting the original? Now I know the Disney movie is a retelling in itself, but it is likely the most popular version so I thought it worth watching alongside this book. I also pulled out my Grimm collection so I could read the actual original and compare all three. I won't do a point-by-point comparison because that would definitely ruin the book, but there is one key thing worth noting without going too much into specifics. Contrary to popular belief, some Grimm stories actually do have happy endings! Not all of these stories were drastically warped when they got "Disney-fied." While certainly embellished and re-imagined in its own way, I was very happy to realize the Disney movie I grew up loving is fairly true to the original tale in this case. (Of course this now makes me want to read all the other original stories Disney movies were inspired by, but that is a project for another day.)

It kind of blows my mind how well Elizabeth Blackwell molded her story around Grimm's original, keeping its true essence while at the same time taking the story in a whole new direction -- a very rich, complex, intriguing direction that makes for quite a compelling read. I had never read a retelling before, but this book just may be my gateway into that particular sub-genre. I'm still extremely wary about YA re-tellings for some reason, so if anyone has recommendations, throw 'em at me! And if you know of any other adult re-tellings, please share those, too -- I'm super curious now :)


P.S. Any Game of Thrones fans out there? A very kind and noble character in this book is named Joffrey and it really messed with my head! If you've watched the show or read the series, you know what I'm talking about!


Explore further:
Discussion Questions on the publisher's site
A much more articulate & less meandering review than mine over on Doing Dewey
Once Upon a Nightmare, a post by Elizabeth Blackwell on the Penguin books blog about the upcoming movie Maleficent

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20 comments:

  1. I am really excited to read this one, but I hate that I am going to be imagining Joffrey!
    Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings

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    1. It was really hard not to! Doesn't help that I just finished watching the series...twice...

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  2. Oh dear. I hope there aren't many Joffreys around in books because just as you say, the name is pretty much ruined.

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    1. Right?! It's a unique enough name that this first time I remember encountering it outside Game of Thrones -- and I have a hard time associating it with anything but evil!

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  3. Joffrey's aren't allowed to be kind, it's practically against the natural order of the universe!
    I hadn't heard of this book, but it sounds really good. Have you read Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth? It's a similar blend of fairy tale (Rapunzel) and historical fiction, and it is awesome.

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    1. I know, right?! It doesn't seem like a very unique name, but the more I think about it, the more I realize I've really never seen it anywhere else.

      I haven't read Bitter Greens, but that sounds like a perfect one for me to try! Thanks for the recommendation :)

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  4. After doing the Cover Characteristic meme I am interested in reading a fairytale retold book. I may check this one out. Thanks

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    1. Awesome! I hope you do, it really is very good :)

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  5. I was really excited to see your review of this one because I'd seen a few reviews pop up, but not from many bloggers that I regularly read their reviews. I requested this one from NetGalley and was approved after it published. While I'm excited to read it, I hate feeling like I'm "behind" even though it's not like I let the book sit there. Anywayyy, I'm glad this one was enjoyable for you. You've made me more excited about! Fairy tale retellings can be really hit or miss, so I'm glad this one sounds like it was mostly a hit!

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    1. I've always been wary of re-tellings and I can't really put my finger on why -- afraid of "messing" with the original maybe? This was extremely well done despite some initial reservations and has wiped out my "fear" of this genre. I think the more time passes and the more I think about the story, my appreciation of it only grows :)

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  6. HAHA a kind Joffrey...right...

    I'm still a little hesitant to read this book even though your praising review because the beginning was slow, and as you probably already know slow beginnings really bug me. I do however usually enjoy a good retelling. I understand why you are hesitant about young-adult retellings...some are not great. I like the Lunar Chronicles series a lot if you want a sci-fi retelling, it is young adult though. As for adult retellings...I really haven't read any but I would like to find some. Maybe this one will be a good start. :)

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    1. Yea, that name totally threw me off!

      In fairness, I honestly don't think this would be a slow start for everyone. The writing is beautiful and I know you always appreciate good writing. I think this was one of those cases where I was just being impatient and wasn't realizing how important certain events early on would end up being. It was interesting to see how my opinion evolved as the whole story played out -- going from feeling unsure to wanting to re-read it was quite a change!

      If you like re-tellings, I think you would definitely enjoy this one. It would be a great introduction to adult fiction retellings. I never quite understood the hype about the Lunar Chronicles, but if you liked it, I think it might be worth a try :)

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  7. I've seen this around but don't know much about it as I don't typically do fairy tale retellings, I much prefer Grimm tales and of course Disney. It was great to actually read a review of While Beauty Slept as I think I actually like the sound of it! I may take a look in to this one. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
    :-)
    Bits & Bobs

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    1. I hope you get a chance to try it out, it really surprised me -- in a good way! You might have to slip it into your wishlist box :)

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  8. Aw, thanks so much for mentioning my review! I actually think your review is really fantastic and captures so many of the things I loved about this book. The historical fiction feel was extremely cool and I was also impressed by how true she stayed to the spirit of the original while being very original herself. I'm so glad you didn't give up on this one and ended up loving it too :)

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  9. Recommending Bitter Greens, too. It's very dark in places but absolutely excellent. I really want to read While Beauty Slept but it doesn't appear to have been released here yet.

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    1. I will definitely need to check that one out! It sounds like exactly what I'm looking for :) I hope it's available by you soon!

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  10. Ahhh, I love a good fairy tale retelling. My favorite one remains Robin McKinley's Beauty, which I read as a kid and it set the bar pretty high. I'm excited to read While Beauty Sleeps -- I've seen a bunch of good reviews of it, although shockingly you are the first to mention the Joffrey-name-related cognitive dissonance. :p

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    1. I feel like another Sleeping Beauty retelling might confuse my head if I read them too close together, but will have to keep that one in mind for the future. And I just had to have a bit of a chuckle every time I read that name and it was attached to such a completely different character!

      Thanks for stopping by :)

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I'd love to hear what you think :)