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simplyalexandra 's review for:
Briar Rose
by Jane Yolen
-Right After Reading-
An interesting concept (don’t want to give spoilers), but I didn’t enjoy this one.
2.5 - I *might* recommend if you are looking for a middle-grade novel with serious subject matter. I don't want to ruin this for those interested, so highlight the white text below. This is a sleeping beauty re-telling, but it is not fantasy based in any way.
When Becca's grandmother passes away, all she leaves behind is a box of documents and a rendition of Sleeping Beauty that she told over and over. Becca, a journalist, promises to solve the mystery by finding out her grandmother's past, where "the castle" is, and who "the prince" is.
I didn't really enjoy this book. For one, I picked it up expecting it to be a fluffy middle-grade fairy tale re-telling. But for more reasons, the different plot pieces of the book felt kind of piecemealed together. Their childhood, Becca going to upstate New York to learn more about her grandmother, an overseas trip, etc. I like the idea behind what Yolen is trying to do, SPOILER - put a fairy tale in the place of an experience within a Nazi death camp to help the grandmother cope with the horrific experience. However, it took a really long time for Becca to figure it out, and within the mystery there were not that many moving pieces. She finally gets to Poland... and it's like a mini travelogue. After that they conveniently meet the man who saved her grandma. Ok then. That was tidy and anticlimactic. Then he re-tells his story about the war, Nazis, etc... and its the longest story ever, and it focuses on him, not her grandmother. I guess people are offended by the LGBTQ+ content in this book, which is VERY tame and virtually non-existent. This was written in 1988, but it is currently 2018 folks. (off soap box now) I did find it confusing that our protagonist was 23 years old, and it was written for middle-graders. I think? However, the protagonist's dad makes several not so subtle inappropriate jokes, and it mentions our main character watching a "soft core" movie. Who is this book written for? How confusing! There was a very surface level love story thrown in there, it felt unnecessary. I see what Yolen was doing with Sleeping Beauty, but it just felt like all of the pieces were a little too subtle or randomly woven together.
An interesting concept (don’t want to give spoilers), but I didn’t enjoy this one.
2.5 - I *might* recommend if you are looking for a middle-grade novel with serious subject matter. I don't want to ruin this for those interested, so highlight the white text below. This is a sleeping beauty re-telling, but it is not fantasy based in any way.
When Becca's grandmother passes away, all she leaves behind is a box of documents and a rendition of Sleeping Beauty that she told over and over. Becca, a journalist, promises to solve the mystery by finding out her grandmother's past, where "the castle" is, and who "the prince" is.
I didn't really enjoy this book. For one, I picked it up expecting it to be a fluffy middle-grade fairy tale re-telling. But for more reasons, the different plot pieces of the book felt kind of piecemealed together. Their childhood, Becca going to upstate New York to learn more about her grandmother, an overseas trip, etc. I like the idea behind what Yolen is trying to do, SPOILER - put a fairy tale in the place of an experience within a Nazi death camp to help the grandmother cope with the horrific experience. However, it took a really long time for Becca to figure it out, and within the mystery there were not that many moving pieces. She finally gets to Poland... and it's like a mini travelogue. After that they conveniently meet the man who saved her grandma. Ok then. That was tidy and anticlimactic. Then he re-tells his story about the war, Nazis, etc... and its the longest story ever, and it focuses on him, not her grandmother. I guess people are offended by the LGBTQ+ content in this book, which is VERY tame and virtually non-existent. This was written in 1988, but it is currently 2018 folks. (off soap box now) I did find it confusing that our protagonist was 23 years old, and it was written for middle-graders. I think? However, the protagonist's dad makes several not so subtle inappropriate jokes, and it mentions our main character watching a "soft core" movie. Who is this book written for? How confusing! There was a very surface level love story thrown in there, it felt unnecessary. I see what Yolen was doing with Sleeping Beauty, but it just felt like all of the pieces were a little too subtle or randomly woven together.