Awaken: Sleeping Beauty Retold

Awaken is a retelling in the Romance a Medieval Fairytale series, this one is the retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
Sleeping Beauty is one of my favourite fairytales. Princess Rosamond has the power of healing through plants, she thinks this a weak power but it really isn’t, she helps so many people. Everyone falls ill and she helps them but herself and she falls asleep for 50 years.
When she wakes a young man is by her. She seems to have changed from that naive girl to something I didn’t like it turned quite smutty it took away the magic and innocence of what a fairytale should be.

Sadly this wasn’t for me, although I knew from earlier in the series what it might become I was hoping for less smut and more innocent romance.

It seemed that this book was pretty rushed. I also question how Rosamund could mistake her Captain of the Guard, Sir Warin and Siwad mistaking them as the same person. Anyway, I enjoyed how Rosamund developed as a character and her progression when it comes to her plant witch powers. I was also confused, who cursed her in the first place or were we dealing with a disease entity mistaken as a curse.
Anyway, I still enjoyed the book.
Jack Murphy

STORY-LINE AWAKEN: SLEEPING BEAUTY RETOLD:

Awaken: Sleeping Beauty Retold is a new adult spin on the Sleeping Beauty tale. Princess Rosamond communicates with plants and trees; she can heal with her touch. Rosamond visiting a neighboring kingdom for a wedding, finds new friends; at least she thought they were friends. After healing a girl, Rosamond receives a chest of fabric as a reward; fabrics cursed which place her in a deep sleep.

King Erik has died; the council persuades Lord Siward to take the crown as there are no living relatives. Lord Siward takes a day to hunt and finds Princess Rosamond asleep in a ruin. The attraction is instance and strong as she awakens.

Come along with Siward and Rosamond has they fight the curse and each show more other, face adversaries, and solve mysteries. This is not a children's fairy-tale. My historical fairy-tale romance novel review of Awaken: Sleeping Beauty Retold follows.

CHARACTERS, PLOTTING DEVELOPMENT:

Although Awaken: Sleeping Beauty Retold is a fairy-tale, it's not a story for children as it has love scenes. Although the scenes are intense, they are not erotica or graphic. As well as love scenes, the premise of this story is for the mature audience.

In addition, although a short book, Author Demelza Carlton, included all the elements needed for a solid story. The secondary characters added much to the story-line; some you will love and others you will love to hate. Carlton developed the personalities of her characters fully, and the premise was original with a different take on the classic Sleeping Beauty tale.

In Princess Rosamond, Carlton created a strong independent woman who took her life in her own hands and moved forward. Lord Siward is the typical knight in shining armor who gives his all to save Rosamond. In addition, in concluding my historical fairy-tale romance novel review of Awaken: Sleeping Beauty Retold, I found a solid story with well-developed characters and smooth pacing.

AWAKEN: SLEEPING BEAUTY RETOLD, RECOMMENDATION: STARS 4

In addition, I recommend this novel for young adults and adults. If you like fairy-tales geared to adults with adult situations and love scenes, this book is for you.

FINALLY, PLEASE NOTE:

Additionally, I received this book from the author and chose to voluntarily review the book with an honest historical fairy tale romance book/novel review. Lastly, book reviews of any novel are dependent on the book review author’s opinion. Consequently, all book reviews on-line and on my blog, are my opinions. In addition, the ARC did not affect my voluntary historical fairy tale romance novel review. show less

This retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" was interesting and the characters were well written. I also look forward to reading more about this world and the characters in it. I am also curious to see if Rosamond and Siward's children are brought up in any of the future books in some way.

Series Character and Story Connections for Awaken: Sleeping Beauty Retold
Melitta's Story: Embellish: Brave Little Tailor Retold (Book #07)
Source of the Plagued Chest: Call: Pied Piper Retold (Book #21)
What happens now that the kingdom is open to the rest of the world: Roar: Goldilocks Retold (Book #17)