Sleeping Beauty by John R. Phythyon

Sleeping Beauty by John Phythyon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Beth Shipman has been in a coma for two years. Now sixteen, her friends have abandoned her, and her mother is slowly going insane. Only one person remains interested in her — Carl, the young man who fell in love with her on the first day of Sixth Grade. He visits two or three times a week, talking to her and hoping she will wake.

Carl may just be the key to breaking the spell that holds Beth in its grip. Her mother has a desperate plan to free her Pretty Princess from eternal slumber, but it won’t be easy. Carl must overcome his doubts and believe in the power of love, and Beth’s father Rex isn’t interested in her waking up. After all, he’s the one who put her to sleep in the first place. Can True Love’s First Kiss really break the curse, or are darkness, insanity, and self-doubt too strong?

“Sleeping Beauty” is a creepy reimagining of a familiar story that explores what happens when parents go too far to protect their children. A cautionary tale, it reminds us there is a fine line between love and obsession, between care and cruelty.

I love fairy tales, and I love fairy tales being modernized or reinvented. So, when I saw this in the Amazon Kindle store I was pretty excited to grab it. The premise sounded interesting enough, although I was a tad put off that it was a short story as I prefer stories such as this one to be more fleshed out. But, I didn't let that put me off.

The premise was interesting enough, but the synopsis in itself was a bit misleading. To be honest, I didn't really "get in" to the story as I normally do when it's a great one--be it one page or five hundred. The characters weren't really built to my satisfaction and I just didn't find any one of the three main characters likable.

Another thing, I would have loved for the story to go on longer, so many questions and it ends so abruptly and not in that way that leaves you wanting more either--more along the lines of anguished that you read the whole thing and(despite not really enjoying it) wanting to see it through to the end only to leave you more annoyed than before.

As I've said before, I really dislike writing bad reviews, but anyone who views my reviews deserves to know my true opinion as I am not one to lie. For some, you may enjoy this book and that's great- wonderful even(I am all for supporting these lesser known authors), but this was just not for me. If the author reads this, I am so sorry for not liking your book, and I feel you have something there in your writing style(hence two stars instead of one), that makes me willing to give you another chance with a future book. But, I won't read this one again.