Beauty Sleep: not your typical romance
- Oct 9, 2015
- 3 min read
“The Princess Aurore has had an unusual childhood. Cursed at birth, Aurore is fated to prick her finger at the age of sixteen and sleep for one hundred years — until a prince awakens her with a kiss. So, to protect her, Aurore's loving parents forbid any task requiring a needle.
Unable to sew or embroider like most little princesses, Aurore instead explores the castle grounds and beyond, where her warmth and generosity soon endear her to the townspeople. their devotion to the spirited princess grows as she does.
On her sixteenth birthday, Aurore learns that the impending curse will harm not only her, but the entire kingdom as well. Unwilling to cause suffering, she will embark on a quest to end the evil magic. The princess's bravery will be rewarded as she finds adventure, enchantment, a handsome prince, and ultimately her destiny.”
- synopsis from 2006 paperback edition
This is a review of Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey, which is a retelling of the story of Sleeping Beauty. This is one of a large series of retellings called the Once upon a Time series, published by Simon and Schuster.
Accuracy
For a simple comparison, here’s a checklist as compared to Charles Perrault’s version of the story.
Beautiful princess – check
Fairy gifts at christening – check
Evil fairy finger pricking curse – check
Good fairy 100 years of sleep counter curse – check
In vain attempt to keep princess from fate – check
100 years of sleep - kind of check
Court also asleep with giant bush around castle - not check
Woken up by true loves kiss – kind of check
Marries prince who awoke her – not check
Originality
I am not sure if I can really give this story a very high mark in this category. The retelling is set in a time period similar to the original, although never really defined, where fairies at christenings and sleeping for 100 years are highly likely. Despite not having a more creative setting, the novel did go beyond what many retellings do and gave us a backstory. Princess Aurore was not just some silent damsel in distress who grows up in a mere chapter. We get to see her growth as a person and how that is affected by her curse. Having a solid backstory is a redeeming quality in the genre of retellings, since most like to focus on the elements of the old story rather than the new story being created.
Creativity
The interpretation of the 100 years of sleep in this story is very interesting. I do not want to spoil the whole story, but there is no “one hundred years later” really at any point in the story. I thought this was refreshing albeit a little confusing. Re-reading it I am able to make a little more sense of the mystical powers of the Forest, but not much.
A creative and true to period twist on Dokey’s part is prince charming. A warning to the reader, he might not be whom you expect or whom you want Aurore to end up with. For a lot of readers this relationship left a bitter taste, since Aurore and her prince are a bit of an odd couple. My first reaction to the pairing was negative, but over time I warmed up to it. I think it may be jarring for some people, though considering the general time period it isn’t a pairing that is unlikely.
Overall
This is a compelling story that may be slow to start. However you will love every character for all their failures and strengths. I personally don’t have many issues with this story, especially since it was the gateway book for me into the Once upon a Time series. The people’s voice at Goodreads holds about the same opinion. Their biggest concern is Aurore’s prince. He seems to be a deal breaker for some people. Other reviews are also very positive.
Beauty Sleep is a pretty true to story retelling with wonderful character development. I would recommend this retelling as a 4/5 stars.
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