Carina Press, 2010
70 pages
Fairy Tale; Adult
4/5 stars
Source: Netgalley
Summary: When Princess Aurora had a curse placed on her, all of the spinning wheels in the land were destroyed. What happens to the women dependent on them for their living? For Talia, a very plain girl, a new future is self-created no matter the whispers and rumors and begets the legend of the Sleeping Beauty.
Thoughts: I love fairy-tale retellings so requesting this was a no brainer. I was a bit shocked at the romantic aspects that occur almost from the start. When Talia is unable to marry her betrothed due to the loss of her income, she invites him in to her bed. Continually. And when he goes off to a monastery, she meets many other men who become her lovers. I still think of fairy-tales as more meant for children so the descriptions were shocking to me. They made up a larger portion of the narrative, I felt, and that detracted from the quality. After all there are only seventy pages, so you have to make them count.
But I soon got past it, eager to see how Nevitt would twist the Sleeping Beauty story. It seems as if the curse is compelling certain events to occur, such as the creation of a spinning wheel and the introduction of Rose, unlike in the Disney film. I liked all of those changes and I sped through the story. And of course there's a happy ending!
Overall: Quick-moving, for the mature lover of fairy tales.
Cover: I think the cover is lovely, capturing several of the ideas of the book.
