First of all, I want to apologize for not getting a post up last week. Some things came up and I didn't have time to sit down and write. Hopefully I'll be able to plan my time a little better if it happens again.
So, Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell. Published in 2016 by Disney Press, this is the second book in the Twisted Tales Series, though I believe they can be read in any order. Liz Braswell has a degree in Egyptology, has produced video games, and has published Snow and Rx, the Nine Lives of Chloe King series, and the Twisted Tales series.
Once Upon a Dream asks the question, what if Prince Philip's kiss didn't wake Sleeping Beauty. We follow Aurora as she discovers the castle life she's become accustomed to is nothing more than a dream. Pursued by Maleficent, Aurora escapes the castle, meets Philip, and searches for a way to wake herself up before Maleficent regains her power at the stroke of midnight on Aurora's 16th birthday.
The premise is interesting but I found the execution to be . . . meh.
*Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!*
Chapter one picks up at the moment of Prince Philip-- having just defeated the dragon with the help of the good fairies-- climbing the tower to find Aurora sleeping. He kisses her. The final thought through his head is 'did anyone make sure the dragon was dead?'.
Chapter two is the redaction of the tale we all know. Instead of Disney's version, we learn the king and queen promise their daughter to the three fairies in exchange for power to take over the neighboring kingdoms. Aurora grows up neglected until her aunt Maleficent arrives and uses her magic to create a barrier of thorns around the castle, protecting it from the horrors of the outside world, sending the king and queen to the dungeons, and trying to raise Aurora as a proper princess. They hold balls and feasts, trying to keep the few survivors in the castle happy until it's safe and they can return to the outside world. Aurora begins to notice some inconsistencies, a minstrel tells her he managed to get outside.
It's not until Aurora witnesses Maleficent murdering one of the other castle residents that she chooses to try her chances in the Outside. Once past the thorns, which seem to recede at her command, Aurora finds herself in a forest. It's here she meets Prince Philip and they decide they're going to search for the good fairies in the hopes of finding a way out of the dream world.
And then . . . they travel. They talk. Maleficent sends a few tasks and tests their way. They get to the fairies and are told they need to go back and fight Maleficent. Magic happens, there's a fight. Aurora defeats Maleficent, everyone wakes up, and Aurora takes over as queen. Philip does mention possibly marrying her but he needs to see to his own kingdom first. The end.
I was so disappointed with this book. I love fairy tales and I love reimaginings and twistings of those tales. Maybe my problem is I took a Fairy Tale class in college or maybe it's because I've read the original tale, but I felt this version just falls flat.
First of all, Aurora isn't really consistent as a character. She's the pretty princess who just acepts the world but then she leaves and relies on Philip for a while but then all of the tests are directed at her, which means she has to grow, but even though she does become a semi-sorceress and takes care of herself, I felt the transformation wasn't really convincing, it feels too sudden despite there not really being much going on.
The tests are typical of fairy tales. Will Aurora be caught by her vanity or her love of music? After that, is it her depression that will catch her? Does she need Philip to protect her or can she fight on her own?
When she finally does fight Maleficent, it is far too detailed. Usually, I love a good fight scene, but this just took too long to read. It drags out too long, there's too much stiff dialouge and reasoning, too many details that bog things down.
And then we still have to go through the whole "a young woman can't be a leader" trope that's sorta been around but not enough for me to feel excited about her takedown of the other leaders and counselers. It felt tacked on instead of significant.
I also had a problem with the pacing. We're told they have only a few hours to do all of this in order to stop Maleficent, but time passes differently in the dream world so we don't really know how much time has passed. A countdown doesn't really work if there's no way for us to judge the passage of time.
When I picked up this book, I was looking forward to reading the rest of the series, but after Once Upon a Dream, I don't think I'll be doing that. This story seems unfocused. Are we exploring the psychology of Sleeping Beauty or are we going with a "girl power" feminist approach? Ore are we just doing an Alternate Universe where something's been altered to explore a different side of the story? Or are we trying to call back to the original tale? Whatever it is, I wasn't impressed.
If you want a simple read, maybe during a trip or just something to get you through your commute to school or work, go ahead and pick this up, but I don't plan on continuing with this series.
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