Review: Sleeping Beauty's Daughters

I wrote this review at the beginning of the year, but I never posted it. I don't really know why. It must have gotten hidden in my post list.

Review: Sleeping Beauty's Daughters by Diane Zahler

The classic fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty is transformed into a dazzling new story of two sisters fighting a powerful curse by Diane Zahler, the acclaimed author of The Thirteenth Princess. Briskly paced and full of lush descriptions, readers who enjoy the work of Shannon Hale and Gail Carson Levine will be swept away by this spellbinding novel.

The daughters of Sleeping Beauty, Princesses Aurora and Luna, have grown up in a cliff-top palace by the sea, where they are carefully protected by their parents. No one visits, the girls cannot stray beyond the castle walls, and all sharp objects are forbidden here.

But accidents will happen—particularly when an old curse still has power. Soon, in spite of all precautions, Aurora is struggling not to slip into an enchanted sleep.

Frantic, the princesses accept the help of a young fisherman named Symon and embark on a daring ocean voyage to find their aunt—a fairy who may be able to break the spell. From fearsome beasts to raging storms, many dangers befall them, yet they must not give up . . . for if Aurora sleeps, she will not wake for one hundred years.
-summary and cover via Goodreads

Possible Minor Spoilers Below (I'm trying not to give away anything, but I feel like I need to explain a little bit of it)

Plot: Generally when I think of fairytale retellings I think of it being retold from the POV of the original Princess/Prince/Narrator but in this book it was told from the POV of the daughter of Sleeping Beauty, Aurora! I don't want to give away the whole plot here, but basically the curse didn't end when her mom woke up, it ended up going to her oldest daughter too. (Hers is worse, though I won't say how) The only thing about the plot that bugged me was:
SPOILER (highlight to read) In the book she drinks this tea with an herb in it to keep her from falling asleep, but she doesn't sleep at all for days. I really don't know how that was possible (a normal person wouldn't be able to stay awake for that long), but it's a fairytale. I won't dwell on that.END SPOILER

But the plot overall was really good, and I enjoyed the book for the most part! And I will say that I did not think the book would end the way it did (I guessed a little of it, but most of it I did not), but it was a good ending! :)

Characters: I liked them! Aurora was a good main character for the book! Her sister was a little annoying in the beginning, but she grew on me. (I really picture her as the main character in her own book, Luna would make the perfect character in her own fantasy book) And Symon was one I really liked as well! I liked a few of the other characters in this book too, but I won't mention for fear of spoiling it for you. I would love to read more books about these characters after the story ended in this book!

The cover: I really like the cover of this book! Fairytale inspired ones I usually like, but this one is wonderful! The colors used on it are beautiful! And this isn't really important for me to mention, but I'm also happy that how they look on it is actually how they look at one point in the book!

Overall: I really enjoyed this book and after not being able to finish a book for awhile this was a great book to start the year with! I would love to read more books about Aurora, Luna, and all of the others in the book! If you're looking for a fairytale retelling done a little differently, or just love fairytales in general I really think this book is for you! Wonderful characters, good plot, and overall just a entertaining story for a lot of different people! (And if you haven't read Princess of the Wild Swans by this author, I recommend that book too!)

I checked this book out from my library!