'While Beauty Slept'-Elizabeth Blcakwel

Book Title: While Beauty Slept
Author: Elizabeth Blackwell
Version: ARC
Publication Date: February 20th, 2014
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam
ISBN: 9780399166235
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm back by popular demand...well by demand anyway...ok, ok since I'm supposed to tell the truth I'm mainly just back because my manager (who has just started reading my blog) brought it to my attention that my last post was about a month ago. And so here I am once again. As my faithful readers have probably discovered the whole book club idea hasn't taken off. I seem to have lost my steam and excitement for it due to the lack of excitement from everyone else. So things have changed around a little bit. I'm still going to be rereading some books, although I've so far been weak to the calling of new books, but instead of trying to set up a discussion I'm going to put down my insights and thoughts on them and if people feel the urge to comment than that is awesome. One day I hope to have a more interactive website where things like virtual book clubs are the norm. For now this is what the new plan is. I hope that you all keep reading and enjoying what I put out for you for now!

SYNOPSIS: This is supposed to be a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. That's how it was presented to me anyway, and it was that, that made me so excited going into it. As soon as I started I realized it was more of what seemed to be a prequel to the story. It starts on a farm where a young girl, Elise, is searching for something more than just the life she leads. She lives a hard life of farming, raising her younger brothers, taking care of the animals of the farm and trying to dodge her father's blows. Although her dad was a hard man, a man that seemed to treat his children as objects, he seemed to always hate Elise just a little more than her brothers. One day at the town market Elise gets into a little scuffle with a boy, the boy angry and feeling above Elise calls her 'bastard.' Confused and hurt Elise asks her mother why the boy would call her such a thing. After thinking it over her mother tells her that Elise is actually the daughter of a man that her mother had met while working at the castle. 

Knowing that her mother had lived a whole life before the hard one she was living now was like throwing gas on a flame and Elise became determined to leave the farm and find a better life. After a great tragedy that kills almost all her brothers and her mother Elise decides to leave her old life behind and head to the castle. When she finally arrives she meets with the head housemaid Mrs. Twekes and when Elise tells her who her mother was Mrs. Twekes decides to give Elise a chance. As Elise begins to learn the ins and outs of the castle she finds that although it's a scary place she feels that she has at last found a home. 

After working there for some time Elise gets promoted to the Queen's personal handmaid. An honor that skyrockets Elise into a brand new style of living that takes her farther away from the rest of those that work at the castle. When the Queen finally gives birth to a beautiful baby girl Elise's love and loyalty is further cemented. On the day of their daughter's baptism the King and Queen throw a giant feast to honor their daughter and celebrate her becoming their official heir. In the middle of their great celebration the King's aunt, Millicent, who has been cast out of the royal favor shows up uninvited. Angry and vengeful Millicent makes a promise, a promise that seems like a curse, she says that her revenge will be that the King and Queen will enjoy the love and beauty of their daughter for only a handful of years and then one day they will have to watch her wither away and die. Scared and worried the whole castle gets turned upside down and the royal lives are halted. The Queen takes to fretfully watching over her daughter, the King to trying to find Millicent. 

Elise is witness to this all and as Rose grows Elise begins feeling as if she is her own. Watching her grow into a willful young woman who is searching for more. And though the immediate danger of Millicent seems to have disappeared Rose is always protected and warned against the dangers of the outside world. When the castle goes to war against those that protect Millicent every one's world gets turned upside down and the war seems to be just the beginning of a doom that seems impossible to escape.

REVIEW: Alright so I have to say I'm a little obsessed with fairy tales. I watch 'Once Upon a Time,' love all things Disney, and enjoy reading and hearing about all the real stories behind the fairy tales. And lately I've felt the urge to read whatever I can on them. So when I was given this I was super excited. I couldn't wait to get into a whole new telling of Sleeping Beauty. And though I liked it overall it wasn't really what I had been hoping for. But that's not going to stop me from telling you all how much I enjoyed it. 

Though the story was less a retelling and almost more of a prequel to the story of Sleeping Beauty. And it was interesting and it kept me wanting to read for most of the story but as I mentioned it wasn't what I had been hoping for. I felt that though the story was good it had it's moments when it seemed to drag. I felt that there was a chunk of about 90 pages or so that were unnecessary and made the story drag for a bit. But all in all it was an interesting story that I enjoyed reading. 

This was Ms. Blackwell's first novel and although she was a freelance writer before I was thoroughly blown away by her novel writing abilities. Keeping a voice and imagery alive for an entire novel can be a difficult thing at times for new authors. But I truly felt that Ms. Blackwell did a great job keeping the writing at a top level the entire book. It was flowing, and intriguing. I ended up thinking about the way she stated things and how she described the castle and the King's knights and the giggles of the ladies in waiting even while not reading. Her writing stuck with me and I really enjoyed it. 

The characters were well drawn out and full of life. Elise especially was put together in such a complicated and real manner that she was practically jumping off the page. The funny thing about the characters, and it made me like the book even more, was that none of the characters were all that likable. Elise was annoyingly naive, the Queen ridiculously overprotective, the King nothing but a hothead, and Rose was the spoiled brat that everyone circled around. But I kind of liked that I I didn't like any of them. It made it more honest somehow, everyone at court had a part to play and they all did it perfectly. 

All in all I found the book enjoyable. I tip my tiny hat three times to Ms. Blackwell and her journey into a different side of Sleeping beauty. It's a good book and one that if you have a true love for fairy tales could be a fun one to read. It is not a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty tale so go into it fresh and not expecting that. But it's a good book, well written and mostly exciting. 'While Beauty Slept' is a book that needs to be read and decided upon by each person. I liked it and recommend it and hope that you my dear readers pick it up on the 20th, read it and enjoy it as well.