Syndrie
This is being marketed as a "'Sleeping Beauty' retelling about escapism, grief, and dreaming of a better world" and I'd have to say it definitely does deliver on that promise. The story is filled with characters who are suffering from loss, depression, and just feeling like they don't fit into the world they were born into and who desire to have a better/happier life — even if that other life happens to exist only in a dream world.
I think Cindy did a great job with presenting really accurate portrayals of depression and I think many readers who have also experienced depression in their own lives will find some very relatable thoughts and behaviors in here. But even though a lot of the story is focusing on the characters having to fight their demons — whether mental or physical — there's still a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel here. I wasn't too sure about the ending at first, but after sitting with it for a bit I have to say I'm rather pleased with how it was wrapped up and what the underlying message seems to be here.
The writing style tends to lean a bit more to the side of purple prose here with some really beautiful lush descriptions, but sometimes it does get a bit awkward. I think jumping between timelines where we're in the dream world in one POV and suddenly jumping to another POV taking place 100 years in the past in the real world throws things off a bit. You start to get used to reading about all the beautiful scenery and magic in the dream world before suddenly get thrown back to reality where things just aren't as beautiful. I do like the idea of that dichotomy in theory, but in this case it felt more like the story's momentum was being reset every new chapter.
I'd also say that the character development is lacking, but moreso in the sense that the buildup just wasn't there for me. The characters definitely do have some development but it didn't really feel very impactful overall and it their relationships with each other seemed to develop way too fast — most especially between Briar Rose and Corin. It definitely felt like way more telling was going on rather than showing. That said, I was interested in Amelia and Malicine's stories in particular and found that their POV chapters kept my attention way more than Corin's chapters.
Overall I think this story had some really solid ideas behind it, but it just didn't hit the execution as strongly as I hoped it would.
(I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher, Kokila, via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.)
This is being marketed as a "'Sleeping Beauty' retelling about escapism, grief, and dreaming of a better world" and I'd have to say it definitely does deliver on that promise. The story is filled with characters who are suffering from loss, depression, and just feeling like they don't fit into the world they were born into and who desire to have a better/happier life — even if that other life happens to exist only in a dream world.
I think Cindy did a great job with presenting really accurate portrayals of depression and I think many readers who have also experienced depression in their own lives will find some very relatable thoughts and behaviors in here. But even though a lot of the story is focusing on the characters having to fight their demons — whether mental or physical — there's still a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel here. I wasn't too sure about the ending at first, but after sitting with it for a bit I have to say I'm rather pleased with how it was wrapped up and what the underlying message seems to be here.
The writing style tends to lean a bit more to the side of purple prose here with some really beautiful lush descriptions, but sometimes it does get a bit awkward. I think jumping between timelines where we're in the dream world in one POV and suddenly jumping to another POV taking place 100 years in the past in the real world throws things off a bit. You start to get used to reading about all the beautiful scenery and magic in the dream world before suddenly get thrown back to reality where things just aren't as beautiful. I do like the idea of that dichotomy in theory, but in this case it felt more like the story's momentum was being reset every new chapter.
I'd also say that the character development is lacking, but moreso in the sense that the buildup just wasn't there for me. The characters definitely do have some development but it didn't really feel very impactful overall and it their relationships with each other seemed to develop way too fast — most especially between Briar Rose and Corin. It definitely felt like way more telling was going on rather than showing. That said, I was interested in Amelia and Malicine's stories in particular and found that their POV chapters kept my attention way more than Corin's chapters.
Overall I think this story had some really solid ideas behind it, but it just didn't hit the execution as strongly as I hoped it would.
(I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher, Kokila, via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.)