ARC Review: Once Upon A Dream by Liz Braswell

 

What if the sleeping beauty never woke up? Once Upon a Dream marks the second book in a new YA line that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways.

It should be simple–a dragon defeated, a slumbering maiden, a prince poised to wake her. But when said prince falls asleep as soon as his lips meet the princess’s, it is clear that this fairy tale is far from over.

With a desperate fairy’s last curse infiltrating her mind, Princess Aurora will have to navigate a dangerous and magical landscape deep in the depths of her dreams. Soon she stumbles upon Phillip, a charming prince eager to join her quest. But with Maleficent’s agents following her every move, Aurora struggles to discover who her true allies are, and moreover, who she truly is. Time is running out. Will the sleeping beauty be able to wake herself up?

****Thank you to Disney Press and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review****

DNF @ 35%

This was a huge disappointment for me I was very eager to read a twisted retelling of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and what I got instead was a snoozefest. I usually never DNF books and I feel terrible for having to do it to an ARC but honestly no one should have to force their way through this book.

I should have known better than to attempt reading through this when the first in this series of Twisted Tales got less than stellar reviews from reviewers I trust. Alas, the Disney lover in me could not grasp the idea that a twisted version of a Disney movie could be bad. “Once Upon A Dream” definitely proved me wrong on that.

My main problem with this book was the narrative and writing style it was dull and overly simplistic. There were far too many long descriptions of everything that went on longer than they should have. Dialogue between characters was few and far between and what dialogue there was, was very short and immature.

The plot was excruciatingly slow and boring, there was almost no story to even speak of within the 35% I read. Now if absolutely nothing is happening for 35% of a book then there’s no way I’m finishing it.

Everything about “Once Upon A Dream” (the plot, the characters, and the writing) were one-dimensional and flat. Nothing was developed and nothing was explained. You’re basically expected to have knowledge of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty before starting, which for the most part I’m sure isn’t a problem since why would you be reading a twisted version of it if you haven’t seen it, right? The only problem with that is if you haven’t seen Sleeping Beauty then you’d have zero idea of why or what is going on in this story. Even I was wondering what the heck was happening and why and I’ve seen the movie!

The most disappointing part of this book were the characters. Aurora was such a wasted character, she was way too boring and naive. Not to mention her favorite thing to do was sleep, I mean really? Sleeping is her favorite? Because she’s “Sleeping Beauty”? How original……

Maleficent was not nearly as wickedly evil as she could have been and Prince Phillip was foolish and a little spineless. Any other secondary characters were bland and expendable.

Overall I really liked the general idea of this boo, I mean twisted version of our beloved Disney movies? Come on, who wouldn’t get excited? Alas, it was executed very poorly and feel extremely short. “Once Upon A Dream” is a big disappointment and I won’t be reading any other books in this series unfortunately.

Nope, even if you’re a Disney fan I can’t recommend you this book. It doesn’t do Disney’s Sleeping Beauty any sort of justice. In fact, instead of reading this book just go watch the movie, you’re much better off.

Links: Goodreads / Amazon