A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan
Release Date: August 9, 2011
Candlewick


5/5 Stars!


Goodreads Synopsis:
Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss.

Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten sub-basement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now her parents and her first love are long dead, and Rose -- hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire -- is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat.

Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existance, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes -- or be left without any future at all.



Anna Sheehan's debut novel sounds like a weird mash up once described: a sci fi Sleeping Beauty set in a post-apocolyptic world. But somehow, it works. It really, really works and we're left with this fabulously disturbing and beautiful story.

A Long, Long Sleep is just about flawless. The story is told from Rose's perspective after she wakes up from a chemically induced sleep designed to preserve her, after 62 years. Like a sequel to Sleeping Beauty, Sheehan tells the story of what might have happened after the princess wakes up. What do you do when everyone you know is dead and your world has entirely changed but you're still the same? How do you adapt? Just remember that fairytales don't always end the way we want them to.

But the story is really about Rose's journey of self-discovery. But it's heartbreaking, and painful to watch. Here she struggles with self loathing and abuse, with one of the best depictions of absolute isolation and loneliness I have ever read. It's poignant and heart wrenching, and brings up all these emotions you might struggle to convey. But Sheehan doesn't struggle in writing Rose's story at all.

Truly beautiful and haunting, Rose is such a fascinating and multidimensional character. She isn't what you'd expect for someone referred to as Sleeping Beauty at all; not exactly always pretty, socially awkward, unhealthy, but gentle and thoughtful as well.

My two complaints with this book are fairly minor; the first is that some of the slang repeatedly used is somewhat vague and difficult to understand the real meaning at times. The second is that I thought the robot assassin plot to take away from what I felt to be the main purpose of the book, and while it did add some action scenes I really didn't feel they were necessary or particularly helpful for the book.

ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest and candid review.