A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Title: A Long Long Sleep
Author: Anna Sheehan
ISBN: 9780763652609
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Page #: 342
Released: September 26, 2011
Source: My local public library

Summary:
"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 subbasement, 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."
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First Lines:

"I'd try to hold on to my stass dreams as long as I could. It's a game I would play, struggling to keep track of those misty images that were always so easily lost. I'd try to keep myself in stasis, keep my heart beating too slow to feel, refuse to wake up my lungs."
Page 1
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Review:

I was absolutely blown away by this book. Honestly, I’m going to try not to gush all the way through this review. But I was surprised at how much I loved it and I’m contemplating purchasing it – which is a big deal with me. :)

Okay, so this is a retelling of the sleeping beauty story… in a sci-fi/dystopian kinda way. Rose has been asleep for 62 years. She was forgotten during the Dark Times and was only woken because someone stumbled across her on accident. The whole world has changed and everyone she cared about is gone. Rose had been the daughter of a famous businessman and she wakes up to find out she owns the world’s largest company. But she’s under-aged. So other people make decisions for her and tell her what to do. But that all changes when she realizes someone is out to get her. She has to start fending for herself.

I know the whole re-told story has been really big lately. And so has the dystopian stuff. This book brings those two things together seamlessly. I think the author does an amazing job showing you how things might have been if Sleeping Beauty had lived in the near future, but then slept for another sixty two years. Can you imagine?! I can’t imagine someone waking up today that missed the last 62 years, can you?

I just have to say that the description of the Dark Times gives me the heebie jeebies. Seriously. The whole start of it sounds just like where we are right now. I can only imagine the rest of it happening without too much trouble. It’s super realistic and I applaud the author on that. Let’s just hope none of it really happens. If so, I want to be in stasis! :)

There were a few times that I really wanted to shake Rose and get her to DO something. She’s a little bit of a passive character, but you realize why later on. Things come together really well and you understand her character much better in the end. I think she has the potential to be a really strong character, you just have to get through her weaknesses to get there.

The ending of this book (which I won’t spoil) has so many twists and turns and questions answered that it almost blew me away. I think I said “OH NO!” outloud at least three or four times. This book has been able to elicit some actual emotion from me. There were parts where I teared up, for sure. A few laughs. Some great suspense… it really does have it all.

Read this one. Just do it. I’m recommending to anyone who will listen. I think this book will surprise you just as much as it surprised me. Not to mention that this is a debut author. I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us in the future! And I'm just gonna say this... I want more. I want more of this story. I think there's something to build on in the end and I want more. Take that for what it's worth... :)
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