A Long, Long Sleep

This review was originally posted at The Book Parade http://www.thebookparade.blogspot.com

I was blown away by this book, I honestly was. When I first read the blurb of A Long, Long Sleep, I thought, ‘This looks good – I think I’ll like this...’ but I wouldn’t have predicted that I would turn out to LOVE the book. However, that is what happened.

At first glance, A Long, Long Sleep looks like just another fairytale retelling with a modern twist, but it’s so much more than that. Maybe it is loosely based on Sleeping Beauty, but only very loosely – A Long, Long Sleep is a whole different, brilliant story in its own right.

It’s a beautiful, intriguing story, but with a slightly deeper, darker feel to it at times as well. There are elements of mystery in the story, with many questions to be answered, and, as truths are gradually unveiled – about Rose’s past, and about the mysterious robot-like creature that is pursuing her – we begin to discover some haunting things. (I won’t expand on this for fear of ruining the story for you!)

Rose was a character I really clicked with; I felt like I was right by her side throughout the book, experiencing everything she was experiencing. I can just imagine how terrifying it must be to wake up in a world sixty two years into the future, completely bereft of everyone and everything dear to you. As I progressed through the novel, and as I discovered more and more about Rose, I began to empathise with her and feel sorry for her. It gradually became clear that Rose’s life had been anything but perfect and the image of her as a princess, heir to an incredibly successful interplanetary empire was anything but accurate.

The world that Rose wakes up into is a very interesting one, and one I enjoyed very much actually. Having read about lots of dystopian worlds recently, it was quite refreshing to visit a world that was more utopian. True, Rose has arrived in a world that has risen from the catastrophic “Dark Times”, which I guess does classify it as a post-apocalyptic world, but nevertheless it is more similar to the kind of ideal, technological future world we tend to imagine (well, at least I tend to image, anyway) – where there are “limoskiffs” and “solarskimmers”, where we have connections with other planets, and where texting is “antiquated technology.”

Somehow, A Long, Long Sleep managed to really grip me emotionally and I was so caught up in the story that there was one particular point, which took me completely by surprise (and was a stroke of genius on the author’s part, if you ask me), where I couldn’t help myself but start crying. (I had to momentarily tear myself away from the book and go and compose myself.)

Through this book, as well as me, as a reader, learning more about Rose, I think Rose really grew as a character and learned more about herself too. From what we saw of Rose in the past, she was reserved and obedient to an almost disturbing extent; she seemed almost brainwashed in her behaviour, but by the end of the book she seems a much stronger, more independent character.

I’m not sure that I have been able to justify how highly I think of this book in my review; I can hardly find the right words to describe what a brilliant book it was. I think it’s one of those books you have to read to feel what I have tried to describe and appreciate it. I’m really impressed with the way Anna Sheehan managed to take a simple storyline and use it to weave together an original, complex, brilliant story infused with so much emotion and meaning.

Throughout Rose's life she has been stassed multiple times.
Meaning that she had to occasionally sleep in a way where time would pass but she would not age.
Now usually she would be stassed for maybe a few weeks or at most a few years. But one time she feel asleep and her parents never woke her up...
and was instead woken up by a stranger.
More than 60 years in the future.
Rose slept through what was the Dark Days, years full of misery and death. And her parents and boyfriend are now dead.


It took me awhile to get into this book.
Not because it's not interesting but in the beginning I had a hard time understanding what some of the words meant. Words like "stassed" and "Unicorp". It wasn't told out front what these words meant but after hearing the words awhile I figured out what the words meant and the book got insanely interesting.

I absolutely loved the idea behind this story!
It's like Sleeping Beauty meets Science Fiction!
And it was put together well!
I must admit that before I even knew this book existed I thought about things like...
What would happen if traveled into the future?
What would happen if I woke up and was in the future?
What would happen if I lived longer than those close to me?
Yes, I know that these aren't happy thoughts but I have thought about hese kind of things before and it amazed me that there was a book about this.
But there's another thing I must say...
This book made me really really sad.
I felt so sorry for Rose and it hurt me to think that she lost so much of her life due to time. I found her story really tragic and I don't think that I would have been able to continue living in her place!
Another thing that really got me was her boyfriend!
I found it so sad what happened to them!
I actually almost cried so many times in this book :'(

But this was an incredible story and not a waste of time!

This book blew me away.

Okay, I know I need to say more than that, but I can't think of any words that could possibly do it justice. The writing and wording is absolutely beautiful. I mean, Sheehan describes those shivery tingles you get from a boy as spiders and I still thought it was spectacular.

Everything about this story was beautiful and heart-wrenching. I loved watching Rose grow-up and mature. She started out weak in both body and mind and became this amazing, strong-willed character. Xavier was just soo...yeah. Xavier didn't really tug on my heartstrings much, but what Rose felt for him sure did. The Xavier pieces of the story just absolutely broke my heart. And her parents. Ugh. Let's just say I hate them. Read the book and I'm sure you'll have similar feelings. Otto, my Otto. He may have yellow eyes and blue skin, but I think I love him :P It's amazing how much I could love a character who has no real voice. I was a little more iffy about Bren. I didn't like him much at the beginning, but he really grew on me. Sorry about all the character talk, but this was one of the rare times that I loved (or passionately hated) all the characters.

I love all the scifi elements in the story. The idea of having so much technology that stasis and interplanetary travel are possible boggles my mind, but I love to read about it. It was quite a lot to take in at the beginning, what with all the crazy technology and new slang, but I eventually caught on and after a while it wasn't so hard to follow.

Final Thoughts: Though it had a bit of a slow start, I absolutely adored A Long Long Sleep. If you're a little iffy about scifi, this book is a great introduction. There's a bit of romance (didn't seem too overpowering to me) and a bit of action, but it certainly isn't short on heart. This book broke my heart in a million pieces then put it back together again multiple times.

At its core, A Long, Long Sleep is a reimagined version of Sleeping Beauty. This is most apparent in the opening scenes and then occasionally referenced. The fairy tale elements are what drew me to the story, but this is way different than most revised fairy tales, which generally keep to the story but flesh out characters and plots. Sheehan has taken an old, familiar story and created an amazing science fiction world and made the heroine someone new and different than just a girl trapped in a castle.

Rosalinda made a really great main character. Usually, I would dislike a heroine like her, at least in the first parts of the book, because she is, essentially, helpless and is physically weak. She is also filled with self-loathing and serious feelings of inadequacy. She is painfully shy and awkward, unable to make friends. Still, there are reasons for this and they are so clearly put forward that I did not expect her to be any other way; instead, I just rooted for her to overcome her problems. To some extent, she does, but at the end of the novel, she still has a ways to go, which is awesome too because that's how real life works. Those kinds of deep-rooted insecurities are really hard to get over, just like her weakness from so long spent in stasis will take a couple of years to go away completely. What I love about Rosalinda is that she is so real and that, when push comes to shove, she will do whatever she can to save herself and those around her, even though she doesn't think she's smart or worthy.

The worldbuilding here was so awesome. I really hope Sheehan writes some more books set here, like one written during the Dark Times maybe? As my dear readers may know, I am obsessed with dystopias and that book would totally be a dystopia. That makes me wonder if this one could be to; certainly, the community they live in, all owned by one corporation, could qualify as a completely terrifying future, not to mention the creation of people like Otto and the horrible treatment his kind received. Also, I have to say how much I love Otto.

I just ate this book up. I loved it right from the start. It was one of those books where I just did not want to stop reading. Last night, I almost stayed up until I could finish it, but then thought better of it, knowing that I'm an adult who has to get up and go to work. (Lame!) Now, having finished it, I just want more. Anna Sheehan needs to write more books for me to enjoy. This is an excellent example of YA fiction.

I really enjoyed this book, it has an original premise, compelling characters, and it made me cry, want to scream, and feel right along with the main character.
I was frustrated with Rose as much as I loved her. I can see a lot of myself in her and I totally understand how she could come into the personality that she has, I identify with the self-hate and passivity, because I've been there all too often. There is a turning point, at one of my favorite scenes though, and I feel like it's an independence and victory point for us all who've felt like that.
Bren was an interesting character and I love the ones who step into that role of protector. His honesty is also really refreshing for me. There really is some depth behind the sexy, and that's a big plus for me. In some of his scenes, I got really emotional right along with Rose!
Otto is an amazing character, so well written and I wish there could've been a solid resolution with his story lines. He is so different, caring and deep that I couldn't help falling in love with him and wanting the best for him.
The sci-fi in this is really neat, and I like what Ms. Sheehan did with the plastines, how she incorporated the history, the mystery and intrigue that kept me flying through the pages. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book and all the emotions it brought out in me.