Sleeping Brilliant - Jessica Williams - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Jessica Williams

GENRE: Children's Picture Book, Retelling

PUBLICATION DATE: June 23, 2020

RATING: 4.25 stars.

This is basically the story of Sleeping Beauty with a twist. But oh! What a twist!!!

Niamh the princess is unlike what you have seen in any traditional fairy tale. She is an inventor and loves to read books too. As we know, she is cursed to prick her finger on a spindle on the day she turns fifteen. She does end up pricking her finger and the mandatory prince does arrive to rescue her. But what happens next? Discover by reading this lovely little book.

Pros:

- Fabulous take on the traditional princess tale by making the lead female an independent thinking character.

- The illustrations don’t stick to the traditional white-skinned beauty. I loved the way the characters are drawn. They are all more relatable.

Cons:

- I wish the new take would have had some new spin on the “prick her finger on a spindle” idea. Most children today don’t even know what a spindle is. This could have been a good opportunity to modernise that part of the story as well.

- Plot hole: The parents’ sleeping and awakening part is quite abrupt and isn’t explained in the narrative. Especially if seen in context of the prince’s arrival, the others waking up suddenly makes no sense at all.

All in all, this was a fabulous attempt with minor flaws. A almost perfect fairy tale for the little girls of the 21st century.

I received an advance review copy of the book for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.