A Long, Long Sleep

by Anna Sheehan

Rosalinda Fitzroy had been asleep for 62 years when she was 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 existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes - or be left without any future at all.

• ISBN10: 0575104724
• ISBN13: 9780575104723
• Publish Date: 18 August 2011 (first published 1 August 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 July 2013
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Gollancz
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

Review originally posted at Simply Adrift.

A Long, Long Sleep is a sci-fi fairytale retelling that shocked me with how much I could not put this book down.

I really love reading books that have the main character waking up from cryogenic sleep years and years after they were put in the sleep because it really fascinates me with how they integrate back into society, how technology has changed and what on earth is going on. It's the main reason I really enjoyed Across the Universe. So when I read the synopsis for a sleeping beauty fairytale retelling set in the future where 'sleeping beauty' is woken up from a cryogenic sleep over 60 years too late, I was definitely reading this!

The beginning actually starts off a lot slower than I wanted. 16 year old Rosalinda has been woken up 62 years after she was put into her stasis pod and is dismayed to find that everyone she loved has now gone. She tries to integrate back into society but finds she is completely overwhelmed and confused by everything. How could this possibly happen? Her parents died before they could wake her up and no one found her?

She tries to make friends but she knows she's never been that good at making new friends, she's having trouble learning the new slang, and a boy that can't talk fascinates her. However not everything is as it seems and she's being hunted by something that wants her killed. Who could possibly want her dead? A Long, Long Sleep is more about Rosalinda trying to integrate into society and adjust to her new surroundings and the new people in her life. But she can't let go of her old life, her parents and her first love, she can't help but mourn him.

I nearly put this book down at 30% because a lot of the story was about Rosalinda and her new life and I got bored. It was all Rosalinda at school, her therapy sessions, painting art. Not a lot was going on story wise. But I managed to push through and found the action started to happen and things picked up really fast. Rosalinda keeps getting attacked, no one can protect her, people keep getting hurt, Rosalinda keeps getting her feelings confused.

I sped through this book in the last 50% because I couldn't put it down. I felt like the story picked up fast and I started to really like Rosalinda, I started to like the other characters and all I wanted for her was a happy ending. It had me reading late into the night until I finished it because I really just wanted to know what happened.

Rosalinda really grows throughout the book as well. At the beginning she's a meek, timid girl. But we get to see her grow and change and become more confident with herself and her decisions. I really loved this, I really loved that there was character growth. And even though this is a love story this story definitely does not focus on the love. There is no romance. It's not about Rosalinda meeting a boy and trying to win his affections, this story is definitely not that kind of story. And I really loved that.

In the end I really enjoyed this story and it broke my heart. This is a love story but you don't realise that until the end, but it's such a sweet story. I really felt for Rosalinda, I was really rooting for her. The twist had me in agony though. I couldn't sleep straight away after I read this because I was feeling too many emotions. And I think that is an incredibly good thing.

I think if you're after a love story with a Sci-Fi setting and you're happy to work your way into the story slowly, then you will really enjoy this book.

Have you read this book? What were your feelings on it?

Always,
Jordon

This review was originally posted on Simply Adrift

[nannah]

(4.5)

Book content warnings:
child abuse

Before I get into anything here, I just have to say how much I dislike the packaging for this book. The rose fading to white and the title font makes it appear to be some run-of-the-mill YA romance, when it's so much more smart and rich and diverse and (to be quite honest) enjoyable.

A Long, Long Sleep is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but the way things fall into place isn't quite what you'd expect. Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep and preserved for sixty-two years. When she wakes up (and yeah, from a kiss), she discovers the world has aged without her: her parents and boyfriend are gone, the world has passed through the Dark Times and its plague, and she's the heir to her parents' UniCorp empire. Rose wants to start fresh, but if she already felt like a freak back in her own time, being thrown into a strange one isn't helping.

What I noticed right away is that the style of prose is very nice to read. I love the words and the flow the sentences have. It's personal preference, of course, but I was immediately taken by her writing. It's so polished, especially for a debut.

Secondly, several characters of color!! In a YA romance?! Not only that, but a black man is a love interest? I think I fell in love already within the first couple pages.

A lot of the beginning is backstory, which is usually sluggish and awful, but I really found myself absorbed in it, and I didn't care that the plot wasn't rushing forward. Much of the book is character-driven, and Rose finding out who she is and that it's okay to be who she is. Which . . . is why I fell in love with it, to be honest. Don't expect some action-driven futuristic plot. There's plenty of futuristic atmosphere and cool technology, but the real deal here is Rose and her personal growth.

The book wraps up really nicely and works perfectly as a standalone. I had to check back on goodreads to make sure it wasn't one, because I really want to read more from this world and this author.