Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Review: A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Release date: August 9, 2011
Synopsis (Goodreads):
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 existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes -- or be left without any future at all.
My Thoughts: This book was not what I expected.  If pressed I couldn't even say what I thought I was going to be reading, I just know that I ended up loving the futuristic sci-fi aspects blended with the very tragic tale of a girl who had her life stolen from her.  Watching Rose reawaken and slowly find herself was wonderful and sad and lovely.

At heart, this is the story of a girl who has been abused by the very people who should have been looking out for her the hardest.  While it's not abuse in the tradition, physical sense, she was brainwashed into believing that the only option for her was to step into her hidey-hole and let the world pass her by.  She has no sense of self worth, no sense of how smart or sweet or lovely she really is.  Her one friend through her odd childhood is a boy who grows up faster than she does due to all the time she's spent in stasis.  Watching her feelings switch from sisterly love to romantic love as the years pass and he ends up older than her could have been creepy and weird but it worked.  In the end, Rose isn't a normal girl and the normal rules don't apply to her.

Speaking of romance, this book took a turn that I didn't see coming.  More to the point, I wanted it to take that turn but I didn't think it would really happen.  Yes, at heart I'm a 'shipper.  I want my heroes and heroines to end up with the people that they're meant to end up with.  Now, it's highly possible that I'm reading more into the potential relationships that might develop (if there's another book coming, that is.  Please, say this is going to be a series!), but I liked where the book ultimately ended up.

With a heroine that grows from a sad, lonely girl into someone who learns to look at the world with open eyes, A Long, Long Sleep is a touching and heart breaking story.  Did I mention that I'm desperately hoping for a sequel?

More books by Anna Sheehan

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
A Long, Long Sleep was provided for review by Candlewick Press through NetGalley.

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