Beauty’s Curse
Once Upon A Princes, book one
CS Johnson
January 2016
Dire Wolf Books
Buy on Amazon
Buy on Barnes and Noble
Currently, the first book of the
4-book serial story is free.
About the Book
For four years, Princess Aurora of
Rhone—Rose to her friends—has searched the world for a way to break the curse
placed on her by Magdalina, the wicked ruler of the fairies at war with her
kingdom. Under the curse, Rose is doomed to die on her eighteenth birthday
after pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. And time is
running out.
On the eve of her seventeenth birthday, Rose makes the journey home with her
friends—Theo, a priest with a penchant for revenge; Mary, a young and talented
fairy; and Ethan and Sophia, siblings with a troubled past–as pressure from her
father, King Stefanos, leaves her with two equally unsatisfying options:
Abdicate the throne, or get married.
Enjoy this novella series retelling of the Sleeping Beauty, with new
characters, new plot twists, and plenty of action and adventure. Perfect for
teen and young adult historical fantasy readers, and check out Part II,
"Beauty's Quest," as the story continues!
My review
A caveat: this is not a stand-alone
book, but the first of four. It’s a questing story, and this book sets up the search.
If you don’t like investing in characters only to fall off a cliff when you
turn the last page, the good news is that all the books in the series are
available at reasonable prices, at the time of this writing.
Johnson’s twist on the tale of the
Grimm’s fairy tale of the Sleeping Beauty, or Briar Rose, is both familiar and
new. It’s a hodgepodge of some Disney copycats and a smattering of other tales
set in Germanic and Greek-named places. A teenaged lost little cursed princess
flees home under the watchful eye of her mother’s guard and her faithful friend
knight, Theo, among others. She picks up other lost souls along the way, becomes
a self-assured warrior, but reaches the end of her rope when her seventeenth
birthday signaling her last year of wakeful life, approaches. Journeying home
to meet her father’s challenge of produce an heir before she succumbs to the
curse, or formally give up her birthright, spunky Rose chooses her own way—fight
the curse, and keep her life her own. The end of book one finds the reader
waving farewell to the company of faithful friends off the find a secret
weapon.
I enjoyed this story. The characters
were finely developed, though I struggled a little with keeping like names
apart, such as Theo and Thad, the brothers, and their role. I cheered for all
of them, but had to remind myself this is still a new adult story with
teenagers who have plenty of growing up to do. Johnson’s blurry line between
nice guys and bad guys makes an interesting twist in the old tale. Those who
like fun riffs on a familiar romantic tale will enjoy these stories. Mature
writing. I read a review copy for Voracious Readers Only.
About the Author
C. S. Johnson is the author of
several young adult novels, including sci-fi and fantasy adventures suchas the
Starlight Chronicles series, the Once Upon a Princess saga, and the Divine
Space Pirates trilogy. With a gift for sarcasm and an apologetic heart, she
currently lives in Atlanta with her family. Find out more at http://www.csjohnson.me.
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