Helpful Score: 2
My favorite Tepper book. I love the intertwining of the fairy tales, although parts of the ending started leading me away from loving the book completely. (Tepper has two agendas in all her books - one is environmentalism, which is hit pretty heavily in this book)
Helpful Score: 2
This is one of my favorite books, so much so that I will not get rid of my copy. This book is a major twist on the story of Sleeping Beauty, with a few other fairy tales along the way. The main character (Beauty) manages to escape the curse placed by her stepmother. She learns of her fairy heritage, goes to find her mother (a fairy, and travels forward in time to live in the 20th and 21st centuries. There is a warning written into this story for the future of mankind. I definitely recommend this book to adults, as it is not a book for younger children.
Helpful Score: 2
The latest from the talented Tepper ( The Gate to Women's Country ) is many things: a fantasy of manners, a dystopian science fiction tale, a time-travel story and an eco-morality play. Still more impressive is the evolution of the narrator and title character, whom we follow for a century of life (ages 16 to 116) as she matures gradually and subtly from a pouty, slightly spoiled daughter of a duke to a wise old woman. Retelling various fairy tales, Tepper strips away each story's gloss. Sleeping Beauty's sleep continues endlessly, prince notwithstanding; Cinderella is as heartless and nasty to her ugly stepsisters as they are to her; and Snow White is a blond bimbo, while the dwarfs are a querulous collection of Basque brothers. Tepper manages to maintain interest, style and theme throughout these disparate elements, and she consistently sniffs out the ugly (e.g., the storybook land of Chinanga, which has all the facets of a fairyland but is an extremely boring place to live). Despite an often depressing worldview, this is a beautiful book from one of the genre's best writers.
Helpful Score: 1
If I could only use one word to describe this it would be: different.
Interesting world and idea. I don't want to spoil it by saying anymore.
Not a must read, but different enough to check out if you are a fan of Tepper or of the sci-fi/fantasy genre.
Interesting world and idea. I don't want to spoil it by saying anymore.
Not a must read, but different enough to check out if you are a fan of Tepper or of the sci-fi/fantasy genre.
This was a fun read, though dark in places. I enjoyed picking out all the different fairy tales that were interwoven into it; but it's not a children's book.
A wonderful, fractured retelling of the Sleeping Beauty tale!
I really like the way all the different fairy tales are woven together into this story.
Starts out kinda strange but does get more intesting. first it is a fairy tale then it is future with a message surprisinly good.my friend who hate scifi read it and was impressed. It has no dj
This was the first book I read by Tepper, and promptly went out and got ALL of her books. I loved this book, loved the combination of science fiction and fantasy. And, of course, the whole theme/premise of the novel is very dear to my heart. I recommend it for any adult who still believes in wonder, magic, awe, etc.
This book is so good that it is worth a reread every once in a while.
This is one of my favorite books. A Science Fiction fairy tale. Beauty is hijacked by time travelers and goes from her enchanted castle in medieval times to the present and then to a dismal future. It combines humor and outrage and social observation seamlessly. I have read it twice and given several copies away.
I have always enjoyed modern retakes on the traditional fairy tales. Beauty is my favorite of these, with current events of the time and modern science effortlessly added to the original tale. Highly recommended for modern fantasy lovers.
I gave this book a really fair chance -twice- and still could not bring myself to read it all the way through. After 100 pages, the book was still too slow for me, and I didn't care at all about Beauty's character. I think the book was a neat idea in that Tepper used Beauty as a metaphor throughout the novel, but I am not a big fan of Tepper and I don't think I'll be reading any more of her work.
Complex, thrilling and poignant. This book makes many social and environmental points yet still lets you enjoy the story.
Sleeping Beauty with some twists. Thought provoking novel. I'd definately recommend it.
Very funny twist on an old story. I LOVE Sherri Tepper!
Retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story. Excellent!
