Sleep Like Death

Bayron writes the only retellings I enjoy tbh

I received this ARC from Bloomsbury to review. I wish we could do half stars because I’d definitely give this a 3.5! Loved the way Snow White was reimagined with other fairy tales worked in. I wish the last scene would have been a bit longer and that Eve wasn’t so angry with Nova from the beginning. I found it quite annoying. Overall it’s a solid read and perfect for the YA genre!

I wholly enjoyed this book, the character development, the descriptive nature of writing and the overall story build up. Bayron crafted and delivered the bombshell of how Eve came to be extremely well and the realities of such a deal. This book descriptively takes us through the secret wishes that the townspeople make with the Knight. The wishes that to them are clear and concise but to him are a form of ownership and payment. The main character Eve wound me up. Her stubbornness was insufferable🙄!!! She got people killed, constantly acted off of emotion rather than common sense and acknowledged her behaviour as arrogant far too late into her mistakes. I think the section about Huntress’ feelings for the Queen could’ve been explored a bit further for example; How she become the queens right hand, when did she fall in love with her and were the feelings ever reciprocated (even small small?), it would’ve been good to understand her upbringing too. I don’t sympathise with huntress in any capacity though, she’s an opp. The scene where Eve came face to face with the knight was so descriptive and thrilling and honestly was one of my favourite parts of the book even though it was extremely sad. The blossoming romance between Eve and Nova threw me, not only because it was unexpected but I think I was a bit confused as to how one day she realised she loved him and vice versa. I think although it made some sense by the end of the book the ‘romance’ just wasn’t developed or explored enough. Sort of like an afterthought. I loved how Kalynn intertwines Snow White’s ‘7 dwarfs’, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ & ‘rumplestiltskin’ into the story. The classics we love and know so well but with a dark spin. Overall the descriptive writing kept me captivated throughout the book, this book has quite mixed reviews but it’s a good and easy read. I would recommend to those of you who want to get into the fantasy world of books.

I was really enjoying this book and then it just ended so quickly! too quickly for me. but up until the abrupt finish, this was a really neat re-telling of a classic tale.