REVIEW: Dreaming of Beauty by Kristen White

Dreaming of Beauty by Kristen White

Genre: Young Adult, YA Fantasy

Pages: (ebook)

Publication: August 2011

Goodreads Summary: A three hundred year old curse, a timeless legend, a love strong enough to last forever...

Fifteen year old Chloe Duncan finally has her Prince Charming and her life could not be more perfect. But after she meets a mysterious new boy, Logan Salinger, on the first day of school and is attacked by a woman's hand that suddenly appears from the supply cabinet in art class, her story-book romance quickly unravels. Certain that the incident in her art class and the other bizarre things that have happened to her are due to an undiagnosed brain tumor, Chloe struggles with school and her relationships. Over the holiday break, during a much needed vacation, she travels to France with her family and it is there, at Manoir de Kergrec'h, the enchanting castle by the sea, that she learns about Camille Deveraux who lived at the manor over three hundred years ago. But things are stranger in France then they were back home, and Chloe soon discovers that she was Camille Deveraux, the real Sleeping Beauty. Now she knows the reason for her strange connection to Logan and she hopes that their love can finally break the curse that has plagued her for over three hundred years.

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Review: I usually enjoy modern day versions of fairy tales. I love to see something classic and everlasting be retold or imagined in new and inventive ways. Unfortunately, Dreaming of Beauty by Kristen White fell flat and disappointed me.

Chloe is 15 and has the seemingly perfect life. She is a good daughter who hardly gets into any trouble, has a great group of friends, and has the perfect prince charming in her boyfriend, Evan. All of that is thought to be true until Logan, the new boy in school, enters Chloe’s life. And then everything she thought she knew is shattered. Chloe starts to get agonizing headaches, sees red spots in her vision, and hears piercing sounds whenever she is around Logan. Her emotions are getting out of check and she can’t decide if she wants her perfect boyfriend, Evan, or the dark, mysterious semi-stalker, Logan. All she can hope is that she can find her happily ever after.

I really wanted to like this book, I truly did. But I found myself just wishing it would end. Despite that, there were things that I did like about Dreaming of Beauty. I like the idea behind this story. Kristen White takes the well known tale of Sleeping Beauty and attempts to give it an alternate ending, allowing her to weave her tale and have it make sense in her timeline. Although she did not execute it smoothly, the idea behind the story was very intriguing and ultimately it is what kept me reading, even when I wanted to abandon the story.

However, there were more things that I disliked about the book. To start with, the pacing was problematic; the book never felt like it found its footing. The story felt rushed, and under worked. I never lost myself in the story because I continually had to stop and think just to figure out what was going on. Also, the book was split into three parts, and while normally I do not mind this, with Dream of Beauty each part felt like it was a brand new story and we were starting all over again. Everything felt off, and the main part of the story felt convoluted and rushed, with only a dream sequence to make the story come together.

My next major disappointment were the characters; they never developed and were one dimensional. I like to feel for the characters when I read a book; I want to be able to visualize them, and feel like they could be alive and breathing. With Chloe and her two love interests, I never felt for them. I got glimpses of their development, but I think with the pacing and organization of the book, it never happened. Throughout the whole book they never felt like anything other than people written on the page.

Ultimately, Dreaming of Beauty did not work for me. I had to force myself to finish. But I am a firm believer that even though I did not enjoy this book, that does not mean that someone else may not love it. That’s the joy of reading.

Rating: 2 stars