Thursday, September 17, 2009

A Kiss In Time by Alex Flinn

Plot Summary: a modern tale of Sleeping Beauty, but the Beauty doesn’t wake for three hundred years...right into modern times.

I like fairy tale retellings. I think it’s fascinating to see how authors put their own spin on an age-old tale that everyone knows. Which elements do they keep? Which elements do they change? How creative do they get? I love it.

This story is just as interesting as the others I’ve read. The author is incredibly clever with her modern twist to the story, showing how two individuals collide. One completely sheltered, and pretty spoiled. The other ignored, and also spoiled. The fact that they come from vastly different centuries just adds to the fireworks.

The beginning was great, and I loved the interactions between Talia and Jack, and actually thought this would make a great movie. I’ve never had that reaction to a book before, and it was kind of weird. But I still feel that way. I thought that Talia’s reactions to the modern world were believable and interesting, and I thought that Jack’s reaction to dealing with a princess had just the right balance of ‘do it yourself’ and ‘okay, let me help.’

The ending wasn’t as strong as I’d hoped. Everything got tied up with a bow, a bit too close to Disney endings. But this might just be the author’s style – another book of hers, BEASTLY, also has a wonderfully imaginative modern twist to Beauty and the Beast, but too many Disney elements. Including the ending.

Still, I enjoyed the story quite a bit. If you like fairy tale retellings, and Disney, you probably will, too.

5 comments:

C.R. Evers said...

I love these kind of stories. Yet another one I have to put on my TBR pile.

Thnx for the heads up!

Tabitha said...

This book is a lot of fun. I like to read books like these in between the heavier, darker ones. Mixes things up well. :)

Keri Mikulski said...

Loving these fairy tale retellings. :) Thanks for the review.

Tabitha said...

Both KISS IN TIME and BEASTLY are cleverly modern retellings. And fun. It's getting harder to put your own twist on fairy tales, but Flinn manages it quite well.

Mary Witzl said...

That sounds great. I LOVED Ella Enchanted, which this reminds me of just a little. Sadly, the movie wasn't a patch on the book, but maybe this one will be different!