We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.
Books: The Secret World of Briar Rose, The Chateau on Sunset, Man of My Dreams, & The Valencia Ex Pat Club
Me - The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham had a really interesting concept, reimagining the classic fairytale princess, Sleeping Beauty, as a teenager battling depression. Unfortunately, the execution fell very flat.
We follow two timelines throughout the book whose characters and stories eventually converge. In the past, we follow the princess– in this story known as Amelia– along with her three fairy godmothers and the demon, Malecine, 100 years ago, leading up to Amelia entering her dream state. Then, in the present, we follow Corin, a cynical teenager living in a war-torn kingdom who accidentally stumbles into the princess's dream world along with her younger sister, Elly.
One of the biggest issues with this book is that there was no depth to any of the characters or relationships. Corin and Elly had a deeply tragic backstory, and Amelia's life was far from perfect either, but none of them had distinct personalities or interests, and while they technically had motivations, those never went beyond the surface level. As a result, it was difficult to truly care about any of them. A reviewer on Goodreads said that the characters behaved like chess pieces, making specific moves to suit the plot rather than acting in ways that made sense for them as individuals, and I couldn't agree more.
This was doubtlessly one of the primary reasons why the relationships lacked substance as well. Romances, friendships, mentorships, enemies, or any other relationships that existed in this book followed the typical formulas necessary to move the story along– for instance, the love interests met, were wary of each other, and eventually made out– but there was nothing more to them. Even Corin and Elly, whose sisterly bond set the whole present-day story into motion and who supposedly loved each other more than anything felt almost like strangers.
Additionally, the writing was very clunky, making the story difficult to follow at times. It was easy enough to make sense of the overarching plot, but numerous sentences, paragraphs, and minor details got lost as a result. This was largely due to excessive use of metaphors and unnecessary descriptions. It felt like the author was more focused on writing beautiful sentences than putting together a story that felt readable or made sense.
World-building was also convoluted. Kingdom politics from the past and present were either thrown into the story via large info-dumps or received little to no explanation at all, and the magic system was much the same. It was particularly difficult to understand the actual mechanics of how the dream world functioned.
All of these issues, along with the lack of significant action throughout the story, made for incredibly slow pacing. I was slightly more invested in the past timeline than the present one, as I was genuinely intrigued to learn more about Amelia's relationships with her godmothers, Malicine, and the prince who was meant to wake her from her slumber with true love's kiss. I also wanted to find out exactly how the dream world came to be. Unfortunately, whenever the timeline gained momentum and I finally felt more engaged, I was quickly taken out of it when the chapter ended switching the timeline back to the present.
I will also note that the depression representation in this book was not what I expected. As a person who struggles with depression, I was looking forward to that element of the story, but the way it was written did not resonate with me at all. It was deeply woven into the plot and the writing, giving the whole book a dark and heavy tone. However, while the descriptions of depression were certainly somber, it felt like they'd be more fitting as Tumblr posts than in this story. The author's note at the beginning of the book explains that Cindy Pham based this story on her own experiences with depression so I do commend her for telling a story so personal to her, and I'm sure the representation will resonate with some people– perhaps very young teenagers who haven't read much about depression before.
I really wanted to love this as I'm a huge fan of fairy tale retellings and the concept of a queer Sleeping Beauty suffering from mental health issues particularly intrigued me. I won't say it was terrible because that's not the case. The concept had a lot of promise. The setting was very imaginative. I appreciate the effort to include both queer representation and depression representation, and with more practice writing, I'm sure Pham could produce a solid book in the future. Sadly, this one was just such a slog to get through that I don't see myself bothering to pick it up.
Mom -Today, I recommend The Chateau on Sunset by Natasha Lester. In 1957, orphaned Aria goes to live at the Chateau Marmont with her aunt, a former star who mysteriously withdrew from Hollywood and into a mostly drug-fogged life. Two young actresses slightly older than her take her under their wings, and she becomes a witness to the way powerful men wield their influence over young starlets. Her plan to raise enough money to escape is nearly thwarted when the hotel is taken over by a new owner, until she convinces him to hire her as a tutor to his young daughter.
This book is a more feminist, improved retelling of Jane Eyre with a heroine full of gumption. She never yields her power to her Rochester, called Theo Winchester here, but always maintains her own agency and control over her own life. Theo is a good man, though, thoughtful and caring rather than controlling, and their romance is touching.
The book is also a retro me-too reckoning. Aria is determined to fight the power imbalance between male executives, especially one in particular who is clearly meant to be a Harvey Weinstein type, and young starlets in any way she can. She is gloriously brave and resourceful, and she has a gigantic heart.
The book's setting is like another character in the story. The Chateau Marmont is indeed a real hotel. Both in reality and in the novel, it contains many secrets within its walls. The book skillfully blends the true history of the place with made-up elements to create a deeply moving story.
And that's our view. All books mentioned in this post were published today.
Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.
Any and all pictures used in this post are our own. Any concerns regarding image usage can be addressed here.
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