Rose DuBois has been in a coma for 2 years. She unexpectedly wakes up and remembers nothing about her life before except for her two aunts. After going through physical therapy and some counselling, she returns to her aunts' home. Her aunts have some weird quirks: they make her drink this really bitter tea and hang little charms all around her room. Plus they vehemently want her to stay away from any boys, almost abnormally so, and they refuse to give her any real detail of her life before the coma. Rose starts completely from scratch and goes to a new high school where she is known as Coma Girl. She manages to make a few friends and one big enemy by the name of Courtney. Although she has a pretty normal teenage life, her dreams are dark and take place in medieval France where she is a princess whose father must give her to his enemy's son in order to save their people's lives. To make matters worse, a scorned, black hearted fairy has cursed her and would love nothing more than to see her die. She has these dreams every night and begins to see things like crows and a creepy, dark woman following her. Is she just brain damaged or paranoid? Or is she actually in danger?

I love fairy tale retellings. Most authors take the hollow, flat characters in fairy tales and make them into multidimensional, relatable characters in the modern world. Christopher Golden does this very well, especially with a princess story. In Sleeping Beauty, the prince comes along and solves all of the princess's problems (while she lies passively) with a kiss, a marriage, and they live happily ever after. When Rose Wakes is drastically different from the original tale, mostly because of Rose. She is a strong person that starts her life from practically nothing. Her ways of dealing with problems like the horrible cheerleader Courtney are effective without lowering herself to Courtney's level. Although she can take care of herself, she is still a confused teenager who's not sure about what to do when she likes a guy or if she should listen to her aunts or who are her true friends. The "prince" in this tale is a main character, but he doesn't act as the savior that rescues the helpless princess from peril. They have an actual relationship. Other aspects of the story are also changed. The overall tone is much darker than the original while still preserving the essence of the story. The danger is much more present and makes the fantastical aspects of the novel more gritty and disturbing than those of the real world. I also really liked the twist on the spindle aspect of the curse, but I won't spoil anything here.

When Rose Wakes is an adventure filled retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I love the changes and improvements made to the story and I hope there is another book written about Rose. I would recommend it to lovers of fantasy and fairy tales. ( )

Ever fairy tale is told and retold through generations across the ocean and through the test of time. Rose, however, is having trouble recalling any fairy tales and just as well as she wakes from a 2 year coma. Her life, as her aunts tell, was back in France before they moved to America for better medical care. Her parents—dead. Her friends—not really talked about. Her memory—just lingering in the back of her head.

Rose is determined for it not to get the best of her as she enrolls into a new school as a sophomore, despite being the age of a junior. She has a great group of new friends and plans to not let cliché-freaked cheerleader get the best of the new girl—“Coma Girl”. Yet her aunts’ demand of not kissing any guys, definitely NO on sex, and their nags on drinking some disgusting tea makes Rose frustrated. How can she let go and start a new life like her aunts’ want if they impose restrictions on anything but?

The life of a teenager is hard enough when you wake up from a 2 year coma, but add to that a crazy stalker and a catfight that ends with a girl turning into leaves. Rose wants answers.

Here’s the part where I smack my head because one way or another I missed the memo that When Rose Wakes is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Insert: “Duh”. As far as a retelling goes, Christopher Golden does a job well done incorporating his own little touches while maintaining the essence of Sleeping Beauty.

My biggest qualm with the novel was how. How does Rose know so much after being in a coma for so many years? How does Rose know French and English fluently? How old is Rose really and for how long can she look young? How did the aunts’ get the proper documentations? Where did they get their money from? Where are the “others”? How did the villain create a group of evil people? My mind is just bouncing off questions as I went through the novel. But I’d rather not talk about the negatives any longer.

When Rose Wakes drops little hints and reoccurring dreams that point the readers to the solution of the “mystery”. In many ways I was dense because it didn’t hit me until the novel literally told me the truth. The dreams were a nice touch because it dug the backbone of the plot out and this sort of existence to the novel. The contrasting aunt’s played nicely to good cop, bad cop and their light bantering and withering glances speak volumes of comfort. I just wished that the aunts were more developed and the novel discusses how they were selected to be guard Rose.

Jared and Rose’s budding relationship was a tad more than I expected, but still very sweet and understanding. I liked how Jared know when to say, “No”, and when to say “Okay” and not become this obsessive, possessive, and ever constant presence in Rose’s mind. And say “Hell yes!” to ethnic diversity in characters.

In all, however, When Rose Wakes ended the weekend nicely for me. There was a lightness to the novel that made it pleasant. ( )

I've said it a billion times. I love fairy tale retellings. Just love them. When I saw this announcement for this one, I just could not wait to read it. Especially after seeing this gorgeous cover and reading the most recent synopsis. I had built it up so much in mind that I'd started to worry about being disappointed, that it wouldn't live up to my high expectations. So gratefully, I was wrong to worry----SO wrong!! This book did not disappoint. It was such a perfect mix of adventure, in both the mundane and fantasy worlds!!

It opens with Rose, who has just woken up from a very persistent coma. All she remembers is her aunts, who tell her she has been in a coma for two years. They fill in little details of her life, how they lived in France and moved her to America in hopes of finding a specialist doctor who could help bring her out of the coma. From the very beginning, you can tell the aunts are hiding something big from her past. Rose begins having vivid dreams about a different time where she lives in a castle and her father is king, and she her closest friend is a fairy. The aunts tell her that she used to imagine this world in her playtime when she was small and that is where the dreams are coming from.

Rose was an amazing character. She basically has to find the strength to reinvent herself from scratch because any memory of who she used to be is gone. Soon after waking, she starts back to school, aside from what she has seen on TV while recovering, she has to figure out how to navigate the craziness of high school. She immediately finds an enemy in the popular cheerleading (which I thought a little cliche, but what are you gonna do? It's a plot dilemma that often works) but absolutely loved Rose's gut instinct to fend for herself and her no-backing-down attitude.

Her aunts are sweet and funny, but fiercely protective of Rose. They are insanely adamant that Rose stay away from boys. Rose tries to respect this although she doesn't understand why, but finds herself falling for a boy at her school. He was a great character, too, but I did have a tiny problem with him. I'm a big advocate for a "no means no" mentality, so when she tells him she can't kiss him and he does it anyway, he lost a few points in my book. Still, for the most part, he is a good guy and the development of their relationship is sweet. She makes some other good friends as well, but really I was just impressed with Rose's ability to stand on her own two feet.

The twist on the "spindle" aspect of the story is quite interesting!! You'll have to read it to find out what I mean! Definitely more of a risk in this day and age than finding a spinning wheel to prick her finger on! :)

The story gets really exciting (and sometimes surprisingly violent) toward the end! There is just a little gore, so be prepared! But When Rose Wakes was excellently written and had some really great twists and turns, a perfect update of the Sleeping Beauty story! ( )