Sunday, May 29, 2011

A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

Now going into one of Ms. Flinn's modern adaptations of fairy tales, I don't have expectations of high brow thinking or wonderfully tight plots. This book had neither, but it didn't bother me in the least. Sometimes you really just want to read something fun and quick, something that will make you happy when you're done without challenging your brain. That is exactly what A Kiss in Time was. It was fun, entertaining, and fulfilling.

A Kiss in Time follows Princess Talia of Euphrasia and slacker Jack of Miami as they meet, argue, travel, and eventually fall in love. Talia is your "Sleeping Beauty", blessed with grace, beauty, and intelligence. But she is also cursed. At her christening, an angry witch declared Talia would prick her finger on a spindle and die. Another fairy at the event prevented Talia's death, but she must fall into a deep sleep along with the rest of her kingdom, with a hedge growing to prevent outsiders from finding the castle until her true love can come and wake her up with true love's kiss.


Talia grows up spoiled and angry because she can't leave her castle or do much of anything. In her impertinence, she ends up pricking her finger just as the witch said, and her kingdom is left sleeping for 300 years until Jack comes and wakes her up. He's then left to help her adjust to a new time and escape her fuming father.

It seems at first the two are meant to be at odds, but somehow Jack makes Talia less of a brat and Talia makes Jack care about things other than partying (and his awful ex).

As I said before, I enjoyed a simple, light read for the summer. I also enjoyed the back-and-forth from Jack and Talia, and the split narration. Sometimes it gets boring hearing from only one character for an entire book, but I liked hearing each of their opinions on the events. Overall, not life-changing, but certainly worth a read if you like retold fairy tales and fun!

Risk a paper cut? If you're in the mood for a fun read, yes.
Three out of five stars.

To buy:  Amazon
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