I know I know, you’re all probably thinking “great another clichéd vampire mashup,” but I assure you, this one is unlike any other, because while it is the tale of Sleeping Beauty retold with vampires, it is also a ‘choose your own path’ book. Some of you may remember these from when you were a kid, they were the books that let you choose what happened in the story. Throughout the book there are choices the main character has to make and it’s up to you to decide where the story goes, it’ll say something like, “Option A: if you want the character to do this turn to page 70. Option B: if you want them to do this instead turn to page 100.” It’s fantastic! I loved these books as a kid and I continue to even now. So as I said, Sleeping Beauty Vampire Hunter is very different than all of those other mashups.
Written by Maureen McGowan, Sleeping Beauty Vampire Hunter tells the tale of princess Lucette, the sleeping beauty, and the events that take place after the evil vampire queen places a curse upon her. If Lucette pricks her finger she will be forced to sleep during the day and to awake only at night, while every other person in the kingdom will be forced to sleep at night and wake only during the daylight – leaving poor Lucette all alone with the vampires during nighttime. The only way to break this curse is if the princess finds true love.
Since this is a ‘choose your path’ book, I can’t go into the details of the story, because obviously, the story is different for everyone depending on what choices you make. According to the back of the book there are eight possible routes you can take, however, no matter what you choose the very end is the same for everyone.
Had it not been for the choices this book would be a dud for me, the story was interesting and fast-paced, but it wasn’t anything spectacular, it was the options the reader gets to make that made it fun and special. Being such a fast read made the main love story too rushed to be believable and it also made it difficult to get to know any other character other than Lucette, who was a great strong female lead. I do love how the author made the story her own, she did a great job there, and she did an absolutely amazing job creating the many paths for readers to pick. Big points for that.
I really have mixed feelings on this particular book, the story was the same old Sleeping Beauty with an excellent twist, but it wasn’t the most original. But you have all of these awesome choices you get to make, which really makes the book a lot of fun to read. Overall I would recommend Sleeping Beauty Vampire Hunter for anyone looking for a fun and fast read, particularly to younger readers since this book is appropriate for any age. It may not be the best book ever written, but it’s definitely an enjoyable read.
– Moonlight
I just read choose-your-own-adventure Vampire express – when you stop laughing, I want to point out it´s great fun! – so vampires + fairytales + choose your own adventure = sounds GOOOD!