A Long, Long Sleep

Title: A Long, Long Sleep
Author: Anna Sheehan
Publisher: Candlewick
Release Date: August 9, 2011
Received From: NetGalley

Summary:
Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for 62 years when she is woken by a kiss. Locked away in the chemically-induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten sub-basement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now, her parents and her first love are long dead, and Rose - hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire - is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat. Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes - or be left without any future at all.

Review:

This book was a blend of science fiction and dystopian. It was a pleasant combination that made this book unique.

Anna Sheehan created a book that combined mystery, romance, and intrigue. But even within that there was an underlying thread of abuse. It was a different kind of abuse that was not obvious at the beginning to anyone but it was totally there. It killed me to read about this abuse, especially because I know that there is similar types of abuse everyday and there is no way to prove it. Just like in this novel.

Even with the abuse this book was not completely sad and depressing it was a story about the path of reconstructing what happened in Rose’s past and learning to move past it no matter how hard it might be.

Rose was an interesting protagonist. She was down on herself like many other  main characters in YA literature today, but it was different. Once the story started to come out her self deprecation was understandable and she eventually developed into a strong character. I liked that because it made her seem more real, her having a reason for the way she felt about herself and the way she thought herself to be perceived.

There were many red herrings in this book. I never knew who the bad people were till the end and there is a surprise at the end of the book that I never expected in a million years. It brought me to tears a couple of times.

As you can tell I loved this book. It had strong characters, a strong message, and a strong plot that twisted and turned. While the ending may not be what you would love for it to be. I was satisfied with it, I think it was the perfect ending to a very diverse book. A must read!