Review

A LONG, LONG, SLEEP

By: Anna Sheehan

Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two 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

Have you ever spent time reading a book, and fought with yourself trying to determine why you continued to read it long after you started questioning why you hadn’t just put it down pages ago? Well that’s how A Long, Long Sleep was for me. The snippet on the back cover pulled me in, and when I was able to obtain an e-book copy from my library I was thrilled.

I cannot say I entirely hated A long, long sleep since I did stick through till the end. Rose’s character completely annoyed the H-E-Double hockey sticks out of me and part of me was very unsympathetic to her situation because she didn’t want to try and figure things out or make things better. She continued to blame it on “Stass fatigue” whereas I prefer to say it is more likely ignorance.

I didn’t find any characters wholly likeable save for possibly Otto, the half-human, half-alien who Rose technically “owned”.  The story had potential but I feel as though Sheehan tried to cram too many futuristic ideas and population killing theories into one story.

The major twist of the story was quasi-transparent. While most of the time you were left guessing what happened to her parents, maid, and beloved Xavier, I knew something involving them would be the climax of the story – and it was.

The Plastine character was pretty much annoying and I’m not sure if it was just the e-book version that it was confusing in or if the actual physical book as well is confusing but the parts where the Plastine was “thinking” were very confusing. The first time he was in the book I kept thinking that I missed or skipped pages.

A major turning point in the book where we finally see Rose lash out and show emotion finally brings me respect for the story.  While slow in parts it has its moments that uphold it. The writing style is choppy and not well developed which annoyed me at times. The characters are all very one-dimensional and lack depth.

Had Sheehan spent more time clarifying her thoughts I feel the book wouldn’t appear as the rushed conglomeration that it is.

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