Aurelia

This book had a lot going on. Dragons, enemies to lovers, curses, ogres, magic, and more. It was a lot, but somehow it worked and made for an enjoyable dual POV read.
The world this overfilled story is set in was the best part of the story for me. The author created a world that I would happily read more books set in this multi kingdom world. I want more.

Beyond that is the characters.
I liked Fennick he wasn't the typical spoiled fae prince, there was personality and heart. For the enemies to lovers side of him I'd have liked him to be a little more mean and a little less loving from the start, but beyond that Fen is a nice guy.
Aurelia on the other hand was a female lead I didn't like at all. I found her whiny, spoilt and boring. I didn't care about her and her journey like I did those around her and the events unfolding.
I liked the dragons and the side characters. Excellent evil queen and darkly mysterious witches to round out the fantasy.

While the story was good and mostly enjoyable it did feel like the author didn't know when to stop. Stop throwing fantasy elements in, story adding new twists to the story and overall when to call an end. That been said, the eventual end was good if overly sweet.

Overall its a good story for those who like romanstasy and is bound to have something for everyone
Grab this book for a bedtime book, but on a night when you can stay up late for just one more chapter.

Crown of Slumber by R.L. Perez puts a dark spin on the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty by following Princess Aurelia and Prince Fenn on a love/hate filled journey through deadly forests, glittering castles, and a misty dreamscape while trying to save their feuding kingdoms. He needs something from her and she needs something from him, but dark secrets and barbed tongues keep them from truly being able to trust one another even as their hearts yearn for something more. Early on I saw the similarities in the fairytale, but as I made my way though the story the subtle hints and twists on the classic were expertly woven through and made it impossible for me to put down!

The pacing in the first few chapters was a little slower, but that gave me time to get introduced to the characters and their shared history. The chapters are written from alternating point of view from the Prince and Princess and it made my connection deeper to each character as a result. Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys twisted fairytales, steamy adult romance, and beautifully dark magic. Thank you Victory Editing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely enjoyed this sleeping beauty retelling. I think it’s the best one I have read. I loved the twists and the mysteries. I wasn’t quite sure how it was considered a retelling until the end when everything made sense. Princess, dragon and witch all in one. Magnificent for sure. I definitely enjoyed the dynamic between Aurelia and Fenn, they were so fun to read about and that bargain, while very common, it was something. I guess what I liked the most was how this book kept me guessing about Aurelia, her dragons and her magic. I most definitely did not see her origin story coming, never guessed. I 100 percent will recommend this to people

Thank you NetGalley & R.L. Perez for a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I love a good retelling and this was a GREAT retelling!

This is a sleepy beauty retelling in a fae world where instead of the princess falling into a deep sleep, her family and royal court are the ones that are enchanted into a deep sleep and the princess must find a way to awaken them with a special dust. In order to do so, she partners with the prince of an enemy court to obtain the special dust that only his court has. But darker forces work against them to prevent the royal family and court from waking up.

I could not put this book down! It was so freaking good. The writing was top notch, the storyline was so intriguing, every aspect of the original fairytale was used in some way or another in this book, and I loved reading something and making the connection to the original story. It made me all giddy and excited! I enjoyed the dark aspects of the story and the plot twists- chef’s kiss! I absolutely loved all the dragons in the world, their interactions with the main characters were so freaking cute and funny at times! 10/10 recommend!

I honestly don’t know what to say. At first I was like this is a mix of ACOTAR and Fourth Wing but it’s a retelling!!! I can’t wait for book 2!!! I just NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!

Thank you so much to Net Galley, Victory Editing and @rlperez for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Crown of Slumber is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, if there were more dragons that behaved like little puppies and if the Princess was a total badass. The sense of wonder Aurelia gets from flying with her dragons, who all have bags of personality, is what hooked me into the story, and I stayed for that, and of course, the charming romance which begins as a marriage of convenience and blossoms into something all encompassing and SUPER romantic. The banter is heady and intoxicating, think Powerless, but spicier.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Fans of Fourth Wing, and charming, sweeping romance, will devour Crown of Slumber - the first of a planned series of fairy tale retellings set in this universe, out on 15th September.

i’ve never read or watched sleeping beauty, i’m ashamed to admit, so my thoughts on whether this is an accurate re-telling (or not) don’t come into effect in this review.

putting aside my three-star rating, crown of slumber was such a delight to read! it has its positive and negative aspects, but the negatives didn’t detract from my overall reading experience. it was cute and full of fluff with some action and adventure, but for me this book lacked sensory engagement and deep emotions to make this feel anything more than. i will always mention this—nothing grates on my nerves more than a “tell not show” narrative.

“i loathe you more intensely than a thousand burning suns.”

the enemies to lovers element made me feel underwhelmed! it was kind of there, but brief and didn't contain that true enemies to lovers feeling that leaves you blissfully sighing from all of the heated banter and exchanges of hatred. it was one-sided (from aurelia's side) for most of the story. there’s nothing better sounding than two fae nobles from feuding kingdoms becoming engaged under false pretences, however the execution was lacklustre.

“gods, do you ever stop? you are utterly incorrigible.”
“incorrigible? or irresistible?”

aurelia was argumentative and for no real reason withheld information. all. the. time. i’m sure her characterisation was used to create conflict and tension but dear lord she frustrated me sometimes. she’s supposed to be this strong and fierce character, though aurelia came across as childish and irrationally illogical more often than not. her past sexual assault and following trauma felt mishandled (and lacked trigger warnings for the reader).

fennick isn't your standard dark, brooding and haunted mess of a love interest. he’s softer, kinder and more wholesome. i don't mind this kind of male character sometimes, but in what is supposed to be an enemies to lovers romance between two feuding kingdoms, i wanted some villainous moments from fennick.

i wasn’t invested in aurelia and fennick’s budding romance. it wasn’t exciting. i do, however, appreciate the minimal spiciness but there was one ill-timed encounter that made me go cross-eyed from how far-fetched the entire moment was. it lacked realism, leaving me feeling uninvested and the burning passion was not burning or making me want to kick my feet in excitement.

“dragons made much better company than fae nobles.”

we have magic and curses, witches and dragons, fake courtship and warring kingdoms to name a couple of classic romance elements. however, each one felt like it was touched upon in small doses and the overall deliverance on detail was flat. it was nice to read a standalone, but when introducing an extensive non-human world, having the inability to really delve into those details makes everything feel less engaging.

this book suffered from a lack of character development and detailed world-building and the writing was awfully repetitive. if fennick was described as smelling of pine and mint and waterfalls one more time, i was going to scream.

in short: i wasn’t bored, nor excited reading this.

Enter into a gorgeous world of dragons, magic and witches, curses, and clashing feelings in Perez's Crown of Slumber.

I could not put this down. I fought off sleep so I could continue to read this in one night. The world Perez has created is gorgeous and brilliant and full of color and love. I drooled over the love story's enemies to lovers and forbidden love.

A good Sleeping Beauty Retelling is shown in a completely different way with different twists. Dragons, Witches, Gobblins and other creatures, betrayals, spice, romance, and themed courts. I really enjoyed this retelling and loved the story and the twists and turns it entailed. The themed courts were my favourite and loved the descriptions of the ones we got to encounter and wish they were bounced upon more. Hopefully, in other books to follow. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable book.

4 out of 5 stars!

Whoever decides to write a re-telling of Sleeping Beauty, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite fairytale of all time, becomes an instant favorite person of mine.

I love the world building, the twist, the characters and everything in between that happened in this book.

“Crown of Slumber,” by R. L. Perez

I loved this book. I liked the entire sleeping curse plot because it reminded me of sleeping beauty. I loved the two main characters, Aurelia and Fennick, I loved their bickering and enemies to lover’s type thing going on, and the lack of trust that had to be chiseled off throughout the book. I loved the dragons and the unique bond between them and Aurelia. I loved how Fennick despite being from a brutal and evil country he is quite good hearted and wants what’s best for everyone even if that means he doesn’t get what he wants. 5 out of 5 stars.

-Dragons
-Witches
-Fae
-Enemies To Lovers
-Marriage of Convenience/ Fake Engagement

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

I devoured this! So good, easy to follow, great story, yummy MMC. It had me gripped almost immediately. I do feel some bit where left dangling (winter court involvement) but I'm assuming they might be addressed in the next installment. Honestly was a great read and I will definitely be recommending and getting a physical copy on release

* This review has also been posted in Goodreads.
* It has been posted in the said platform on 8th September, 2024.



 
Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me with an ARC of "Crown of Slumber", first book of the "Crowns Of The Fae" series. I have rated this book a 4.25 stars.



To briefly summarize the story, I could say it started off with the introduction of the FMC who needs a substance called stardust (which was available only in the enemy kingdom), following with parallel POVs of the MMC who desperately needs something to replace the stardust that they're running out of very quickly (I think you can guess where this 'replacement' could be found).

And then the sleeping curse suddenly falls upon the FMC's kingdom and she finds herself no one else to turn to but the MMC. This is when the bargain is struck and the crazy stuff starts. Twists, secrets, pain, betrayal, love, everything crazy you can think of is added to the mix.




Now, I am going to state all the negatives first (because I really want to end my review on a positive note) :-

⁍ Sometimes, I felt that the flow of the story was a bit off. There are some abrupt things that happen and mostly I think that they were the declarations or confessions. The MMC's developing feelings were evident and I did spot the moments, however, I couldn't say the same about the FMC.

⁍ Last point. I found a few loopholes, especially when the fact that faes couldn't lie were stated and yet at some point they did lie and it wasn't questioned. But yes, I could see that many times the author had clarified about the lies and truths. Still, if the book is read properly, this could be spotted, specifically when the MC's were under the pretense of an engagement.





As I am supposed to give an honest review, I had to include these but I promise, that's it. No more problems on my part. So, to lighten the mood a bit, the most my next part of the review is about to start.



➼ The plot was surprisingly intriguing (taking into consideration about the fact that I had never really tried fairy-tale retellings). I didn't know that the sleeping curse and villainous themes could be included in such an interesting manner, that too in a FAE romantasy. The romance was beautiful and for once the lovers were actually ENEMIES because their families had been in a feud for a long time.


➼ The MMC was the proper definition of a cinnamon roll while the FMC probably couldn't get any grumpier than she already was. Yet, they were attracted to one another, and consciously or subconsciously were falling for each other.
Tons of spice were also present but their love always seemed genuine and pure. That felt good because I haven't come across stuff like that in quite some time.
And when they finally got their HEA (kind of), the inner turmoil that I was experiencing due to their separation and lots of other things, dissolved completely.




To conclude, it was a fascinating, bewitching and highly entertaining ride.
Can't wait for Azure's story!!! ✨✨✨

𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟒.𝟓✰
𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩.”

“𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙖𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩.”

“𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙, 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙. 𝙁𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨.”

“𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖, 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚.”

“𝙈𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙨. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙜𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠, 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙠𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚.”

💭𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
This book took retelling of Sleeping Beauty to a whole new level and made it entirely its own. It created a balanced and engaging story that stands out. The plot was paced beautifully, dealing with themes of trust, acceptance, and deep character growth. The world-building was easy to follow, which was refreshing for a fantasy novel where things can often get complicated.

Aurelia, the fierce and resilient FMC, was a joy to read—her strength and determination made her an inspiring heroine. Fennick, on the other hand, had me swooning with his warmth and the way he falls hard and fast for Aurelia. He’s the perfect embodiment of the “falls first and falls harder” trope, and I ate it up!

The romance was as steamy as it was slow-burning, with plenty of tension and banter between the characters that kept me hooked.

For my Romantasy lovers, who loved enemies to lovers, mmc falls and falls harder, slow burn & banter this one is for you.
This releases on September 15th 🤗

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘙.𝘓. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘻 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥! 🗺️

A Sleeping Beauty retelling with fae, witches, ogres, goblins AND dragons? Sign me up!

While I, personally, give the spice level a 2, I will say it was so good. You have enemies-to-lovers, fake engagement, forced proximity and he falls first. This still gave me major feels of the original classic all while spinning it for us romance novel loving adults.

The journey Fenn and Aurelia go on kept me turning the pages. I love the twist the author put on this classic tale and am definitely wanting to continue the series. Thank you NetGalley for providing me the opportunity and this is my honest review!

I put this in my cozy reads category!

If you have been looking for a book to make you feel the way ACOTAR and Fourth Wing did, this is the book for you! It has everything you could want: dragons, fae, witches, and magical curses. If ACOTAR and Fourth Wing fell in love and had a child, this would be their beautiful creation. I have had a hard time reading fantasy because nothing ever seemed to measure up. Well, R.L. Perez, you did it, and you now have a fan for life.

The writing was wonderful and fast-paced. The world building was perfect and not drawn out. The characters were well rounded and so lovable!

This is a standalone Sleeping Beauty retelling, the first in a series of standalones. I can't wait for the next installment!

I had my expectation so low, I won't be disappointed because Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorite of all time. And this book has surpassed the bar

I definitely got hooked from the very first beginning. The writing makes you glide smoothly throughout the book. The writing though I feel like it leans toward young adult.
My issue despite the plot being okay, is how the world building feels a bit lacking to me. I was hoping it can give me something more because I believe it's a new adult, so I kind of expected more elaborate world building.
The FMC was insufferable enough for me. And the MMC smirks too much

Nevertheless, the dragons were why I got it through. Jorey is a cutie, I thought we would get more Jorey through the book, but unfortunately no Jorey (this is very disappointing)

Overall it was okay, not so life changing, but you can give it a try.
Please check the trigger warnings

Thank You NetGalley, Willow Haven Press, for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for honest review

This is a sleeping beauty retelling you’ve never read before. It’s like a completely new story, with some sleeping beauty Easter eggs and I loved it!
First I was unsure, cause it’s written in first person and I still don’t like first person narrative, sorryyy. But after a few chapters it stopped to bother me and I was sucked into the story. I would say, the last third of the book I couldn’t put it aside.

“He tilted his head at me, his eyes darkening with a fire that made my stomach clench. He wasn’t even touching me and my skin felt hot from his nearness.”

Finally, I’ve found a book with a perfect amount of spice and I just love the enemies to lovers trope, so I got all in wanted!
But I do have to admit, in the end was some spice in the dream-realm and it felt rather odd and inappropriate, I don’t know.

It was so good, that the drama and tension in this book was not because some lack of communication or some pointless argument but just some reasonable problems that had to be solved.

“As much as I hated to admit it, I needed him. Not just for our bargain or for my own protection, but for myself. He grounded me. He understood me. I needed him.”

I loved the story, the whole idea and the plot twists. It was exciting, suspenseful and unpredictable!
But the end was quite disappointing, there was no epilogue?!?! Oh, I do love epilogues with some look into the future; maybe some scene from the wedding or Gigi’s coronation and Aurelia can live entirely in the star court, I don’t know. But this ending was unsatisfying..

I love when fairytale retellings are done well, and this one was so creative and imaginative, while still managing to stick to the classic feel of the original Sleeping Beauty. I like that the MMC and FMC have their own reasons for going on this journey together that don't revolve around the other person. I love that the FMC isn't a damsel in distress like she is in the classic.

This was such a fast-paced read, and definitely one I'd recommend if you like romantic fantasy! Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc!

Thank you to Willow Haven Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to expect:

🐉Sleeping Beauty retelling
👑Seasonal courts
❤️Witches, Dragons, Fae
🐉He falls first
👑Forced proximity
❤️One bed
🐉Fake engagement
👑MMC nickname for FMC - Little Firebird ❤️‍🔥

In this story, we follow Princess Aurelia of the Summer Court and Prince Fenn of the Midnight Court, who enter a blood bargain and cross courts to help save both of their realms.

From the moment I read the blurb, I knew this book would be for me, and I was hooked right from the start, "Dragons made much better company than fae nobles."

The characters were likable, and the plot was easy to follow. As a Sleeping Beauty retelling, I enjoyed seeing the familiar elements uniquely woven in, along with some unexpected twists.

I’ll definitely be continuing the Crowns of the Fae series and look forward to reading more of R. L. Perez’s work.