ARC Review: Long, Long Sleep

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan
Releases Date: August 9, 2011
Published By: Candlewick Press
Pages: 352
Young Adult
Source: netgalley
Overall: 4- Fabulous!

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.

My thoughts:

I honestly don't know how I would categorize A Long, Long Sleep beyond a mix of all things good.  Dystopian-ish, sci-fi-ish, romantic-ish, mysterisy-ish.

Anna Sheehan painted us a world in a time where the concepts of life are still ultimately the same with the new wave of electronics and communication systems, along with evolving transportation and fad words, in a light which left me truly seeing the slightly foreign world from Rosalinda Fitzroy's eyes.  The sci-fi-ish-ness (love that word there?) of this new time isn't so over the top it is overwhelming.  A Long, Long Sleep is touched by the sci-fi factor and it wears it well, not too thick and perfect for those who tend to neglect the sci-fi-ish books, like myself.

Money and power seem to be a driving force in A Long, Long Sleep, which actually, in a way, paves the way for the whole story with Rose and how she ended up in her stasis tube, only to be awoken 62 years later.  The power and money influences weave themselves throughout the book justifying what is, what isn't and what happened.

The romance in A Long, Long Sleep was all over the place but it worked.  I loved how, like the sci-fi aspects, it wasn't too thick and there was a real story line beyond Rose's past, unrequited, and possible love factors.  The connection between Rose and Xavier, the boy she loved before her 62 year hiatus, was one that was brought to life by the moments Anna Sheehan showed us before Rose's extended stasis.  Rose's new friend, and possible interest Bren, is another which is brought to life by Anna's hand.  The connection, the moments, the way Rose feels her past in her future.  I will admit there is a certain oddity to the love between Rose and Xavier but it worked and it wasn't anything but tasteful and true.  We can't forget Rose's friendship with Otto, a supposed failed-experiment.  It was a connection that was true to them and their time.  Neither the past or previous connections dictated the sincerity and understanding between the two and I absolutely adored that about those them.

Honestly, this whole story was a pleasant surprise for me.  Never did I expect to be up until two a.m. finishing this book after starting it at eleven.  I devoured every word of this Rose's story and enjoyed doing it.  All aspects of this book were balanced beautifully.  The love, the abandonment, the betrayal, the loyalty, the past, the future.  

With beautiful writing like this I will definitely picking up anything else Anna Sheehan may put out.  As well as Rose's story was concluded my feelings definitely wouldn't be hurt if at some point we received a report to see how Rose, Bren, Otto, and Xavier were doing.  And at the risk of sounding fan-girlish, I'm Team Otto all the way.

Cover: 4
Characters: 5
Plot:4
Re-Readable: I think so, yes.
Overall: 4