Cover Image: Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Something of a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale that abandons the premise early on to tell a story about the Sleeping Beauty trying to get into ballet school.  Weak manga influenced art.
Was this review helpful?
I really enjoyed this book. The artwork was gorgeous, it was definitely an interesting read and take on Sleeping Beauty. I loved it.
Was this review helpful?
This was a nice manga style production of the classic Sleeping Beauty story. I enjoyed the story very much.
Was this review helpful?
Time travelling story. This comic was really good. Hahaha. Still a sucker for graphic novels and manga. And this one is one of my first read comics. I really did quite enjoyed it!!!
Was this review helpful?
A beautifully illustrated re-telling of Sleeping Beauty in which "Aurora" is actually Oxana, a ballet dancer who is cursed during the premiere of the Sleeping Beauty Ballet. She falls into a deep sleep and wakes up 100 years later (without the icky non-consensual kiss) with no memories of her life at an arts school where she is befriended by Aria, a pianist, and Leonide, another ballet dancer.
There is also a mysterious man, dressed in white, who is rumored to be a jwel thief. He is the one who gives Oxana a strange necklace that glows each time she dances.
Was this review helpful?
I admit that I left for this reticent book after reading some less positive reviews.
But I had a surprise. What I thought was a simple story proved to be a mixture of mystery and romance. Only pity, it's so small.
I look forward to Act II!
Was this review helpful?
A young woman is the star in the ballet Sleeping Beauty, but something happens to make her fall asleep for 100 years, just like the story. When she wakes up, the young woman pledges to become Sleeping Beauty again. This book's concept sounded interesting, but it's execution was a little too rushed for me. The characters were introduced quickly, and then everything moved on. I had too many questions like, how is this girl able to sneak into a prestigious dance school? How can her friends accept her story so easily? Why don't her friends give her modern clothes for heaven's sake? At least the art was pretty. I might give the second book a try if I find it.
Was this review helpful?
Oh, my heart! How I wanted to fall head over heels into the world of a ballet inspired retelling of Sleeping Beauty. And I did for the most part. Oxana, the main character of this graphic novel, has a curse laid over her and she falls into a slumber lasting 100 years,,,,,blah blah blah... You know the drill. So she wakes up, no memory of her life before and begins this life as a ballet dancer. That's cool. But what about the curse?! The story about her becoming a dancer again and regaining her memories and the friendships she finds is WONDERFUL, but we hear almost nothing about this curse. That frustrated me. But, that's a personal preference, not an end all, be all. The art was very interesting as well. I enjoyed the color scheme, it was a darker and more sinister type of scheme. I enjoyed being able to explore a side of the story that I'd not thought of, or heard of. Karina's use of ballet and music, along with the visual art, created a story that was read quickly and easily. 4/5 stars!
Was this review helpful?
Oxana, new dancer at the Paris Opera, is a victim of a curse: plunged into a deep sleep on the night of the performance, she only wakes up 100 years later. Karina's comic book mixes a Sleeping Beauty's rewriting with a world of classical dance: a promising and intriguing book, but which, unfortunately, reveals itself disappointing...

I was very attracted to the world of classical dance and opera: it is a theme that interests me and I like reading about it. In addition to the tale of Sleeping Beauty, I was very intrigued. On this side, the comic book keeps its promise: the story takes place behind closed doors in the dance academy in which Oxana wakes up. Once a promising ballerina, she must now pass auditions again and learn everything she has forgotten. We attend classes, performances, rehearsals, fittings, etc. The Sleeping Beauty is a nice glimpse behind the scenes of classical dance.
As for the drawings, I found them cute. The colors were also pretty, in the spirit of the book, but perhaps deserved to be a little brighter.

Characters' treatments is probably what disappointed me the most. I was bored in my reading, although very short (maybe too short?), unable to attach myself to the characters. I found them flat, without great relief, with reactions too naive and childish - not to mention Oxana, probably the most naive of all! The time travel is hardly exploited, and Oxana does not seem to be more traumatized than that (waking up in the 21st century, with cars, phones, all the technology must be terrifying!). The mysteries of the book are perhaps a little too well kept, and because of this, some characters appear a little too mysterious, and not necessarily likeable.

The comic ends nevertheless on the hope of a promising continuation. If I do not think to renew the experience, I think this series will appeal to all the lovers of dance, looking for a light and enjoyable reading for the summer!
Was this review helpful?
I thought this was so cute! Thank you Netgalley for the arc. I liked the art and the outfit she was wearing.
Was this review helpful?
With nice and colorful art, we have a new turn on the Sleeping Beauty, now we have Aurora be a dancer, that for some evil doins ends up sleeping for years and years until a vigilante ends up in her tower. 

The story is cute, with lots of mystery of who the white masked man is, who is the one that had bewitched our dear protagonist to sleep forever more.
Was this review helpful?
Ohhhh anime ballerinas.
The artwork is adorable but the story is a bit clunky.  It takes a while to get into the flow of the story.  3.5 stars.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Was this review helpful?
Honestly, I feel like the ending was too incomplete. I really wished the story was a bit more resolved in this first volume, as I don't like when I'm kind of being pressured into picking up the second volume. The story was alright, but I really wished it had been more of a sleeping beauty retelling. The artwork was pretty, though.
Was this review helpful?
I loved the art in this manga styled Sleeping Beauty. It was very pretty and if there is one thing I like is pretty manga. As for the story, I liked this retelling of the classic fairy tale. It was cute and mysterious. I would love to read the next volumes to see how it ends.
Was this review helpful?
A comic that will definitely appeal to girls with a fancy for dancing and the ballet.  Way back when, a young girl was given the premiere of Sleeping Beauty, only for a nasty type dancing opposite her to curse her to centuries' sleep, just like her character.  When she is woken up it's at the urging of a Man in White, who seems to be funding his mysterious lifestyle by thieving things from the dance academy leaders.  But is he only stealing things back – after all, the dark-haired criminal of the past was light-fingered?  Anyway, in the modern day our heroine is awake, and befriended by two bezzies who want her to study there.  Which is all well and good, but nobody can tell what convoluted mess she'll end up in…

And neither can the readers, really, for this is clearly a small part of a much bigger series – if this is wrapped up in a trilogy I'd be surprised.  All the modern characters are descendants of the people behind her slumbers, for a start, and there's a sort of magical necklace charging itself on her slowly returning memories…  The fantasy of it, and the Mitteleuropean setting and glamour is all good.  What clearly wasn't was the manga trappings – why something this potentially classy has to be childish with sound effects and show characters as about five years old when presenting their more emotive states, I'll never know.  Still, even if this clearly isn't targeted at the likes of me I wouldn't be averse to finding out what the full story is.  Three and a half stars.
Was this review helpful?
I was sent this book by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this version of Sleeping Beauty, it was different and unexpected. The art work is beautiful and I found myself just stopping to look at some of the images. The plot kept me guessing as to what was going on, why things were happening and how everything fit together. 

The only part I did not like was that it ended on a cliffhanger! I wanted more! I was left with so many questions and now I will have to wait to see what happened. 

I recommend this book to anyone who loves graphic novels and the story of Sleeping Beauty, but with a twist!
Was this review helpful?
"Sleeping Beauty" is a very sweet and beautiful illustrated Graphic Novel adding a new aspect to the well-known story of Sleeping Beauty. The illustration are gorgeous and vivid. You are consumed into the story and everything becomes alive on the page. Every character is individually illustrated, so it is very easy to recognize them. They have a Manga-esque feeling and their emotions are transported very well via gestures and mimique. The story is interesting and the cliffhanger at the end really gets you excited for the next volume. The setting feels like an American Highschool setting with all the drama and all the feels. It is really sweet and you definitely see the love trinagle and conflict coming.I really enjoyed reading "Sleeping Beauty". It's a short Graphic Novel to consume and to dream. I'd definitely recommend it, especially for fans of Anastasia!
Was this review helpful?
1.5 stars.

It was a quick read but the story is too fast paced with barely any details and moreover too unrealistic even for a fiction. There's barely any time for emotions to sink in even, it quickly just jumps to the next scene. This is more like a children's comic rather than general fiction (adult). The art is nice during important scenes but most of the time it looks rushed with barely any details.
Was this review helpful?
Absolutely stunning. I love the artwork in this and Karina tells a compelling story, the perfect blend of magic and mystery. I love the way that ballet and the original story of Sleeping Beauty are used in the story too. The only problem is that I want to know more about what happened and want the next installment immediately!
Was this review helpful?
I wanted to like this. I really enjoyed the ballet elements and dance scenes in here, and the simplistic beauty of the artwork was perfect for that.But the storyline?? It's pretty much non-existent and is literally summed up in the blurb.

Oxana (wtf kind of name is that anyways?) and all the other characters are nothing more than pretty drawings who talk. There is really no depth to this story and honestly no ode to the original fairy tale except that there is the ballet 'Sleeping Beauty' and Oxana is apparently cursed to sleep for a hundred years. But there is no kiss that awakens her, she maybe has half a page of a confused reaction to the modern world she finds herself in, and the "mystery" of the story is all confusing and not at all intriguing.

So while the artwork is pretty, this ultimately feels more like a quick Tumblr sketch idea instead of an actual graphic novel story. The author has artistic talent but I think they should focus on developing their storytelling, too.
Was this review helpful?