Their escape was a bit of a stretch to my suspension of disbelief, but I think this is the part of the story where I began to warm to the two characters as they alternatively clashed and bonded on their adventures.įor the first time, Talia is free from restrictions as a princess and can speak to people without her rank being an issue. Jack just wants to go home and has no intention of marrying Talia, while she is sure he’s her destiny – how else could he wake her? So Talia sneaks off with Jack to his world, telling him she just needs a guide to ease her into the modern age, but really planning to make him fall in love with her. Dungeons and armor are alien to Jack, while technology like watches, cell phones, and air planes blow Talia away. When Talia and Jack meet, the huge culture and generation gap lies between the two: Jack doesn’t understand Talia’s old-fashioned values, while Talia is shocked by Jack’s casualness about a kiss. Of course, being rather obnoxious to the locals, they get deliberately wrong directions and end up looking at a wall of brambles. Jack convinces his friend Travis (also sent on the same trip) to sneak out of the tour and go to the beach. Jack comes off as ungrateful about his luck as well: his parents have sent him off on a trip to Europe by himself over the summer, and all he can do is complain about how bored he is, how his girlfriend just dumped him, and how little his parents want him around. Talia comes off as somewhat spoiled in the sense that she knows that she’s a princess and smart and pretty and accomplished, and she has a chip on her shoulder about her treatment because of her curse. My Thoughts: The perspective in this book goes back and forth between Talia and Jack, and while both have humorous voices, neither make the best first impression. Talia is horrified to find out how much has changed: boys can kiss girls without meaning to marry them! Almost three hundred years pass before Talia wakes up to find Jack, a American teenager (from Florida) standing over her. Then the day comes when despite all her parents’ efforts, the inevitable happens.

Talia may be cossetted, but she’s also confined. All her life, Talia has been cautioned against spindles and her terrified parents have made sure she’s never alone. She will prick a spindle on her sixteenth birthday and she and the whole kingdom will fall into a magical sleep until True Love’s kiss awakens her.

The Premise: Princess Talia is the sheltered daughter of the King and Queen of Euphrasia, gifted with beauty, musical talent, and intelligence, but also burdened by a curse.

I enjoyed Beastly when I read it last year (my review: ), so was happy to find a copy of another YA modern fairytale retelling by Alex Flinn, this time a riff on Sleeping Beauty.

A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn