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A Kiss in Time
A Kiss in Time
A Kiss in Time
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A Kiss in Time

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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About this ebook

Talia fell under a spell . . . . Jack broke the curse.

I was told to beware the accursed spindle, but it was so enchanting, so hypnotic. . . .

I was looking for a little adventure the day I ditched my tour group. But finding a comatose town, with a hot-looking chick asleep in it, was so not what I had in mind.

I awakened in the same place but in another time—to a stranger's soft kiss.

I couldn't help kissing her. Sometimes you just have to kiss someone. I didn't know this would happen.

Now I am in dire trouble because my father, the king, says I have brought ruin upon our country. I have no choice but to run away with this commoner!

Now I'm stuck with a bratty princess and a trunk full of her jewels. . . . The good news: My parents will freak!

Think you have dating issues? Try locking lips with a snoozing stunner who turns out to be 316 years old. Can a kiss transcend all—even time?

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperTeen
Release dateApr 28, 2009
ISBN9780061909719
Author

Alex Flinn

Alex Flinn loves fairy tales and is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Beastly, a spin on Beauty and the Beast that was named a VOYA Editor’s Choice and an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Beastly is now a major motion picture starring Vanessa Hudgens. Alex also wrote A Kiss in Time, a modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty; Cloaked, a humorous fairy-tale mash-up; Bewitching, a reimagining of fairy-tale favorites, including Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, and The Little Mermaid, all told by Kendra, the witch from Beastly; Towering, a darkly romantic take on Rapunzel; and Mirrored, a fresh spin on Snow White. Her other books for teens include Breathing Underwater, Breaking Point, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black, and Diva. She lives in Miami with her family. Visit her online at www.alexflinn.com.

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Reviews for A Kiss in Time

Rating: 3.94 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Flinn does it again. She manages to make these fairy tale retellings like candy for me, and I nom them like candy. This Sleeping Beauty retelling was a tasty morsel and I ate it up.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A cute read that made me giggle. Unrealistic and fluffy but fun. I liked how the not so great parents stepped it up at the end.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was an interesting retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I like that it takes place in modern time and that it has the POV of both main characters. Jack was pretty annoying and selfish a lot of the time but he develops well and I ended up really liking him in the end. I also thought the ending was really well done.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    amazing book, one of my favorites!!!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    stayed up to finish it til 5 am. laughed like a lunatic. cried when it seemed there'd be some horrible irreversible occurrence. one of my best reads this year.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Jack wakes Talia up after 300 years of sleep. She is amazed to find herself in the 21st century but her father is livid and blames her for the ruination of his nation. Talia runs away with Jack but fears that because he doesn't seem to love her she may be put back to sleep. Jack is on a European tour when he tries to sneak of to the beach and ends up in an old castle where he wakes a sleeping princess. He takes her home to Florida with him and introduces her to the 21st century.

    I really loved this book even though it took me a while to get going because of real life getting in the way. The book goes back and forth between Talia and Jack and I loved getting to watch them fall for each other and how much they each grew as individuals.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I read this book when I was in junior high and to this day it is still my favorite book. This book is a modern day sleeping beauty. In fact the princess in this story, Talia, is the descendant of sleeping beauty. Talia fell under a spell by an accursed spindle and Jack, a modern boy from the 21st century awoke her. Talia was under the spell for hundreds of years and when she woke up she was in a whole new world. Throughout Talia and Jack's journey they discover new adventures and challenges as their relationship grows closer. I would use this book in my future classroom to teach my students similarities and differences between time periods and cultures.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is a modern re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. On the eve of the 16th birthday Princess Talia (Aurora is a middle name), pricks her finger on a spindle and she and everyone in the kingdom fall into a deep sleep, never to awaken until her one true love awakens her with a kiss. Three hundred years later, Jack is on a European tour. Bored with museums and churches he convinces his friend Travis to ditch the tour and head for the beach. But they get lost and discover the abandoned kingdom. When he comes across a “hot chick” he can’t control his impulse to kiss her. Voila!

    These two young people are very unlikeable. Talia is a spoiled and selfish brat. Jack is constantly acting out in an effort to get his parents’ attention. I admit that over the course of the novel they do manage to mature and grow, helping one another see how their past behaviors haven’t helped and that a different approach might actually succeed.

    Still there were MANY cringe-worthy scenes and tortured dialogue. The way in which Jack gets Talia back to his home in Miami Florida was implausible in the extreme. There is something appealing about fantasy and fairy tales, but this hybrid doesn’t quite hit the mark for me. I was never transported and the effort to modernize the tale seemed obvious and forced.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    More enjoyable than some of Flinn's other novels.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As I have said countless times, I love fairytale re-writes so a re-write of Sleeping Beauty written by the author who did Beastly was always going to be a win. I kinda loved this. I know, it's a fluff book and all that but I like fluff books sometimes. The princess, Talia starts off bratty and is kissed by Jack, who is a jerk to begin with and it basically goes from there as Talia has to deal with her father's pouting when he wakes up after 300 years asleep to find that his kingdom has no allies and the world is now completely different because it's been 300 years so she decides to run away with Jack, because she's convinced he's her true love. Jack, feeling some sort of pity and an urge to show his ex who cheated on him that he'd moved on agrees (after he's been flung in the dungeons of course.)

    It's just a fun book, and I loved Talia - it was kinda fun to get alternating chapters between her and Jack and you get to see the progression in them both which is good. Sure, it doesn't have the same kinda dark edge that Beastly had but it's a nice way to kill a few hours and I think I needed the light stuff since I'm about to start a book which is probably going to take the extra time I've created the last few weeks to finish.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this book?❤️One of my few favorites. I think that this book portrays the good side of a teen and then the bad side. I love it. I wish that there was a movie made after it. Maybe in the future
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed this retelling of the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. In this version of the story, both the female lead, the male lead, and several supporting characters have lessons to learn about themselves and how they are living their lives. It's nice to have a story that shows so many characters involved in personal growth. I also really enjoy having a fairy tale retold in more current times, it brings a uniqueness to the story that is intriguing to me. I have read other books by Flinn, and so far have not been disappointed. I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves the classic fairy tales, or even the Disney versions, as well as anyone who enjoys reading about princesses and royalty.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The best way I can describe the book "A Kiss in Time" would be to say that it is a modern day Sleeping Beauty with sass.Princess Talia of Euphrasia is pricked by a spindle the day before her 16th birthday and is only awaken some 300 years later by a modern day boy named Jack who is from Florida but was forced on a summer trip through Europe by his somewhat absent parents. Talia is presented as a spoiled Princess with an attitude, but once the spell is cast and she and all those in the Kingdom are introduced to modern life, things begin to change. Jack is somewhat neglected by his parents and is bored by the bus trip that takes him from one tourist museum to the next. Breaking the rules by going off on his own in search of a beach, he stumbles upon the closed off city of Euphrasia and wakes the princess. He ends up taking her back to Florida and well, I don't want to spoil anything else. I thought that the book was well written and the characters really grew on you. Both Talia and Jack were funny and I really enjoyed their different perspectives of everyday things, as one was from the 1600s and the other from an American teenager and yet the former's perspective wasn't stuffy or formal as many things were in that time period (compared to modern day) but were shown from a fum and sassy way while still following the cultural norms and ideals of the 1600s. I thought the book was a bit long however, as the element of magic towards the end of the book, that is, the way that he ends up saving the princess from the evil witch (for a second time) seemed kind of redundant to me, but I supposed it had to different from the original story. All in all, it was a funny book that I really enjoyed. I have never been a big fan of Sleeping Beauty myself, so it was really nice to take a look at a newer version of the story and see it jazzed up a bit.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The rating for this book is between 3.5 and 4 stars. This is my first Alex Flinn book. It's a modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty where Sleeping Beauty is a spoiled princess and her Prince Charming kissed her because she's hot. Sounds like a fun story, right?Talia, our Sleeping Beauty, was gifted with many things like beauty and intelligence. But then she is cursed by a witch and falls aseep for 300 years. Jack, her Prince Charming, was looking for the beach when he stumbled upon her castle. There's a hot, unconscious girl on the floor and what does he do? He kisses her. And madness and love ensues.My favorite character was definitely Talia. She was smart and kind and also a little naive because she's suddenly 300 years into the future. Jack was a great character too. Not the most memorable protagonist, but he was tolerable. We don't learn much about the rest of the characters. A plus for this story is that the characters aren't instantly in love. Their relationship develops throughout the novel.If you like fairy tale retellings, I recommend you read this book. It's light and fun and only took me a day to read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Flinn does it again. She manages to make these fairy tale retellings like candy for me, and I nom them like candy. This Sleeping Beauty retelling was a tasty morsel and I ate it up.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Pages: 371Release Date: April 28th, 2008Date Read: 2011, May 14th-18thReceived: OwnRating: 4/5 starsRecommended to: 15+Reviewed for Fairy Tale Fortnight.Summary -Spindles are an illegal device not to be had. At least, not in Euphrasia. Euphrasia is a small country near Belgium, and its princess, Talia, has been put under a spell. A spell that says she will prick her finger on a spindle before her sixteenth birthday, and she will die. The good fairies tried to change the spell, so now the entire kingdom will fall asleep upon Talia's spindle-pricking. Until a prince, Talia's true love, comes to the castle and kisses her awake. Talia's parents have done all they can to secure that Talia would not prick her finger on a spindle, but when the evil witch's curse comes to pass anyway, the entire kingdom passes into a deep sleep, a hedge grows around their small country, and the rest of the world forgets there ever was a Euphrasia...Until the day when Jack, an attention-starved high-schooler from Miami, Florida, happens upon the hedge of briars during his boring and uneventful trip to Europe. When he enters the castle and finds Talia, he feels the unexplainable urge to kiss her - not to mention he suddenly knows her name. When he does kiss her, she wakes in his arms and he is forced to help her - and save his own hide from her angry father, the King-No-More of Euphrasia. But with Talia convinced he is her true love, he won't be getting rid of her very easily. At least it'll make his parents mad...My thoughts -I devoured this book easily. It wasn't that the writing was easy to read (however, that is also true), but more so that the story flowed so well I couldn't put it down. There was no break in the character development or story-line. I was entranced in the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty as though I hadn't heard it a hundred and one times before.I was absolutely surprised at how much I liked this book. Jack and Talia are both memorable characters; the events of the story are well-placed; it is very original for being yet another retelling of a fairytale. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the present tense, first person standpoint, which normally really bothers me. But not this time. This time I was thoroughly engrossed and loved feeling as though I was there. And on top of that, this book is funny. And I mean FUN. NY! Laugh out loud, giggly, hilarious, whatever you want to call it. It pretty much made me laugh all the time. (Especially Talia's reaction to telephones and TV's...and Jack's reaction to the clothes she gives him from her time-period. They were both so confused!)Alex Flinn does a great job at comparing and contrasting the culture Talia comes from and the culture that she has now been thrust into. The innocence of the 16, 17, and 18oo's is greatly played upon. Talia is disgusted by all the almost-all-the-way naked women at the beach, and is shocked by the half-naked women around town (compared to floor length dresses and covered bosoms...yah, they were practically naked). She hates how the young girls are flaunting themselves in Jack's presence; how Jack's friends treat each other and themselves (which is terrible); how Jack feels like he can't talk to his parents or sister. (What a culture we live in, to not know how to use the power of speech! Talia's point on this is quite driving and really struck me as serious and realistic.)There was only one (literally, only one) drawback in this story for me. The love story. I know, I know. Sucks, doesn't it?Well, the love story was good. It was sweet and innocent.......but a bit choppy. It wasn't until I was half of the way finished when I realized this. Nothing much, except the first kiss at the beginning and Talia being beautiful, happened that would make the characters love each other. (And that's not even very convincing, sorry!) No deciding factors, no developing thoughts about it. Just, half-way through: "I think I'm falling for him." and "I think I'm falling for her." Jack's attempts to save Talia from her curse (read it to know what I mean!) were great but still...there was something missing. And their moment of discovering that they truly love each other had no spark, no firecrackers. It was just... "Yay, they love each other." Not: "Oh my GOSH they are so in love and are so passionate about each other!!!" Which kind of disappointed me, since I know Alex Flinn has that capacity. She did it masterfully in Beastly. I just wish there had been more of that in A Kiss in Time.My favorite character -Jack. He was great and real. Easy to get along with, but kind of a push over. Passionate about things, but afraid to tell his parents what he wants to do with his life. Blind to his faults, but when they are presented to him, he wants to change... These are all things that make a character real and human and just plain awesome.My favorite aspect of the story -Tali'a's innocence. Now, she may know that she's drop-dead-gorgeous, but she knows this in a...young kind of way. The way her "newness" affects the story and Jack's life and makes him a better person is just phenomenal. I loved that and applauded her when the story was over.One word I would use to sum up this book (and final thoughts) -Cute. So, so cute. Everything about it was cute, even the romance. I think the lack of "passion" in the romance was what made it "cute". I will most definitely be reading this book again, and hopefully soon. I am officially a huge Alex Flinn fan and recommend this book to ages 15/16 and up.For the parents - Teenage boys will be teenage boys... About 10-15 short references throughout the book to hot girls, their sizes, and what they're wearing. But the biggest thing is the party: drinking and girls. A bunch of underage high schoolers get together to drink and make out (and possibly more, though it wasn't even referenced to). Talia is taken unawares when this guy from Jack's school gives her too much to drink and he tries to take her clothes off once he gets her further away from the party. It's a very quick scene (with minimal description - nothing much happens 'cause the dude doesn't get very far before Talia lashes out), during which Talia realizes her folly, Jack realizes his stupidity in bringing her as a way to get back at his ex, and both learn a huge lesson in maturity.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    What I LikedSleeping BeautyI do enjoy new versions of fairy tales. This version takes the old story and puts a modern spin on things. Making the princess sleep for 100 years and the boy be anything but a charming prince, more like a selfish modern day boy. The heart of Sleeping Beauty still remains within the story, a curse, pricked by a spindle, sleeps for a long time, awakens by loves 1st kiss and than things get a little different.Not My FavoriteCharactersPrincess Talia: Spoiled, selfish brat and she stays this way for a long time, Only when she it taken away from the castle and people don't know she is a princess does her attitude finally change and she becomes a more likeable character.Jack: I would consider him a privileged kid that is crying out of attention by causing issues. He likes to party and is obsessed with his ex-girlfriend who cheated on him. He too also makes a turn around when he realized he is responsible for Talia's safety. By The EndI did come to like the characters and I was rooting for them to be together. I enjoyed the new twist that was added and I like how everything turned out.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this book. I didn't think I would. I thought I would like it, but I didn't think I would love it. It is such a brilliant twist on an old story. The only part I didn't really like was the end because it felt kinda rushed, but the characterization and the way that the book was written from both Jack and Talia's points-of-view really made the story come alive. A quick and fun read!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another fractured fairy tale from Alex Flinn! This time, it's Sleeping Beauty that gets the modern-day treatment from Flinn. Talia is the princess, and she's no Disney sweetheart. The only child of the King and Queen of Euphrasia in the 1700s, Talia has had the required christening that went bad, with the "prick-your-finger-on-a-spindle" curse from the uninvited witch Malvolia. Talia is whiny, spoiled and selfish -- almost makes you root for the witch! Three hundred years later, Talia is awakened by Jack O'Neill, an American teenager who accidentally discovers the sleeping kingdom of Euphrasia while trying desperately to ditch his boring European tour group. A kiss from Jack, and Talia awakens -- to find her father mad at her, and Jack not interested in marrying her! The modern world collides with the medieval when Jack and Talia escape and run off to Miami... where Jack's parents aren't too happy with him either (along with his sister and his ex-girlfriend). This one isn't as fluffy as the cover would lead you to believe. It's got a good plot and some fun surprises, and it'll be a good beach read for the summer! 7th grade and up.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Modern(ish) retelling of Sleeping Beauty.In this day and age, there is no justification for kissing an unconscious stranger, so from the beginning Jack was a less-than-ideal hero, and for someone who is supposed to have magically-enhanced intelligence, Talia is uninteresting and not particularly bright for most of the story. Both of their parents are awful (and often unreasonable) for most of it as well.In addition to the character issues, the writing is not very good. I might have enjoyed this when I was an adolescent, but I don't recommend it to adult readers.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In the beginning I did not care for Talia or Jack. They were each so selfish and spoiled in their own way but they show so much growth throughout the story. I found myself growing to care about them and hoping they could work things out. I also like how everything was wrapped up in the end.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A re-telling of Sleeping Beauty. Talia is about to turn 16 and is eager to do so because for her entire life she's been living under the threat of falling under a curse if she ever touches a spindle. 300 years later, Jack is bored out of his mind on his bus tour of Europe and when he sneaks away and finds a town where all the inhabitants are asleep including a really hot girl in a tower things get even weirder.I was prepared to like this book but it was a bit of disappointment. I'd really hoped for a fresh take on the fairy tale but I was underwhelmed by the effort. The characters weren't as well-developed as they had the chance of being and the plot wasn't fantastic either. Talia was set up with the potential of being a strong female character and then she just wasn't. Jack was a blah hero. The plot resolution was too neat.That said, I did read the entire book over the course of an afternoon and evening, so I did like it enough to blitz through it. Some of my review is probably coloured by my opinions about the ending which was... cheesy. An easy read that teens would probably enjoy more than I did, but not fantastic for adults who enjoy YA.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Its basically about the old story sleeping beauty only this time its told modernized to the new generation of book readers.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jack is bored on his European tour and decides to sneak off to the beach. Instead of the beach, he ends up in a forgotten land where he encounters a sleeping princess, Talia. His kiss wakes her after 300 years and the two of them are back to America in order to discover if they are indeed in love and the curse may be broken. Cute.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was a lot of fun. It wasn't groundbreaking, thought-provoking literature, but the tale is well-woven and engaging. The characters are strong and its a book I'll certainly reread as time goes by.Talia is a princess from Europe, fallen under the traditional Sleeping Beauty enchantment (you know, the one that includes the whole kingdom falling asleep and the magical briar hedge). She's awoken 3000 years later by bored, self-centered American teenager Jack. Her father is furious (she's been lectured her whole life on spindles, for crying out loud!), and in a moment of desperation, she decides to force Jack into taking her to the USA with him. It never feels forced. The point of view switches easily between uptight, egotistical, and arachaic Talia and the slacker, egotistical, mod Jack. They discover themselves through how they interact with each other, and the plot sails smoothly along, hrdly encountering any holes or awkward "that came out of nowhere" bumps. While it lacks sword fights and dragons, it makes up for itself by being a really moving story of character development.The problems I had with it are few; mostly Princess Talia's transition from 18the century Europe to modern-day Miami. There are some weird moments where her language doesn't fit (where did she get the phrase "cellular telephone" - no one in the book calls it that, unless she's reading the New York Times on the sly). And while I'd like to say that we didn't waste time watching her marvel at life three thousand years past her time, sometimes she also seems to adjust too quickly. It was distracting at times. The only other hiccup (a minor one) is how quickly we rush into the end. I'd like to have seen a little bit more epilogue in a story that was so clearly more about character development than plot, and thus when the book ends where the action ends, it felt like a tooth you've forgotten has fallen out. I recommend this book heartily to all in the mood for a little frothy, light story. It's easily digestable. To collectors of the fairy tale genre, I think I'd recommend a gamble - go out and buy it. Unless you like your fairy tales "deep" and intellectual, I think I can guarantee you'll like this one for keeping all the important elements, but having fun with the setting and, better yet, its characters.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    In Ms. Finn's modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty, we meet Jack and Talia. Jack is a young, handsome, strapping boy living in the 21st century. Talia has been sleeping for three hundred years and upon Jack's kiss is awakened to a whole new world... one she could ever envision. Jack never thought that by escaping his tour group he'd actually find himself living a real life fairytale. I thought this was such a cute, funny and really enjoyable version of the popular fairytale I know and love. I loved the fireworks between Talia and Jack. Their relationship was a pleasure to read about. It was not love at first sight, nor was it happily ever after from the get go. They both had their reservations toward each other... at one point they couldn't even stand each other. But what I truly enjoyed was how they both grew and matured and eventually their feelings toward each other blossomed into something much more meaningful. I loved experiencing the world through Talia's eyes - everything was new, shiny and electronic.On a personal note, one other aspect that I found enjoyable - Jack is from Miami and soon they are on adventure through streets and places that I drive through on a weekly basis (me being a Miami-an and all). I couldn't help but love this in particular about this story. I thought the ending felt a bit rushed, but with that said, I truly enjoyed how it all wrapped up. This is a fast, light read, and anyone looking for a sweet, romantic fairytale will definitely enjoy this.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting and likable
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Princess Talia has spent her life being warned to avoid spindles, all because of a witch's curse. But how is she to avoid one when when she doesn't even know what a spindle looks like? When willful Talia ditches her governess to find the perfect dress for her 16th birthday, she finds out just what a spindle is.... Flash forward 300 hundred years and Jack has spent the last three weeks on a dull tour of Europe. When he and his friend ditch the tour for a trip to the beach, they stumble across Talia's kingdom and the sleeping princess. Jack wakes her, but both quickly realize that this is not true love. However, Talia is desperate to travel and escape a kingdom that will surely be furious with her when they realize 300 years have passed. She leaves with Jack to go to Florida, his home, and plans to make Jack fall for her, because only true love will actually break the witch's curse.This was an intriguing retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story. While it seemed to start a bit slowly, once Talia and Jack step out into the present time and begin to interact, the story takes off. Both characters evolve, a touch too quickly, as they begin to see themselves through the other's eyes. Jack abandons his "party boy" attitude and finally acknowledges the things he cares about, including his parents' opinions. Talia changes from a stubborn, self-centered princess, and takes joy in helping Jack and his family rebuild their relationships. This all takes place over the course of several days, which is fairly implausible... though is it more so than waking a 316-year-old princess with a kiss? For any fans of retellings or light romances, this is a fun read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Alex Flinn also wrote Beastly, and this book follows the same format: a modern rewriting of a well known fairy tale. However, where Beastly got it right, A Kiss in Time falls flat. Princess Talia has beauty, intelligence, and other fairy given qualities (no one thought to give her a good personality, though) but she also was given the curse that she would prick her finger and sleep until her true love wakes her with a kiss. Three hundred years after the prick, she is woken by Jack, an American touring Europe who also is unpleasantly self-centered. The convoluted way that the book brings them to real love is a stretch.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Everyone knows the story of Sleeping Beauty: girl gets pricked by spindle, girl and castle and everyone fall asleep, dashing prince kisses said girl 1000 years later and voila! Happily ever after. But in this retelling, the kiss is only the beginning. The narrative shifts between Jake and Talia, each telling the reader their story. Talia fell asleep when Virginia was a colony and suddenly has to cope with the change of centuries - iPods and airplanes and whatnot. Jake was just a regular guy from Miami until he had this princess tagging along - and who would believe the truth anyways?I often enjoy fairy tale retellings, but this one fell a little flatter than I expected. Part of it was that the characters didn't really change much, and I felt Jake could have been fleshed out more. Another part was that the modernization struck me as a little too self-conscious. Mostly, though, I think that because loved _Beastly_, another fairy tale retelling by the same author, so much my expectations were extremely high and I was mentally comparing the two stories. A quick and fun read, but probably not a reread.

Book preview

A Kiss in Time - Alex Flinn

Part I

Talia

Chapter 1

If I hear one more syllable about spindles, I shall surely die!

From my earliest memory, the subject has been worn to death in the castle, nay, in the entire kingdom. It is said that spindle, rather than Mama or Papa, was my first word in infancy, and I have little doubt that this is true, for ’tis the word which lights more frequently than any other upon my most unwilling ears.

Talia, dearest, you must never touch a spindle, Mother would say as she tucked me into bed at night.

I will not, Mother.

Vous devez ne jamais toucher un axe, my tutor would say during French lessons.

I will not, I told him in English.

If ye spy a spindle, ye must leave it alone, the downstairs maid said as I left the castle, always with my governess, for I was never allowed a moment alone.

Every princeling, princess, or lesser noble who came to the castle to play was told of the restrictions upon spindles—lest they have one secreted about their person somewhere, or lest they mistakenly believe I was normal. Each servant was searched at the door, and thread was purchased from outside the kingdom. Even peasants were forbidden to have spindles. It was quite inconvenient for all concerned.

It should be said that I am not certain I would know a spindle if I saw one. But it seems unlikely that I ever shall.

Why must I avoid spindles? I asked my mother, in my earliest memory.

You simply must, she replied, so as not to scare me, I suppose.

But why? I persisted.

She sighed. Children should be seen, not heard.

I asked several times more before she excused herself, claiming a headache. As soon as she departed, I started in on my governess, Lady Brooke.

Why am I never to touch a spindle?

Lady Brooke looked aggrieved. It was frowned upon, she knew, to scold royal children. Father was a humane ruler who never resorted to beheading. Still, she had her job to consider, if not her neck.

It is forbidden, she said.

Well, I stomped my foot and whined and cried, and when that failed to produce the desired result, I said, If you do not answer, I will tell Father you slapped me.

You wicked, wicked girl! God above will punish you for such deceit!

No one punishes princesses. My voice was calm. I was done with my screaming, now that I had discovered a better currency. Not even God.

God cares not for rank and privilege. If you tell such an awful lie, you will surely be damned.

Then you must keep me from such a sin by telling me what I wish to know. Even at four or five, I was precocious and determined.

Finally, sighing, she told me.

I had been a long-wished-for babe (this I knew, for it had been told to me almost as often as the spindle speech), and when I was born, my parents invited much of the kingdom to my christening, including several women rumored to have magical powers.

You mean fairies? I interrupted, knowing she would not speak the word. Lady Brooke was highly religious, which seemed to mean that she believed in witches, who used their magic for evil, but not fairies, who used their powers for good. Still, even at four, I knew about fairies. Everyone did.

There is no such a thing as fairies, Lady Brooke said. "But yes, people said they were fairies. Your father welcomed them, for he hoped they would bring you magical gifts. But there was one person your father did not invite: the witch Malvolia."

Lady Brooke went on to describe, at great length and in exhausting detail, the beauty of the day, the height of the sun in the sky, and the importance of the christening service. I closed my eyes. But when she attempted to carry me into my bedchamber, I woke and demanded, What of the spindle?

Oh! I thought you were asleep.

I continued to demand to know of the spindle, which led to a lengthy recitation of the gifts I had received from the various guests. I struggled to remain attentive, but I perked up when she began to describe the fairies’ gifts.

Violet gave the gift of beauty, and Xanthe gave the gift of grace, although surely such qualities cannot be given.

I did not see why not. People often remarked upon my beauty and grace.

Leila gave the gift of musical talent…

I noted, privately, that I was already quite skilled on the harpsichord.

…while Celia gave the gift of intelligence….

It went without saying….

Lady Brooke continued. Flavia was about to step forward to give the gift of obedience—which would have been much welcomed, if I do say so myself. She winked at me, but the wink had a hint of annoyance which was not—I must say—appreciated.

The spindle? I reminded her, yawning.

"Just as Flavia was ready to step forward and offer her much-desired gift of obedience, the door to the grand banquet hall was flung open. The witch Malvolia! The guards tried to stop her, but she brazened her way past them.

"‘I demand to see the child!’ she said.

"Your nurse tried to block her way. But quicker than the bat of an eyelash, the nurse was on the floor and Malvolia was standing over your bassinet.

"‘Ah.’ She seized you and held you up for all to see. ‘The accursed babe.’

"Your mother and father tried to soothe Malvolia with tales of invitations lost, but she repeated the word ‘accursed,’ several times, and then she made good the curse itself.

‘Before her sixteenth birthday, the princess shall prick her finger on a spindle and die!’ she roared. And then, as quickly as she had arrived, she was gone. But the beautiful day was ruined, and rain fell freely from the sky.

And then what? I asked, far from interested in the weather now that I understood I might die by touching a spindle. Why had no one told me?

"Flavia tried to save the situation with her gift. She said that since Malvolia’s powers were immense, she could not reverse her spell, but she sought to modify it a bit.

"‘The princess shall not die,’ she said. But as everyone was sighing in relief, she added, ‘Rather, the princess shall sleep. All Euphrasian citizens shall sleep also, protected from harm by this spell, and the kingdom shall be obscured from sight by a giant wood, unnoticed by the rest of the world and removed from maps and memory until…’ People were becoming more nervous with each pronouncement. ‘…one day, the kingdom shall be rediscovered. The princess shall be awakened by her true love’s first kiss, and the kingdom shall awake and become visible to the world again.’"

But that is stupid! I burst out. If the entire kingdom is asleep and forgotten, who will be left to kiss me?

Lady Brooke stopped speaking, and then she actually scratched her head, as persons in stories are said to do when they are trying to work some great puzzle. At the end of it, she said, I do not know. Someone will. That is what Flavia said.

But even at my tender age, I knew this was improbable. Euphrasia was small, bounded on three sides by ocean and on the fourth by wilderness. The Belgians, our nearest neighbors, barely knew we existed, and if Euphrasia disappeared from sight and maps, the Belgians would forget us entirely. Other questions leaped to mind. How would we eat if we were all asleep? And wouldn’t we eventually die, like old people did? Indeed, the cure seemed worse than the original punishment.

But to each successive question, Lady Brooke merely said, That is why you must never touch a spindle.

And it is nigh upon my sixteenth birthday, and I have never touched one yet.

Chapter 2

Tomorrow is my sixteenth birthday. I do not suppose it necessary to explain the furor this has occasioned in the kingdom. ’Tis a heady occasion. Each year on my birthday, guests come from around the world to celebrate—and they bring gifts! Diamonds from Africa, crystal from Ireland, cheese from Switzerland. Of course, my sixteenth birthday is of special import. Rumor has it that a ship has sailed the world over, collecting items and persons for my pleasure. They say it has even visited the British colony on the other side of the world. I believe it is called Virginia.

But more than guests, more even than presents, is the actual hope that this whole spindle business will end today. Before her sixteenth birthday. That was what the witch Malvolia had said. So tomorrow Mother and Father will rejoice at having completed the Herculean task of keeping their stupid daughter away from a common household object for sixteen years, and then I can live the ordinary life of an ordinary princess.

I am ready for it.

It is not merely spindle avoidance that has been my difficulty thus far. Rather, because of this, I have been effectively shut out from the world. Other young maidens of my station have traveled to France, India, and even the wilds of Virginia. But I have not been permitted to make the shortest trip to the nearest kingdom, lest one of the populace there wished to attack me with a spindle. In the castle, the very tapestries seem to mock me with their pictures of places I have never seen. I am barely allowed outside, and when I am, it is only under the boring chaperonage of boring Lady Brooke or some other equally dull lady-in-waiting. I am fifteen years old, and I have never had a single friend. Who would want to be friends with an oddity who has never seen anything or done anything and is guarded night and day?

Likewise, a young princess my age would ordinarily have dozens of suitors questing for her hand. Her beauty would be the subject of song and story. Duels would be fought for her. She might even cause a war, if she were beautiful enough, and I am.

But though my beauty has been spoken of, raved of even, there has not been one single request for my hand. Father says it is because I am young yet, but I know that to be a lie. The reason is the curse. Any sensible prince would prefer a bride with freckles or a hooked nose over one like me, one who might fall into a coma at any instant.

There is a knock upon the door. Lady Brooke! Your Highness, the gowns are ready for viewing, she calls from outside.

The gowns! They have been prepared especially for tomorrow. It will be the grandest party ever. The guests will arrive at the palace door in carriages or at the harbor in ships. There will be a grand dinner tonight, and tomorrow a ball with an orchestra for dancing and a second orchestra for when the first tires. There will be fireworks and a midnight supper and magnums of a special bubbling wine made by Benedictine monks in France, then a week of lesser parties to follow. It will be a festival, a Festival of Talia. I will be at the center of it, of course, courted by every prince and raja, and before it is over, I will have fallen in love—and I will be sixteen, cured of the curse.

Your Highness? Lady Brooke continues to knock.

The gowns—I need one for tonight and several for the ball tomorrow and a dozen or so more for the coming week—must be perfect. And then, perhaps Father will speak with the tailor who designed the loveliest one and have him create fifty or so more for my wedding trip around the globe.

Truth be told, it is the trip, rather than the wedding, which appeals to me. I care not for marriage at someone else’s whim. But it is my lot in life, and a cross I must bear to gain the wedding trip. I am more than ready to leave Euphrasia, having been trapped here for almost sixteen years. And, of course, my husband shall be handsome, and a prince.

I fling the door open. Well? Where are they?

Lady Brooke produces a map of the castle.

I take it from her. One has to admire her organization. I see now that Lady Brooke has marked out the rooms which will be used to house our numerous royal guests. Other rooms are marked with a star. What is this?

"On the occasion of your last birthday, you told your father that, upon the occasion of this birthday, you required ‘the most perfect gown in all the world.’ Your father took this request quite literally and sent out the call to tailors and seamstresses the world over. China’s entire haul of silk-worms has been put to this task. Children have been pulled from their cottages and huts to spin and sew and slave, all for the pleasure of Princess Talia of Euphrasia."

Very good, Lady Brooke. I know she thinks I am silly and spoiled. Was I not gifted with intelligence? I also know this not to be the case. How can I be spoiled when I never get to do a single thing I want? I did not ask that children be pulled from their cribs to slave for me, but since they were, is it not only courteous to gaze upon their efforts and, hopefully, find a dress or two that will be acceptable? I can already picture the gown in which I shall make my grand entrance at the ball. It will be green. The map?

Yes, the map. Each tailor was asked to bring his twenty best creations, all in your exact measurements. Your father believed that you might be overwhelmed, gazing upon so many gowns at once. Therefore, he decreed that they be placed in twenty-five separate rooms of the castle. In this way, you may wander about, choosing as you will.

Twenty gowns times twenty-five tailors! Five hundred gowns! I grow giddy.

We had best get started, I tell Lady Brooke.

We begin to walk down the stone hallway. The first rooms are on the floor above us, and as we climb the stairs, Lady Brooke says, May I ask what you will do with the gowns which do not meet with your approval?

This is a trick question, I know, like all of Lady Brooke’s questions, designed to prove that I am a horrid brat. Why care I what Lady Brooke thinks? But I do, for much as I loathe her, she is my only companion, the closest thing I have to a friend. So I rack my brain for an acceptable answer. Give them to her? Surely not. The gowns were made to my exact measurements, and Lady Brooke, who has not been blessed with the gift of beauty, is an ungainly half a head taller than I, and stout.

Give them to the poor? I say. When she frowns, I think again. Or, better yet, hold an auction and give the money collected to the poor. For food.

There! That should satisfy the old bat!

And perhaps it does. At least, she is quiet as we enter the first room. Quiet disapproval is the best I can expect from Lady Brooke.

Dresses line the walls, covering even the windows. Twenty of them, in different fabrics, different shapes, but every single one of them blue!

Was it not communicated to the tailors that my eyes are green? I ask Lady Brooke in a whisper loud enough for the tailor to hear. I want him to. Of all the stupidity!

He hears. You want-a green dresses? He has an accent of some sort, and when he moves closer, I see beads of sweat forming upon his forehead. Ew. I certainly hope that he has refrained from sweating over his work, which would make the fabric smell.

"Not all green, I say. But I would not have expected all blue."

Blue, it is the fashion this year, the sweaty tailor says.

I am a princess. I do not follow fashions—I make them.

"I am certain one blue dress would be acceptable. Lady Brooke tries to smooth things over with this peasant whilst glaring at me. Talia, this man has come all the way from Italy. His designs are the finest in the world."

What? I say, meaning, what does this have to do with me?

I said…oh, never mind. Will you not look at the dresses now? Please?

I look. The dresses are all ugly. Or maybe not ugly but boring, with boring ruffles. Boring, like everything else in my life. Still, I manage to smile so as not to call out another lecture from Lady Brooke. Lovely, thank you.

You like? He steps in my way.

Would not I have said if I liked? But I tell him, I will think upon it. This is the first room I have visited.

This seems to satisfy him. At least, he gets his sweatiness out of my way, and I am allowed to pass to the next room.

This room and indeed the two after it are little better. I find one dress, a pink one, which might be acceptable for a lesser event like Friday’s picnic, some event at which I would not mind looking like the dessert, but nothing at all to wear on the Most Important Night of My Life.

Talia? Lady Brooke says after the third room. Perhaps if you gave more than a cursory glance—

Perhaps if they were not all so hideous! I am devastated and hurt, and Lady Brooke does not understand. How could she? When she was young, she could go to shops and choose her own clothing, even make it if she liked. I will never be normal, but barring that, I would like to be abnormal in a lovely green dress without too many frills.

Here is a green one, Lady Brooke says in the next room.

I glower at it. The ruffles would reach my nose. This would suit…my grandmother.

Could the ruffles be removed? Lady Brooke asks the tailor.

Could you create a gown that is not entirely hideous? I add.

Talia…

It is naught but the truth.

Pardonez moi, the tailor says. The frock, I can fix it.

"Non, merci," I say, and flounce from the room.

In the next, I spy a lavender velvet with a heart-shaped neckline. I reach to touch the soft fabric.

Beautiful, is it not? Lady Brooke asks.

I pull my hand back. I am thoroughly sick of Lady Brooke and dresses and my life. I am certain she despises me as well and, suddenly, the company of even Malvolia herself seems preferable to that of the detestable Lady Brooke.

Do you have anything better?

Talia, you are being terrible.

I am being truthful, and I would thank you to remember that you are in my father’s service.

I know it. Would that it were not the case, for I am ashamed to be in your presence when you are behaving like a horrible brat.

She says it with a smile. The tailor, too, smiles stupidly. I stare at him. Are there any gowns which are less likely to make me want to vomit than this one?

The man continues to smile and nod.

He speaks no English, I say. So what care you what I say to him?

I care because I am forced to listen to you. You have grown more and more insolent in recent weeks. I am ashamed of you. She nods and smiles.

I feel something like tears springing to my eyes. Lady Brooke hates me, even though she is required to like me. Probably everyone else hates me, too, and merely pretends because of Father. But I hold the tears back. Princesses do not cry.

Then why not leave me alone? I ask, smiling as I was trained. Why does no one ever leave me be for one single, solitary instant?

My orders—

Were your orders to yell at me and call me a brat? I begin to pace back and forth like a caged animal. I am a caged animal. Tomorrow I shall be sixteen. Peasant girls my age are married with two and three babes, and yet I am not permitted to walk down a hallway within my own castle without supervision.

The curse—

You do not even believe in the curse! And yet it has come true, not the spindle part, but the death…. I am living my death, little by little, each day. And when I am sixteen and the curse ends, I shall be given over to a husband of someone else’s choosing, who will tell me what to do and say and eat and wear for the rest of my life. I can only pray that it will be short, pray for the blessed independence of the grave. I will always be under someone’s orders. I begin to cry, anyway, to sob. What difference does it make? Can I not simply walk down a hallway on my own?

Through it all, the tailor smiles and nods.

Lady Brooke’s expression softens. I suppose it would be all right. After all, the tailors have been thoroughly searched and the spindle regulations explained to them.

Of course they have. I sigh.

Lady Brooke turns to the man and speaks to him in French.

Thank you! I sob. I point to the lavender gown and say, in French, It is beautiful! I shall take that one, and that one as well. I point to a charming scarlet satin with a neckline off the shoulders in the style of Queen Mary of England, a gown I had purposely ignored before, which now looks quite fetching.

Very well. Lady Brooke hands me the map. Just point to what you want, and they will put it aside.

I nod and take the paper from her. I am free—at least for an hour!

Chapter 3

Free of the encumbrance that is Lady Brooke, I fairly skip down the stone hallways. I would swing from the chandeliers, could I reach them, but I content myself with jumping up toward them. My life is no less horrible than before, but at least there is no dour Lady Brooke

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