Slumber by Samantha Young

4.8 stars out of 5

Slumber can be loosely described as Sleeping Beauty with a twist, and I mean it when I say loosely. Princess Hayden is cursed into a deep slumber, on the brink of death. But this tale doesn't revolve around her. No, this is about her "White Knight" as the preview describes", Rogan - Hayden's best friend - who volunteers to go out into the world and find the herb that the princess needs to awaken.

Now from that scenario, what gender do you expect Rogan to be? Am I the only one who thought she was a 'he'?. By the title of "White Knight", I expected Rogan to be a guy. (I mean, the name is pretty gender-neutral). And when the preview talked about the romantic interest as being the "White Knight's White Knight", I thought, "Oh, a gay protagonist? That's new! Should be interes... Ohhh....."
Yeah, not my brightest moment.

Anyways, Rogan is an awesome heroine. In fact, she's probably in the top few of most kick-ass heroines in any book I've read, combating close with Katsa from Graceling. She's stubborn, moral, funny, and poweful, being an Azyl (I'll get to describing those later). She could be a little indecisive at times, but everyone's got flaws, I guess. Rogan was written so well, you could feel the emotional toll that rolled off of her words and actions. This is the kind of character that I strive to write about in my own books, but dang it'd hard to compete with her!

And then there's Wolfe. He is the son of the book's big bad guy, Stovia. But the fruit falls far, far from the tree in this book, as Wolfe is captain of the guard and swears to protect Rogan, whom he has known for years. This guy is an awesome badass. Not like "douchy" badass, but a "get an icy glare from me and you'll want to run away screaming" badass.

The adventure in this book is so appealing, you just want to be there and experience it with the characters. There's light hearted moments, suspenseful drama between friends, and heart-wrenching tragedy. I got so into it, taking in everything. It was just so amazing!!

There's great story-building in this book, with all of the conflicts between the different groups and people with powers. Here's a quick run down: Dravilec - Healers; Dyvatzi - keeps everyone calm (the royal family); Azyl - seekers, can find anything; and Glava - elemental wizards.

I actually had to do a quick search through the internet to recall some minor things in this book, since it's been quite a while since I read it, so pardon if I happen to leave things out. But the characterization and the settings and the drama were so amazing that I could recall those parts very clearly, like they're impacted on my brain. There's just a kind of tingly feeling you get when you finish it, you have to close the covers with a smile. Plus, how awesome is that cover art??

And for anyone who has already read the book and completely agrees with me on how awesome it was, the second book in the series is out! It's from a different character's point of view - El - and the series is called Fade. Check it out!

Well, that's all I have to say for now. Until the next review, bye!
- Julia :)