I loved this book. This author has quickly become and auto read author for me...if she writes it I'm reading it. I enjoyed Eve's character development throught the book. Initially she was a bit single minded and impulsive but as the story unfolded she became more thoughtful and less impulsive as not to engage people she cared about but she never lost her battle skills. I also loved the story within the story. I'm a huge lover of fairy tales and the Grimm Brothers stories I very much geeked over how the author was able weave peices of other well known stories within this one as well as parallel with other well know figures from these stories. I also enjoyed the reversal of the roles with Eve awakening Nova with true loves kiss. I very much enjoyed this book and I'm glad it was a standalone because I was able to get closure by the end. The battle scenes were also very well written and made me feel the tension along with the characters

I have enjoyed this author in the past! But I tried multiple times, weeks apart, to get into this book and I couldn’t do it unfortunately. It just wasn’t for me because of the pacing and writing at the beginning. I’m sad about this! Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC to review honestly.

I LOVED THIS BOOK OMG!!!!!!!!!
Kalynn Bayron is officially one of my auto-buy authors!
I just love her writing style, it is so easy to get into which is amazing. I love how the main characters are written in all of her books.
In this one, at first, Eve is kinda annoying but you warm up to her attitude as she develops as the main character and at how she discovers her flaws.
This book is not really romance focus even though it's a fairytale retelling, there was more action than I thought it would be compared to the other books that I've read from her (Cinderella is Dead and This Poison Heart duology).
I also loved the theme of motherhood and fatherhood and how you deal with the death of a parent. Honestly, I did cry while reading this, so yeah, it is that good in my opinion.
I would like to thank Kalynn Bayron, NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the opportunity to read this book before it hit the shelf even though I will be buying a copy for my shelf at home!

With a spellbinding and poetic prose, this retelling effortlessly transports readers into a world where magic intertwines with reality, breathing new life into Snow White. The damsel in distress is no more. Eve, Snow White, is a strong and powerful fighter.

One of the most remarkable aspects of this retelling is the way Kalynn expands upon the original Snow White story. While staying true to the core elements of the fairy tale, she introduces new layers and complexities to the characters and their motivations.

I absolutely enjoyed every moment reading this and can't wait for it to release on June 25th.

I will try my best to phrase things in a way that is not spoilers but for some points it’s impossible so beware.

I am really sure how to feel about this one. a big part of me is like… what did I just read?? Massive Once Upon a Time vibes, for sure, with the blending of fairytales but make them dark and more dramatic. Ithought it started off really strong but honestly the best parts of this, to me, were the parts that weren’t taken from any fairytale at all. I actually think this would have been a better fantasy without the snow white tie in, which felt tenuous at best. The Knight didn’t have to be [who he was, spoiler redacted] and the rhyming into the mirror felt nonsensical. Without those elements, you have an interesting FMC with powers, dark secrets, an arrogance and naïveté that she slowly grows out of, plus some genuine connections along the way which were interesting. But the way the apple plot was adapted made no sense to me, nor did the big reveal near the end.

Also….were the love interests… siblings?? technically? It is very much giving me the ick to contemplate that but it feels accurate.

Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the chance to read an advanced copy of Sleep Like Death by Kalynn Bayron!

If Snow White and Sleeping Beauty had a queer baby, Sleep Like Death would be it!

First, I have to mention the fact that this story takes place in a QUEENDOM and not a kingdom, which is absolutely awesome!

Kalynn NEVER misses. Her characters, writing, and world-building grasp on tight and never let me go. And I am 100% perfectly okay with that. If you love Kalynn's previous work, then you will definitely enjoy this one. Just like her other books, this is a very easy read. I did NOT want to put it down. However, it took me about 20% to REALLY be invested in the story. But, once I was I flew through the last 80%. Stick with it, you won't regret it! Everything pays off in the end. I can't tell you how many times my jaw dropped with the number of twists and turns this story and these characters took. Nothing is as it seems. And I can't go without raving about the beautiful cover. It's absolutely beautiful.

I really don't want to say anything else because I don't want to give anything away. So, if you love any of the following, PLEASE give this book a shot:

- dark fairytale retellings
- black main characters
- YA fantasies
- lgbt (two queens)
- Dark magic
- Myths
- magical powers
- making deals with evil knights
- curses
- talking mirrors
- twists you will NOT see coming
- badass FMCs

BRAVO KALYNN 👏🏻

Bayron’s Snow White/Rumpelstiltskin mashup adds depth and richness to the classic fairy tales, giving the characters complex motivations that are far more compelling and understandable than those we see in the original fairy tale.

Princess Eve of Queen’s Bridge has been training all her life to take on the Knight, a treacherous foe who roams the countryside in his dark castle, granting wishes to the town’s inhabitants in exchange for terms and payments that ruin their lives, for no other reason than to satisfy his own cruelty. She’s grown up knowing that asking for wishes from the Knight is not done in her family, but when she discovers her family’s secret connection to the Knight, she’s thrown into danger.

After fleeing to the forest for safety, Eve must work alongside the Kingfisher (Bayron weaves in the Fisher King narrative as well) and the Knight’s mysterious liaison Nova to save herself, her mother, and her kingdom. If, that is, their combined forces can uncover the truth behind the rumors of a weakness that will bring the Knight down.

This was a compelling fairy tale makeover that made Princess Eve a strong hero rather than a damsel in distress, and we flew through the pages, eager to see what would happen next. All of the interwoven fairy tales and biblical allusions delightfully worked together to tell a story of hard-won love.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are our own.

Review will be posted at https://threeheads.works/category/blog/ya-books/ on July 1, 2024.

This book was complicated for me to read. It was one of those books where it felt like my heads were in the clouds and I could never quite connect to the characters or story. This was disappointing because I really do love this author.

Sleep Like Death is a Snow White retelling with our formerly helpless heroine now a certified butt kicking fighter and magic user.
Instead of an Evil Queen set on destroying Snow White there is an evil knight plaguing the land with troublesome deals and wishes cast by ordinary folk that have to suffer consequences they could have never imagined.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for my honest review. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of this book and found it a bit of a letdown compared to other books by this author.
It felt like there was a big pacing problem with this book, by the time anything interesting actually happened over a third of the book was over and it was too late for me to care what was going to happen to most of the characters.
I think this book will be of interest to some YA readers but it isn’t one that I can highly recommend. This is more of a 3.25⭐️ book for me.

Wow. This Snow White retelling was done so fell. I love how Kalynn does her retellings. She makes the story more inclusive in every way possible and she adds more adventure and higher stakes in her stories. The classic story is still there with the characters but the story has been spun into a modern days fairy tale.

Princess Eve has been training her whole life to defeat the Knight. The Knight is an evil monstrous being that seems to find people when they are at their weakest/broken moment in life. The Knight grants wishes but the price in return is always too high to pay. Time and time again the Knight has destroyed people and Princess Eve and her Queen mother are determined to protect the Queens Bridge from the Knight.
Only destroying the Knight is not as easy as a battle of swords. Princess Eve will have to face many truths in order to save her mother’s Kingdom.

This was a great way to recreate an age old story that will always live on. I definitely say if you are a fan of retellings that are inclusive and even more adventurous than the original, then you will enjoy this book. Another great book from Kalynn Bayron.

I really enjoyed this retelling! I liked that it wasn’t overtly about Snow White from the beginning and that pieces of the fairytale were weaved into the story. I’ve previously enjoyed Kalynn’s work, and I thought that she created a fun universe that was easy to follow and get immersed in. This story is a bit of a quick read, which I enjoyed, and it was easy to jump back into the story after taking a bit of break from it. I enjoyed Eve as a protagonist and thought that she was easy to relate to. I wish we would have seen more at the ending, but it wrapped the story up nicely.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I’d love to interview Kalynn for my podcast. Sleep Like Death was one of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read. It’s a lot of fun to read.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

I was really excited to get an arc of this but I felt that the storytelling felt short and I often feel like that with this particular author. I liked another series of hers but this one isn’t for me.

This was an amazing book. I really enjoyed the twisted take on Snow White, which I didn’t catch on to until about 80% of the way in. The character development with Eve and Nova was great. I really didn’t expect Nova to turn out to be a nice guy, if you can really call him a guy? It was so easy to get emotionally attached the characters and it made me soooo sad to see some of them go! I shed a tear. The plot twist about the real reason that the Queen didn’t want to celebrate Eve’s 17th birthday made my mouth drop.

4.5 stars

Kalynn Bayron’s Cinderella is Dead is one of my favourite books, and I also thoroughly enjoyed the This Poison Heart duology. I was excited to see how the author would take a familiar story like Snow White and put her own spin on it. I was sucked into this compelling, emotional, fast-paced read from beginning to end.

Eve was a badass princess who was devoted to her family, her duties, and the people of Queen’s Bridge. She wielded incredible magical powers (I kept thinking how cool it would be to see her abilities play out on the big screen) and there wasn’t even a whiff of this princess needing someone to save her because she was ready to save herself and the people she loved. I loved the twists and turns, the action, the found family aspect (I’d like to be adopted by the Kingfisher family, please), and how unexpectedly emotional this story was. There were points that were absolutely heartbreaking and felt like a punch to the gut.

While I would have liked a bit more build-up and fleshing out of the romance, I enjoyed that aspect of the story and rooted for Eve and her love interest (I don’t want to say too much since the romance isn't mentioned at all in the synopsis). The ending was perfect, and I really hope we’ll get more fairytale reimaginings from within this world in the future.

Sleep Like Death revolves around the desperation of desire. A wish which we would be willing to give up everything. All the bad bargains, imprecise wording, and futures we would gamble away. Our words are always twisted and we always think we are being careful, but desperation is never so. It's about sacrifices we make to keep ourselves safe, to protect our loved ones, and the ones we force, maybe unknowingly, our loved ones to pay.

Thanks to @netgalley for the AR. in exchange for an honest review! Kalynn Barton strikes again! I just adore the world building and the magical settings they’re able to create. If I was to get super nitpicky I’d say that I wished the climax contained a little bit more solving of the problem of the Knight through devious tricks and finding a loophole in the wishes, I don’t feel like I quite got the payoff there that was building up, but that didn’t subtract from how much I enjoyed existing in this universe for a bit. Polished off the book in under 24 hours, it’s an easy read that’s hard to put down. I will continue to read whatever Kalynn Bayron puts out as they continue to live up to their previously set standards.

This was my favorite of all the books I’ve read from Bayron’s catalog! I’m a huge fan of Sleeping Beauty but also a fan of Snow White! To be able to combine both classics into one cohesive retelling was absolutely incredible! I ate this book up! I loved the characters and how Kalynn made them feel so real! The world of fairytales was amazing! The ending of when everything coming together it was chef’s kiss 💋 This is my favorite book of 2024!

Sleep Like Death by Kalynn Bayron was an utter delight to read. The story was gripping and evocative and unlike any Snow White retelling I've ever read before. I adored Eve's character and I particularly enjoyed her headstrong personality. There were twists that I definitely wasn't expecting which made me love the story even more. The representation was also fantastic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the ARC.