To Defy a Dream: A Sleeping Beauty Retelling by Mary Mecham (Shattered Tales book 4)

A djinni has been kidnapping the minds of people for years, including the crown prince of Terrenne. On the eve of her coronation, Princess Aurelia begs for a way to save her brother and the rest of their people from the Eternal Slumber.

To do that, she’ll have to prick her finger on a poisoned spindle and enter the dream world of her own free will. But what she finds there is nothing like she expected, not least of which is the man who abandoned her and broke her heart years before.

Will Aurelia be able to find a way to defeat the djinni? Or will forces back in reality render her efforts useless?

“If I was to determine my own destiny, I had to be my own hero.”

I loved this story so much! Ever since Mary Mecham first started talking about a Sleeping Beauty story where the heroine stabbed herself, I knew it was going to be amazing. And I was right.

This story has everything: siblings, swoony heroes, princesses determined to save themselves, fearsome villains, and swoony love interests. 

Mary’s books just keep getting better and better, and this was no exception! I loved how determined Aurelia was to do right by her kingdom. And the twist at the end was so well done!

Five Roses
A few minor injuries. Kidnapping of sorts/mind control
A couple sweet kisses.
No swearing

(Thank you to the author for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review.)