Five Hundred Kingdoms: Sleeping Beauty by Mercedes Lackey

Cover Design: 2/5

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Overall Rating: B+

Obtained: Library Book 

Heavy is the head—and the eyelids—of the princess who wears the crown…

In Rosamund's realm, happiness hinges on a few simple beliefs:

For every princess there's a prince.

The king has ultimate power.

Stepmothers should never be trusted.

And bad things come to those who break with Tradition….

But when Rosa is pursued by a murderous huntsman and then captured by dwarves, her beliefs go up in smoke. Determined to escape and save her kingdom from imminent invasion, she agrees to become the guinea pig in one of her stepmother's risky incantations—thus falling into a deep, deep sleep.

When awakened by a touchy-feely stranger, Rosa must choose between Tradition and her future…between a host of eligible princes and a handsome, fair-haired outsider. And learn the difference between being a princess and ruling as a queen.

The moral of the story? Sometimes a princess has to create her own happy endings….

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I'm such a visual person and yes I do judge books by their covers. To start out with, the cover did nothing for me. First off, the woman on the front doesn't even match the description of Rosa. The graphic designer just threw a composite images together and didn't give much thought to it. When some covers are so striking, this one just makes you kind of overlook the book. Don't fall for it! It's a trap. 

Sleeping Beauty is a witty romp in a fairy tale world. I've read a couple of Five Hundred Kingdoms but this one has to be the funniest one that I've read. Lackey has created a very tongue in check novel ala Shrek. What really makes the book are the characters. The plot looks like it's going to be very generic (and some of it is) but it goes off into these paths that makes the reader raise an eyebrow with surprise. What really makes the novel are the characters and not just the main characters either. The secondary characters are wonderful! Like a gambling charming prince/best friend, a witty bird, a sarcastic but helpful mirror and a unicorn with a lisp. Pick this up, it's such a charming and funny read.