Sleep Like Death

by Kalynn Bayron

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

In the same way that Kalynn Bayron reimagined Cinderella, now she's reimagined Snow White, turning it into a slasher dripping in tension, magic and Queer Black strength and joy. This is how you make fairytales into something fresh and exciting.

Cinderella is dead, but Snow White fights on . . .

New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron makes her highly anticipated return to the realm of fairy tales with this thrilling twist on the classic story of Snow White.

Princess Eve was raised with one purpose: to destroy the Knight. Far too many of subjects of Queen's Bridge have been devastated by this evil sorcerer's trickery. Eve's own unique magic—the ability to conjure weapons from nature—makes her a worthy adversary.

As she approaches her seventeenth birthday, Eve is ready to battle. But her mother, Queen Regina, has been acting bizarrely, talking to a strange mirror alone every night. Then a young man claiming to be the Knight's messenger appears and shares a shocking truth about Eve's past. Unsure of who to trust, Eve must find the courage to do what she's always done: fight. But will it be enough to save her family and her queendom?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547609765
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	06/25/2024
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	25,480
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.15(d)
Age Range:	13 Years

About the Author

Kalynn Bayron is the New York Times and indie bestselling author of young adult novels Cinderella Is Dead, This Poison Heart, This Wicked Fate, and You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight and the middle grade Vanquishers series. She is a classically trained vocalist, and she grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. When she's not writing you can find her listening to Ella Fitzgerald on loop, attending the theater, watching scary movies, and spending time with her kids. She currently lives in Ithaca, New York with her family.

www.kalynnbayron.com
@KalynnBayron

Editorial Reviews

05/27/2024

Bayron (Cinderella Is Dead) delivers a haunting fairy tale in this atmospheric “Snow White” reimagining. Almost-17-year-old Eve, the brown-skinned daughter of Queens Regina and Sanaa, is Regina’s “right hand, her fury.” All her life, Eve has trained her magic and martial talents to serve the people of her mothers’ queendom, Queen’s Bridge. She has also sworn to protect Queen’s Bridge from its mortal enemy, the malevolent figure known as the Knight (“The Knight is not a queen or any other sort of royalty. He is not even a man. He is a myth made real. A monster”). Whomever asks the Knight to grant their wish is at risk of suffering his perverse wrath, as when he transforms Queen Saana into a songbird after she wishes for a beautiful singing voice. As the Knight draws closer, Eve acts—with disastrous consequences. She later confronts the Knight’s beautiful emissary Nova, from whom she learns a devastating secret about her past. Elongated buildup results in a somewhat precipitous denouement. Nevertheless, via lightly horror-tinged prose, Bayron fashions the beguiling plot, populated by adeptly hewn characters, into a suitable entry to the canon of fairy tale remixes. Ages 13–up. Agent: Jamie Vankirk, Rainbow Nerds Literary. (June)

Publishers Weekly

This vividly realized, page-turning reimagining of a beloved tale includes enticing secrets and a central journey with heartwarming highs and heartbreaking lows. A spellbinding narrative of betrayal, redemption, and the enduring magic of maternal love.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“This lively, immersive adventure pulls recognizable characters from the world of fairy tales, and a dash of flair makes this wholly unique. For anyone seeking a dark and eerily beautiful story.” —Booklist

“Kalynn Bayron's writing is alchemy itself, blending contemporary fantasy with a dose of haunting mystery and a dropper of gothic fiction. An intoxicating tale about the power of about Black motherhood and daughterhood, and family bonds that can't be broken. Like the poisonous plants Briseis tends to, This Poison Heart is mesmerizing and beautiful.” —Tracy Deonn, New York Times bestselling author, on THIS POISON HEART

“Kalynn Bayron does more than re-write a fairy-tale. . . . She breaks it apart and rebuilds it into a wholly original and captivating story where girls finally decide for themselves who lives happily ever after.” —Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY, on CINDERELLA IS DEAD

“The book centers Black characters, and its prose sings. . . . This Wicked Fate is a delightful novel about literal Black Girl Magic, found family, and queer love, with adventures and a satisfying twist on Greek mythology.” —Foreword Reviews, starred review, on THIS WICKED FATE

“Flipping the Cinderella tale on its head, Bayron's take challenges patriarchy with kick-butt heroines and a counter-story that will forever change how readers perceive fairy tales.” —Booklist, starred review, on CINDERELLA IS DEAD

From the Publisher

★ 2024-03-23
A bewitching rendition of “Snow White” with bold Black women at its heart.

Sixteen-year-old Princess Eve, who’s called “the Queen’s fury” by the people of Queen’s Bridge, was born with magic into a destiny that’s filled with foreboding. She’s been groomed to fulfill her true purpose: to slay the Knight—“a myth made real. A monster”—who haunts and terrorizes the queendom. The Knight becomes Eve’s obsession; while she trains to harness her powers to one day kill the Knight, she collects stories about him and studies them for clues. This enigmatic figure offers wishes to desperate people at a perilous cost, twisting even the most carefully crafted desires to his advantage. After all, Queen Sanaa, one of Eve’s mothers, wished to have “the loveliest voice in all the land” so she could sing to her love, Queen Regina (Eve’s other mother), and Eve, too. The Knight transformed her into a nightingale. Eve and Mekhi, the son of landowner Sir Gregory who has his own reasons for loathing the Knight, attempt to track the monster down. But a shocking revelation leads to Eve’s going into hiding and the Knight’s resurgence. Eve must decide whether to emerge from the shadows and risk everything to end his hold over Queen’s Bridge once and for all. This vividly realized, page-turning reimagining of a beloved tale includes enticing secrets and a central journey with heartwarming highs and heartbreaking lows.

A spellbinding narrative of betrayal, redemption, and the enduring magic of maternal love. (Fantasy. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews