Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Finding Aurora
AUTHOR: Rebecca Langham
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 70 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 24, 2018
BLURB:
Aurora Rose slumbers in the city of Oldpass, a cursed kingdom once allied with Grimvein. The victim of a malicious spell, she is powerless to control her own fate. At least, that’s how the story goes.
Now, as Grimvein faces attack, Prince Amir has been tasked with the life-threatening rescue of Aurora, his parents hopeful he will marry the princess and secure safety for their kingdom. Talia, the strongest spellcaster in the known lands, protects and guides the prince in his quest to save a woman that threatens to change their lives forever.
In finding Aurora, the pair will realise the truth about themselves and each other, coming to understand just what – and who – they really want in life.
REVIEW:
Fairy tale retellings for older readers are only interesting if they subvert childhood expectations to reveal something more about the fantasy worlds we like to inhabit. The actual message of how love takes many forms in this short story is wonderful, but the journey we take to get there is little more than plodding.
We meet our main character, Talia, in medias res with her prince Amir and their quest to find Aurora Rose, a cursed princess hidden behind magic, goblins, and dragons. Talia is a gifted magic-user, and with the help of a lifelong elusive spirit-friend named Red, she leads Amir to the slumbering princess. While the trials might provide some small story twists, they’re presented in a dull, action-free fashion that is definitely more showing than telling. I wanted more characterization and interaction between Talia and Amir, but the juvenile battle sequences often overshadowed any development that could’ve occurred.
I actually didn’t see the twist at the end coming until it happened, and it was a nice change of pace from a standard fairy tale retelling. It isn’t different because the two characters are women, it’s different because the sleeping princess isn’t who we expected her to be from the start. And the small change to the stereotype of a dashing romantic hero makes Amir an interesting character, even if he’s mostly on the sidelines.
This is a sweet, fast story, but it is also poorly paced and low on real tension. Not a standout by Langham so far, whose other works have showed more impressive world-building and characterization skills. There are better fairy tale retellings out there.
RATING: 
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