Waking Rose
by Regina Doman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Regina DomanEdition: Paperback
Published: 2007
ISBN: N/A
Publisher: Chesterton Press
Book Reviews of Waking Rose
Book Review: A page turner! A fascinating well-searched tale!
Summary: 5 Stars
Some books take you traveling into space. Others bring you back in time. But then one day, when you least expect it, you come across a book that grabs your imagination and leads you on a road of adventures and suspense into a world of fairy tales with elements of the fantasy world, as well as elements of the world we live in. A book which deprives you of your precious sleeping hours because you become a character of the story. A character the author did not intend to create; nevertheless, you are there on every page. You are a silence witness. You are unable to help the written characters to solve the mystery. You agonize and hope somehow they get your clues. But the characters cannot get your insight information because you are not part of their world; they are part of yours. You try to balance this mix of world (fantasy vs. real) and wait for the end. Then comes the climax of the story and you are in total awe. You are speechless and unable to write the book review. How can I start to write the review if I am still in shock? Well, I let two weeks pass before I was able to collect my thoughts and do it. I hope the following book review helps you enjoy a fairy tale retold with elements from old and new, just like in a wedding.
The book's cover is simple, but it captures well what is in store for the reader. The country house which keeps a secret from the past soon to be discovered. Trees, a rose bindweed, and Rose peacefully sleeping. Or is she truly sleeping? Each chapter follows the rose bindweed theme and includes a portion of the Brother's Grimm story Sleepy Beauty. This gives each chapter an identity and a momentum. Also, the narrative of the story comes from his (Fish's) and hers (Rose's) points of view and an understanding of the situations and conflicts around them.
The book begins with the wedding of Blanche and Bear. Rose gets nervous in anticipation to see Fish, her one and true love. There is a lot of chaos at the Brier's residence in preparation for Blanche's wedding. But in the midst of this chaos, Blanche is relaxed. Rose admires her older sister's relaxed attitude and her enchanting beauty, too.
After the wedding, family and friends gather to celebrate the marriage of Blanche and Bear. During the reception, Rose has the chance to dance with Fish. Rose is in the fifth heaven. Fish, on the other hand, is a little bit annoyed by her childish behavior. Blance and Bear sneak out of the reception and off they go to consume their love and become one flesh and one spirit while the guests celebrate on this very joyful day.
Soon after the wedding, both Fish and Rose start taking classes at the university. Fish goes to the Universtiy of Pittsburgh, while Rose goes to Mercy College, a small Catholic college located in the small town of Meyerstown. Rose's parents both graduated from Mercy College. Her dad graduated with a major in English, while her mom studied nursing. This Catholic college, Meyerstown, an old barn, and an old cold case are part of the Brier's family secret and obscure past.
At Mercy College, Rose shares her dorm room with her long life friend, Kateri Kovach. During her studies at Mercy College, Rose joined the theater group. They are rehearsing "King Lear", a tragedy by Shakespeare. Rose auditions and gets the role of Cordelia. This upsets a more talented and experienced actress, Donna, who, with her friend Tara, makes life pretty difficult for Rose, both on and off stage. Rose also gets the job of theatrical assistance. She helps the other actors memorize their lines, among other things. Donna and Tara take advantage of Rose's naïve personality and plot to terrorize her one evening after rehearsal. However, their plan is interrupted by Fish, who comes looking for Rose that evening.
Meanwhile, Rose has made many friends at Mercy College. Among them, a group of so called "knights" who live at the Sacra Cor dorm and enjoy practicing martial arts and sword fights. Because Rose helps them during an interdorms war between Sacra Cor and Lumen Christi, Rose becomes one of the "Lady's Sword Cor" and they swear to protect her. The group's leader, Paul, a pre-med student, becomes a key figure during the book saga.
Rose must do a report for the bio-ethics class and is struggling with the topic. She called her mom for ideas and her mom tells her about a topic her dad was investigating while he worked for a local newspaper in Meyerstown. Rose likes the idea of going through her dad's files to see what she can find. Rose's dad had been dead for several years and she likes the idea of sharing a piece of his work. The files are kept at the old family barn outside of town. The barn has been abandoned for years, but one of her uncles still does farming there once a year.
Rose gets a ride with Paul and together they go to the farm to look inside her dad's old files. She finds a lot of boxes covered by dust, since they have not been touched in years. They divide the workload, so each one of them looks inside a box. They find many family pictures, letters from Rose's parents courtship, and an old newspaper article her dad wrote. Rose finds a file with all the information from her dad's research, "Abuse on Comatose Patients." She gathered some information from this file and because of time restrictions, she had to leave the rest behind in the farm. Rose starts interviewing nurses and doctors regarding her research paper, which she called "My Monster Bio-Ethic Project."
While doing her research, Rose makes some dangerous enemies who are secretly plotting against her life. Rose visits Graceton Long-Term Care facility, a private comatose patient's facility, and speaks with Dr. Murray who gives her a tour of the facility. Dr. Murray also refers Rose to other comatose patient's caretakers who might be willing to talk to her. Rose mentions her dad's research to several people who are starting to get nervous about Rose's bio- ethic project and this awakens their interest on finding her dad's files.
One evening Rose goes to the barn alone to look some more into her dad's files and she sees a figure nearby but cannot identified the person. Later on, while working at the barn, she falls from the top of the haystacks and has an accident. Earlier that day Rose had left a message on Fish's answering machine telling him about Donna and a friend stalking her at the mall. She also mentioned the barn. Fish and Paul found Rose injured and called an ambulance. Rose is hospitalized at Robert Graves Memorial Hospital, where Kateri Kovach had been protesting about Dr. Prosser's methods regarding abortion, organ donations, and other patient related issues. Dr. Prosser is the director of the facility. In the past, she has threatened Rose's dad about going public with the findings of his investigation about patient's abuse at Graves Memorial Hospital. Since Dr. Murry's facility specializes on comatose patients and she recognizes Rose, she requests to Dr. Prosser that Rose is transferred to Graceton Long-Term Care facility and be placed under her care. After some hesitation, Dr. Prosser agrees to the transfer. However, this facility is more than just what meets the eyes. There is a hidden world inside this facility unknown to the general public; however, it is well known as a very resourceful place in the black market.
Rose remains at Graceton Long-Term Care facility for the rest of the book. During her stay there, you get to see the world of a comatose patients from Rose's perspective, while the other characters move in Fish's world.
Who will wake up Rose? The knight in the bright and shining armour? The true prince who passed all tests and discovered his true love? Will Rose wake up from her comma? Who was the perpetrator? Donna? Dr. Prosser? Dr. Murray? Paul? A mysterious character with a trench coat?
I choose to omit commenting on the end of the book, since it will take the pleasure of a strong climax away from the reader.
This book is very well written. It is clear through the entire book that the author did some pretty extensive research in the area of comatose patients. I highly recommend this book to readers looking for adventures mixed with topics of concerns in today's world.
Bravo Ms. Doman!
Summary of Waking Rose
Waking Rose : A Fairy Tale Retold A novel for teens and adults based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm "I love him more than poetry... I love him more than song." Ever since he rescued her from Certain Death, Rose Brier has had a crush on Ben Denniston, otherwise known as Fish. But Fish, struggling with problems of his own, thinks that Rose should go looking elsewhere for a knight in shining armor ... until a mysterious tragedy compels Fish into a search through a tangle of revenge and corruption to reach Rose.Subjects Books
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