Beauty Sleep

I would recommend this book because of the really clever way the story is constructed. The use of dual-narratives creates contrasting and emotive perspectives and there is a good use of humour throughout the book to lighten the very deep aspects of her past. I would also recommend this book because Laura is a very relatable character and her outlook on life is similar to most teams. As she adapts to new changes , she has to learn to deal with the cruelty of other people. This book is filled with lots of mysterious chapters and which unfold different versions of Laura's experience and its very exciting as you try to work out the various pieces of the puzzle. The ending, where Shem and Laura uncover the truth is really well written and provides lots of intrigue and a very satisfying conclusion.

Suggested Reading Age 11+

Teenager Laura Henley and her five year-old brother Alfie are both terminally ill with cancer. It's 1986, and there is no cure for their illness, so they are cryogenically frozen and will only be woken at a time when medicine has advanced enough for them to be saved. Forty years later, Laura is revived. She hasn't aged, but the world has moved on. She wakes to find herself a patient in the Blackhurst Clinic, run by the enigmatic Miss Lilly. It's 2028, and the world is full of driverless cars and holograms. Laura also finds herself alone - her parents have died in a road accident, and Alfie has apparently been killed during an attack on the clinic by protesters, one of whom was Laura's best friend from school, Stacey. Laura is now totally dependent upon Miss Lilly and her medical staff. Known by the media as Sleeping Beauty, Laura has to begin to rebuild her life again. But when she is contacted by Stacey, she begins to question what really happened to her and her family, and uncovers the terrible secrets Miss Lilly and the Blackhurst Clinic are hiding behind their perfect facade. This is an intriguing, thought-provoking and disturbing novel. Told in dual narrative, the story is shared by Laura herself and a boy called Shem, who is being pursued by mysterious men. The contrast between the characters is marked - Laura is living in the luxurious clinic and wants for nothing while Shem is living rough, scavenging for food for himself and his dog, Scrag. The book begins as a sort of fairy tale with Laura being treated almost like a princess by Miss Lilly. However, as the truth about the clinic unfolds, it becomes the stuff of nightmares. Far from being a clinic offering beauty therapies, Blackhurst is the site of Miss Lilly's horrific experiments involving stolen children. I found myself reading faster and faster as the story raced towards its conclusion! It is a fascinating idea - a girl from the eighties waking up in futuristic world way beyond anything she could ever have imagined. I loved the descriptions of Laura's first trip in a driverless car, and of her trying to cope with mobile phones and becoming a star on social media! The author builds up the tension brilliantly and keeps the readers interest the whole way through the book. I really cared about Laura and Shem (and Scrag!) and totally believed in everything that was happening to them. I have read and enjoyed Kathryn Evans' first novel More of Me, and Beauty Sleep is, if anything, even better. This is definitely an author to watch - I can wholeheartedly recommend this book and I look forward to seeing what she writes in the future. 336 pages / Ages 14+ / Reviewed by Beverley Somerset, school librarian

Suggested Reading Age 11+