OF DREAMS AND DESTINY

A heartbroken girl must learn to trust again—before a mysterious illness claims her entire school.

After being cruelly betrayed by a boy, Rosetta Academy senior Daphne Elizabeth “DE” McKinley is done with dating. Encouraged by her best friend, Jaya, to consult town psychic Madame Olivera, DE receives an ominous warning about an impending storm—and a death. Madame Olivera also gives her a note stating that, with an open heart, DE can vanquish the storm. Unconvinced, she dismisses it as a hoax. She also eschews love, even resisting handsome new boy Xander Murthy. But DE and Xander find a strange doll from 1873 in the woods, and after DE pricks her finger on something sharp in its body, the academy is enveloped in a severe snowstorm, and students start succumbing to a comalike sleeping sickness. When Xander reveals that his great-great-great-uncle, a Rosetta student, mysteriously died in his sleep during the great storm of 1873, the two work together to uncover long-kept secrets and save their friends. Told from the alternating perspectives of DE and Xander, this retelling of “Sleeping Beauty” includes some appearances by characters from previous entries and is a fun addition to the series. DE experiences many relatable post-breakup feelings before finding herself again, and Xander’s family history touches on generational cycles of addiction. DE is white; Xander is Indian, Irish, Scottish, and West African.

Another enjoyable romance for fans of this fractured fairy tale series.