The Secret World of Briar Rose – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️

Title: The Secret World of Briar Rose

Author: Cindy Pham

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 400

Publication Date: 6/2/26

Publisher: Kokila

Categories: Fantasy, Retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Queer

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Kokila for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A lush and immersive queer “Sleeping Beauty” retelling about escapism, grief, and dreaming of a better world, as imagined by YouTube star Cindy Pham

100 years have passed since the last heir of Gyldan fell into eternal slumber and doomed the once-mighty kingdom into poverty and invasion. At least, that’s what the fairy tales claim.

Corin is a jaded thief who doesn’t believe in fables, even when she searches Gyldan’s underground tunnels to find her younger sister, Elly, who ran away to find the sleeping princess in hopes of a better life. Corin’s conviction is challenged when she discovers the ruins of the ancient castle, maintained by beings from the kingdom’s golden age, who protect a hidden portal into princess Amelia’s subconscious. Following Elly’s voice, Corin jumps in the portal and seals the entry behind her.

Inside the lush world of Amelia’s dreams, the sisters reunite for a new adventure as they meet Briar Rose, Amelia’s whimsical alter ego, and Malicine, a sharp-tongued demon with a gift for magic. But as they explore ice castles, sunflower mazes, and star-filled oceans, Corin suspects Briar Rose is hiding darker secrets behind her “perfect” paradise – and that there are some things their subconscious can’t bury forever.

I definitely requested this because of the gorgeous cover and it’s a retelling of Sleeping Beauty so I was curious. But I could not get into this book no matter how much I tried and couldn’t connect to any of the characters. I am not a fan of time jumping so it took me out of the story, also everything happens in a dream – which seems interesting but again, I could not connect and wasn’t invested at all.

For a moment I was interested in Malicine the dragon but as the story went on and I couldn’t connect, I lost interest. So this was definitely not a book for me. I didn’t DNF but I definitely skimmed through the book at the point that I wanted to DNF.