Tag Archives: YA Fantasy

Book Review: Tears Of Frost by Bree Barton

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Book: Tears Of Frost by Bree Barton

Published November 2019 Katherine Tegen Books|480 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Heart Of Thorns #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

The electric second book in the Heart of Thorns trilogy explores the effects of power in a dark magical kingdom—and the fierce courage it takes to claim your body as your own.

Mia Rose is back from the dead. Her memories are hazy, her body numb—but she won’t stop searching. Her only hope to save the boy she loves and the sister who destroyed her is to find the mother she can never forgive. Pilar is on a hunt of her own. Betrayed by her mother, and plagued by a painful secret, she’s determined to seek out the only person who can exact revenge. All goes according to plan… until she collides with Prince Quin, the boy whose sister she killed.

As Mia, Pilar, and Quin forge dangerous new alliances, they are bewitched by the snow kingdom’s promise of freedom and opportunity. But with the winter solstice drawing near, they must confront the truth beneath the glimmering ice, as lines between friend, foe, and lover vanish like snowflakes on a flame.

I liked Tears Of Frost, but I didn’t like it as much as the first book in the series.  I don’t know if there are more books- I feel like there’s probably one more- but I would keep reading just to see what happens.

I finished this book pretty recently but I’ve already forgotten a lot of what happened.  It was interesting to see Mia come back to life and try to find her mom.  I really felt like her mom was built up to be this amazing person and she turned out to be someone who wasn’t as great as she was made out to be.  It was like she was on a pedestal because she was gone.

I don’t know that I particularly cared for Pilar and Quin.  Pilar had a lot to deal with and there was a part when they’re in the snow kingdom that reminded me of the scene in the first Fantastic Beasts when Newt and Tina go to MACUSA and are about to have their memories removed.  That scene really stood out to me, and I’d love to see that particular scene on screen.

I am glad we got to see more of this world.  There’s a lot more that we see and it was nice to travel a little bit.  Having a world get bigger in a series is always cool, but I know there’s a chance we’ll be staying in places we’ve already seen.  I’m fine with that, because there’s a lot that needs to happen before these characters can move on with their lives.  I just hope that Angelyne is no longer queen because there’s been a lot of destruction because of her.  Actually, I can’t remember if she’s still queen at the end of this book, but if she is, I hope she’s not queen by the end of the next book.  So many details are not sticking with me, and I can’t remember what’s what.  I think that means I should wrap this up.

3 stars.  I liked it, but it’s a hard book to remember, even writing this a couple of days after finishing it.

Book Review: Song Of The Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao

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Book: Song Of The Crimson Flower by Julie C Dao

Published November 2019 by Philomel Books|288 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: Rise Of The Empress #2.5

Genre: YA Fantasy

From the acclaimed author of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns comes a fantastical new tale of darkness and love, in which magical bonds are stronger than blood.

Will love break the spell? After cruelly rejecting Bao, the poor physician’s apprentice who loves her, Lan, a wealthy nobleman’s daughter, regrets her actions. So when she finds Bao’s prized flute floating in his boat near her house, she takes it into her care, not knowing that his soul has been trapped inside it by an evil witch, who cursed Bao, telling him that only love will set him free. Though Bao now despises her, Lan vows to make amends and help break the spell.

Together, the two travel across the continent, finding themselves in the presence of greatness in the forms of the Great Forest’s Empress Jade and Commander Wei. They journey with Wei, getting tangled in the webs of war, blood magic, and romance along the way. Will Lan and Bao begin to break the spell that’s been placed upon them? Or will they be doomed to live out their lives with black magic running through their veins?

In this fantastical tale of darkness and love, some magical bonds are stronger than blood.

Song Of The Crimson Flower was just okay for me.  I really wanted to like it more but I just wasn’t really into it.

That makes me sad, because I loved Forest Of A Thousand Lanterns so much, and the more books I read in this series, the less I like it.  The world is amazing, and the writing is really pretty but it wasn’t enough for me to like the book.

I didn’t like Lan, and even though she realizes she cares for Bao, she was pretty horrible to him.  She does regret how she treats him, but she does come across as selfish, spoiled and unable to see what’s in front of her.  She does change but even with those changes, I just didn’t care what happened to her.

I did really like Bao, though.  He seemed like a good guy, and I really felt for him.  I thought (some) of his family history was obvious, and so I wasn’t surprised when it was actually revealed.  I was glad things worked out for him in the end.

I was glad to see what happened with both Wei and Jade.  They seem to be doing really well, and it was nice to catch up with them and see how things were working out for them.

2 stars.  Song Of The Crimson Flower was okay for me, and I really wish I liked it more because this series started off so strong for me.

Book Review: Kingdom Of The Blazing Phoenix by Julie C Dao

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Book: Kingdom Of The Blazing Phoenix by Julie C Dao

Published November 2018 by Philomel Books|356 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: Rise Of The Empress #2

Genre: YA Fantasy/Fairy Tale Re-telling

This fairy tale retelling lives in a mystical world inspired by the Far East, where the Dragon Lord and the Serpent God battle for control of the earthly realm; it is here that the flawed heroine of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns finally meets her match. An epic fantasy finale to the Rise of the Empress novels.

Princess Jade has grown up in exile, hidden away in a monastery while her stepmother, the ruthless Xifeng, rules as Empress of Feng Lu. But the empire is in distress and its people are sinking into poverty and despair. Even though Jade doesn’t want the crown, she knows she is the only one who can dethrone the Empress and set the world right. Ready to reclaim her place as rightful heir, Jade embarks on a quest to raise the Dragon Lords and defeat Xifeng and the Serpent God once and for all. But will the same darkness that took Xifeng take Jade, too? Or will she find the strength within to save herself, her friends, and her empire?

Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world filled with breathtaking pain and beauty, Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix is filled with dazzling magic, powerful prose, and characters readers won’t soon forget.

Fans of Stealing Snow, Red Queen, and The Wrath and the Dawn will hungrily devour this page-turning read.

I liked Kingdom Of The Blazing Phoenix but not as much as I thought I would!

I really wanted to like this one more than I did.  I LOVED Forest Of A Thousand Lanterns, which was a great Evil Queen origin story, but this follow up didn’t interest me as much.

I mean, I liked Jade.  She definitely had to get her kingdom back from Xifeng, and she went on quite the quest to do it.  This book is set over a decade after Forest, and it was interesting to see how much Xifeng changed.  Especially when we came across people who knew her as she made her way to being Empress of Feng Lu.  I know it put it out of the realm of YA, but I really want to know what happened in Xifeng’s life between the end of the first book and the start of this one.  You get little bits and pieces, of course, but I wanted more.  I really did like Xifeng’s story.

I felt for Jade, and she had a lot going on.  It seems like things will change in Feng Lu, and for the better.  It seems like it will take a while but I feel like they’ll get there eventually.  She wasn’t my favorite character, but she definitely came into her own by the end of the book.  She had a lot of support, even if she came across people who didn’t want to give her support.  Some seemed hesitant, especially at first, but I also felt like they eventually knew it was the right choice for the kingdom.

It’s just…Jade didn’t interest me as much as Xifeng.  She was so good that it was sometimes annoying and mostly boring, and she didn’t seem as complex as Xifeng.  Gone are the court politics and people doing these crazy things to get what they want.

Actually, I kind of take that last part back.  Jade is a somewhat unwilling Empress but she does do what she needs to for the sake of Feng Lu.  It’s just a very different story of than what Xifeng does to get what she wants.

This is more of a Snow White re-telling, and I think it stands on its own pretty well.  While you don’t need to read the first book to know what’s going on in this book, it is also a wonderful book, and it definitely gives you more backstory on Xifeng, and why she does what she does.  It’s not that hard to figure out, especially if you’re at all familiar with the Snow White story, but it really is a good starting point to this story.

It was slow at times, though there are little pockets of action and excitement.  This is a journey novel after all.  I just wasn’t super-excited about the journey, though I did like some of the characters we come across.

3 stars.  Overall, I liked this book, but Jade, for me, wasn’t as interesting as Xifeng.

Book Review: The Queen Of Nothing by Holly Black

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Book: The Queen Of Nothing by Holly Black

Published November 2019 by Little, Brown|300 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: The Folk Of The Air #3

Genre: YA Fantasy

He will be destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne.

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan’s betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal life is in peril.

Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics.

And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity…

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, comes the highly anticipated and jaw-dropping finale to The Folk of the Air trilogy.

I liked The Queen Of Nothing!  This has been a fun series to read, and I am glad we got to see how everything turned out for the characters.

So, I felt like the prophecy/curse came out of nowhere.  It’s been awhile since I’ve read the first two books in the series, so there’s a good chance it came up before and I don’t remember it.  I had every intention of re-reading the series but I didn’t have the energy for it.  Unlike a lot of series, I did have a vague idea of what happened before, so that was a plus.  Still, I’m probably fuzzy on a lot of the smaller details because of not re-reading.

Back to the curse for a second.  I already mentioned I felt like it came out of nowhere and I’m not at all surprised by what broke the curse.  There was some eye-rolling when that happened, because I feel like I’ve seen it before.  Would it have been nice if it had been something different?  Of course, but it had to be done somehow.

I actually really liked Jude in this book.  She didn’t have an easy decision to make, and she very easily could have made a different choice.  I’m glad she made the decision she did, and part of me actually does want to go back and re-read the series just to see how much she changed, and how she got to this point.  There was a time when she probably would have made a completely different decision, and I think Elfhame will be a better place because she and Cardan are ruling together.

I’m glad things worked out for Vivi!  I always liked her, and even though she’d pop up every once in a while, I’m still glad she had a happy ending.  Taryn…I don’t know about her.  Her story felt the most unresolved, and even though she is how Jude is able to get back into Faerie, I felt like she didn’t get a lot of attention or resolution in this book.  I can’t remember if it was the same in the other books, but I’ll find out if I end up doing a re-read.

This has always been Jude’s story, though, and I’m glad things worked out for her.  She seems to be in a much better place now than when we first met her.

3 stars.  I liked The Queen Of Nothing, and it really is a good ending to the series, but I couldn’t love it.

Book Review: The Girl The Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

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Book: The Girl The Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

Published September 2019 by Wednesday Books|327 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: Sky In The Deep #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

The new gut-wrenching epic from the New York Times bestselling author of Sky in the Deep.

For as long as she can remember, Tova has lived among the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue. Her own home and clan are long-faded memories, but the sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch of her skin mark her as one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future. She has found a fragile place among those who fear her, but when two clans to the east bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse.

For the first time in generations, the leaders of the Svell are divided. Should they maintain peace or go to war with the allied clans to protect their newfound power? And when their chieftain looks to Tova to cast the stones, she sets into motion a series of events that will not only change the landscape of the mainland forever but will give her something she believed she could never have again—a home.

The Girl The Sea Gave Back was just okay for me.  It was something I struggled to get through, and I had a harder time with this book than I did with Sky In The Deep.

I felt so confused when I was reading it!  It felt like there were a lot of names and places I couldn’t keep track of, and I could not picture anything to save my life.

It didn’t help that I didn’t realize it was a companion to Sky In The Deep.  It focuses on different characters, and it’s set way later than Sky In The Deep.  You don’t need to read that one in order to read this one, because they are both stand-alones, but I do find myself wishing that I had.  And it’s pretty much so I could get back into this world, because I felt like it was very minimal.  That or I missed it because I couldn’t focus on the book.

This is a review I’m really struggling with.  As pretty as the cover is (and I tend to get lured in by pretty covers), this story was a struggle to get through.  I liked the idea of it, though, and there were some lines that really took me away.  I’m not someone who writes down quotes or anything like that, but there were a few I wanted to have written down in my notebook.

2 stars.  I struggled to get through this one, and I could only read a few chapters at a time.  It’s definitely not the story for me, but I’d still pick up the next book that Young comes out with.

Audio Book Review: Evermore by Sara Holland, Narrated by Eileen Stevens

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Book: Evermore by Sara Holland, narrated by Eileen Stevens

Published December 2018 by HarperAudio|Length: 9 hours, 1 minute

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: Everless #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

The highly anticipated sequel to New York Times bestseller, Everless!

Jules Ember was raised hearing legends of the ancient magic of the wicked Alchemist and the good Sorceress. But she has just learned the truth: not only are the stories true, but she herself is the Alchemist, and Caro—a woman who single-handedly murdered the Queen and Jules’s first love, Roan, in cold blood—is the Sorceress.

The whole kingdom believes that Jules is responsible for the murders, and a hefty bounty has been placed on her head. And Caro is intent on destroying Jules, who stole her heart twelve lifetimes ago. Jules must delve into the stories that she now recognizes are accounts of her own past. For it is only by piecing together the mysteries of her lives that Jules will be able to save the person who has captured her own heart in this one.

I really liked Evermore!  I really liked the first one, and I knew I had to read this one to see how everything went.

We learned a lot more about the world, and how the Alchemist and Sorceress came to be.  I’m glad we got some answers, and that back-story was pretty interesting.  Getting that world-building made sense in this book, and it definitely would have been out of place in the first book.

Like the first book, we learn things as Jules learns them, and I’m glad it didn’t seem as muddled as the first book.  Maybe I’m more used to her writing style, or it just made more sense in this book.  I’m not too sure but it was nice to learn more about what happened between Jules and Caro centuries earlier.  The person who would break Jules heart wasn’t who I was expecting at first, but with everything that Jules discovers, it makes sense.  I knew it would be someone unexpected, but I still didn’t see it coming.

Jules ends up on the run, because of what happened in the last book, and she goes to quite a few places to recover her memories.  I kind of like that she found herself back at Everless, and fought for herself so Caro wouldn’t take over.  I wasn’t sure if this book would be a duology or a trilogy, but things were wrapped up really well.  It felt like things were over when I finished the book, though I’m curious to see what happens to Sempera years later, and if time is still currency, or if that has faded away.

I also liked Eileen Stevens as the narrator.  She did a great job with the first book, so I knew she would do a great job with this one.  She really is good at bringing Jules to life, and there were a few points where I was right there with Jules as she was dealing with all kinds of stuff.

This is slightly random, but I would love to read a book of short stories about the Sorceress and the Alchemist.  These legends are pretty important to Semperans, and actually reading the legends would be pretty cool.

4 stars.  While I didn’t love Evermore, I still really liked the story and the world.

Book Review: The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

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Book: The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Published September 2019 by Little, Brown Books For Young Readers|352 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: None

Genre: YA Fantasy

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about two things: her family, and her family’s graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don’t always stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as “bone houses,” and legend says that they’re the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves.

The Bone Houses was just okay for me.

I was intrigued by the world Ryn lives in.  She’s a gravedigger in a world where the dead don’t stay dead.  That’s not a job I would want but especially knowing those die might not stay dead.  There’s magic and she comes across an interesting encampment in the forest, and there was something about the setting that felt like it happened long ago.  It felt very European to me, though I couldn’t begin to guess what time period this book would be set in.

I wonder where they came up with bone houses.  I mean, they obviously have to be called something, but why bone houses?  It’s an interesting way of calling them zombies.  That’s what they remind me of, but I’m not sure if that’s what Lloyd-Jones was going for with them.

I’m not surprised that it was because of a curse that happened ages ago, or that Ellis was connected to it all.  It was either him or Ryn, and he did make more sense because it happened around the time he got close to where Ryn lives.  She is a pretty good guide, I’ll give her that.  Especially where the forest is concerned.

I also wasn’t surprised that there something between Ellis and Ryn.  Personally, I didn’t feel it, but given this is one book, and there were other things going on…let’s just say it felt like the romance took a backseat to everything else going on.

One thing that drove me up a wall was the inconsistency with Ryn’s name.  Sometimes, she was Ryn, but other times, she was Aderyn, and I didn’t realize they were the same person for most of the book.  It wasn’t until she told Ellis to call her Ryn instead of Aderyn that I realized they were the same person, and she preferred Ryn.

And I was bored.  I kept waiting for something to happen, but it was until we were getting to the end of the book that things start getting more action-packed.  Like with so many other books that end up being okay, it wasn’t a total loss.  I mean, I did keep reading to see what would happen, and what was going on.  But I was never completely pulled in or invested in what was going on either.  There were a couple of points where I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish the book, but I did want to see how things would work out.

2 stars.  The Bone Houses was just okay, and it wasn’t for me.

Book Review: A River Of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

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Book: A River Of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

Published October 2019 by Putnam|368 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: A River Of Royal Blood #1

Genre: YA

An enthralling debut perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone set in a North African-inspired fantasy world where two sisters must fight to the death to win the crown.

Sixteen-year-old Eva is a princess, born with the magick of marrow and blood–a dark and terrible magick that hasn’t been seen for generations in the vibrant but fractured country of Myre. Its last known practitioner was Queen Raina, who toppled the native khimaer royalty and massacred thousands, including her own sister, eight generations ago, thus beginning the Rival Heir tradition. Living in Raina’s long and dark shadow, Eva must now face her older sister, Isa, in a battle to the death if she hopes to ascend to the Ivory Throne–because in the Queendom of Myre only the strongest, most ruthless rulers survive.

When Eva is attacked by an assassin just weeks before the battle with her sister, she discovers there is more to the attempt on her life than meets the eye–and it isn’t just her sister who wants to see her dead. As tensions escalate, Eva is forced to turn to a fey instructor of mythic proportions and a mysterious and handsome khimaer prince for help in growing her magick into something to fear. Because despite the love she still has for her sister, Eva will have to choose: Isa’s death or her own.

A River of Royal Blood is an enthralling debut set in a lush North African inspired fantasy world that subtly but powerfully challenges our notions of power, history, and identity.

I liked A River Of Royal Blood!  It’s like a combination of Children Of Blood And Bone, Throne Of Glass, and Three Dark Crowns.

It’s definitely an interesting book, and I really want to know more about Eva’s magic.  Hopefully, we’ll see more of her magic and learn more about it.  Her magic seems like the sort of magic that people are wary of it, and that makes me want to see it more.  I totally get why we didn’t, and I’m hoping there’s a way for Eva to use her magic without too much trouble.  Honestly, it’s not looking good, but hopefully, things will work themselves out.

Isa’s magic actually scares me more than Eva’s.  The control she has over people, and the way she’s able to bend them to their will is much more terrifying than killing.  I mean, it seems like that’s what Eva’s magic is, but it’s hard to say because I feel like we get so little about it.  But for now, what Isa can do is a lot more scary.  I really want to see what any challenge or battle would look like between the two.

I did feel bad for Eva, because it seems like she was kept in the dark about so many things.  I can’t imagine being close to a sibling and then finding out that one of you won’t survive the fight for the throne.  It made me sad for Eva.  And finding out that my magic was bound, and can only be removed by someone who’s no longer around to do it?  That would also be a terrible thing to know.  I can get why these things would be kept for her, but it made things harder for her, especially at court.  But I also felt like, in the end, she also decided she had to fight for her life.  Hers is a world where it’s killed or be killed, and I feel she really made the decision to fight after everything that happened.

Not that it wasn’t there before, but it seemed like she lived in Isa’s shadow.  It was like she accepted that Isa was going to be queen, and was everyone’s favorite.  I think it took a while for Eva to believe in herself, and hopefully, she’ll continue to do so.

This book is definitely Eva’s journey, but there is part of me that wanted to see more of Isa.  I’m not always a big fan of multiple narrators, but I think seeing a few chapters from Isa’s POV would have been interesting.  Still, I’m glad we got to follow Eva, and I definitely find myself rooting for her.

3 stars.  I liked A River Of Royal Blood.  While I don’t think I’ll be rushing to read the next book in the series, I’m still interested enough to see what happens next for Eva.

Book Review: Serpent And Dove by Shelby Mahurin

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Book: Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Published September 2019 by HarperTeen|513 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: Serpent & Dove #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

Bound as one to love, honor, or burn.

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.

And love makes fools of us all.

Serpent & Dove was just okay.  I wanted to like it more, because overall, the story was pretty cool.

I mean, a witch marries the man who’s hunting her.  It actually bothered me that she was pretty much forced into it to make the Chasseurs look good.  It was hard to get past that, especially once we learn a lot more about the witches and the church.  The church, by the way, reminded me a lot of the Catholic church, and something about how witches are hunted down made me think of the Spanish Inquisition.

I didn’t care for the relationship between Lou and Reid, and I think it’s because of how they’re forced together.  I just had a hard time rooting for them, knowing what I know about Lou and how she had to hide it.  How she managed to keep it hidden from Reid for so long surprised me, but then again, he seemed oblivious at times.

The beginning and the ending were interesting but it was hard to get through the middle of the book.  We learn a lot at the end of the book, and there’s a lot of action at both the beginning and the end, but it felt like the middle was full of nothing I cared about.  I’m actually surprised I finished it, because there were times I wanted to just not finish the book.  I did want to know how everything came together but I don’t know if I’ll be picking up the next book.  It just felt really slow and long.

I felt like, even though there’s more than enough story for a sequel or two, that the story did wrap up pretty well.  It would work well as a stand-alone novel, in my opinion.

2 stars.  Serpent & Dove was okay, and really long and slow-paced.

Book Review: The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

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Book: The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

Published March 2019 by Freeform|344 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: The Belles #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

In this sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, Camille, her sister Edel, and her guard and new love Remy must race against time to find Princess Charlotte. Sophia’s Imperial forces will stop at nothing to keep the rebels from returning Charlotte to the castle and her rightful place as queen. With the help of an underground resistance movement called The Iron Ladies-a society that rejects beauty treatments entirely-and the backing of alternative newspaper The Spider’s Web, Camille uses her powers, her connections and her cunning to outwit her greatest nemesis, Sophia, and restore peace to Orleans. 

I have really mixed feelings about The Everlasting Rose.  I really liked The Belles when I read it almost two years ago- enough to pick up the sequel and see what happened next.  But I’m not sure how I feel about the sequel.

I really liked the world and we see more of it in this one.  I felt like the underground resistance randomly came up but I also feel like it sort of makes sense, considering how little Camille actually knew.  We learned some stuff at the end of The Belles that is the focus in this book.  Sophia really takes things to a different level, and part of me wishes we had spent more time closer to Sophia to actually see what happens.  We do get it in bits and pieces throughout the book, which is fine, and works okay enough, considering what’s going on with Camille, Edel and Remy.

I did like the significance of the Everlasting Rose, and how it had a few different meanings.  I really liked the moments where I got to see each meaning of it.  One is definitely better than the other, that’s for sure.

There’s definitely more to the Belles power than I originally thought.  It was hinted at in The Belles, and I did kind of like how it was used throughout the book.  It makes me wish we saw it earlier in the series, because I wanted to see a little bit more of it, but I think it worked well here.  Just because the first book had a different focus than this one, and it might have been a little out of place in this book.

Changes are in store for Orleans, and under Sophia’s rule, you see how much it affects everyone.  What people think about the changes under Charlotte’s rule remains to be seen, and hopefully, we’ll see that in the last book.  Even though my overall feeling is…meh…I still want to finish out the series and see how much has changed.  I won’t be rushing out to get the next book, but at some point, when it is released, I’ll pick it up and read it.

I wanted to like it more, but considering how fast I went through this book, I didn’t like it as much as I could have.  It did keep me reading, though, so I’ll give it that.

2 stars.  Overall, The Everlasting Rose was okay.  The world is interesting but I lost interest in Camille’s world in this book.  Hopefully, the next book get my attention a lot more than this one day.