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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I cannot stop thinking about this book! It was a refreshing change of pace from all the other fantasy romance out there right now. Never the Roses is well written, thought provoking, and deeply moving. Chloe Campbell and Shane East's performances really brought these characters and their struggles to life. I highly recommend listening to it if you have a chance. The magic was unique and I haven't been able to stop telling people all about it! Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a chance to listen to this ALC in exchange for an honest review. It is officially in my top five fantasy reads.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A beautifully written book about regret, grief, forgiveness, redemption, hope, and finding yourself again after a tragedy. This book was a lovely read, relaxing in parts and exciting in others. There is a beautiful love story, but I'll warn you - this is not a happily ever after and I definitely cried and hugged this book for a minute after I finished it. This book will make you FEEL. Especially if you have ever lost someone you love.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 1.5/5 ⭐🪻
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Rivals to Lovers, Slow Burn/Insta-Love, Forbidden Romance
----Summary----
This is a story about a powerful sorceress, who earns enough money to buy her freedom and retire. She spends her new found retirement living in isolation and trying to limit her use of magic to live a simpler life. She eventually finds her way sneaking into her rivals library and a penpal type letter swapping situation begins between the two. Eventually this rival sorcerer is summoned to assist in a war against the kingdom and queen for which the FMC used to work. The FMC is then eventually pulled back out of her newfound quiet life to be pitted against her rival, for whom she has started to develop a deep connection.
----Thoughts----
|| Disclaimer || First things first, I want to emphasize that a majority of this book is definitely more of an observational cozy fantasy. If you pick this book up hoping for an epic romantasy, you will be disappointed. I haven't read Circe, but this book was also compared to The Serpent and the Wings of Night on Amazon, which I feel is extremely misleading. Serpent and Roses are completely different and I'm not sure in what way they are supposed to be the same.
|| The First 25% || Initially, this book reads like a classic fairytale where we meet the FMC while she collects a crew of animal companions. Soon after the FMC makes her way to her rivals library, then starts a rose garden. Around the 25% mark, the story introduces a sub plot of an impending war, but overall this is mostly a character driven story. Personally, I prefer more plot driven stories when it comes to fantasy books, so I found the pacing to be to slow for me and not engaging enough.
|| Halfway There || Around the 50% mark it takes a very strange and awkward turn with the FMC meeting a stranger and immediately engaging in some uncomfortably written intimate scenes. This is also around the time when the FMC and MMC finally meet in person, which was a huge let down for me. I expected their relationship to develop more through their letter swapping based on the synopsis, but it was only like three letters total.
At this point the slow burn romance then became insta-love, which was jarring. The entire conversation the two have was all the topics I expected them to connect over via their letters prior to meeting in person instead of a single conversation on the first day the meet.
|| The Rest of The Story || More of the same. The FMC and MMC continue their romance and work to resolve the war subplot. The resolution of which, I felt, was sort of anticlimactic. However, given this story wasn't too heavily plot driven in the first place it kind of made sense.
|| Full Story - The Not So Good || Throughout the book, most of content just appeared to be the FMC and MMCs internal musings and deductions. Once they meet, they add the mental game of trying to figure out the other person and what they intend or are going to do next, then eventually how to handle the impending war with their forbidden romance. It felt very tiresome after a while, and I did not enjoy it. The FMC contemplating having a child with a stranger out of boredom (without any input on his part and literally the next morning after meeting him) also did not sit well with me. In fact everything involving that character should have been removed from the story, in my opinion, as it didn't seem to really add anything.
|| Full Story - The Good || I loved the unique aspect of a retired sorceress with dream magic. Finally, an FMC who isn't an 18-20 year old prodigy who just needs a training arc. That was very refreshing in itself. Also the dream magic not just seeing/being in dreams but able to be used for traveling and conjuring solid objects was so neat. The idea of all dreams manifesting into its own world and lifeform that the FMC can access was something I have never seen before. I also found it intriguing how the FMC was portrayed as all powerful, but then so naive in the ways of basic human interaction. I like to think this was intentional, because even though the interactions made me uncomfortable at times, I image that would be how the FMC felt herself. It seems that the youth/experiences many would have had as they grow to help them understand societal norms was taken from the FMC when she was forced into the life of a sorceress. A lot of her character growth seems to come from her getting to experience both love and the simpler world all on her own, which I think the author portrayed very well.
----Final Verdict----
Do NOT read this book looking for a fast paced romantasy. I would recommend this story to someone looking for a new kind of slow, introspective, cozy fantasy with a heavy focus on character growth.
Rating: 1.5/5 ⭐🪻
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Rivals to Lovers, Slow Burn/Insta-Love, Forbidden Romance
----Summary----
This is a story about a powerful sorceress, who earns enough money to buy her freedom and retire. She spends her new found retirement living in isolation and trying to limit her use of magic to live a simpler life. She eventually finds her way sneaking into her rivals library and a penpal type letter swapping situation begins between the two. Eventually this rival sorcerer is summoned to assist in a war against the kingdom and queen for which the FMC used to work. The FMC is then eventually pulled back out of her newfound quiet life to be pitted against her rival, for whom she has started to develop a deep connection.
----Thoughts----
|| Disclaimer || First things first, I want to emphasize that a majority of this book is definitely more of an observational cozy fantasy. If you pick this book up hoping for an epic romantasy, you will be disappointed. I haven't read Circe, but this book was also compared to The Serpent and the Wings of Night on Amazon, which I feel is extremely misleading. Serpent and Roses are completely different and I'm not sure in what way they are supposed to be the same.
|| The First 25% || Initially, this book reads like a classic fairytale where we meet the FMC while she collects a crew of animal companions. Soon after the FMC makes her way to her rivals library, then starts a rose garden. Around the 25% mark, the story introduces a sub plot of an impending war, but overall this is mostly a character driven story. Personally, I prefer more plot driven stories when it comes to fantasy books, so I found the pacing to be to slow for me and not engaging enough.
|| Halfway There || Around the 50% mark it takes a very strange and awkward turn with the FMC meeting a stranger and immediately engaging in some uncomfortably written intimate scenes. This is also around the time when the FMC and MMC finally meet in person, which was a huge let down for me. I expected their relationship to develop more through their letter swapping based on the synopsis, but it was only like three letters total.
At this point the slow burn romance then became insta-love, which was jarring. The entire conversation the two have was all the topics I expected them to connect over via their letters prior to meeting in person instead of a single conversation on the first day the meet.
|| The Rest of The Story || More of the same. The FMC and MMC continue their romance and work to resolve the war subplot. The resolution of which, I felt, was sort of anticlimactic. However, given this story wasn't too heavily plot driven in the first place it kind of made sense.
|| Full Story - The Not So Good || Throughout the book, most of content just appeared to be the FMC and MMCs internal musings and deductions. Once they meet, they add the mental game of trying to figure out the other person and what they intend or are going to do next, then eventually how to handle the impending war with their forbidden romance. It felt very tiresome after a while, and I did not enjoy it. The FMC contemplating having a child with a stranger out of boredom (without any input on his part and literally the next morning after meeting him) also did not sit well with me. In fact everything involving that character should have been removed from the story, in my opinion, as it didn't seem to really add anything.
|| Full Story - The Good || I loved the unique aspect of a retired sorceress with dream magic. Finally, an FMC who isn't an 18-20 year old prodigy who just needs a training arc. That was very refreshing in itself. Also the dream magic not just seeing/being in dreams but able to be used for traveling and conjuring solid objects was so neat. The idea of all dreams manifesting into its own world and lifeform that the FMC can access was something I have never seen before. I also found it intriguing how the FMC was portrayed as all powerful, but then so naive in the ways of basic human interaction. I like to think this was intentional, because even though the interactions made me uncomfortable at times, I image that would be how the FMC felt herself. It seems that the youth/experiences many would have had as they grow to help them understand societal norms was taken from the FMC when she was forced into the life of a sorceress. A lot of her character growth seems to come from her getting to experience both love and the simpler world all on her own, which I think the author portrayed very well.
----Final Verdict----
Do NOT read this book looking for a fast paced romantasy. I would recommend this story to someone looking for a new kind of slow, introspective, cozy fantasy with a heavy focus on character growth.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Slow moving, which is fine, but the prose was a little too dry for my taste. Additionally, the love triangle angle didn't amount to much and wound up hindering the momentum of the love story in a way that I didn't feel was worth the payoff. Not necessarily a bad book but the pacing is scuffed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No