Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by melissasherwood
Rose in Chains by Julie Soto
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75 rounded up. Thank you to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review. I have never read anything by Julie Soto and I went into this book not realizing at first that it was a rewrite of her Dramione fanfic, The Auction (which I haven’t read), so the beginning felt a bit disjointed and I found it really hard to keep my interest engaged at first.
The world-building felt underdeveloped to me and magic system felt difficult to follow and seemed contradictory at times. I felt that there was an assumption that the reader should know a lot of the background info and world-building already because this started out as a Harry Potter fanfic and once I confirmed with a friend that this was a rewrite of The Auction, a lot of it clicked into place in my brain because I then had previous background info from knowing the HP characters/world.
The pacing of this book also felt off and as I said, the beginning felt disjointed. I attribute a lot of this to the flashbacks, and while I think this was Julie’s attempt to give us background info while also foreshadowing events in the upcoming chapters, it disrupted the narrative and took me out of the flow of what what happening in present time. The flow seemed better once we got less of the flashbacks, and I think it would have been better if this had been rearranged chronologically. The epilogue with the dragon also felt out of place because we have next to zero info on the dragon throughout the whole book, and then we get the epilogue from her POV when there was never a POV change in the rest of the book? I think it would have been more impactful if it had been from Rory’s POV, but I guess it would have ruined “the big reveal”, even though it didn’t feel like one.
This is just a personal issue, but I also had a hard time with some of the names as they did not seem to fit and also took me out of the story. Biltmore Palace was a bit on the nose with The Biltmore Estate and made me think of North Carolina. Didion’s last name of Winchester made me think of Supernatural, even though I haven’t watched anything beyond the first season. Liam Quill kept reminding me of Starlord (Peter Quill). Mallow kept having marshmallow popping into my head. And while Julie had no way of knowing this, my local art studio is named Rosewood, so I kept getting distracted. Again, I understand this is a me issue.
I definitely think this could use some refining, but overall I enjoyed this and I will continue the series. I also plan to listen to the audio when it is available as that may change my opinion.
The world-building felt underdeveloped to me and magic system felt difficult to follow and seemed contradictory at times. I felt that there was an assumption that the reader should know a lot of the background info and world-building already because this started out as a Harry Potter fanfic and once I confirmed with a friend that this was a rewrite of The Auction, a lot of it clicked into place in my brain because I then had previous background info from knowing the HP characters/world.
The pacing of this book also felt off and as I said, the beginning felt disjointed. I attribute a lot of this to the flashbacks, and while I think this was Julie’s attempt to give us background info while also foreshadowing events in the upcoming chapters, it disrupted the narrative and took me out of the flow of what what happening in present time. The flow seemed better once we got less of the flashbacks, and I think it would have been better if this had been rearranged chronologically. The epilogue with the dragon also felt out of place because we have next to zero info on the dragon throughout the whole book, and then we get the epilogue from her POV when there was never a POV change in the rest of the book? I think it would have been more impactful if it had been from Rory’s POV, but I guess it would have ruined “the big reveal”, even though it didn’t feel like one.
This is just a personal issue, but I also had a hard time with some of the names as they did not seem to fit and also took me out of the story. Biltmore Palace was a bit on the nose with The Biltmore Estate and made me think of North Carolina. Didion’s last name of Winchester made me think of Supernatural, even though I haven’t watched anything beyond the first season. Liam Quill kept reminding me of Starlord (Peter Quill). Mallow kept having marshmallow popping into my head. And while Julie had no way of knowing this, my local art studio is named Rosewood, so I kept getting distracted. Again, I understand this is a me issue.
I definitely think this could use some refining, but overall I enjoyed this and I will continue the series. I also plan to listen to the audio when it is available as that may change my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting