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wordsbychiara 's review for:
A Ruin of Roses
by K.F. Breene
Beauty in the Beast is a tale as old as time—pun intended. It’s been retold countless times, and yet it always offers something new. A RUIN OF ROSES’s take on the story is raunchy, unapologetic, and humorous. Let me tell you a bit about it.
After a mad king made a deal with demons and subjected the entire kingdom to a terrible curse, Finley has to buckle up to guarantee her family’s survival. Not only has the curse locked down everyone’s shifter forms, but it caused a mortal sickness slowly decimating the population. Finley’s mother has already died from it, and now it risks killing her father, too. Through trial and error, Finley devises a tonic that helps slow down the sickness. Downfall? The plant she needs is the Forbidden Woods, guarded by a terrible beast. When the beast catches Finley, he takes her away to his castle instead of killing her. It turns out the beast is a man: Prince Nyfain, the last of the dragon shifters. Finley soon realizes the curse affecting the kingdom is far more complicated than she imagined, and in the midst of her heated bickering with Nyfain, she discovers she may be the only one who can help him break the curse, and the price could very well ruin her. What happens next? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out!
A Ruin of Roses had a winning combination of fast plot, entertaining dialogue and fun characters. The language was at times a bit “mature”, but I didn’t particularly mind it, especially since it’s written in first person and I found Finley’s outspoken and unapologetic attitude endearing. I immediately clicked with her, and enjoyed getting to spend some time with her and her family before being thrust into the heart of the story. The world-building was delivered little by little as we followed Finley in her journey, without excessively long and verbose passages, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It helped to set the story apart from the retelling, though the original story remained recognizable through some key elements, characters and events presented through a very original lens.
The castle scenes were probably my favorite. We’re presented with a cast of comical secondary characters, an abundance of interesting supernatural activity, and quite a bit of debauchery. Spice levels were extremely high in this book, and this reflected perfectly in the relationship between Nyfain and Finley. The attraction between them moves very quickly, which doesn’t mean they’re quick to profess eternal love to one another. We’re talking lust, and lust doesn’t know slow burn. I do think I would have liked a few more key scenes between them, especially toward the ending, but if you like spicy couples, then you need Nyfain and Finley in your life.
Overall, an amazing read! I had a lot of fun reading this book, and recommend it to lovers of retellings and fast-paced, spicy adult reads.
Thank you to the author for gifting me a copy to review. All opinions are my own.
After a mad king made a deal with demons and subjected the entire kingdom to a terrible curse, Finley has to buckle up to guarantee her family’s survival. Not only has the curse locked down everyone’s shifter forms, but it caused a mortal sickness slowly decimating the population. Finley’s mother has already died from it, and now it risks killing her father, too. Through trial and error, Finley devises a tonic that helps slow down the sickness. Downfall? The plant she needs is the Forbidden Woods, guarded by a terrible beast. When the beast catches Finley, he takes her away to his castle instead of killing her. It turns out the beast is a man: Prince Nyfain, the last of the dragon shifters. Finley soon realizes the curse affecting the kingdom is far more complicated than she imagined, and in the midst of her heated bickering with Nyfain, she discovers she may be the only one who can help him break the curse, and the price could very well ruin her. What happens next? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out!
A Ruin of Roses had a winning combination of fast plot, entertaining dialogue and fun characters. The language was at times a bit “mature”, but I didn’t particularly mind it, especially since it’s written in first person and I found Finley’s outspoken and unapologetic attitude endearing. I immediately clicked with her, and enjoyed getting to spend some time with her and her family before being thrust into the heart of the story. The world-building was delivered little by little as we followed Finley in her journey, without excessively long and verbose passages, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It helped to set the story apart from the retelling, though the original story remained recognizable through some key elements, characters and events presented through a very original lens.
The castle scenes were probably my favorite. We’re presented with a cast of comical secondary characters, an abundance of interesting supernatural activity, and quite a bit of debauchery. Spice levels were extremely high in this book, and this reflected perfectly in the relationship between Nyfain and Finley. The attraction between them moves very quickly, which doesn’t mean they’re quick to profess eternal love to one another. We’re talking lust, and lust doesn’t know slow burn. I do think I would have liked a few more key scenes between them, especially toward the ending, but if you like spicy couples, then you need Nyfain and Finley in your life.
Overall, an amazing read! I had a lot of fun reading this book, and recommend it to lovers of retellings and fast-paced, spicy adult reads.
Thank you to the author for gifting me a copy to review. All opinions are my own.