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thetolkiengeek 's review for:
A Ruin of Roses
by K.F. Breene
I was looking for a shifter romance, and after having enjoyed Breene's previous series about a supernatural bounty hunter in New Orleans, I picked this one up. Based on the positive reviews, I was optimistic. I knew what I was getting into with her prose, which can feel a little cringe at times but makes me laugh.
But this ain't it, folks.
Not only was the prose incredibly immature, it was immersion-breaking to the point where I almost DNF. The MC, Finley, was...fine, I guess? Our beauty is an accomplished herbalist, plucky, smart, and snarky. In theory. Multiple times throughout the story, I found myself astonished by how dumb she seemed to be. She also gives a speech about how she wants to be seen for more than her beauty, but it felt incredibly unearned. At no point before that was it demonstrated by the village that they valued her beauty (except by the clear Gaston stand-in who was there for a whopping two pages and who was terrible, and not even in a fun way).
Most of the characters are either completely contradictory, us being told they're one thing when they do another, or completely shallow. With the exception of Finley's family and some of the side characters (shout out to Hadriel, the only saving grace of this book, and even he's on thin ice), no other characters are fleshed out.
In fact, I'd say that's this book's main problem--it's just shallow in a way that detracts from every aspect of the story. The worldbuilding especially is egregiously ill thought out. It's a fascinating set-up to the world, but there are just too many holes in it. It's shallow and could have used another draft or two.
This book markets itself as a "deliciously dark fairytale" but it does not deliver much on the "dark" aspect of it. I've read worse spice, but the word choices are...interesting. So be aware going in.
Anyway, I'm not optimistic about this book review saying up since the author deletes poor reviews, but maybe someone will see this and not waste too much of their time.
Two stars instead of one because I did get through the book in about a day. Also the butler.
But this ain't it, folks.
Not only was the prose incredibly immature, it was immersion-breaking to the point where I almost DNF. The MC, Finley, was...fine, I guess? Our beauty is an accomplished herbalist, plucky, smart, and snarky. In theory. Multiple times throughout the story, I found myself astonished by how dumb she seemed to be. She also gives a speech about how she wants to be seen for more than her beauty, but it felt incredibly unearned. At no point before that was it demonstrated by the village that they valued her beauty (except by the clear Gaston stand-in who was there for a whopping two pages and who was terrible, and not even in a fun way).
Most of the characters are either completely contradictory, us being told they're one thing when they do another, or completely shallow. With the exception of Finley's family and some of the side characters (shout out to Hadriel, the only saving grace of this book, and even he's on thin ice), no other characters are fleshed out.
In fact, I'd say that's this book's main problem--it's just shallow in a way that detracts from every aspect of the story. The worldbuilding especially is egregiously ill thought out. It's a fascinating set-up to the world, but there are just too many holes in it. It's shallow and could have used another draft or two.
This book markets itself as a "deliciously dark fairytale" but it does not deliver much on the "dark" aspect of it. I've read worse spice, but the word choices are...interesting. So be aware going in.
Anyway, I'm not optimistic about this book review saying up since the author deletes poor reviews, but maybe someone will see this and not waste too much of their time.
Two stars instead of one because I did get through the book in about a day. Also the butler.