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A review by unorgaynized
The Language of Roses by Heather Rose Jones
4.0
Thank you, NetGalley and Queen of Swords Press for the chance to read this ARC!
Four out of five stars, I truly did enjoy it. I am very much on the aroace spectrum, and while there is not explicit confirmation Alys is, she feels real and true enough along that I can find myself relating to her easily. To be asked to marry and to be in love with someone-- one of those things is easier than the other, on any level. Like Alys, I cannot force myself to love if I have never romantically loved and it does not come so naturally to me.
A beautiful spin of Beauty and the Beast-- but with him was cursed his sister, who holds the servants. Alongside them are familiar figures from other fairy tales: a girl who dropped jewels and flowers from her mouth with every word, a grieving enchantress-mother who cannot see what has happened, the man who broke his promise and struck his wife thrice.
Alys and Grace grow in companionship against Grace's oppressive Beast brother, trying to soothe his personality, coax him into a better frame of mind, tailor their behaviors to please his moods. A love cannot easily grow between a beauty and the beast she attempts to pacify-- but a deep relationship can grow between herself and his sister.
This is, of course, sapphic-- it's a book by Heather Rose Jones, of course-- and I really appreciated the relationship, as well as the neat storylines tied off at the end.
Four out of five stars, I truly did enjoy it. I am very much on the aroace spectrum, and while there is not explicit confirmation Alys is, she feels real and true enough along that I can find myself relating to her easily. To be asked to marry and to be in love with someone-- one of those things is easier than the other, on any level. Like Alys, I cannot force myself to love if I have never romantically loved and it does not come so naturally to me.
A beautiful spin of Beauty and the Beast-- but with him was cursed his sister, who holds the servants. Alongside them are familiar figures from other fairy tales: a girl who dropped jewels and flowers from her mouth with every word, a grieving enchantress-mother who cannot see what has happened, the man who broke his promise and struck his wife thrice.
Alys and Grace grow in companionship against Grace's oppressive Beast brother, trying to soothe his personality, coax him into a better frame of mind, tailor their behaviors to please his moods. A love cannot easily grow between a beauty and the beast she attempts to pacify-- but a deep relationship can grow between herself and his sister.
This is, of course, sapphic-- it's a book by Heather Rose Jones, of course-- and I really appreciated the relationship, as well as the neat storylines tied off at the end.