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My Review:Title: A Curse of Roses
Author: Diana Pinguicha
Published by: Entangled: Teen
Release Date: December 1, 2020
Format: eARC
Pages: 352
Genres: LGBT, Young Adult, Folklore, Historical Fantasy
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2022 Backlist Reader Challenge, Lenoreo's 2022 COYER Winter, Lenoreo's 2022 Diversity Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2022 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:
Blurb:This #OwnVoices debut has a little bit of everything—romance, politics, magic—and fills a need in the current market for diverse stories written in an authentic and compelling way.
17-year-old Yzabel of Aragon is engaged to the young King of Portugal, and under her touch, food turns into flowers…
With the populace starving, and barely surviving herself, Yzabel doesn’t only need to end her curse—she must reverse it somehow. Turn flowers into food. Desperate, she sets to find Fatyan, an immortal rumored to live nearby, but she is imprisoned by an old enchantment. So they must strike a bargain: Fatyan will teach Yzabel how to master her magic, and Yzabel making a deal with Fatyan will release the magical bonds holding her captive.
As she learns to control her power under Fatyan’s guidance, they grow closer in a way Yzabel has never felt for her betrothed. But she must keep this part of their relationship secret, or else lose her claim to the throne. If Yzabel is forced to leave Portugal, shamed for loving another woman, the people she was determined to save will surely die.
I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
3.5 stars — Hmmm…there were a lot of interesting things in this book, and after reading the author’s note at the end, I actually have a more interesting perspective on the book. But, all the same, I found it hard to get into the story at times, the pacing felt…not quite right to me. And it deals with a lot of uncomfortable subjects that apparently I just wasn’t in the mood for. Definitely read the content warnings at the beginning of the book (or under the author’s Goodreads review).
All right, let’s start with our heroine, Yzabel. She…can be hard to like. Not because she’s unlikeable per se…in fact, she has a lot of admirable qualities. But the shame is just so much!! Like, about everything. The shame, the literal self flagellation, the stubborn hold on to her piousness…I totally stood up and cheered when Brites or Fatyan called her on it. It just ended up overwhelming her character, and made it hard for her good parts to shine through. But I did love how kind she was, how she tried to choose kindness at every turn. I loved how she saw all aspects of her new kingdom and wanted to *act* to help them. I loved it when she gathered her courage and stood up for what she believed in. I just feel like the good and bad aspects of her personality weren’t balanced enough for me.
She was surrounded by some interesting characters right from the start, and I was intrigued with where the story was going. I felt the chemistry with Fatyan almost immediately, and I loved that. But the story kind of took a turn I wasn’t expecting, and I think I was strangely disappointed in the choices…or maybe I needed different resolutions? I started to question things along with Yzabel, and while I’m sure that was the intention, I personally would have enjoyed it more if things had progressed differently at certain parts. Sorry that was so vague and handwavey, but I don’t want spoilers.
I had a hard time enjoying the romance with Fatyan because of all the shame and emphasis on wrongness in Yza’s head. I get it to a degree, and for 1200s Portugal, it makes sense. But I guess I wanted less realism in that sense, and a bit more wonder and happiness mixed in.
Denis was pretty surprising. I feel like I didn’t quite understand his reactions sometimes, and even looking back, I can’t figure out if it was just Yza being an unreliable narrator or not. But I appreciated how his story played out.
So yeah…it was interesting, it offered something kind of refreshing, and given it was this author’s debut, I bet she’ll just continue to improve.
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