The Rosegiver Review

**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC of this book in return for an honest review. 2.75 stars!!! I thought this book was a pretty charming yet quick read. It was definitely refreshing to read a Gothic fantasy novel after all the sci-fi and dystopian stuff I have read recently. However, I think that this book has both negative and positive points which I will go into further detail below. The basis of this novel is about Rachel Harper, a seventeen year old girl, who is a rosegiver. In essence, she can tell someone's fate by looking at them and each rose represents a particular part of their fate. I thought this was a very unique concept. I also thought the pacing of the story was fantastic. I just breezed through the chapters. I also found the worldbuilding to be enchanting and loved that it was set in the 1800s. The descriptions of Thistle Grove and Rosethorne Inn were hauntingly beautiful. I rather enjoyed the minor characters as well. They were rather endearing and the incidents that occurred throughout the story with regards to the supporting characters was quite unusual but in a good way. The story does have an element of romance, a love triangle to be exact, but it's the slow burning type. It wasn't swoonworthy by any means which I usually look forward to in period novels. But it was delightful, in the sense, that the relationship blossoms from friendship and is not very "in your face". Most of the plot was based on the mystery of the disappearing girls. These were some elements which were positive in my opinion, but now onto the negatives which I fear are rather numerous. One, the story has way too many elements. When I first started the book, I thought it was going to be about Rachel's gift which would have been rather interesting. Sadly, this was not the case. Instead, the book is a mixture of Rachel's gift (rose readings), demons and vampyres all encased in a pretty Victorian world filled with gowns and other dainty things. This meant that sometimes, the plot was all over the place. The author might have done a better job if she decided to stick to one element and carried it till the end. Second, the MC Rachel was an idiot. There's no other word for it. The girl has no sense of propriety for a woman in that era and if it was the intention of the author to make her different, it was an unsuccessful attempt. She is more of a damsel in distress that gets herself into ridiculous situations and looks for a man to rescue her at all times. Plus, she is very stubborn and makes rash decisions. Like really when there are vampyres around, would you go traipsing around in the woods by yourself? Firstly, this would have been unsafe for a girl and not permissible in that era. Victorian girls were always chaperoned. If she was meant to have a rebellious streak, this could have been shown in a better way. Thirdly, there were discrepancies in the dialogue throughout the novel. Sometimes, I would feel that the characters were being overly polite and sounded Victorian while other times I felt they were in the 21st Century. Some of the conversations were riddled with colloquialisms that would be used today and would not have used in the 1800s. I think the author should have researched this era more in depth to bring a flair of authenticity to the novel. I also felt that some of the relationships among the characters would not have occurred in that era. There were strict class systems and since Judith Harper was the owner of an inn, you wouldn't see her just talking to all and sundry. Overall, I did still enjoy the story but it could have been better if it was more attuned to the society of those times. I wish the romance had more feels. Other than that, I would recommend reading this book if you like YA historical fiction and looking to pass the time :)

#youngadult #Gothic #fantasy #mystery #SandyBenitez