Book Review: Queen of Roses by Briar Boleyn (Blood of a Fae series #1)

SPOILER WARNING

Review can also be found on Goodreads at this link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6434309352?book_show_action=false

Note: I received an e-copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my review. Quotes may differ from the retail text.

"In my mind, I whispered words of apology for pushing the power away for so long. I didn't know. I didn't know what you were. I said it to myself, with my heart wrenching. I said it to myself, with a sob in my breast."

This quote comes toward the end of the book and hit me so hard I had to stop to take a picture of the page before reading on so that I would remember it. This is book one of a series, and this quote felt like the beginning of the story of this new Morgan LeFay, the start of the tale she will tell for herself. Early in the book I noted themes of agency, both its loss and reclamation; and of family. Here I recognized the third major theme of this book: self. Self-empowerment, self-respect, self-care, self-love. It's something that Morgan struggles with throughout the book (and, I expect, throughout the rest of the series), and something that I and probably many other readers can relate to.

I have to admit that Arthurian lore is not my forte, but from what I know I consider this Morgan to be Morgan LeFay much the way Elphaba is the Wicked Witch of the West. And I love her just as much as I loved Elphaba the first time I saw the musical of Wicked.

This series is a romantasy, but don't let the romance half trick you into thinking the fantasy isn't just as important. The plot plays out like a heroic fantasy with a hefty and delicious layer of both adventure and sexual tension--tension that is not resolved by the end. I have full confidence that when our hero and heroine finally act on their feelings, it will be worth the wait. For now, I scream at them from the other side of the page to quit being idiots and kiss already.

The plot itself gets bonus points for faking me out. It's hard to do that in a story like this one. I read a lot, and I dive into stories a lot. I went back and forth on Vesper for ages but I eventually fell for his disguise as completely as Morgan did, trusting him despite everything. I even put aside the questions of how and why they were attacked. In the end when he showed his true colors I could only blame myself for falling for his lies, and could only cheer for Morgan as she destroyed him as completely as Draven destroyed Whitehorn. (And I do mean *destroyed.* That is not a euphemism. He is deader than dead.)

That might be the thing that I cheered most in this book--the deaths that come to those who deserve them most. I was gleeful when I recounted Florian's death, thrilled to tell the details of how Whitehorn died. Romance comes with a happy ending for those who deserve it, but I loved seeing what horrible things happened to people who deserved an *un*happy ending. Briar Boleyn does an excellent job building up villains to be worth cheering when they fall.

All in all, I am very happy to have read this book, and very much look forward to the next installment.

Final rating: 4.5 stars.