A Curse of Roses

This book was interesting. I don't read much historical fantasy, but picked it up for Fantasy Bingo on reddit this year. The secondary characters felt a little flat, but this was an easy read, with the main focus on the romance plot instead of the fantasy (surprisingly). No regrets for reading it.

I'd never heard of this particular legend until reading this book, and my, I'm glad I did! What a curse! I loved the characters and the romance (even though at times I felt it was rushed). The idea of the story - stemming from a real legend - is very cool and informative for those like me who've never heard of this particular legend.

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. A Curse of Roses takes a portuguese legend about a queen, and makes it into something people need to read. This book tore my heart out. As a queer portuguese person myself, I felt an incredibly strong connection to the main characters and found a lot of comfort there. I, myself, am not a religious person but I grew up with very religious portuguese grandparents so I always had those thoughts at the back of my mind. This book was so hard to read but also so necessary. It gives hope to young queer youth who feel alone and are dealing with similar issues that Yzabel was dealing with. Thinking about a powerful, smart, and kind queen being queer brings so much comfort to me and many other queer youth. I would highly recommend this book to any queer youth struggling with their identity, especially if it's religion based.

Trigger Warnings:
religion-based homophobia, religion-based eating disorders, mentions of abuse, self harm