Early Review – Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 416 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1101935996
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Blood Rose Rebellion series
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Sixteen-year-old Anna Arden is barred from society by a defect of blood. Though her family is part of the Luminate, powerful users of magic, she is Barren, unable to perform the simplest spells. Anna would do anything to belong. But her fate takes another course when, after inadvertently breaking her sister’s debutante spell—an important chance for a highborn young woman to show her prowess with magic—Anna finds herself exiled to her family’s once powerful but now crumbling native Hungary.
Her life might well be over.
In Hungary, Anna discovers that nothing is quite as it seems. Not the people around her, from her aloof cousin Noémi to the fierce and handsome Romani Gábor. Not the society she’s known all her life, for discontent with the Luminate is sweeping the land. And not her lack of magic. Isolated from the only world she cares about, Anna still can’t seem to stop herself from breaking spells.
As rebellion spreads across the region, Anna’s unique ability becomes the catalyst everyone is seeking. In the company of nobles, revolutionaries, and Romani, Anna must choose: deny her unique power and cling to the life she’s always wanted, or embrace her ability and change that world forever.”
I got this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. This was a straightforward and engaging YA historical fantasy. The story isn’t all that complex but I enjoyed it all the same.
The writing style and story are fairly simple which made this an easy read. I enjoyed the presence of fae and how the author tied historical elements into this fantasy story. This ends up being a simple and sweet story with some action and a darling romance.
The second part of the book is set in a remote country estate and gives a very gothic feel to this book. I enjoyed the foreign settings and how Hungarian history and mythology were tied into the story.
This book ties up nicely and makes a pretty good stand alone book (although I believe it’s the first book in a series).
Overall this is a pretty typical YA historical fantasy romance; I found it to be an engaging and easy read and enjoyed it. I would recommend to YA fans of historical fantasy.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– YA Reading Challenge
