Early Review – A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 397 pages
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Release Date: March 29, 2022
ASIN: B092MNDBVQ
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Myra has a gift many would kidnap, blackmail, and worse to control: She’s a portrait artist whose paintings alter people’s bodies. Guarding that secret is the only way to keep her younger sister safe now that their parents are gone. But one frigid night, the governor’s wife discovers the truth and threatens to expose Myra if she does not complete a special portrait that would resurrect the governor’s dead son.
Once she arrives at the legendary stone mansion, however, it becomes clear the boy’s death was no accident. A killer stalks these halls – one disturbingly obsessed with portrait magic. Desperate to get out of the manor as quickly as possible, Myra turns to the governor’s older son for help completing the painting before the secret she spent her life concealing makes her the killer’s next victim..”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book (as far as I can find). I got an eGalley of this from NetGalley to review.
Thoughts: This book started off a bit slow for me and was primarily a “who-dun-it” type of story. I was actually considering DNFing this at about 50% of the way through because I was just getting really bored with it. However, at about that point things started to get really interesting and really pick up in pace.
The story is about Myra, who can paint things into reality and has to hide her talent because of local prosecution against magic. However, when she is contacted by the governor’s wife to raise his son from the dead, she just can’t say no. Myra’s sister is very sick and desperately needs medication and help. As a result, Myra finds herself drawn deeply into the dark secrets surrounding the governor’s family.
I would give the first half of this book 3 stars and the last half 5 stars, so you have a 4 star rating overall.
Olson continues to do an amazing job with world-building and unique magic systems. I love the painting magic here; it seems to pull some influence from “The Picture of Dorian Gray”.
The plot has some fun twists towards the end and I loved how Myra starts to grow into her magic later in the book. Early on in the book she is a bit whiny about her magic and it was nice to see her take ownership of it in the second half.
This does end a bit open-ended and feels somewhat incomplete. It makes me wonder if there will be a sequel to this book but I couldn’t find any information about a sequel.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. It starts a bit slow, but the intriguing magic and the increased action and pace of the second half of the book won me over. I would recommend it if you enjoy who-dun-it type mysteries with some intriguing magic woven throughout.