DNF Early Review – Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Publisher:‎ Tor Nightfire
Release Date: March 11, 2025
ASIN: B0D1PHGH2S
Stand Alone or Series: Sequal to Red Rabbit
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 3/5 stars

“Something wicked is going on in the village of Ascension. A mother wasting away from cancer is suddenly up and about. A boy trampled by a milk cart walks away from the accident. A hanged man can still speak, broken neck and all.

The dead are not dying.

When Rabbit and Sadie Grace accompany their friend Rose to Ascension to help take care of her ailing cousin, they immediately notice that their new house, Bethany Hall, is occupied by dozens of ghosts. And something is waiting for them in the attic.

The villagers of Ascension are unwelcoming and wary of their weird visitors. As the three women attempt to find out what’s happening in the town, they must be careful not to be found out. But a much larger—and more dangerous—force is galloping straight for them…”

Series Info/Source: This is the sequel to Red Rabbit. I got a copy of this on ebook from NetGalley for review.

Thoughts: DNF. I ended up stopping this about 30% of the way in. I realized that this was a sequel to a book called “Red Rabbit” about 20% in; I hadn’t read that book. I wish it had been clearer on this book that this was the continuation of another book. I really struggled to stay engaged with the characters and story here. I kept having to re-read portions of the book and just couldn’t stay interested.

We alternate between a few different characters. The first is a man who kills death and then himself, but he doesn’t die and he’s trying to figure out what happened. Then we go to the town of Ascension where three witches move in to Bethany Hall (a ghost infested house); they are there to help their friend take care of her sick cousin. We also hear from a thing in the attic in between chapters.

I was really struggling to engage with the characters and to follow what was happening here. I also didn’t really want to read another book where death was killed and that resulted in people not dying. I’ve read a few books like this before, and I struggle with that premise in general.

I did enjoy the dark, eerie feeling to the story and the westernish setting. However, the scattered way it was written and the lack of intriguing characters made it so that I just never wanted to pick this up to read it. So I decided it was time to move on.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this book didn’t work well for me for a number of reasons. I dislike the premise of death dying and then people not dying because death is dead; I’ve read a few books with this premise and it just doesn’t parse well in my mind. This book jumped around a lot, and I didn’t engage with the characters well. I was also frustrated to find out this was a sequel to “Red Rabbit”, I wish that had been better advertised on this book. I wouldn’t have requested this for review and would have gone and read “Red Rabbit” first if I had known that. This does have a nice dark, evil feel to it, and the western setting was intriguing. In the end, this writing style and this story just weren’t for me.