Review: Wolves and Roses by Christina Bauer + Giveaway

Wolves and Roses is an entertaining read that pretty easily sweeps you up with it’s interesting plot and characters, but I was just wanting a little more. (You can also find the other stops on the Tour and go visit their blogs!)

Summary

Bryar Rose is a sleeping beauty template. Her life is supposed to follow that general pattern. But her life has gone nothing like that. She has no affinity to birds, she can’t stand her ‘Prince Charming’ and she is utterly determined to reach her eighteenth birthday and give up all of this sleeping nonsense. However, she keeps having dreams about this enigmatic bad boy and Egyptian papyri. All she wants is to be a ‘normal’ teenager, but as her birthday draws closer, her entire world turns around as she not only meets her dream guy, but also finds out secrets about the world and herself she’s kept locked away.

Review

I liked so many things about this book: the characters, the Egyptian element, Bryar’s friendships, but it just left me wanting a little more depth. Bauer does a great job subverting our expectations and these fairytale templates. I deeply enjoyed her challenging what we think a fairytale is. I don’t particularly find it to be a revolutionary way to turn them on their head, it mostly features strong independent heroines and a desire for agency. But it is entertaining and gread to see nonetheless.

It is wonderful to read about Bryar and Elle’s, her best friend, relationship. They have each other’s backs and there’s no messing around. There are no stupid cat fights, no dumb secret fights, and this positive portrayal of female friendships is one of my favorite I’ve read in awhile. I do wish we found out more about Elle though, as she is such an enigmatic and intriguing character.

The Egyptian element of the plot provided that little extra that made the story inventive. Bauer continuously tries to surprise and trick us and she does a great job at that. I never could have predicted the various twists and turns, especially towards the end. So check off inventive and unpredictable plot.

But?

I wasn’t amazed and while I would read a sequel, I didn’t feel like I had to. I want a book that sweeps me up and barely lets me go, but this book did. It is very entertaining, but it has no real sense of depth. While there is character turmoil, and inner turmoil, it’s only at the very end and feels a bit like ‘too little too late’. I also found Bryary and Knox’s relationship to be a bit cliche. There’s nothing wrong with that, it just didn’t seem particularly deep. This is one of those easy reads you pick up, enjoy, and then move forwards from.

Overall,

That being said, if you are a true fairytale buff and love retellings, this may interest you, or if you want an easy read you can pick up and put down again.

Giveaway

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Author Bio

Discussion

Favorite fairytale??

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