Queen of Roses (Blood of Fae Trilogy) by Briar Boleyn | A Review into this Beautiful Fairytale Retelling
So it took some time for me to start reading the book series. The series consists of three books. I finished the first book so I thought let's write the review when it is fresh.
Let's dive into the synopsis. I will make sure to not spoil anything for you. The series is a retelling of the Legend of Arthur and Excalibur. the series focused on one character which is Morgan Pendrath; half sister of King Arthur; and also shown as half-Fae in the first book. King Arthur is the cruel king in this story, he also has a younger brother named Kaye is just a child who doesn't have a significant role in the first book but I am guessing in the coming books he is going to play some important part.
So, back to the story; Morgan is half Fey because her mother was full-blooded Fey and to hide her heritage she drinks a special concoction sanctioned by the King and her Uncle. However, she is showing some side effects of the medicine in terms of frequent and nasty headaches. And major fact is that she does not like her appearance at the start of the book. There is a Bully in the picture; Florian who terrorizes and bullies Morgan. There is a High priestess; Merlin who is shown to have a very mysterious role and personality.
The story is told from the point of view of Morgan. There is usual court politics and manipulations in the picture and then all of a sudden Aurther decides to send Morgan to fetch a powerful weapon from some ancient forgotten lands. and then the story revolves around the adventures and journey of Moan from her castle to the said destinations.
My Review
Okay!! I have to say it here I was not expecting it to turn out so good in the end. 😅😅😅
The book starts slowly with so much detail of everything that got me bored. I do like details of the surroundings that help me picture the whole scene but in this book, it was too much for me. But after half of the book it picked the pace when Morgan started her journey. It gets pretty interesting from there.
the things they see in the way and then Morgan stops taking her medicine and she slowly transforms into a beautiful silver-haired Fae with silver markings and shimmery golden skin. I mean come on I am a sucker for beautiful transformations.
Let's talk about some pretty interesting characters in the picture. I know some people might not like that there are a lot of side characters in a story but I love a book with a lot of different characters playing small significant parts. There is Draven (who has a major role to play in the future) who is the huge handsome Captain of the Guard accompanying Morgan on her Journey. Then there is Vesper who is part fey with ochre color hair they met in a town far way in the middle of nowhere. He is funny and attracted to Morgan and he plays magical songs on his flute; giving it major Legend of Zelda vibes.
Then we also encounter some creatures in the forbidden faraway lands, from exmoors to harpies to zombie kids. It was interesting in short. Although This book throw so many twists that my head spun. In the end, my mind was blown because I had a lot of questions and I cannot wait to read the next book. I enjoyed reading this book and I am giving this book 4 stars. I cannot wait to start the next one.
P.S. Let's appreciate the book cover. It's beautiful and a job well done on the part of the designer.