A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson

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A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson
Published by Inkyard Press on March 29, 2022
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Representation: anxiety, chronic illness
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher

Myra Whitlock has a gift. One many would kill for.

She’s an artist whose portraits alter people’s real-life bodies, a talent she must hide from those who would kidnap, blackmail, and worse in order to control it. 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. Desperate, Myra ventures to his legendary stone mansion.

Once she arrives, however, it becomes clear the boy’s death was no accident. Someone dangerous lurks within these glittering halls. Someone harboring a disturbing obsession with portrait magic.

Myra cannot do the painting until she knows what really happened, so she turns to the governor’s older son, a captivating redheaded poet. Together, they delve into the family’s most shadowed affairs, racing to uncover the truth before the secret Myra spent her life concealing makes her the killer’s next victim.

From Sing Me Forgotten author Jessica S. Olson comes a gothic fantasy murder mystery perfect for fans of Kerri Maniscalco and Erin A. Craig.

A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.

Trigger & Content Warnings: ableism, miscarriage, gore, graphic injury, panic attack, death of a loved one

Creating a portrait to resurrect a dead person? Sign me right up. I want to know what consequences are in store when one messes around with death because what goes dead should stay dead… right? A Forgery of Roses has a great premise with all the right elements I enjoy reading but it fell flat in others.

What Worked For Me

The art-based magic system was detailed. Myra is a Prodigy, which gives her the ability to alter the bodies of humans and animals with her paintings. It’s an ability where if she or anyone with Prodigy magic is caught with it, they could use it to blackmail, kill, kidnap, etc. And it’s also what lands her into trouble when the governor’s wife, Mrs. Harris, discovers her ability and threatens to expose her unless she does a portrait to resurrect her dead son.

There’s a lot of information and details about the magic system and how it worked, all of which were fascinating to read.

The anxiety and chronic illness representation were amazing. There were a lot of discussions about August’s anxiety and Lucy’s chronic illness throughout the book and their experiences. That being said, I can only speak of how anxiety was represented, but I loved when Lucy explains to Myra about energy levels and how that affects her day-to-day life using the spoon concept (or in this case, juice).

I loved Myra’s and Lucy’s relationship and interactions with each other. Myra feels a great sense of responsibility to her sister since their parents disappeared and it’s obvious the two are close. Every decision she makes she thinks about her sister — she’d do anything for her, which is what ultimately leads her to accept the governor’s wife’s proposal. Their interactions are some of my favorite parts of the book and I honestly wished there was more of this throughout rather than the few we got. Most of what we get to know about Lucy is unfortunately through Myra’s narration.

What Didn’t Work for Me

The world-building was pretty vague. As much as I loved the magic system and how much detail there is to it, there’s not too much detail to the world itself. We don’t know what time period the story is set in or get a sense of the world much, mostly since we’re in Myra’s head a lot. There were a lot of times where I wondered if this was based on 1800s England with an element of magic or an entirely different world.

The romance was just… meh. I do think this is very much a personal preference as I’m not one to care for romance in novels (unless it’s a romance novel). At the same time, it also felt entirely unnecessary and was there for the sake of being there, which… no. Just no.

Everything felt too obvious. I don’t know how exactly to word this any further without giving anything away. Some people might feel differently, but I felt like I was going along just to see how everything played out in the end.

Overall

There were a lot of things I did enjoy about A Forgery of Roses, so while this wasn’t terrible, I’m also likely to forget about the book in a few weeks. That being said, while this didn’t turn out better than I hoped, I’m likely to pick up another book by Olson.