I received this book as an ARC copy through Netgalley.
Wow, this book read extremely quickly for me! I barely noticed how fast I was flying throught the pages and finished it in one sitting. The Poppy and the Rose has an extremely intriguing premise, and promised me all of my favourite things - historical fiction, Gothic undertones, an unsolved mystery...
For the most part, it was extremely witty and fast-paced, sometimes to it's detriment. At times it was hard to keep up with everything that was going on! I liked the idea of the dual-POV, and I think it was executed neatly. It allowed the story to unfold in a more natural way, as opposed to an exposition-dump. The characters of Ava and Taylor were well-written and three-dimensional. The mystery element of the story was intriguing and gripping, enough to make me want to keep reading.
However, I do think that the book relied heavily on certain tropes and stereotypes. As a British person, it can be quite a pet-peeve to hear England depicted as a myriad of one-dimensional aggregates including, but not limited to: Oxford University toffs, Earl Grey tea and fry-up breakfasts. Some of the characters fell victim to this too, especially in the case of the characters surrounding Lady Knight. (The butler, chauffeur etc.)
Overall, I would rate this book a 3/5. This book was fun and well thought out, but fell through a little bit by relying on classic tropes and stereotypes.