Simply put, I loved this gem of a book. Smartly researched and written. Highly recommend to fellow historical fiction nerds.
Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book. It fully immersed me in its story and characters. The story was so captivating; it made me feel the tension and sadness the way the characters felt it.

I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Ashlee Cowles the Poppy and the Rose is the story of two young women who will stop at nothing to unravel their family’s secrets and protect the people they love. Seamlessly switching between Ava on the Titanic in 1912 and Taylor at Oxford in 2010, Cowles leads readers on an adventure to figure out how the two characters are connected.

Pros: The book has great family drama and secrets that are shockingly revealed. I was hooked. I also appreciated Cowles’ compassionate handling of character’s mental illness
Cons:
The ending seemed too perfect and felt rushed.

After requesting this book, I purposely didn't reread the summary. The cover is super intriguing, and I wanted to go in without any idea what to expect. I'm so glad I did; I found some of my favorite story elements inside. Boarding school? Check. Sprawling old mansion hiding secrets? Double check.. Dual timelines? Triple check. A cute, mysterious boy? Umm, of course. I couldn't wait to get started. When I found out that the second timeline involved the Titanic, my phone became glued to my hand. (I've always had this weird obsession with Titanic. It's okay; I promise I'm not too strange.)
Suffice it to say, that I absolutely fell in love with this book. There truly aren't words to describe my feelings. I didn't much care for some of the existential talk (I had my fill of that as a psych major), but the rest was so amazing it made up for those moments. I didn't want to stop reading; I found myself looking often at the page count, hoping I still had alot left.
That said, as someone who loves endings, I was disappointed. The ending of a book is almost sacred to me. Even if the entire rest of the book is perfect, the ending can make or break the story. It doesn't have to be happy, but loose ends need to be wrapped up and create a sense of closure and finality. (Unless it's a series.) I was happy with how Ava's story ended, but Taylor's didn't seem to justify all the buildup that was created throughout the novel. Maybe my imagination got carried away, but I will admit i was expecting more. This story still resonates with me more than a week after finishing, and is worth reading again, but I just can't give that ending five stars.

My interest in young adult historical fiction is what drew my attention towards this novel. I also appreciate a good book with rich characters and a strong storyline and this novel did not disappoint in either of these areas. I thoroughly enjoyed the intertwining of Ava's and Taylor's lives and the mystery aspect of the book was most intriguing. A great Titanic inspired story, told by dual narrators, that was a joy to read.

Thank you NetGalley and Owl Hollow Press for the ARC of The Poppy and the Rose written by Ashlee Cowles.

The book starts with Taylor arriving at Oxford for a summer journalism program. Taylor is in England for more than just school; she discovered a picture of her late father with another woman. An invitation to tea with Lady Mae Knight just might give Taylor the answers she is seeking. Lady Mae dies right before Taylor arrives but she leaves behind a journal. The book is written by Ava Knight, a first class passenger on the Titanic.

What is the connection between the Knights and Taylor? How did Ava and her book survive the sinking of the Titanic? You'll have to get the book to find out!

I wanted to read The Poppy and the Rose because of its connection to the Titanic. I was excited to read the different stories of Taylor and Ava and find the connections. The book started out slow for me but picked up speed and I ended up really enjoying it. I am excited to read more books by Ashlee Cowles.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and was immediately stricken by the beautiful cover and the captivating title.
The Poppy & the Rose is a short, quick, enjoyable read - I read it in a matter of days because I wanted to see how this story of the Titanic was different than what I already knew of the horrific tragedy. This is a YA/ historic fiction / Gothic mystery, so it’s got a lot going on, but honestly, I enjoyed the story and learned quite a bit!
We follow Taylor as she arrives in Oxford for a summer journalism program, but the real reason why she’s in England is to find out more about her late father and the secrets he kept. Before she’s had the time to unpack her suitcase, she is invited to tea with Lady Mae Knight, who claims to have the answers she seeks. However, when the old lady is found dead, Taylor is left with a single clue: the story of what really happened aboard the Titanic as told by Ava, a 17-year-old socialite.
The Poppy and the Rose is the first novel of Cowles that I have read and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Wow! This book blew me away. Cowles writes beautifully and is a world-class storyteller. I had so much fun reading about Lady Ava and her journey on the Titanic and about Taylor and her sleuthing adventures. The structure, historical accuracy, main character arcs, and secondary characters of the novel are developed, brilliant, and imaginative. I felt swept away as I read, staying up way past my bedtime to finish the book because I was so invested. Cowles delivers wisdom and teaches history without the reader’s full awareness because the story is that good. This would be a great read for learners of any age.
Frankly, I think The Poppy and the Rose occupies a space of perfectly average. It attempts to ask lofty questions about life, love, and the intertwined nature of fate and time, but it forgets to create characters worth investing in and presents a mediocre plot. As a light read for historical fiction fans that go in with the bar set low, maybe this will be worth the time. Going in with high expectations of any sort, however, will likely ruin the experience.
My biggest problem with the book was actually the historical, factual information. I like to think I know more than the average about Europe in the early twentieth century, and I still struggled to follow along. Didn’t deter me from the story per se, but I also just had to push through the information overload. I also thought some of the present-day events were a bit farfetched, but it’s a book and I tried to not think too much into it!
Thanks to Owl Hollow Press and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. This does not influence my thoughts and opinions.

As soon as I saw that this was a retelling of the Titanic I was sold - and it really did deliver on the Titanic front. This didn't really feel like anything new to me; however, I did fall in love with the atmosphere and aesthetic of the surroundings.

Where this book lost it for me was in the dual perspectives. I usually love dual POV books for the opportunities to see the story and hear it from multiple points of view... but this one was lacking. It felt as though one of the perspectives added nothing to the actually overarching story that took place. The murder mystery wasn't very engaging and just felt very meh. I had hoped for more.

I found myself drawn to the premise but I did not enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. The joint perspectives were choppy at times and I wanted to like that aspect more. The premise was excellent but I wish it had been different.

I love the idea of historical fiction however, I don’t pick it up enough and I’m not really sure why. The Poppy & the Rose not only brought me back to the Titanic (something I’m always fascinated with) but also gave me one of my novel weaknesses: duel timelines.

I’m not going to recap what this book is about, that’s what the summary is for. Though it is hard to remember not to for like word count reasons.

Whatever, anyway, we’re placed in London by Taylor who somehow ended up there just to figure out who some lady in a photo with her father was. Her father passed away btw, and while I get it… I mean I have a ton of questions for my own father who recently passed away; she could had easily I don’t know? Asked a family member? A friend of her dad’s? Like you really went and hopped the pond for that? I’m adventurous but I don’t think I would had went to THAT much of an extreme.

Our second timeline we’re boarding the Titanic with Ava and her father who seems to also be hiding shit from his daughter. See a theme here? Daughters with daddy’s who keep secrets. Daddy’s, DO NOT KEEP SECRETS FROM YOUR DAUGHTER. You think their mama is bad? She ain’t got shit on a curious daughter let me tell you. Parents who don’t provide full transparency get on my nerves; ya’ll always the ones messing up some shit!

Of the two timeline’s I gotta admit, Ava’s was the one I was most invested in. I felt like Taylor’s entire trip just didn’t make sense. She meets up randomly with an older woman named Lady Knight who ends up passing away the day that Taylor is set to have afternoon tea with her. Some of her servants blame Ava… somehow… even though she just met the lady WHO ASKED HER TO COME OVER IN THE FIRST PLACE and she didn’t even know where this manor even was before that day.

So you spend the book wondering who killed Lady Knight? Who IS Lady Knight? And does Lady Knight know Taylor’s dang daddy or not? And how the hell does this have anything to do with Ava? Well it does. But when all of this is revealed, you should had seen how flat my face fell. Like that’s it? That’s the big secret? It wasn’t the big reveal I was hoping for, or that I had assumed it was going in the direction of, but it definitely reminded me that even though I think MY family has problems (both sides are obsessed with money and so on and so on), there are some families who are just manipulative for fun.

Back to Ava; there were so many different characters and stories and potential endings… I wanted to know where Ava ended up later. I mean it’s lightly covered but I wanted to know KNOW what her life after the Titanic looked like. There was a huge twist I didn’t see coming when it came to Ava and it had something to do with the bigger part of what drove her. My heart broke when her dad decided to slap her with reality. Loss is hard for everyone but I think her dad was 100% selfish.

If Ava ever gets a spin off novel or if we get a peak inside the life of Lady Knight after Titanic, I’m so here for it all.

This was a lovely book with writing that envelopes the reader! This was a dual timeline story with such a wonderful plot! I loved the characters and the location! I would recommend this for anyone that enjoys mystery, the titanic, and British characters.

I found the premise incredibly interesting, as I quite enjoy hearing stories told across time. But I found it hard to become interested in Taylor or Ava's narration which made the story incredibly uninteresting for me.
It felt like I was pulling teeth, as I slogged through this book.

I adored this book! The Titanic has always fascinated me and I absolutely love books set in two time periods so it had everything I wanted. This variation on the Titanic story was so unique and the way both girls stories met and merged was something I tried to work out for myself but never would have guessed! It was just fantastic.

This was an intriguing story with notes of historical fiction, intrigue, and a little bit of fantasy. For anyone who is a fan of historical or period dramas, or historical mysteries, this book will be of particular interest!

Honestly, mention the Titanic in YA fiction, and then tack on Oxford, and you have my attention! Ava and Taylor's stories intertwine in the most unique way, and I absolutely loved the poetic prose of the book. The only thing I wish was that there was a little more romance, but I may be in the minority there.

All in all, a solid YA read going in to 2021, and one that history buffs should have on their TBRs!

I thought in my opinion was beautifully written. It had me at Titanic. I love anything about the Titanic. So reading this story was so much fun. I adored the characters.

It is my first historical fiction book, and above all dealing with the Titanic, that enigmatic ship that to date remains a mystery (what happened already at sea) and the events that led to that event.
Without a doubt, the premise hooks from the first moment, even those of us who are not of this genre.
In this book we have 2 characters, Ava and Taylor, both characters perform their actions and shape the story, which at first was very difficult to read since I did not connect with any character, they all went well, but not there was a spark; on the other hand, Ava could not say that I sympathize nor her love story; In the end, you realize all the mystery that Taylor is looking for and conclude the work, the end I felt was good in general.

I'm having a hard time writing the review, at 33% into the book there is just something that is bothering me and I can't quite put my finger on what it is. It could be that I'm not not finding either Taylor or Ava very likeable or maybe I just currently have a bad attitude. So I'm going to give this a neutral review for now and try reading it again at another time when I'm in a better mood to deal with characters that I need to stick out to see if they grow at all because right now, meh.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. All spelling and grammar errors are totally my own.

The writing style is beautiful, but the story is lacking. I felt like there wasn't enough to really hold my attention and I struggled to get through it. I feel like the characters need more depth. Ava and Taylor both lacked that character growth and development I think we all were craving.

The premise is great, the execution just need to be improved a bit.

3.5 stars. I'm not the biggest historical fiction reader but the premise really intrigued me so I decided to give it a shot and I was pleasantly surprised. This story is about two characters: Ava and Taylor.
1912: Ava Knight boards the Titanic to escape the shadow of her unstable mother and to fulfill her dream of becoming a photographer in New York. 2010: Taylor Romano arrives in Oxford for a summer journalism program but also to investigate a photograph of her father with a mysterious woman.

I had never read any of this authors previous works but I really enjoyed the writing and the pacing of the novel. I was immediately hooked within the first few pages. At first I was not as interested in Ava's story because she came off as a bratty, spoiled, rich girl who's only on this boat because she has to be. As I kept reading I was sucked into the story of the Titanic and all the other cast of characters aboard this ship. I grew to enjoy Ava's chapters but her character did do certain things that annoyed me throughout the novel and I was not fond of the way she treated certain characters at certain times. I'm sure the author wrote her character this way to show how rich people thought of themselves and how they treated others back in those times, and if that's the case then she did an excellent job.
Taylor's chapters were shorter than Ava's but I felt that they could have been a bit longer and maybe could have let us in in what Taylor was thinking while reading and experiencing Ava's story and how it connected to her own search for answers. In the end we find out everything and I'm not sure if I liked the way it wrapped up. I enjoyed Taylor and Nathaniel's relationship but I felt that they became a "couple" way too quickly considering they've only known each other a few days.
All in all I enjoyed the book! I would recommend if you're a fan of historical fiction and the Titanic and enjoy some mystery.

I read this over the weekend and I really enjoyed it! It’s a dual timeline YA mystery novel that I was drawn to because I love pretty much any novel about the titanic (I have no idea why). I was drawn in very easily to the mystery. I loved how unique the mystery was and how the dual timelines came together in the end. I never would’ve guessed exactly how they related and I thought it was very clever. Plus the plot twist came out of NOWHERE!! I was seriously stunned. 


The plotting of this novel was great, but I do wish there was a little more exploration of each of the main characters. I also wasn’t a fan of the present day timeline romance subplot at all. I didn’t really see any chemistry between the two involved, but I wouldn’t let this dissuade you from reading since it was a sub subplot (if that makes sense). 


I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to read a unique dual timeline mystery. It talks about the psychology movement of the early twentieth century and has a theme of family, both of which were very intriguing. Big thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for the review copy!