This book took my breath away. It wove together the story of a girl who doesn't know why she's been summoned to a manor and the story of a young woman on the Titanic, and their paths cross in the most inexplicable ways. As a reader, it felt like a mystery; some things I could figure out ahead of time and other I never quite puzzled out until the end of the book. There's an underlying urgency that's present throughout the book that weaves it's way into both the past and the book's present (speaking of which, those transitions were seamless).
As an avid fan of historical fiction, this book was perfect. There were so many nods to historical figures who were on the Titanic, and a good portion of Lady Ava's story was based on real historical evidence. The story was so intriguing that I genuinely hoped it was true. It was so easy to get lost in Cowles' writing that I could spend hours reading without realizing it.
There were so many profound messages in this book about the meaning of life and the lessons we learn from war, death, and tragedy. I would 100% recommend this book to anyone interested in the early 20th century, anyone who loves a good mystery, and any who likes to be invested in the books they read. This really was a fantastic story and I don't think I'll ever forget it.

The cover drew me to this book, then the synopsis pulled me in. It was a very interesting read, following two time lines. One POV is present day, the other set in 1912. A very interesting, beautifully written story that I thoroughly enjoyed!

The Poppy and the Rose
Author: Ashlee Cowles
Genre: YA Historical
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
Reviewed: Maya

[Trigger Warning: death of a parent, dead bodies, sinking of a ship, drug addiction (laundrum), murder, posioning, racism, miscarriage, kidnapping, drug use, violence]

I had not seen this book *anywhere* so I had low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised by this! The writing style was very good and I found myself wanting to continue reading so that I could go along with Taylor on her journey of unravelling the past. The alternating viewpoints really engaged me and helped me to understand both of the main characters and their lives. I liked diving back into YA historical fiction because I am a bit of a modern history nerd, but I hardly ever read this genre. The book was very refreshing and was not too ‘historical’ as there was a combination of a modern day POV and setting. Cowles did a very good job at setting the scene of the Titanic and building interesting characters. The reason this was not a five star read for me was because I felt like I’d read the writing style before and the book was set-out in very similar ways to other ‘uncovering the past’ books. I found that the ending was a tad bit rushed and could have been more spread out. Also, I have no idea what the title references … can anybody help me out? I recommend this book if you want a historical read about the Titanic while still having a contemporary perspective.

Huge thanks to Netgalley, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and of course Ashlee Cowles for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date was set for the 6th of October, 2020.

I really wanted to like this book. I felt from the get-go that this story held a lot of promise; dual POVs set nearly a century apart, spies on the Titanic, a gothic manor, and many, many secrets to unravel, among other things.

Unfortunately, I just didn't find that the execution held up. The prose often felt a little lack-luster, choppy, and slow. I didn't feel particularly drawn to the characters (although, I admit I immediately had a soft spot for Nathaniel) and honestly, I was annoyed with them more often than not. Our main characters felt one-dimensional, and I found myself more intrigued with the side-characters.

I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, but one of the most notable comments I have for The Poppy and the Rose is that I felt like I was on the outside looking in. With historical fiction, I need a strong atmosphere to make me feel lost in the time period -- unfortunately, Ava's chapters lacked that. With a number of clumsy name-drops (Freud and Jung, namely), blunt modern-day references (hand dogs in purses...), and a list of historical facts and events being ticked off, I felt... well, like I was reading a book. And when I'm reading a book, I really don't want to feel like I'm reading a book.

The stakes felt too low for me to really feel captivated. The separate plots are intended to fit together, and they do, but it ends up feeling clunky and awkward. While I do want to praise Cowles for what she was intending to do here (because multigenerational stories like these are HARD), I think it just needed a little more time in the workshop to ensure both stories fit smoothly together and had their own individual intrigue.

All that said, there were certainly elements I enjoyed! There were many moments and lines that had me grinning, and personally, I'm a sucker for a good cliché, especially when gothic vibes are involved ("oh no! Flooding has blocked off the bridge, guess you'll have to stay in our dark creepy manor).

The Poppy and the Rose wasn't for me, but there is definitely an audience for it, and if it still sounds like your cup of tea, I highly suggest checking it out!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from start to finish. It kept me guessing at every turn, and I had difficulty putting it down anytime I had to do something else. The concepts/themes this story was built around were soulfully written and beautifully expressed. Also? I loved the ending. Such a warm light at the end of the tunnel of darkness.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

When Taylor Romano arrives in Oxford for a summer program, she doesn't expect to be met by a Rolls Royce. The old woman she meets inside is a surprise as well, and Lady Mae, the woman, is ready and willing to tell Taylor a story about her deceased father. That is, until Mae unexpectedly dies, leaving behind a memoir from Ava Knight, a survivor of the Titanic. How can the mystery Ava finds aboard the Titanic link back to Taylor's father?

Here's my problem with this book. The Titanic descriptions are great, but it feels like every bit of it is pulled from the movie. The wording, the people highlighted, all of it. It was weak storytelling that relied far too heavily on actual events to move a story forward. Second, the Taylor chapters were just her reading this diary of Ava's and every once in a while having an "Ah-ha!" moment. It's less mystery than show and tell. I wanted to like it, but the pieces just never fully came together for me, and it became predictable very quickly.

Thank you NetGalley for the ebook of The Poppy and the Rose!

This book follows 2 time lines, one set in present day where we follow Taylor, and one set in 1912 following Ava. Taylor has recently moved to England to start school when a mysterious older women meets her and requests she read a memoir. Taylor is skeptical about this but intrigued to know more. She arrives at the Meadowbrook Manor to find tragedy and a memoir written by a mysterious Ava. Ava’s memoir recalls her time on the titanic and how she survived and the goings on that happened while she was aboard.

I overall enjoyed the book. There were lots of twist and turns along the way and figuring out how all the characters connected and intercepted was fun. However, at times the book got a little too philosophical for me and I found myself getting a little confused. Overall, I enjoyed and the ending was sooo good, a nice conclusion!

Spoiler free review

This book sold me at titanic. Come on, a titanic mystery book!? Of course I had to pick it up. The poppy and the rose has two separate timelines, one during the time of the titanic and one in modern time. I found myself being intrigued to solve the mystery and eager to learn more about Ava’s story. I’m new to books by Ashlee and this absolutely swept me away. I will definitely look into reading more books by her.

-PLOT-
The story starts with Taylor trying to find out who a mysterious girl is that is with her dad, in a photograph she found. Taylor moves to Oxford for a summer journalism course. She there meets Nathaniel and Mae Knight who claims to know Ava’s father and knows who the woman is. Taylor gets Ava’s memoir and starts reading it. There we meet out second perspective of Ava, a photographer who’s life changes on the titanic. Soon reading into the story we get more information on Ava’s life on the titanic and really get to know her character so vividly through the pages. PLOT: 5/5

-SETTING-
The book is set in Oxford and an old house for Taylor and the titanic for Ava. I loved the titanic and the book described it quite well. I liked the mood the story created through the setting. SETTING: 4/5

-WRITING-
One of the first things I noticed right from the first chapter was the poetic writing. I especially liked Ava’s point of view who I think the book more focuses on. For Taylor there wasn’t much vibrant personality to her in the writing so I think thats where it lacked a bit. The rising action part really didn’t start till around 70% of the book so from 0-60% ish it wasn’t that fast of a pace. Overall the writing was pretty good. WRITING: 4/5

-CHARACTERS-
In the end the characters were developed well. Ava’s story was told really good and I liked how her character learns and we get to see all her personality. But I kind of think Taylor didn’t have as much depth into her and her only purpose was really only to solve the mystery. I still liked her ambition. I adored our Shakespeare loving character Dalia and I wish there were more scenes with her in it. I did also like Nathaniel and Caleb too. I thought that the romance in The poppy and the roses was cute and fun. CHARACTERS: 4/5

-CONCLUSION-
Do I think you should read The poppy and the rose? Yes! If you like the titanic, mystery, dual povs, historical fiction I think you should read this. This book I believe is YA but I think all ages can read this book!

Reviewed 11/17/2020
I’ve requested and received an e-book copy of this book via netgalley. Thank you to the author, Owl Hollow, and Netgalley!

While I was very interested in the plotline of the book, as I love mysteries as well as historical fiction, I had a hard time feeling engaged with the story and ended up not finishing the book about 1/3 of the way through.

The beginning was quite promising and I was certain I would enjoy the story. However, my interest began to wane after the first couple chapters. I'm not sure if it was the ghost element that just didn't do it for me, or if it perhaps felt a bit juvenile... Admittedly, I didn't realize this was a YA book prior to beginning reading. Reflecting back on it, I certainly think it would appeal more to a younger demographic.

Also, I think the cover design is quite beautiful.

DNF'd about a third of the way through. I really wanted to like this, as I am a Titanic enthusiast, and thought I would have a lot in common with Taylor and her own fascination with Ava's story. Unfortunately, the language really got to me, and it was a little too pretentious and poetic for my taste.

I had to DNF (not finish) this book at the 14% mark. The writing was average, and the beginning couldn't hold my interest. Although this has a very interesting premise, it couldn't dive in quickly enough to hold my interest.

Unique, but missing a few things!

I really liked the characters. Taylor was a fun and relatable protagonist. My favorite thing about this book were the quotes!

"Death can take a lot of things, but it can’t take your memories. Some moments stretch beyond time and smell as fresh as the day we lived them. They’re what we keep coming back to, even when the person who made the moment what it was is long gone. Stronger than nostalgia, these eternal glimpses never wither, never seem less real. That’s because they’re the Most Real Thing there is. Usually they have something to do with love, and if you’re lucky, you get to experience a handful in a lifetime."

The pacing was a bit off, and some parts were slow. I liked the perspectives from present day better than past.

But, overall, this was a pretty good book! I recommend to fans of Ruta Sepetys!

This book originally interested me because I am a completer sucker for mysteries. However, I only really enjoy mystery books if they have a strong plot filled with twists and turns throughout the whole book.

This book started off strong, with plot twists within the first 30 pages that did leave me wanting to turn the pages to see what happens next, needless to say, I was intrigued. But then things took a turn when I realized that this book has multiple points of view. Normally, I won't put a book down it there is more than one POV, but it is definitely not something I enjoy in a book and I think it something that has to be executed very well for me to enjoy the book. Unfortunately, the POVs in this book made everything more confusing for me, and half the time I was getting lost as to who was telling the story and waiting until we got back to the main character or plotline. I felt like the plot fizzled out, and suddenly we were jumping back and forth at almost every chapter and I could not keep my interest up.

I was hoping that this book would be enjoyable, as it has some seemingly interesting themes to it and some that I usually enjoy, but it ultimately lost its charm about a quarter of the way in.

Actual rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

“Death can take a lot of things, but it can’t take your memories.”

The Poppy and the Rose was such a surprise!! I was a little hesitant to read it because of all the mixed opinions about but thank goodness I took the chance to read it!

The book is all about Taylor and Ava. Taylor belongs to the year of 2010 while Ava is from 1912. Taylor follows Ava’s story, specifically her experiences in Titanic, and tries to find the connection between Ava’s story and her own life.

I LOVE the movie Titanic. And I also liked to read about the history of the real Titanic. Reading this book gave me soooo many emotions. It was beautifully written, and even though you have the movie Titanic to compare it to, the book remained to be unique. I knew what happened to Titanic in the end but reading about it in this book still made my heart ache. It gives you a different side to the whole story of the sinking of Titanic (I know it’s just fiction, but it was really interesting.)

The missing 0.5 stars is because I still can’t decide how I feel about Taylor’s part. I know I’ll still love the book even without her part, but I don’t think I want her part to be removed either lol. I’m still confused about her.

This definitely made my list of 2020 fave reads!

With a promising description, I was certain I would like this book! Between a rendition of the sinking of the Titanic, and a mystery, jumping between timeline, it seemed like it couldn't fail, but yet I was somehow wrong.
While the beginning was promising, an interesting set up with likeable characters and sprinkling mystery elements into the narrative, I was pulled into the story pretty quickly. It wasn't until getting about 30% in that the story started to fizzle out for me. I found myself feeling reluctant to pick up the book, and only reading a chapter a day for the final 2 weeks of working on it.
Somewhere in the middle the plot got a bit convoluted, and just when I would begin to feel interesting in a timeline the chapter would end and it would switch, making me lose interest all over again. The twists and turns also needed a bit of refining, so overall while I though I would give this at least a 3.5* upon further reflection I feel sorry to say this ended up being a 2* for me.
Thank you Netgalley for giving me a free copy for an honest review.

The Poppy and the Rose is one of those books that is just a hidden gem. It follows the tale of two girls: Ava Knight, teen heiress and budding photographer who boarded the Titanic in 1912, and Taylor Romano, a girl still reeling from her father's death who arrives at Oxford for a summer journalism program only to attract the attention of Lady Mae Knight. When Lady Mae unexpectedly passes away, Taylor finds herself at Meadowbrook and discovers a journal containing Ava's story. As the doomed voyage takes sail, Lady Ava finds herself confronted with a family legacy filled with deceit, and in the throes of a prophecy not just foretelling the Titanic's doom--but possibly the entire world's. Taylor and Ava's conjunctive stories make the past meet the present, and unravels a generations long secret that could change everything both young women know about themselves, their families, and the society in which they live.
I was not expecting this book to delight me as much as it did, but it did so and more. I loved the amount of historical research and detail Cowles infuses into this story and how she brings to life both fictional and nonfictional characters whose lives were irrevocably changed by the doomed Titanic voyage. I also feel under the enchantment that is Cowles's writing style, something about it is just so subtle and melodic yet very poignant as she goes through this story. As I got deeper and deeper into the book, I just had to know more and by the end I couldn't get enough. The ending itself was really satisfying too. The Poppy and the Rose is a story of two young women whose lives and worlds are changed by tragic loss, and their journeys as they try and make sense of the secrets those losses left behind. This tale deals with so many themes, including the aftermath of trauma, grief, family secrets, socioeconomic inequality and the lengths people will go to for power.

This book started off strong but definitely lost itself along the way. I found myself more interested in the present story line and couldn’t figure out why she blew off a scholarship to England to pursue a mystery. I wanted a deeper ending for the Titanic story line. It left me wanting more

This review was also posted on my blog http://reviewsofyabooks.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-poppy-and-rose-by-ashlee-cowles.html and Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3602753967

Quick Thoughts

I feel like I took a chance on this book because I don't often read books that tell a story across time, but I am so glad that I took that chance. This book was fantastic. The storytelling was wonderful and I liked all of the characters.

My only small bit of criticism is that the story takes a while to get going, but the slow pace issue is saved by the writing style. The writing was so smooth and full of beautiful lines that I almost didn't mind that the story took awhile for me to get into.

The settings of both England and the Titanic were described so nicely, and the emotions of the characters felt so authentic that I truly felt like I was inside the story.

The twists at the end were very good, and I was satisfied with the ending as a whole.

Overall, The Poppy and the Rose was a beautifully written and emotional story, that's worth the read despite the slow start. I think I would recommend this book to teens who are maybe slightly older, as the story does cover the sinking of the Titanic. Because of that, I would recommend that those who may be uncomfortable reading about mass death stay away from this book.

This was a wonderful book! I love books with dual timelines, and this one was woven together very well. It handled the subject of the Titanic very beautifully, and I really liked the ending. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes historical fiction. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

i loved the use of mystery and the Titanic, the characters felt like real people and I enjoyed getting to know them. It was a beautifully told story and I look forward to more from the author.