I found it really hard to see beyond all of the religion in this book. Trying to wade through all of that to find the story hidden underneath was a lot of work.

Every time I request a YA book on NetGalley, I panic a little when I remember how hit and miss I am with the YA genre. When I do enjoy a YA novel however, I'm really loving it. A Curse of Roses absolutely falls under that 'love it' umbrella.

A Curse of Roses, tells the story of Yza, a kind-hearted princess forced into an arranged marriage with a man she doesn't love, all fight a curse that turns any food she touches to flowers, a curse that's slowly killing her. In a desperate, last-ditch attempt to save herself, she turn to the enchanted Moura Fatyan, who promises both to cure her and help her train this 'curse' into something that might also allow her to help her people. Slowly, they fall in love. but battle homophobia and political drama.

What's fascinating about this story and what I think makes it so compelling is the small scope. Yza has grand goals of improving the lives of her countrymen, but the focus on this story is on her and the local villagers within her immediate reach. The cast here is small, with only a handful of important named characters, but the politics and court drama never feels empty. It's these two points that really allow Yza's own story, her fight against that terrifyingly internalized homophobia, the development of her relationship with Fatyan, and her partnership with her "husband'". Even the climax of the story is "minor", so to speak, and the story is stronger for it.

The homophobia in A Curse of Roses stems primarily in Yza's Christian faith, something I (and I imagine other readers) am uncomfortable with due to personal background. Yza's internal turmoil of coming to realize she loves women, her deeply internalized homophobia, leads to extreme anguish and even there are mentions of self-harm as well as one fairly intense scene of self-flagellation that I had to take a pause at. While Yza manages to overcome these struggles without losing her faith in God and, in my opinion, well explored, the subjects were deeply uncomfortable to me, who's faced extreme homophobia through Church and have left because. Reader be warn.

Overall, I rate this book a 4/5. The tight scope and small cast made for a tightly woven sapphic story of a young princess trying her best to help her people, while finding love for the first time.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I'd hoped but I'm pretty sure the issue is more me than the book. There were just certain aspects that weren't really for me. But I really liked the relationships between the characters (both romantic and platonic) and I loved seeing Yzabel's growth throughout the book.

Oh my goodness!!! This book is fabulous!! I have preordered it for my whole family to read! Pinguicha did a fabulous job with this novel!! I am in love!!!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing LLC for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Yzabel is the princess of Aragon and goes to Portugal to marry the king and secure the peace between both reigns. While doing that, she has to hide from everyone the curse that makes every meal transform into flowers. She goes to rescue and Enchanted Moura, who is the only one who can help with her curse.

As a turn of events, they fall in love. This is my favorite part of this book, together with the fact that it is related a lot to how Yzabel, who is really religious, can accept herself without feeling she is disappointing God.

First of all, I want to comment that I am from Catalonia which, if I am not mistaken, was part of Aragon at the time this book is set, so I am excited because Yzabel is from the same place I am, I was so happy with this little thing while reading. Also, I was expecting a book with lots of magic, love, and action and I wasn't disappointed, although it was not what I imagine at all.

About the characters, they were quite good but I felt like I didn't get enough of them, I would have loved to know them deeper, I finished the book feeling like I just got the surface of who are they and what they want. I miss more conflict, for me, it is like the biggest antagonist was Yzabel lack of confidence.

Then there is religion, I kind of like how the book shows it as a way to love yourself the way you are and if God made you that way is for a reason, I want to say that I am not a religious person at all but I kind of like the approach of it Diana gave.

To end, love was the theme of the book and, as I commented earlier, I like it a lot, but let me go deeper into it. When people read a book about the love they expect a love story, which appears here to obviously, but this book gives so much more than that. This is a book about self-love and acceptance. Yzabel has huge problems with herself and her sexuality, what is translated into self-punishment, you can see how everyone around her just wants to protect her and she doesn't realize that, all she can feel is how everyone will hate her true self if she goes out. To see her improvement page to page was everything.

To sum up, I like this book a lot because I find the message it gives is a really important one nowadays but I missed more action and deep on the characters.

Reading this book I had no expectations since I knew nothing of Portuguese mythology or history but the author’s description of the world drew me in. It is a very interesting plot, that makes me want to read more of Portuguese’s mythology. I loved the characters, although Yzabel could be too self sacrificing at times. Also her relationship with Fatyan was very slow burning and at times I wanted it to sped up, but that’s just me. There are some scenes that can be hard for some to read but overall I really enjoyed this story.

LGBTQ+ representation in this Portuguese folklore retelling. The novel had a promising premise that falls flat in plot driven action but makes up for it in pacing and character development; female/female romance. A compelling story. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Aside from the pretty cover and title, there's not much I can speak of in a positive light.

One of the main aspects of a book that I find to be the most important as a reader are the characters. If a book has a weak plot, but strong characters that are well fleshed out and full of personality, I can overlook it. As a matter of fact, I have read plenty of books with cliched plots and average writing, but have enjoyed the book solely because I love the characters. This cannot be said with A Curse of Roses. In addition to the weak and slow-progressing plot, I could not bring myself to care about a single character. Yzabel, the main character, was annoying to me, mainly because her entire personality revolved around her excessive piousness and confused feelings for Fatyan. I get that this was supposed to be a large theme in the book, but it did nothing for making Yzabel a likable character. Ironically enough, the one character I found to be remotely interesting was Denis who showed strong character development throughout the novel. Other characters, such as Fatyan and Brites, are hard for me to judge because I barely feel like I know anything about them at all.

Characters aside, the plot was boring and not well-established. I kept waiting for the chapters to build up to something, but found myself disappointed. The ending especially caught me off guard because it was so vague and inconclusive. I hate to give a book with so much representation one-star, but I find it hard to rate it any higher.

A Curse of Roses is a story about self-acceptance and questioning the beliefs we assume to be true. In a society where queer identity and magical powers are considered evil and demonic, A Curse of Roses portrays the difficult journey of questioning the authority figures in our lives. Whether it be religion or the government, Yzabel's journey is about finding the strength within ourselves to accept who we really are apart from what we might have been told. Her journey has to be my favorite element of A Curse of Roses, this sapphic fantasy about power and the truth.

The lines between curses and gifts is often tenuous at best. You know those lines about great power? It's like that. With power comes the potential to misuse it and also use it to change the world. In A Curse of Roses, readers see both. The ways gifts can be turned into curses, fear into hatred, and love into possession. Fast paced, A Curse of Roses discusses the beliefs we've grown up with and the ideology that is imparted to us. While love has the ability to bloom, it also has the ability to wither.

Really interesting book and even more interesting once you learn it's based around an actual legend of a certain event that happened with real individuals. I also appreciate the inclusivity by interpreting a woman loving woman relationship. You don't come across those mainstream often and I think many queer individuals will benefit from the representation.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

A Curse of Roses is a retelling of a Portuguese legend turned historical fantasy. The story revolves around Princess Yzabel who is betrothed to the king of Portugal. The people of Portugal are starving, while at the same time Yzabel is turning all the food she touches into flowers. To rid herself of this curse, she seeks out an enchanted Moura, who turns her world upside down instead.

Going into this book, I really did not know what to expect. I have never read anything about Portuguese mythology or history so I was completely surprised when the story drew me in. Pinguicha did an amazing job explaining the way the magic works, as well as building the world Yzabel and Fatyan live in. What made me enjoy this book so much was the empowerment of women, whilst at the same time still being believable in the time that the story is set in.

The themes the book touches upon are not to be taken lightly. Throughout the story many topics come up such as internalised homophobia, starvation, sexism, self-harm, as well as religious justification for before-mentioned actions.

I found Yzabel a very frustrating main character. She is too virtuous for her own sake; she punishes herself for everything, even the things that are beyond her control. She seems to perfect in the sense that she ALWAYS chooses to be kind (maybe I just don't relate). Furthermore, I would have liked to see a bit more in the story in the sense of the world. As I said, I do not know anything about the history of Portugal, so for the context of some things in the story, it would have been helpful to get a bit more historical context.

Above all, this story is about Yzabel finding herself and going against the grain of much of what her religion has told her her whole life. I did really like this book and I would like to once again stress how ownvoices narratives bring so much more perspectives for (historical) fantasy to the table.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this Arc in exchange for an honest review.
The story is set in 1288 in the kingdom of Portugal, and is based on two historical figures of Portuguese royals. Yzabel was promised to her fiancé, King Denis, as a child to seal a political union. Their relationship at the beginning of the book is strained because Yzabel hides a very big secret from him, anything she puts in her mouth turns to flowers, and she can barely sustain herself. While the princess starves because of a "curse" the country is ravaged by famine as well as a plague. Yzabel is anxious to help but her actions are curtailed by the decrees of her future husband.

In order to rid herself of the curse that prevents her from eating she frees a 100 year old Moura called Fatyan, a creature of magic and a Moor, who according to legend threw herself of a tower because her affianced was killed in war. Fatyan agrees to help Yzabel gain control of her sahar, aka magic, by embracing it as a gift and not trying to suppress it as she has done so far.

There is a slow burn romance between Yza and Faty as the former learns to wield her magic. At the same time, they must navigate various dangers such as jealous men, corruption by officials, a conniving man of cloth and accusations of devil worship and witchcraft. As a high born lady, Yzabel is very cloistered, sheltered and restricted. There is a small cast of trusted people that surround her and try to help her. The story is imbued with many Christian values of charity and kindness but also messages of self acceptance.

However I found Yzabel a very frustrating heroine to follow. She is too "vitreous" and self flagellating, always punishing herself for things that are beyond her control. Brites admonishment sums it up in my opinion: “Yzabel, I love you like a daughter, but sometimes talking to you is like talking to a wall.” She gently rapped her knuckles on the princess’s temples. “This should think for itself. It should know right and wrong aren’t as black and white as a book paints them to be.” Yzabel main challenge aside from her magic is learning to accept who she is, while unlearning the self loathing she internalized mostly through her religion.

#ACurseofRoses #NetGalley

I really enjoyed A Curse of Roses! I liked Ysabel and Fatyan's relationship a lot, and I felt like their journey to falling in love was very realistic. I liked Yzabel's relationship with basically everyone in the book; she was such a kind, caring character who I could tell just genuinely wanted the best for everyone, and took the time to try to help people even though she was constantly starving. As Fatyan helped her start to control her powers, her character became even more well rounded as she was able to focus on her hunger and hiding the flowers less often. There is a lot of internalized homophobia in this book: as Yzabel first starts to be attracted to Fatyan, she thinks there is something wrong with her and that she is going against God. That made me really sad to read, but I liked how Fatyan basically sat her down and explained to her that there was nothing wrong with her.

The start of the book shows our MC Yzabel with her attendant Brites and her guard Vasco. Already they have great chemistry, bantering with each other from the get go.

Yzabel is cursed like her aunt, all food turns to flowers. As a ruse, to avoid suspicion she says she is fasting, when truthfully all she wants is to eat something. Her great-aunt died young and Yzabel believes she will die just after her 18th birthday. She is to be married to the king and he seems to be paranoid about Yzabel, forcing her to eat while not knowing of her curse.

Yzabel learns of a person called the Moura. A woman who might be able to help free her from her curse.

Ugh the feels, from the first meeting of Yzabel and Fatyan I was hooked. The way they interacted with each other was adorable and had so much chemistry oh my! "She fought the force pushing her up. “I’m not a puppet.”
"No?” Fatyan’s glare didn’t wane.The air stole one of Yzabel’s legs out from under her, left her poised on the tip of a toe.
"I don’t believe you.”
The yearning, the angst, the confusion. I just can't. This story is just so beautiful and the more I read the more beautiful it gets.

Also I know this is 1200s but Denis is not a nice man. I've said it, I'm not taking it back. okay I take it back, he was just made but he does care for Yza, just not in the way she can reciprocate.

The magic or Sahar as its known in the book was very interesting and I really liked learning more about it with each page. Going from believing she is cursed to bless was such a sweet transition that I adored.

The plot was so interesting, learning about Brites, Fatyan, Matias and Denis was wonderful and the plot was so strong ( I won't go into details because spoilers but *chef kiss* the full circle moments)

It was such a beautiful story that I throughly enjoyed. Im glad that the author also put an authors note telling us more about the real story and the liberties she took while writing this.

I highly recommend picking this up! 💖💖

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of the book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I originally was attracted to the cover. It's beautiful.

The author is a decent writer and can tell a story.

Personally, I felt a lack of connection with the characters. I did finish it without feeling forced, it's just... I felt it was missing something.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC! First of all, I do not know how anybody can pass by this cover without feeling the NEED to know more. And, I'd like to say this story is just as beautiful as it appears. I really appreciate the author's note at the beginning. A kind of warning about topics that could make a reader uncomfortable. However, all these topics were covered with such class that I had no difficulty. This is based on a Portuguese story about a princess named Ysabel. Ysabel is not a typical princess and believes she is cursed. She is basically starving herself because the food she touches and tries to eat turns into flowers. However, with the help of an unexpected new arrival she learns to turn this curse into a blessing. This book has so many layers, from religious to political to the fantastical. What this comes down to is can Ysabel accept herself, all the things that make up herself, and be true to herself.

2020 has blessed us with several queer retellings of myths and fairytales, and I was admittedly concerned that A Curse of Roses would feel too similar to other books I’ve read this year to give it an objective review. Luckily, I needn’t have worried. Elements of Portuguese history and culture are both deeply interwoven into Yzabel’s story, which gave this book a unique perspective – exactly the purpose of an #ownvoices retelling.

Like most retellings, the plot is fairly basic, and Yzabel and Fatyan’s relationship follows a fairly standard cursed-mentee/wise mentor template, though both characters are interesting enough in their own right to make up for the straightforward narrative. Also, Yzabel is thirsty for Fatyan, and I loved it.

However, this book is much more a historical novel than I anticipated; Yzabel and her fiancé, Denis, are based on real Portuguese royals, and there are several references to the Reconquista. This leads to the most interesting part of the novel, for me: Yzabel struggles deeply with internalised homophobia and reconciling her desire for Fatyan with her Christian faith. I thought this book did an excellent job of pointing out the role that religion played in controlling women’s lives in the Middle Ages and the hypocrisy of various religious leaders, while also respecting Yzabel’s beliefs and the way she embodied what she saw as Christian values of charity and kindness. Pinguicha also does an excellent job at balancing the period-typical homophobia with an acknowledgment of the fact that queer women existed everywhere in history, and were often able to use gender stereotypes to their advantage in carving-out safe spaces for themselves without men getting suspicious.

If I had any issues with this book, it’s that I would have liked a slightly broader scope. This is a very tight-knit book with a small cast of characters, and almost all of the action takes place within the castle and the immediately surrounding streeting (save for one steamy scene in the local baths… ). I also think this book could have benefited from expanding a little more on Portuguese history for those of us who are relatively unfamiliar; without going into spoiler territory, some of the final conflict in this book is based on the divide between Christians and Muslims, which feels a little abrupt without a good understanding of the historical context. (I did quite a bit of Googling afterwards).

I’m not sure it’s really necessary for me to extoll the importance of ownvoices narratives to anyone who’s gotten this far into my review, but A Curse of Roses was definitely another example of how much diverse perspectives can bring to the fantasy genre.

Read full review on 11/27/2020

A Curse of Roses does a beautiful job of creating a slow burn romance mixed with the trauma that the indoctrination of the Christian church can cause for LGTBQ+ people. While the priests were telling Yzabel one thing, her feelings and even her betrothed were telling her another. The romance between Yzabel and Fatyan is so gentle and patient that it took me off guard. There are moments that Yzabel is a completely unaware idiot. During those, Fatyan never pushes her in any direction she isn't willing to go. With that aside, the relationship between Denis and Yzabel is what impressed me the most. Denis does not push Yzabel, ever. Finally, being able to experience a culture outside of my own was fantastic.

<i>I voluntarily requested an e-copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending it to me!</i>

<b>So... I very quickly realized that this was not the novel for me, but there's still a lot to like about it that I gave it a full four stars.</b>

Before I begin, I just want to mention that <b>several scenes may be distressing to someone who suffers from eating disorders.</b> I should've recognized that from the summary but... yeah. They are skippable, so as long as you know the context, but they happen very early on and have great significance to the story.

WHAT I LIKED
1. The worldbuilding. This was unbelievably lush and immersive! <i>A Curse of Roses</i> offers a deep dive into Portuguese culture, which was very fascinating. But don't mistake it for a Eurocentric read, because Pinguicha includes Muslim characters who were historically (and even now!) present in the peninsula.

2. The philosophy. There is <i>a lot</i> to grapple with in this time frame. I was honestly impressed by Pinguicha's respectful and loving discussions with regards to religion (Yzabel believes that her power is a curse from God, and she punishes herself for it), sexism, and even homophobia (the fact that being a lesbian is considered a "disease" in-universe? wow!). But while their larger society is not very accepting, Yzabel (with the help of the side characters) manages to truly accept herself and find love and light. <b>It's... wholesome.</b>

3. Yzabel's attraction to Fatyan. While I had issues with the build-up to the romance, I found Yzabel's fumbling really entertaining. Why is she embarrassed to sleep in the same room with Fatyan? Why does she feel different when Fatyan undresses her versus when her lady's maid does it? W-why do Fatyan's breasts float and hers don't? Dude, I'm not joking. I'm actually quoting a scene from the book. The cluelessness is funny.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

<b>My main issue is that I found the pacing too slow.</b> A lot of scenes bored me, and even when Yzabel and Fatyan were having A Moment... it still didn't click for me. Don't get me wrong; a lot does happen. Yzabel seeks Fatyan to break the curse, then Fatyan teaches her how to control her powers, etc. <b>But the way it was written just felt a little dull to me. I expected more action, I guess? More tension.<b> There are high stakes here... but I didn't feel it.

<b>Also, I'm not wholly convinced of the romance.</b> I can accept Yzabel's attraction to Fatyan but it didn't really give me butterflies. The romance felt under-developed. Maybe this could be fixed if the author cut out a bunch of filler scenes and focused on their relationship instead.

<b>TL;DR Read this for the Portuguese culture and the journey of self-love. But don't come looking for a fast-paced read or an epic romance.</b>

Thank you to the publisher for giving opportunity to review this book. I am absolutely appreciate it dearly.

First of all, Portuegese legend is such a rare for me to encounter. This has given me a new perspective. I got to know a very generous queen once exists in Portugal. I also learned a few historical fact from this book which was Portugal used to be under of Moors rule. Before this I only thought of Spain but not Portugal.

For the story/plot, I believed it was an attractive and captivate one. It's about accepting of yourself. Your version not others' version. Meaning that, you be you and if you went your life been others, follow the others' opinion throughly without having any original of you will end up suffering. Mental and physical health will be deterioriating if you are not being you yourself. I admired on how straightly this author wants to deliver the message of being you is important.

Other point that I found is that a ruler will always be loved by their people if they treated the people very well. Having that emphaty attitudes towards people may lead you a very strong support. It's not just about a ruler, it is also applied to people who are a leader currently.

However I don't have much opinion on MC's relationship. For me, this story is suitable for those who celebrated this love. Very suitable for those who are in religious point of view and unsure whether it is real or not. You are not weird, your love is somehwhere special which only you and the partner can understand this and God too.

Another one I would to bring up is about The Caliphate. I don't know how the Western history interprate The Caliphate but I suggest whenever we want to involved historical fact, it is highly recommended to make a research throughly. We must take on both sides so that there will be no bias.

In conclusion I find it is interesting since I only took 3 days to finish it. If I took shorter days then best to believe I like it.

I guess that's all I can say. Thanks again to the Publisher !