There is nothing I love more than when an author accurately markets their book. Jessica Olson has been telling her target audience that her book is "Knives Out but fantasy" and she was dead on. While the book is YA Gothic fantasy with a romantic subplot, the story has twists and turns so well paced and shocking I felt like I was watching a movie. The characters are all so layered and delicious. August in particular was so complex that I forgot I was reading a YA book! And on the topic of August, the slowburn romance in this was heartfelt and believable and consisted of acknowledging flaws in another and seeing the good. But perhaps my favorite part of this book was the world building. Olson masterfully relays to us her vision without info-dumping, making this fantasy Victorian London aesthetic world digestible, and as such, each to enjoy. This is probably one of my favorite worlds I've read yet. I'm so excited for whatever Jessica Olson writes next.

Myra has been gifted by the Artist with the ability to change reality with her paintings. Few possess this power and those that do hide it for fear of disappearing or being blackmailed. In fact Myra's own mother had the same abilities and she disappeared along with Myra's father. Now Myra is left with just her sister whom she loves like her other half, but fears for her safety as an illness is causing her much destress. When Myra's gift is found out by one of the most dangerous people in town, she is hired to help do the impossible, bring someone back from the dead. Does Myra have enough magic to change the fates and bring someone back? What secrets is the family hiding? Will Myra ever find out what truly happened to her family?

A Forgery of Roses is a fast paced gothic novel that will draw you in and not let you go. Readers will be sucked into a world where most things are possible and nothing is quite as it seems. This is truly an enjoyable novel that had me second guessing my predicted outcomes a couple different times.

Thank you so much to Inkyard Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy.

I was a big fan of Sing Me Forgotten, the haunting Phantom of the Opera retelling that came out last year. It was an incredibly strong debut, with stunning world-building, and had me desperate to dive into Olson’s sophomore novel. Thank you to Inkyard Press, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Jessica S. Olson, and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In a Forgery of Roses, Olson has built another world riddled with magic, chaos, and large creepy buildings for readers to explore. There are secrets to uncover around every corner!

The concept of their deity, The Artist, painting the world into existence and thus making the art of portraiture a sacred practice was so unique and interesting. I would have loved a deeper dive into the history of the conflict between the religious and artistic segments of society. In fact,
I wish there was more detail in the depictions of the painting process, because I so thoroughly enjoyed what did make it into the book.

**SPOILERS**

I enjoyed the build up of the first half of the book but at about 51%, the plot seemed to dive off the rails. The plotting and writing were in fact quite good, but the author created a main character to drive the plot and faithfully followed her through it. I can respect this decision and thus directly attribute any problems I had with this story to my intense dislike of Myra rather than any failing of the author.

1. Myra is incredibly and frustratingly indecisive.

Half way through the story, the male lead seems to suddenly fall through and we the readers are left with a character we just met as the new love interest? It was extremely disorienting. But then she suddenly wants him back? After the first half, the tension with August seesaws uncontrollably, to the point that I just wanted to skip his scenes to avoid Myra’s repetitive inner dialogue.

The sequence of Myra trying to heal with her powers was needlessly frustrating. For someone so desperate to save her sister, she really waited until it was too late to try to use her powers.

2. Myra acts against her own self-interest.

After stumbling around with Myra for ages through her frustratingly poor ameature sleuthing, the truth behind Will’s death and the confrontation it brought forth were extremely dissatisfying, as was Myra’s reaction to it. The epilogue was just pointlessly depressing in my opinion.

Which leads to my final complaint, Myra has no sense of self-preservation. She just keeps running around town in a blind panic and telling literally everyone she meets all of her darkest secrets. To that end, Myra also needs to run far away from August for her own mental health, her future in-laws are unstable, toxic, and pose a very real danger to her welfare.

All in all, flawed characters are essential to giving any story a true sense of realism, and Olson did an incredible job creating a diverse cast of complex characters. I look forward to meeting Olson's future characters! However, just as I avoid spending any length of time with people that annoy the crap out of me, I am happy to find that my time with Myra has finally come to an end.

**This review will be published on Goodreads on 3/22.

This was a very interesting concept that I read in one sitting. It kept me entertained my entire flight with its unique world that seems based picture of Dorian grey with some Jack the Ripper type killings also happening. The murder mystery doesn’t become apparent until half way but it was a strong plot point. The romance wasn’t my favorite but, i loved both of these characters individually. The issues both face take time and effort and there wasn’t enough time with the fast paced plot. The stand out characters were Myra and Lucy two sisters trapped under an impossible situation and a society that doesn’t help them. Highly recommend for some steampunky fantasy lovers

Wow. What a ride. I could not put this down. I'd consider this steam-punk, dark urban fantasy. The magic is compelling and unique; I've never really seen anything like it.

I loved seeing how everything came together. I guessed some twists and was surprised by other things.

There's anxiety and chronic illness representation as well as an examination of class and privilege. I really identified with Myra's desperation and drive.

This is a work of art!

I really enjoyed the unusual premise in A Forgery of Roses! Out of the multitude of YA fantasies today, I don't think I've ever come across this unique way of using art to change people. It drew me in right away. It was suspenseful enough to keep me turning the pages late into the night. I enjoyed the sister relationship. The plot twist was unexpected. Overall, I really enjoyed this and will highly recommend it to the students in my library!

Wow! This story captured me immediately. The humanity in the characters is so accurately captured. I understood and felt a connection with Myra immediately. She is strong and flawed and insecure and amazingly everything. August is not your typical swoon worthy man and yet he is. Reading this was fun and stressful at the same time. I didn’t expect so much suspense. It gave me a similar feel as “Stalking Jack The Ripper.” Lucy is a child but the smartest and wisest of everyone as most children are. I was a bit confused at first with the era the story takes place. I found myself distracted at times with modern things like hospitals that have quality healthcare and sterile gloves and tests results “coming back” all while having candles instead of electricity. Horse and Carriages but talk of the environment. It was Victorian-like yet modern in some places. The ending is enthralling and the epilogue has me desperately hoping for a sequel.

This book had it's twists and turns. I thought right about a few characters and not. I really enjoyed it. I loved the bond between Lucy and her big sister. Strong family. The romance was sweet.

What an interesting concept! I loved this book. The writing style is super immersive and the mystery very intriguing! I really enjoyed the sibling relationship and the sprinkle of romance. I want more!

This book was a real page turner! It was so suspenseful and I loved it! The descriptions of the scenery, the haunting feel it gave, I don’t even know how to describe how wonderfully written this book is. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I definitely would. The ending was one of the best I have ever read. The beautiful cover is what drew me in immediately. Not only does it have magic in it, but it’s a murder mystery that I enjoyed so much! I highly recommend this book!

A suspenseful mystery and well thought out magic system elevate Olson's standard flowery YA prose to something unique in the neo-Victorian urban fantasy genre. The gothic destabilization of the family from the inside was intricately plotted without shying away from blunt, bloody body horror. While I appreciated the depiction of August's struggles with anxiety and Myra's understanding of them, it was weaker as an excuse for his initial betrayal of her. It would have been enough (and more responsible) to simply stress the abusive and tyrannical nature of his parents in that instance. It could have been even better had Myra (as the main character) been struggling with these issues instead of August!! However, I would recommend this to my teen patrons looking for representations of realistic emotional responses when living with a panic disorder, especially because of Myra's empathetic and evolving reaction and relationship with him.

A Forgey of Roses
Jessica s. Olsen
4 stars
Gothic fantasy murder mystery
Young adult
Early 1900s
CW: Chronic illness, anxiety, murder,

NetGalley~ good reads~ Amazon

Myra Whitlock is a prodigy, an artist who can alter a person’s body through painting. Since prodigies have been going missing she keeps her gift hidden. Desperate for money to help her sickly little sister she is coerced into using her gift in a way she never has before.
This is one of my most anticipated books of the year. The unique premise of Stacking Jack the Ripper meets the picture of Dorian Gray was so intriguing to me and it did not disappoint. I love Olsen’s writing as it’s so descriptive and pulls you in from the very first line. I love the sisterly bond that’s portrayed in this book and how close they are, they don’t let their circumstances tear them apart and are fiercely protective of each other. I liked that the main character isn’t perfect and makes mistakes. I loved how the anxiety rep was shown in this book, it felt very realistic and was handled very well. I enjoyed the mystery, the relationships as well as the romance.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and inkyard press for the e-ARC in exchange for n honest review. Pub date: March 29, 2022 and I would definitely recommend it!

Going into this, I didn't re-read the synopsis so I didn't know what to expect, but I found that I didn't mind the story. I enjoyed the plot well enough, but there were some visible flaws for me that came in the form of the characters, specifically Myra, as well as her relationship with August.

Let's get into the details.


WRITING:

I have no complaints or comments on the writing really. This is written like how most YA novels are, which is something I like as I find it easily digestible.


PLOT:

During a time where Prodigies, people with the ability to alter human and animals bodies through painting, are going missing, Myra accepts a dangerous job where she must resurrect the Governor's recently deceased son. What starts as a difficult task only gets more complicated when Myra discovers that he could have been murdered. She must face her new reality if she wants to save her ailing sister.

This was a multi-layered plot, and there were some aspects that I liked and some that I didn't. I thought the concept of body alteration through painting was interesting. I wasn't sure how much I liked the mystery element of the plot though, especially considering it took the plot in a direction that I didn't exactly think was the right move. I am unsure how to feel about the big reveal as I don't know whether to be disappointed or pleasantly surprised.

In general, I thought that the plot lost track of itself as the story developed and got bigger and more complex. The story just took a sudden departure from the main focus and I would have preferred if this was isolated to the house. There were interesting ideas mentioned early on that the book ended up ignoring, which I thought was wasted potential.

Getting into the nitty-gritty here, another minor flaw of the story is a growing pet peeve of mine. During moments of high tension, or where characters like Myra have specific priorities, it bothers me when the characters pause to have a sudden heart-to-heart.


WORLD-BUILDING:

I am honestly a bit confused about when or where this takes place. There are schools established but the lower classes still use chamber pots, so I want to take a stab and say this is set in the 1800s, but I can't guess for sure. I also want to guess that this is set in Britain only because the author used the word knickers instead of underwear.

There is a religious system in this world, founded around the Artist. The only other religious figure named was the Artists Dear Lady, but she was only mentioned once. I wish a bit more time was spent developing the religion considering the fact that this is set in a society where magic users are prosecuted.

As for the magic system, there seem to only be Prodigies as no other kind of magic was mentioned. A bit odd for a world to only contain one kind of magic, but since this is a standalone that focuses primarily on that magic I can let it slide.

Prodigy magic, as I have already stated, gives the user the ability to alter forms through painting. The specifics of the magic were a bit confusing at first as it wasn't clearly explained, but it got there eventually. It is a rather simple form of magic with minor drawbacks, but my one complaint would be that even with a sister who knows biology, Myra was not able to fully understand the capabilities of her magic.


CHARACTERS:

Myra and August. Right off the bat when they first meet, I knew I was in for something I wasn't going to particularly enjoy. Their first few interactions were very cringeworthy, and everything that came afterwards wasn't any better.

You know straight away that romance is going to be brewing between the two, and I didn't think it worked. This is a standalone, so it is understandable that the romance is going to be quick-paced, but this was too quick given the fact that the reader is very aware of how long they have known each other.

This story is set over the course of about 10 days, which is a very short period to have a relationship develop. So short that I didn't believe in their attraction at all. This was made worse when, at one point without giving anything away, Myra said to another character that they couldn't care for her when they've only known each other for a week... That sentence really blew up the issue I had with the relationship in the most hypocritical way.

On their own, I didn't really care much for August, and Myra, while she had some good ideas, had a lot of lapses of logic and was impulsive in the worst way. Myra was also frustrating because she would constantly try to insert herself into August's problems thinking she could fix it, but August would always tell her how she doesn't understand. That is the one thing I liked about August, just because he liked her, he wasn't afraid to call her out for her ignorance.


CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:

Was this a particularly great fantasy novel, no, but I did enjoy myself for the most part? If you are looking for another novel that focuses on painting, I would suggest An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson.

Thank you NetGalley and Inkyard Press for allowing for me to review this in advance.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

NOTE: This is going to be a short review, as there's so much happening in my personal life. My brain is EXHAUSTED.

I pre-ordered this book before I even sat down and read it. Why? Because Olson's first one was so damn good. And her second one was SO DAMN GOOD.

OMG. It's funny, because I've always thought privately that I'd love to be able to say, "I've been reading [insert name here] since their debut novel. They've always been fab." And now I can, and I'm so happy I could scream. I already have plans to pre-order this for two other people as gifts. Translation: so they'll have to read it and have no excuse not to.

World? Great. Characters? Bliss. Magic system? SO CREATIVE. Solid five stars. Easy.

This book was amazing. The premise, the writing, the prose. This book kept me on my toes the entire journey! The ending was unexpected (but once it happened, I was like: OHHH). Everything in this book feels true, real, authentic.

The icing on the top is how perfect the pacing of this book was.

I really liked this! I feel that a lot of times YA fantasy mysteries has been sort of hit or miss for me, but this one was really unique and plotted super well! I really liked the protagonist (a must have) and her love for her sister (which is often not something I love in books: sibling stuff, but this time I'll allow it because it was just so well done). I also thought that the magic was unique and done really well which made the book so compelling because I just wanted to know more and more and I couldn't put it down! Chronic illness and anxiety also play a part in this novel and as someone who struggles with both I didn't find myself rolling my eyes or feeling off-put by the way it was included (which happens enough for me to touch on it). I think that this is especially important to get right in YA books when people are learning and forming their identities, so big props to the author for making two big subjects something that felt seamless in the book, without making it preachy or obnoxious. I loved this book a lot! I definitely recommend you check it out!

This. Book. I'm going to be honest, I was in a major fantasy reading slump for... way too long, so I didn't necessarily expect to like this book at all. Turns out, this book is now one of my favourite reads this year. Now, yes, I sound like every other reviewer but let me explain why you should add this to your TBR right now!

First, hello, there's romance!? I mean yes, it is pretty YA, but doesn't that make it all that much better? As much as I enjoy more mature books, sometimes you just need a wholesome and cute romance in your life. I'm not sure you can call the romance in this book a love triangle but it's something like that...

Now, don't get me wrong, I never really read murder mysteries, but this one was it for me. So many plot twists that I could never see coming and had me up at midnight, just hoping I'd be able to figure it out before the protagonist. I never could have predicted the ending which Jessica S. Olson absolutely nailed, by the way. And, is it really a mystery novel if it doesn't leave you hanging at the end?

And don't even get me started on the fantasy aspect. It's so original and unlike anything in any other book I've ever read. It's so easy to understand, yet so complex at the same time. Watching the protagonist discover her magic and how to control it was truly an experience.

This book was just incredibly easy to read and simultaneously amazingly written.

As I finished A Forgery of Roses, I found myself wanting more - more connection to the characters, a deeper dive into the world, and a more expansive view of the magic system. There's a twist towards the end with regards to what the magic in this world can do that had horrific implications but I found myself struggling to feel anything about it. A great premise but somewhat lacking in execution.

I enjoyed this immensely, and it kept me turning the pages until the end. Myra is an engaging heroine, with understandable motives who makes (mostly) reasonable decisions in her quest to solve a murder mystery, keep a handle on her unpredictable magic, and save her beloved sister. The artist/painting magic system was a very cool idea, but I wished it had been fleshed out a bit more. The romance was believable, but I liked that it wasn't the main focus of the story. August is charming and relatable and not the typical cocky manly-man who needs to save Myra.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves YA fantasy with mystery and an interesting magic system.

I'm always keen to pick up books with strong themes about art, and as a big fan of The Picture of Dorian Gray, I couldn't resist grabbing the opportunity to give this one an early read. Both books have paintings with magical properties, but the links largely end there, as Olson's story centers on a clue-gathering murder mystery and a fluttery, blushing romance that bear little resemblance to Wilde's thematic look at image and identity, so readers needn't expect a psychological deep dive into the corruptible nature of vanity. The house the heroine enters is plenty spooky, but Olson sprinkles humour throughout the work with a pet frog, an untimely glimpse of knickers, and plenty of light banter between her two leading characters. The world is a mix of quasi-Victorian references (corsets & petticoats, carriages, gaslight) and modernity (plastic, contemporary slang, modern medicine), though Olson leans into 19th century gender politics and class systems. The heroes are noble and the villains and vicious, with strong lines drawn between the two. I enjoyed the tight sister bond and the themes about finding one's voice, and I'm always up for a personified Gothic manor..