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..

This was a great read. That cover is absolutely stunning. Thank you for the advance reader copy. I very much appreciated the chance to read this book.

(thank you netgalley for an e-arc of this book!)
I loved this!! I adored the lush, snowy, and gothic setting, the mystery was so fun, and I loved the main characters! although I loved the romance aspect, the sister relationship made my heart so happy. already can't wait to re-read again and again! highly recommend!

What if you could paint your own reality? Eradicate disease or raise the dead with a brushstroke? Our main character does much, including run for her life in this wonderfully dark and gothic mystery (standalone!) where artistic ability paired with magical gifting can make a person powerful—or the victim of power.

A Forgery of Roses is one of my anticipated reads of 2022, and I’m glad my hopes were not dashed with it. I enjoyed this suspenseful, gothic, supernatural mystery quite a bit.

While A Forgery of Roses is classified as fantasy, I would have to say the plot is more focused on solving the mystery of the murdered governor’s son. The magic system, though pretty well developed and interesting in its own right, serves as a plot device that is intricately interwoven into the world but is not what builds the function of everyday life. In fact, magic wielders in this novel, as the synopsis says, must maintain anonymity or be persecuted heavily by those with power who do not possess any magic.

Myra is an incredibly relatable main character. Though she lives in a world with magical abilities, she struggles like most people and fights fiercely to protect those she loves and endeavors to do so without completely disregarding her own sense of morals to do so. She and her sister live alone, and though she is old enough to work and provide a very meager living for them both, she still struggles to make ends meet, which is what drives her to agree to the desperate attempt to reanimate the dead.

Though the novel gets started with a bit of info dumping, and I was afraid there would be much of it, it’s very minimal and not at all intrusive to the reading experience. It was very hard to put the book down once I started, as the mystery drove the story at a rapid pace and I found that before I knew it, the culprit was revealed and the conflict was wrapping itself up. I also was delightfully surprised with the villain reveal, as I usually guess who done it well before the end of a mystery and read the rest bored to death, but that was certainly not the case here.

On the best positive note, this novel is YA that is ACTUALLY YA. It’s not full of coarse language and sexual situations that one would find in adult fiction, but the themes and conflict are certainly more suitable to older readers. I would not recommend this for the younger end of the YA spectrum. It is pretty violent and descriptively so. I will be preordering this one to give to the local library if they do not have the funds to add it to the collection.

My thanks to Inkyard Press via NetGalley for the ARC, for which I willingly give my own opinion.

I'm not usually a murder mystery fan, but I really enjoyed this! There were tons of twists and turns. I loved the magic system and how it affected the characters. Each character made me think they were the culprit and I enjoyed how the ending played out. Nicely done!

Creepy, gothic and wholly unique, I really enjoyed Myra and the story of her talent of using art and magic to change the human form. The book touches on a lot of societal issues like health care, mental health and class. structure. This book was immersive, full of tension and the twist ending will really surprise you! Definitely give this one a try.

Myra's portraits alter the shape of her subjects, and keeping that secret is the only way to keep her sister safe. The governor's wife finds out and threatens to expose her secret unless she paints a portrait that would resurrect the governor's dead son. Going to the mansion makes it clear that the death was no accident, and the killer is obsessed with portrait magic. Desperate to survive, Myra turns to the governor's older son for help.

In this world, magic through portrait art can change the subject's appearance, heal wounds, and fix illness. This magic is seen as a perversion of the work that the Artist, their God, had done in creating the world. Not all portrait artists can do this magic, only the Prodigies, and because they were hunted down, few remain. Myra's mother had been one and went missing. Then her father went missing looking for her, so Myra and her sister were left alone. Because her sister was ill, Myra was willing to risk her safety for money to get a doctor. Her magic didn't work on the body, the first clue it was murder. Searching for the truth revealed the strained relationships in the family, August's anxiety, and Myra's weakness and fear of her own magic.

I love the world building here, the way Myra gradually learned more about her magic as well as the secrets hidden within the governor's household. By the time we get to the final third, I was racing to the finish line because I was so invested in the outcome. The story is one I'm glad to have read. Myra and August are great characters, and I loved spending time with them.

I’ve just started dipping my toes into the fantasy realm, and this one was quite enjoyable. It’s fascinating how the magic is laid out, and the charters are developed! The imagination in this novel was wonderful. I look forward to the next.

I loved the unique magic system and the way it tied into art. Olson does a beautiful job of describing the way art moves people and what repressing it feels like to the protagonist. The mystery unraveled little by little and i found it hard to put the book down and take a break. I really enjoyed the way that Myra had to think creatively to try to solve her problems and pick herself up each time she failed.

Content Warning: Gore, Violence, Kidnapping

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but I enjoyed what I read a lot.

The magic in this story is quite unique. Myra can alter or heal someone through her paintings. She paints the person on canvas and then infuses it with her magic. It does come with consequences though, she will feel the pain the person is going through. She is what they call a Prodigy and although her magic can heal, it is forbidden in her town to have such powers. With both her parents gone she is a caretaker and mother to her thirteen year old sister, who is very ill. I love her relationship with her sister, the love between them is so beautiful. They don’t have the money for good care and though Myra can heal injuries, she cannot heal a disease in someone. But when the governor’s son dies, his wife wants Myra to bring him back to life…but can she?

The story unfolds as a murder mystery and it comes with a few twists which was really nice! I love the scary tone of the story, the creepy house the governor and his family lives in, the story of the 5th floor being haunted, and grotesque paintings on the wall. Whoever painted those was sorely unwell, but who did them?

There is some romance in the story as well. Myra and August (the governor’s oldest son) befriend one another and try to solve the mystery of his brother’s death. August is an interesting character who suffers from anxiety and his father, who is a hard man, has no patience for it. I was happy to see his growth and also fight for his right to feel safe in the space he’s made for himself. There were times Myra would tell him how to overcome his struggles and he really stands up to her, explaining how she can’t expect him to change overnight. It’s easier said and done when it’s not something she herself struggling with. He definitely had some fight in him even when he was afraid of his family’s reaction.

FINAL THOUGHTS::
Why you should read it:
*it’s a story filled with mystery, romance, danger, and magic
*there’s a good twist in the story
*Myra’s unique magic skills

Why you might not want to read it:
*not into gothic fantasy

My Thoughts:

This story was a real treat and I enjoyed the unique magic, anxiety rep, the romance, the creepy and thrilling parts of the story, and the twist at the end. I haven’t read a book by this author before, but I’m looking forward to reading more from her.

A Forgery of Roses by Jessica Olson is a different kind of fantasy novel, with a little similarity to The Picture of Dorian Gray. We meet our heroine, Myra Whitlock, at the start, as she helps do portraits for her boss and friend, Elsie. Myra hides her gift as a prodigy, who can alter a person’s body by painting, she is young and has no experience to use this feature, though she knows she has the ability, but it is considered very dangerous. Her sister, Lucy, is very ill, and Myra does not have enough money to get her to a proper doctor; especially since her mother and father have been missing for a long time.

The Governor’s wife enters Elsie’s place, and asks for a portrait of her dog to be done; since Elsie is busy, she asks Myra to do the painting. The governor’s wife notices that Myra has more ability than she lets on and offers her a lot of money, to paint her dead son and bring him back to life. Myra hesitates, since she has never really allowed herself to use her full ability; but she is desperate for the money to save Lucy; she accepts the job and is brought to the governor’s mansion. Myra knows she has to be careful, as the Governor himself is the one who disapproves Prodigies. The wife gives her another identification, as a cousin visiting, and she must work on the painting in the basement, so no one sees her. When Myra starts working on the painting, she has difficulty, as she needs to know more about how the son died. She befriends August, who is the younger son, whom his mother tells him to keep an eye on her and be helpful. When the painting doesn’t work, both Myra and August try to investigate the truth how the son died, and discover a dangerous adversary.

What follows is an intriguing, unique story that is filled with magic, danger and mystery; as well as a family bond between two sisters. Myra was a great heroine, and I really liked August, who by the end learns to stand up for himself. To say too much more would be spoilers. A Forgery of Roses was very well written by Jessica Olson, and a very different kind of story line. I suggest if you like fantasy, you should give this a try.

I wanted to like this book. It's an interesting premise, and a well thought out plot. I did finish it because I wanted to see how it ended, but I admit I skimmed quite a bit. The writing and characterization was not for me. The writing is a bit breathless - all adjectives and adverbs. Everyone does things grumpily, or hastily, or archly, or sternly, etc. There's some kind of weird meet cute with the hero and heroine where her underwear ends up in his hands and she nearly dies of embarrassment and the whole thing was so bizarrely improbable I almost put the book down. Both of these also spend a great deal of time flushing, or blushing, or feeling their faces grow heated with mortification.

The characters were also pretty two dimensional for me, with just one major characteristic: the heroine is loyal, the hero is anxious, his parents are cruel and snobbish, the heroine's sister is plucky, etc. And the villain's motivation was utterly ridiculous. Plus the plot twist that revealed how he did it seemed like a pretty big deal, but it was just glossed over.

Just not my type of book.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

Read if you like: YA fantasy with magic.
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Myra is an artist with the ability to alter people's bodies, which can be deadly if her secret is discovered. Someone does discover her abilities, and Myra is compelled to resurrect the governor's son or risk punishment. This launches Myra into a mystery that she didn't expect to be a part of!
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The setting is dark and gothic, full of adventure, magic, and mystery. Overall, I enjoyed this one.
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CW: death, murder, violence, gore.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

If y'all haven't picked up a Jessica S. Olson book, why? You are missing out! Jessica has done it again. A Forgery of Roses is YA Fantasy at its very best. I'm not sure why more people aren't reading these books. It's baffling. Olson has a phenomenal voice that leaves you feeling haunting, yet still wanting more. I thought Sing Me Forgotten was phenomenal, but A Forgery of Roses was absolutely STUNNING! Full RTC

Sisterly love outshines romance in Jessica S. Olsen’s sophomore novel, A Forgery of Roses. After being blown away by her first book, Sing Me Forgotten (it was my favorite debut of 2021), I couldn’t wait to check this out.

Another unique magic system
One of Olsen’s greatest strengths as a storyteller is her ability to create new worlds and brand new magic systems along with them. In Sing Me Forgotten, magic is accessed when people sing, and those with magic have the power to change memories. In this novel, instead of song, the medium is paint. Certain painters, called Prodigies, have the power to alter the subjects of their art. They can change someone’s hair color, heal their cuts, or perhaps even bring them back to life…

Myra Whitlock has spent years fighting down her magic. Prodigies like her are looked down upon by their town’s mayor, and even thought to be dangerous. Since her mother disappeared, she has been even more cautious. But money is running out and she desperately needs a doctor for her younger sister, Lucy, who is plagued by a mysterious illness. So when the mayor’s wife shows up at her doorstep, offering her a fortune to resurrect her son, she can’t say no.

She moves into the governor’s mansion, where danger lurks around every corner. She tries her best to stay in her room, painting portrait after portrait of the governor’s dead son, but when she realizes his death is not as straightforward as she was originally told, she starts sneaking around, trying to find the truth. But the truth is much darker and more complicated than she ever could have imagined.

A lovable cast of characters
For the past several years, many YA novels have tried and failed to give me the feels with sisterly relationships. This story finally hits a home run. Myra’s love for her sister Lucy isn’t just a part of her—Lucy is her very soul, and you can feel it on every page. Their dynamic makes their scenes practically leap off the page. Lucy is opinionated and not afraid of mocking her older sister, but the love between them is clear.

Myra’s love interest, August, is another highlight. He has adorable banter with Myra and he writes her poetry (swoon!). But he also suffers from crippling anxiety, and this book doesn’t shy away from the ugly side of it. When his parents later turn against Myra, he fails to stand up to them when she needs him most. That was a heart-wrenching moment. But he redeems himself in the end!

A crazy twist
The weakest point for me was the twist near the end, which I found too convoluted to be believable. It stretched the magic system a bit too far. If it had been set up earlier, I think I would’ve had an easier time buying it. As it is, it took me out of the story a bit, but the ending still felt as climatic and dramatic as I wanted it to be.

The ending was much happier than Olsen’s last book, which my poor, fragile heart greatly appreciated. However, it leaves you with just the right amount of tension and suspense to leave you wanting more. Sadly, I don’t think this will be a series, but oh how I wish it was!

Fantasy lovers, this is a must read, and you need to add Jessica S. Olsen to your auto-buy list. I know that I will.

First off, love the cover! It's SO pretty and it's what drew me to the book in the first place. While I haven't read this author's debut novel, I'm looking forward to giving it a try because I really like her writing style! A Forgery of Roses follows Myra, a prodigy with the ability to paint away a person's flaws, and even heal minor injuries. When the governor's wife asks her to do the impossible, bring her dead son back to life, Myra is unsure if she is up to the task - but too much is riding on her success so she agrees to try.

I really like Myra - I thought she was brave, and determined and I loved how loyal and protective she was of her sister Lucy. Watching her sift through clues and try to get answers about what's really going on allowed her to develop as a character and I liked watching her grow in confidence and skill.

I was also a fan of August. I loved the anxiety representation and thought the author did a really good job of outlining the struggles that one faces when they suffer from severe anxiety. August has a hard time with parents who don't understand him and push him into situations that make him uncomfortable. The dynamic between him and Myra was sweet and I like the slow burn feel to this story.

Overall, I think this was a super unique read, and I liked that I couldn't guess the ending at all - it took me by surprise which is always great! I'm happy with how it ended, and look forward to seeing what comes next for this author!

The mystery and magic system kept me engaged throughout the book. The romance didn't seem to have much chemistry to me. Younger readers would probably still enjoy if they are into darker fantasy.