Member Reviews
Thank you Sasha Peyton Smith, Net Galley and Harper Collins for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
Overall, I enjoyed this book! It absolutely gave me Bridgerton meets Powerless vibes which was so fun and different from so many other fantasy books out there. Some of the sections felt a little bit rushed and didn’t make total sense to me, but required to happen to push the plot forward so I can understand that. I definitely did not see the ending coming and the villain arc that came was great, definitely excited to explore that more as the books go on!
I really enjoyed the fmc’s inner battles with loving & hating the same things and seeing the line between love and hate being so thin. It was so relatable and not a typical characteristic I see in most novels I read. It makes her development as a character so much fun to read and I’m sure she’ll be an entirely different person by the end of the series! I’m also excited to see Lydia’s development and if the sisters will become enemies or work together, because I really feel like it could go either way right now, or maybe even a combination of both with the love & hate theme between them and the girls in the competition.
The romance was sweet and more demure on page, similar to Daphne’s story in Bridgerton. It did feel a bit rushed, but it was cute nonetheless. I actually liked the few other pov chapters sprinkled in so we could really get a feel for the other characters’ love stories & personal development!
There were a couple of glaring plot holes, however, that really bothered me. For example, (minor spoiler) not a single one of the girls asked for the prince to fall in love with them as their wish? Not a single one wished to win the competition? Or even just wished to look most desirable to the princes’ standards? Even if the queen wouldn’t allow those wishes, it made absolutely no sense to me that nobody asked. Also… the hickey?? Not a single person questioned her visible hickey before the wedding? I have a couple more below the spoiler warning down below, but there were quite a few plot holes that just couldn’t be covered up for the sake of advancing the plot for me.
I would say overall it was an easy and fun read, with a few twists and turns sprinkled in and an unexpected ending! Nothing revolutionary but absolutely an enjoyable read and I would recommend it for those just reading for the vibes!
SPOILERS BELOW
A few more big plot holes that are hard for me to just use plot development as an explanation:
Ivy could have simply bargained that the town forget about Lydia’s ruin and that would have gotten her to her same goal without risking everything. I know the premise of the book is for her to join the competition, but the reasoning was lacking.
Not necessarily a plot hole but I didn’t love quickly Ivy fell for Emmett. She barely had a moment alone with him in the whole book where they weren’t talking about Bram and it really felt like she fell in love with him as fast as Olive fell for Bram.
In her wish to erase Emmett from her memory… in what world would the prince not question this after he saw she clearly did not know who Emmett was? How would they explain that? This was kind of covered up with the ending and the prince never getting to ask, but it was my immediate thought when she wished for it
And lastly…. The queens phrasing on the bargain for the competition was filled with massive holes. Ivy simply said “I present myself as a suitor for the prince” but did not say WHICH prince. Ivy (or any of the other girls) could have easily married Emmett and the bargain would have been fulfilled with the wording of the bargain.
reviewers were spot on when they said this is a mix of Bridgerton and The Wicked Prince. I would also say a little bit of Throne of Glass as well with the competition aspect. overall, I loved the story and the characters! there were a couple things that the FMC did that kinda bugged me, but overall it was a fun story and I can’t wait for the next one!
Immense thank you to HarperCollins Children's and NetGalley for an early copy of this book.
I absolutely loved The Rose Bargain. Think Kiera Cass's The Selection, except instead of a dystopian setting, it's historical in 1840s England. Not the Victorian Era, technically, because there is no Queen Victoria. The War of the Roses (Not GRRM's, the actual one) ended much differently in this world, and a faerie queen rules England. Ivy Benton has watched her family fall from society's graces and desperately hopes a chance to marry the fae prince could save them, but will her heart survive the trials?
An endearing sisterly bond, the strength of young ladies, tests of family and friendship, and two princely brothers kept me enthralled in the story. I had suspicions how some pieces of the plot would unfold, but I did not conceive of the web that Smith wove for readers (and Ivy) to fall into. While I love Ivy's steadfast determination to do what she feels is right, the ending tore my heart out. Stakes are high for book 2. I've read and know enough of British and Irish faerie lore to doubt trusting a fae, but these characters are written so well that they are fully believable. How much some characters and supposed events should be trusted is left in the air for book 2. After marinating on the conclusion of the first half of this duology for a full day, now I am left pondering the symbolism behind Ivy's name, the choice of the surname Benton (Bennet, anyone?), and the meaning behind multiple characters' first names. This book goes deep beyond making me laugh, nearly cry, and thinking on bargains' worth.