Title: Rose Petal Graves
(The Lost Clan #1)
Author: Olivia Wildenstein
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance
First published: March 29th 2017
Publisher: Weapenry Co-Op
Finished reading: March 27th 2017
Pages: 390
“You make your own happyiness, Kajika. Just like you create your own destiny.”
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Weapenry Co-Op in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
This first book of a new fantasy series has definitely been a case of instant cover-love, and I admit I was superficial enough to request a copy of Rose Petal Graves mostly based on the cover. The blurb was really promising as well: a story involving a poweful tribe of Gottwa Indians, ancient graves and mysterious things happening in a quiet town… Sounds great! Add the line that Rose Petal Graves is basically a mix between myth and fantasy and something between A Court Of Thorns And Roses and Pocahontas, and I was sold. Unfortunately, I dont’ think the actual story lived up to expectations. Rose Petal Graves started interesting enough and I still like the general idea behind this story (the mix of myth and fantast with fae and fae hunters), but I encountered quite a few problems along the way. The biggest turn off for me was also very much a cliche. Because Rose Petal Graves turned out to be yet another YA fantasy series destroyed by a… yes, you can already guess… a freaking LOVE TRIANGLE!! I’ve become seriously allergic to them, and this particular case is no different. Too many forbidden love interests and love triangles seriously distracted from the rest of the story, and the fact that the main character (Cat) changes ‘teams’ constantly doesn’t really help either. That leads me to another point: the credibility of the plot and the actions of the main character(s) in general. There were parts I just didn’t find credible at all… An example? Why does Cat trust the very same persons that might have hurt her mother? And why does she keep talking to certain characters after she finds out the truth? Thankfully it was a fast read at least and I guess those who don’t mind a love triangle or two will probably enjoy this story a lot better.
Cat left the quiet town where she grew up in to study, but found herself back unexpectedly after her mother died suddenly. Her dad said she suffered a stroke after she dug up one of the ancient graves in their backyard… But Cat is not so sure. She has the feeling something is off, and not just because the only thing she finds inside the old coffin is fresh rose petals. Does it have something to do with the tribe of Gottwa Indians that founded the town all that time ago? Cat will soon have to deal with some unwelcome visitors…
I was actually really looking forward to this read, mostly because I haven’t read that many Indian-inspired stories before. Unfortunately, the story kind of fell flat for me. Annoying tropes like love triangles, problems with credibility of the plot and characters and a lack of dept in the Indian myths and fae world; it’s not a bad read, but I was hoping for something better. I would probably still read a sequel at some point though, just to see how things would develop over time.
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