I struggled with how to rate this one. On one hand, it very definitely pulled me in and kept my interest for most of it. On the other, it's a story that I've read what feels like hundreds of times with nothing to really make it stand out beyond a not-much-explored Native American angle. Not to mention my much-hated love triangle being present and emotionally abused.
Stephanie Fritz is the narrator of the audiobook and you can tell she gave it her all to emotional parts because her narration makes you care for the characters even when the story doesn't necessarily lead you there. It's to her credit that I went for the full 3 stars.
I have a feeling this will be one of those series where the second book will be better just because all the heavy, drudgy work of introducing the world and the characters was set up here, but I don't see myself going to the trouble of continuing with the series.

Happy thanks to NetGalley, Olivia Wildenstein, and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for the interesting listen!

I quite liked this book overall. The fusion of fairy lore and Native American legends was quite a unique and very interesting premise. It certainly caught my attention and imagination. The world-building was good and the magic system was explained well.
The insta-love triangle that seemed to develop didn't do it for me. I couldn't see the chemistry between the characters and I would have liked to see more of Catori establish herself as a force to be reckoned with rather than a pawn of hunter and fae. Maybe she will understand her role better in the next book. I am interested enough to find out and I am looking forward to reading/listening to it.

Pretty good but not my favorite by Olivia Wildenstein. I thought the end was particularly good but it wasn't very interesting getting to that point.

I enjoyed listening to Rose Petal Graves and to Katori's journey. After losing her Mum she learned about the Fae world which she knew nothing about. It was well narrated. I liked the characters and the story.

“Fae world … how did I come to accept the existence of such a world”

When if first approached to this book I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I actually did !!!
For fans of “Cruel Beauty” and everything that has to do with mystery, magic, fae, bargains and a reality that is not really what we think it is !!!!
It felt a bit confusing at the beginning and the end but the truth is … that was it’s purpose !!!!!
The characters were great!!! The romance so good and the magic system … really liked it !!!
In a world were fae and fae hunters live together we have a love triangle that doesn’t even solve in this first book !!!!
I’m not such a big fan of love triangles but I wasn’t expecting this one to get to the point it did …
Did I side with one love interest instead of the other??? Yes, definitely !
Did I appreciate the one the main character seems inclined to? I’m not very sure I can answer this question … not yet.
Read this book and this series and you won’t regret it !!

“Part hunter, part fae”

Listening to this book was kind of magical, our narrator Stephanie Fritz is amazing, her ability to project the feelings portrayed in this book is masterful. The tone of her voice is very soothing and led to a truly enjoyable experience. I will be looking for more that she's lent her talent to.

Rose Petal Graves was the first book I've listened to that really went into any type of Native American culture or beliefs, I have to say it was spellbinding. The imagery and storytelling is beautiful, the rose petals, the wind chimes, the opals, all of it was fantastic.

While this book was dark at times it was also beautiful and bright at times, I think Olivia Wildenstein has found the perfect balance of myth, folklore, and reality to give us a well rounded fantastically written book that I enjoyed every second of.

I really think this series should be listened to, the audio version allows you to just fall into the story lulled by our narrators voice we don't see the darkness coming until it's there,

This book has it all, love, loss, pain, happiness, and of course magic. I do plan on reading (or listening if available) to the other books in this series.

This was a slow started for me. However I am glad a stuck it out. The premise of fairies and fairy hunters living in today’s world is unique. Once I was able to loose myself in the storyline I couldn’t put it down. The one aspect I still had an issue with was the love triangle. I wasn’t a huge fan of either guy as a love interest.

I listened to the audio version of the book. The narrator does a wonderful job bringing the story of the page.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way have I been influenced by anyone.

I am a little on the fence with this book but I am sure my mind will be made up after the next book! I get the feeling it could go a few ways! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of this audiobook!

DNF: 18%

I was cautious going into this just based on the Synopsis, white people writing indigenous people, has a history of being done poorly and honestly I was already weary just from the line "a tattooed Native man, who wasn’t supposed to be alive"

But I recalled enjoying, Of Wicked Blood, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

It wasn't worth it, The poor taste in my mouth from the synopsis was a warning for the things to come.
The writing was dull at best, it was hard to continually stay engaged.
Then we get to this new dude, grilling Cat about her name. Specifically questioning the fact that is Hopi in origin rather then from her Gottwa. But then the text makes it sounds like her mother's name Nova is from her Tribe's origin but if you search google for a translation such as this you find a lot of "In Native American the meaning..." as well as posts saying the meaning "Chases Butterflies" has been previously misattributed to Hopi Origins.

I am white so I don't feel like I have the right to speak on whether it's right or wrong to create a new Native American tribe for the purposes of a story or not.

I will say that it wasn't in reality necessary, you want to tell me a bunch of white people came to inhabit the Wisconsin in the early 1800s that were fae, stuff happened, they "died", got buried and forgotten about. Something that is completely feasible in the course of 200 years.

A book about a girl who finds herself surrounded by magical creatures which she didn't believe in until her mother's death. Now she is seeing her small town in different eyes and uncovering herself.
I don't know how to feel about this book. The narrator is good but the characters are a little annoying and do stupid things making you wonder why even try. The love triangle is already too much along with the story. Maybe if there was one love interest, I would be more hooked in the story. It was interesting at first, even with the stupid things the characters did but after the first few mistakes, it just felt like too much. I feel like you either love or hate all the mistakes . For me, I just don't even know what is going on because I don't know what to focus on; the story or love interest or characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Olivia Wildenstein for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I’m a little disappointed, because I didn’t enjoy this one very much and I loved Wildenstein’s Angels of Elysium series, but it just wasn’t for me.

The narrator for this book was good and the pacing was as well. I was never bored while listening to it, but I’m still not sure exactly how I feel about it. It kept me engaged and I enjoyed parts of the story, but there were a lot of inconsistencies and odd things that kept me from loving it. For example, Catori being in med school at the age of 19 didn’t make sense. I found Cat to be an unlikable character as well and thought that she was pretty rude.

A lot of the storyline is problematic, such as how the Native American tribe is treated and the suicide topic. I also wasn’t a fan of the romance. I feel like a lot of my issues with the book could be fixed with some more editing though.

I’m incredibly sad that this book wasn’t for me because I am a fan of the author and Feather is one of my favorite books. I still recommend giving this one a chance because it could just be me that has these opinions. The audiobook was pretty good and I recommend listening to it if you decide to pick it up.

I was lucky enough to be offered an arc of this audiobook, which I accepted without knowing more than that it was fantasy and probably YA.

I’m happy to report that I loved it. Ok so maybe the love triangle is a little cheesy but come on, who doesn’t love a good love triangle? Good banter, likeable characters, some unexpected twists and basically everything that you could want in a fantasy romance.

I listened to it whilst out on walks and it definitely boosted my daily step count as I was dying to find out what happened next.

With thanks to the author, Olivia Wildenstein and NetGalley for this arc audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Ever read, or in this case listen to, a book where you are not quite sure where you stand on it? Did I like it or not? Scratching head. What I can say is this is nothing like the Vampire Diaries. If you come to this thinking that, you may be disappointed.

Catori's mother dies after digging up a grave full of fresh rose petals in the backyard. Then newcomers show up in her town and life as she knows it will never be the same. By digging up the grave, her mother started a war between the fae and their hunters.

As I mentioned I am not quite sure how I feel about this book. I can't say I liked or disliked it. I am right in the middle. Parts I enjoyed, parts I didn’t I enjoyed the originality and the thought behind the book. I didn't quite get the insta attraction and feel the author is setting up a love triangle.

The reviews on this book are polarizing and I get it. This book will work for some. Be sure to read the reviews of those who loved it.

Thank you to Olivia Wildenstein, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

The book was an easy read. The story is like a combination of vampire diaries cross twilight but with fae and hunters. Not very strong characters or much world-building which was a bummer for me! Overall it was good.

I don't get it. I have so many issues with what happened in this story. First of all, it's basically instant love, which I hate reading. Also, the writing just wasn't very good, I couldn't picture anything or like the characters. DNFed about a third of the way in.

I love Olivia's stuff so of course I had to finally get to this and while I could not put it down something just didn't sit with me. Maybe it's the Fae are pretty much mortal if they're it in their little bubble.

But I absolutely love the natives in this because I just love reading books with them being all bad ass and such

I did like the narathor but I found the story to just be ok. It was entertaining but not something that i will be reading again in the future

I'd been looking for an audiobook and this book sounded just perfect. I love the fae, I love the concept of this story, the cover is incredible, the title is enticing. Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me AT ALL.

About the audio book in particular:
The audiobook started of rather lackluster. Main girl (Catori)'s lines are delivered in such a bland way, and I wondered if that was deliberate because the character is so bland. Because it's not the reader, she manages to give the other characters some personality. Everyone except main girl. I felt like at times she went a bit too far into her accents and at other times not enough, there wasn't always consistency for the characters, which was distracting.
The later chapters were a lot better than the earlier ones, and they finally felt like main girl had feelings, at times.
The pronunciation was very clean and crisp most of the time, which made it easy to listen too, but paired with the emotionless main character gave a clinical effect I wasn't too fond of. It worked better with characters with more personality and for narration pieces.
The audio book wasn't bad at all, in the sense that it didn't save the book, but I don't think I would have gotten through the book without it. I would have DNF'ed this book otherwise. (But also it was an arc, so I wanted to finish it because of that.)

About the book itself:
Let's start with the main girl, 19 year old, in med school, apparently already looking for a hospital for her work experience "so she can be closer to her dad." At 19. Makes sense. Yes, totally. She also doesn't have much of a personality to speak off, and constantly changes her mind depending on who she's talking to. And not in the "gain new information so changed my opinion", but more in the "say whatever I think the other person wants to hear". And she isn't even aware of that. She was extremely bland, I don't feel like I learned much about her at all, other than that she loves a bunch of guys, and is (rightfully) grieving. Oh and she's super special because she's half fairy half hunter so she doesn't smell bad, and can choose if she wants to be human or fairy which is super useful for the plot in future books, I'm sure. I bet it depends on which guy she ends up choosing, because everyone makes life decisions based on the guy the like best, right?? *sigh*

The men in the story had little more personality, and were fairly interchangeable. All hot. All controlling. All stubborn. All annoying her but still super attractive. Fairy/Fairy Hunter, so all supernatural. All protective. All dismissive of her feelings and opinions (for as far as she had opinions).

The plot was all over the place. It felt like the author probably had a clear idea of what she wanted to convey, yet it felt like a bunch of scenes sewn together and supposed to make sense. They didn't always. The rules of the magic seemed to change based on what was needed for the plot. Personalities seemed to be changed based on what was needed for the plot. Everything felt contrived because of that. This whole book is filled with plot-conveniences.

And there was a suicide thread woven throughout this book, and it was treated in a way I felt uncomfortable with. We had several attempted suicides and one actual one(?), and everyone blamed main girl because she wasn't in love with the man who committed suicide, which is just a gross way of treating it. And the way the suicide attempts were treated felt lackluster too. They were seen as "moments of weakness" that the characters got over because ... they just did. It felt like they were added for extra shock value, and to make us feel extra bad for main girl, and it just felt rather icky.

two stars for the audiobook, 1 for the book itself.

WARNING: spoilers.

Rose Petal Graves follows Catori, a young 19-year-old girl, as she grieves her mother's death and uncovers the family's magical, Native ancestry. What she reveals is an ancient war between the fae and the native tribe, known as "hunters" that she is a descendent from. Alright - I'll be honest. This book was hard to get through. There are so many logistical issues, plot holes, and awful tropes that could have some racial implications.

Let's start with the logistical problems and writing issues. Throughout the book, I was confused about what year this story was supposed to be set in. Wildenstein failed to provide a foundation for us to secure ourselves to feel a part of or visualize Catori's world. I believe that Catori's town is supposed to be a small, run-down town in the Mid-West but then she talks about her town is full of tourists during a particular part of the book. It seems to flip flop from wanting a small town trope to needing a more commercialized city environment for aspects of the story. This leads me to my next point that Wildenstein's writing is based on what she needs to be able to get to the next point without caring about the integrity of the actual story. What I'm saying is that there are so many instances in the book where I said, "Oh of course! How convenient. So and so just happens to magically appear and save the day!" or "Of course, this 200-year-old being knows how to drive a car just because he has someone's memories." I understand that this is a fantasy book but there are just some aspects that were too inconceivable even for fantasy. Wildenstein's writing appeared as if she just needed to reach a word requirement; there were many unnecessary descriptions of things such as a bag Catori was using at the store. She also would give unneeded add-ons to Catori's thinking and within her dialogue. It cluttered the story. This book is a prime example of overexplaining but saying nothing at the same time. It takes away so much from the reading experience. The book also ended with literally nothing resolved. Nothing. It was completely pointless and the epilogue was ridiculous. Also, the amount of awful fat references in the book was not necessary. There are so many points where Wildenstein would write about someone being too fat, eating bad foods, and even promoting medical fatphobia since Catori was the one harboring these fatphobic ideas while being in medical school. Also, big logistical problem - how could a 19-year-old already be in med school? Unless Wildenstein's intention was to portray that she was an undergraduate but failed miserably, this oversight should be fixed.

Wildenstein's writing could lead to racial implications that could hurt native and indigenous people. The fae are described to be beautifully white, blonde, ethereal-looking beings while Natives, described as beautiful handsome too, were described in a more hostile way. They aren't described in such a poetic way as the fae. The writing makes the natives come off more aggressive and brooding. Now, I will add that the fae are mentioned to be tricksters, greedy and manipulative people but the idea that Wildenstein, a white woman, with no indigenous roots per my own private research of her, would continue the trope that natives are hostile (some would use the word savage) is distasteful. Especially since she made Catori, the main character who is Native, very aggressive and rude but many of the white characters, such as Cass and Lily, are portrayed as sweet and innocent.

Let's discuss the many character flaws. I don't know if it was Wildenstein's mission to make Catori so unbelievably rude to everyone but if it was, mission achieved! I can understand a character being hesitant to trust new people, to be guarded, and even slightly rude, especially during the grief process, but Catori was so conceited. I understand she was the main character but it truly felt that each character was just made to be a plot tool for Catori to manipulate; they lacked substance. They lacked actual character integrity. You're going to tell me that Kajinka, known to be so stoic and almost antisocial, would just immediately fall in love with Catori after a few days? This makes no sense. Cruz kissing Catori after less than a week without any actual bonding made no sense either. It felt as if Wildenstein just wanted to add as many love triangles as possible in hopes that it would help cover up the massive flaws in the writing and the storyline. The biggest issue regarding romance is Catori's best friend killing himself due to her not loving him back. Are you serious? That is so problematic. Wildenstein helped bolstered the incel agenda with Blake. He was so distraught and angry about being "friend-zoned" by Catori that he killed himself? I couldn't believe what I was reading.

All in all, this book was not good. I am shocked to find out that this is a trilogy. I hope that my harsh critique helps Wildenstein solidify her voice as a writer and helps give this story a better chance. There were so many more problems within this book but I can't possibly write them all. Even though I was harsh in my review, I do want Wildenstein to improve and thrive. I want this story to be better.

This book is well written. It grabs the reader at almost the first sentence and keeps them wanting to find out what is going to happen next.
The narrator did a very good job with the different characters and made the book very easy to listen to.
All in all, this book was a very enjoyable and gripping experience. I am anxious to read or hear the next one.