A Forgery of Rose was a good book, it just felt a lot like other YA books that I've read.
So while I enjoyed it, it just isn't a book I would highly recommend as there are definitely better books out there.
The writing was simple and the characters were fine.
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

In A Forgery of Roses we follow a 17-year old girl with very creative, magical powers. She can alter reality through painting. As her and her sister, Lucy, are struggling to make ends meet since being orphaned, she has difficulty saying no when approached by the Governor's wife with a job for her that could result in a very large sum of money as payment. The job is an odd one though that could potentially also be dangerous - she wants her to paint her son back to life.

So, the premise of this is super cool. I like creative magical powers, call it a weakness of mine, but it unfortunately became a bit repetitive to read about after a while. There's only so many times I want to read about our girl painting a portrait (while in my head she's standing completely still for hours), just to get tired and then go to sleep - just to repeat the process the next day.

Our lead girl also seemed really slow on the uptake when it came to solving the mystery of the book (who killed the Governor's youngest son). I was literally yelling at my book for a bit since she wasn't putting 2 and 2 together, while it seemed the answer was waved in front of her face for 5 pages straight, and she just never 'got it'.

Also, the was suddenly insta-love which felt very unnecessary and then also the introduction of a love triangle?? Did we really need that in there? I honestly don't think so.

Loved the vibes of the book though. It's very gothic, mysterious and maybe even a bit creepy at times.

Thanks to NetGallery and HarperCollins Children's for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I liked the idea very much, of having a special talent to heal people with paintings. But the plot itself when I started reading felt short, a sick sister, murder mystery (I think that a murder mystery should not be included in YA, but then again I am not a fan so, I was hoping it would not be the main plot of the book tbh). Anyway, in short this book was not my cup of tea.

The writing was good though, cannot blame that. If you want something light to read but also having a murder mystery, this book will be great.

4.5* upped to 5
It’s not easy to define this novel as it mixes different genre making them work together and creating a riveting story that kept me turning pages.
There’s mystery, romance, fantasy all mixed in gothic atmosphere. There’s also an interesting side about sisterly bond and how being poor can affect the chances of getting better or dying.
The “young ill girl” is trope that was quite popular in the XIX century story, Beth anyone?, but the author was able to add fresh air and approach it in a contemporary way.
The magic system is one of the most original I read in a long time: a mix of religion and magic, art that affect the living being healing or resurrecting them. Those who can perform this type of magic are called Prodigy and someone is killing them.
Prodigy are also considered an abomination by religion and persecuted
Myra, a Prodigy called to a nearly impossible task, must find the killer before she becomes the next victim.
The plot was well crafted and, even it dragged a bit at moments, I read it in two setting and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The mystery is quite solid and the romance, even if a bit too fast, was sweet.
I suppose this is the start of a new series and I would be happy to read more about this world.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Ohhh, this was just what I wanted when I read it. Unusual, painting-based magic, a murder mystery and a creepy, atmospheric setting. And it almost delivered.

I liked having some unexpected chronic illness rep in Myra's sister, and for the most part I enjoyed the magic system and the surrounding mystery. I felt like the pacing was inconsistent - sometimes too slow, sometimes too fast - with more loose ends than I would like, but not enough to stop me enjoying the book as a whole.

And I found myself uneasy about reading it on my own in bed, and that's always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. You never know what - or who - might be lurking in the shadows.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I was very excited about this because the premise of it sounds so good, but sadly, it fell flat for me and I could not bring myself to finish it.
The idea of having magic based on painting is super fascinating and was the main reason I wanted to read it, but ultimately wasn’t enough to keep me going.

Everything just felt a bit flat, the characters, the plot, the worldbuilding… It just didn’t feel as high-stakes as I need a murder mystery to feel like. The writing style also felt a bit bland.

While I personally can’t say I enjoyed it, I think other people might have a better time with it, since the premise is definitely interesting.

Let’s start off by saying that there were things I absolutely adore about this book, and things I could have done without. The whole concept of having magical paintings is really interesting, and that was what drew me to the book. It’s unique. The first half of the book was absolutely amazing, the murder mystery and the eerie atmosphere of Rose Manor. I also really enjoyed the details of the whole painting process. And let’s not forget August, the best character in my opinion. He was so relatable to me, as someone who also has social anxiety, and there were multiple instances where things he said just made me feel seen. So the book started out great, but sadly half-way through it started to lose its spark for me. The story took a turn, and I felt like I started to lose my attention to the story. It felt a bit repeating, and it was pretty obvious who the bad guy was. Even the big reveal wasn’t as big of a shocker as you would expect.
Overall it was a quick read with many good qualities, but it couldn’t quite pull the story all the way into the finish line.

**Actual rating is 3.75 stars**

I realy enjoyed this book but I think some bits worked better than others. I liked the writing style and the story was engaging and compelling and the characters were well developed. However, I think that the worldbuilding could have been better, I never really felt like I got to grips with the world or what it had to offer/fear. I also think that the pacing was a bit slow for me I would have prefereed a slighly faster pacing all the way through the book.
I loved the mystery elements of the book too as I feel like these really added an extra depth to the book along with the exploration of anxiety and mental health amongst other things.
I love books that have vivid descriptions and this book was full of descriptions but sometimes it felt a bit too much, it felt like it was very wordy and being overly descriptive and it didn't always work.
Overall it was an enjoyable read that I would give 3.5 stars too

Magic & murder & art, but also chronic Illness & caregiving & anxiety & acceptance.

Not quite settled in it’s worldbuilding. There’s a lot of modern terminology in a fantasy historical setting, but has a true gentleness & sweetness to it

This book came across overly descriptive and a little dull. I wasn't able to finish it. The start could have definitely been more condensed and direct, which would have made it easier to engage with

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this novel, I was so invested throughout! I did find that the pacing was a bit all over the place at times; it was really slow in the beginning, then picked up a little bit, then picked up a LOT around the 70% mark, then slowed wayyyy down again. I really loved the various subplots going on surrounding August's mental health, and Myra's sister Lucy's illness. These were such important topics discussed that I wasn't expecting to be included at all so it was a lovely surprise.

I really liked Myra and August, I thought they were both very sweet and interesting characters, but I do think it was a case of insta-love, considering this story takes place over only a couple of weeks (or it may even be less than that I'm not sure). They were very sweet together but it did just happen too quickly for my liking.

It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it was a fun time and an interesting magic system too, surrounding the art and paintings, but I do think this could have been explained a bit more.