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typedtruths 's review for:
The White Rose
by Amy Ewing
2018 TBR Challenge: Book #10 ★★½
Trigger warnings for violence/death, unconsented pregnancy, miscarriage, needles/illness, child abuse, suicide, self-harm, sexual assault/rape, drug usage/addiction and child prostitution/paedophilia.
On occasion, I’ll stumble across a series that, despite all its objective flaws, works for me. There is something about this world, this series, that pulls me in. While I understand that a lot of other readers were disappointed with this sequel, I could not put it down. It was not a fun read, per say, as it tackles a lot of topics like child prostitution and institutionalised discrimination but it is so damn engaging.
Pros:
• I like all of the characters. Violet the perfect protagonist for this series. Ash is sweet. I like Raven and Lucien’s complexity and Garnet. His slightly sassy but mostly disgruntled/grumpy presence is the perfect relief between scenes.
• The romance is decent. It is not filled with chemistry or angst but its just sweet. I loved that there was barely any drama, and none of it was excessive or unnecessary. Both Violet and Ash support each other through what has to be the most bloody difficult time in their lives. It isn’t perfect but it is realistic.
• No love triangle! There easily could have been but there wasn’t.
• This doesn’t skate over the ‘dark’ topics. This is a brutal world and Ewing makes that clear. It is difficult to read about at times, especially as we found out a lot more about Ash and his upbringing in this sequel, but I really appreciate its inclusion.
• I like the idea of the magic system a lot.
• The fast pace kept me glued to my seat and Ewing’s effortlessly easy writing style made it easy for me to breeze through this in a single sitting.
• It talked about the different layers of prejudice and how they can be internalised. Kind of like Ron’s character in HP. I thought this was an important discussion to include and Ewing handled it well.
• Female friendships.
Cons:
• The politics need a little more fleshing out. I know that Violet does not know a lot about it herself so it would be hard to make it feel organic in the story but I need more information about the Electress and the Duchess.
• The POC characters still have their skin colour described with food analogies. It is as awful as it sounds.
• I liked the idea of the magic system but it needs to be fleshed out a lot more in the sequel.
• While I think Ewing has created a really unique society, her actual world is lacking. I cannot picture any of it. There needs to be some more descriptive language about the landscape, the weather, the animals, all of that, please and thank you.
• This was very much a filler, in between book. It geared up the story for an epic finale so I really hope it follows through with its potential.
Overall? IDEK. This is not a series that I would recommend willy-nilly but there is something about it that compels me. I am invested in these characters and this world. I have the third book on hold from the library and I’ll be devouring it as soon as I can get my hands on it.
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Trigger warnings for violence/death, unconsented pregnancy, miscarriage, needles/illness, child abuse, suicide, self-harm, sexual assault/rape, drug usage/addiction and child prostitution/paedophilia.
On occasion, I’ll stumble across a series that, despite all its objective flaws, works for me. There is something about this world, this series, that pulls me in. While I understand that a lot of other readers were disappointed with this sequel, I could not put it down. It was not a fun read, per say, as it tackles a lot of topics like child prostitution and institutionalised discrimination but it is so damn engaging.
Pros:
• I like all of the characters. Violet the perfect protagonist for this series. Ash is sweet. I like Raven and Lucien’s complexity and Garnet. His slightly sassy but mostly disgruntled/grumpy presence is the perfect relief between scenes.
• The romance is decent. It is not filled with chemistry or angst but its just sweet. I loved that there was barely any drama, and none of it was excessive or unnecessary. Both Violet and Ash support each other through what has to be the most bloody difficult time in their lives. It isn’t perfect but it is realistic.
• No love triangle! There easily could have been but there wasn’t.
• This doesn’t skate over the ‘dark’ topics. This is a brutal world and Ewing makes that clear. It is difficult to read about at times, especially as we found out a lot more about Ash and his upbringing in this sequel, but I really appreciate its inclusion.
• I like the idea of the magic system a lot.
• The fast pace kept me glued to my seat and Ewing’s effortlessly easy writing style made it easy for me to breeze through this in a single sitting.
• It talked about the different layers of prejudice and how they can be internalised. Kind of like Ron’s character in HP. I thought this was an important discussion to include and Ewing handled it well.
• Female friendships.
Cons:
• The politics need a little more fleshing out. I know that Violet does not know a lot about it herself so it would be hard to make it feel organic in the story but I need more information about the Electress and the Duchess.
• The POC characters still have their skin colour described with food analogies. It is as awful as it sounds.
• I liked the idea of the magic system but it needs to be fleshed out a lot more in the sequel.
• While I think Ewing has created a really unique society, her actual world is lacking. I cannot picture any of it. There needs to be some more descriptive language about the landscape, the weather, the animals, all of that, please and thank you.
• This was very much a filler, in between book. It geared up the story for an epic finale so I really hope it follows through with its potential.
Overall? IDEK. This is not a series that I would recommend willy-nilly but there is something about it that compels me. I am invested in these characters and this world. I have the third book on hold from the library and I’ll be devouring it as soon as I can get my hands on it.
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