Title: Rose Petal Graves
Author: Olivia Wildenstein
Pages: 182
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: 15 May 2016
From Goodreads: "Founded two centuries ago by an aloof and powerful tribe of Gottwa Indians, Rowan was a quiet town, so quiet that I fled after graduation. Staying away was the plan, but Mom died suddenly, so I rushed home. Dad said she suffered a stroke after she dug up one of the ancient graves in our backyard, which happens to be the town cemetery. Creepy, I know. Creepier still, there was no corpse inside the old coffin, only fresh rose petals. As we made preparations for Mom’s burial, Cruz, the new medical examiner, arrived. I should have felt relieved, but how could I? He was unnervingly handsome, glowed like a human firefly, and knew absolutely nothing about examining dead bodies. But, he did know what killed my mother…or rather who."
Thank you to YA Bound Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review!
Rose Petal Graves was a fun, quick read about a girl who returns to her childhood home after her mother dies. Oh, and also about faeries. This was a bit of an out of the norm read for me, and I think the last faerie book I read was Wings by Aprilynne Pike back in 2009. Side note, she's really nice in person! But books about faeries is not a normal read for me, so I approached this very cautiously. What initially drew me in was the beautiful cover, but I ended up enjoying this novella more than I thought I would.
Catori, or Cat for short, was a very sassy, independent main character. There were times throughout the book where I just really was not a fan of her, as she could be very short and rude to her friends and family. I understand she just lost her mother, but her family is all she has. And also the fact that she was adamant about not taking down her mother's wind chimes but then immediately took them down after Cruz said something about it just really bothered me for some reason. But beyond that, Cat was a good main character to follow and I feel like once the actual book comes out that I'll end up really liking her!
This was a very fast-paced read for a novella and it really helped to keep me flipping pages (or pressing the page turn button on my Nook?) until I reached the end. I liked that there was usually always some kind of action going on and there was never really a dull moment . The writing was also very well done and it really kept me immersed in the story as it was so descriptive and really just beautifully written. I liked the idea of the Native American/faerie combination as it was something I've never read about before. There was even quite a bit of backstory about the history of the tribe that was woven into the story and it was a really nice touch.
My least favorite bit about the book was that there was the dreaded love triangle. What's worse is that Cat didn't even seem to realize Blake's feelings for her. She may have had a feeling, but didn't seem to catch on and acknowledge it until the end. Of course there's the new shiny (literally, in this case) guy that strolls in and is mysterious and potentially dangerous, and the best friend who's always been there for her and is secretly (or not so secretly) in love with the main character. It happens quite a bit and it always my least favorite part of any book. I try not to let it sway my feelings on a book, and thankfully Rose Petal Graves had a lot more to it than just the love triangle, so A+ for that!
While it was a very short, quick read, it really got me interested in the world that Olivia Wildenstein has begun to build. The novella ended on a pretty decent cliffhanger that kept me guessing and definitely caught my interest for the actual full-length book! If you're interested in a quick read about faeries with some really pretty writing, definitely check out Rose Petal Graves!
