Title: A Curse of Roses
Author: Diana Pinguicha
Pages: 352
Genre: YA Fantasy/ Historical Fiction
Release Date: 01 December 2020

From Goodreads: "With just one touch, bread turns into roses. With just one bite, cheese turns into lilies. There’s a famine plaguing the land, and Princess Yzabel is wasting food simply by trying to eat. Before she can even swallow, her magic—her curse—has turned her meal into a bouquet. She’s on the verge of starving, which only reminds her that the people of Portugal have been enduring the same pain. If only it were possible to reverse her magic. Then she could turn flowers…into food. Fatyan, a beautiful Enchanted Moura, is the only one who can help. But she is trapped by magical binds. She can teach Yzabel how to control her curse—if Yzabel sets her free with a kiss. As the King of Portugal’s betrothed, Yzabel would be committing treason, but what good is a king if his country has starved to death? With just one kiss, Fatyan is set free. And with just one kiss, Yzabel is yearning for more. She’d sought out Fatyan to help her save the people. Now, loving her could mean Yzabel’s destruction."

Historical fiction is one of my favorite things to read, so A Curse of Roses was right up my alley. I had no idea that the story was based on a Portuguese legend about Saint Elizabeth and it was called The Miracle of Roses. The story goes that Elizabeth was caught by her husband taking food to the poor, and he eventully forbade her from doing it ever again. After she was caught once again by her husband hiding bread in her apron to take to the poor, he asked what she had and she replied that it was only roses. Being Winter, he was reluctant to believe her so he told her to unfold her apron to see what she was hiding. When she unfolded the apron, roses fell out instead of the bread. I really enjoyed that this was a twist on such an interesting legend and I liked looking into it to try to understand the influence behind the book! And to top it off, the author included a really cool bit at the end where she explained the original tale and some of the aspects of the story that she changed in order to create her retelling. I love that detail and think that it really took the story to another level for me as a reader.

This was a wonderful LGBT retelling of this story with some really memorable characters that I instantly found myself loving (and shipping, let's be honest). I genuinely felt for Yza as I read about how she was quite literally starving, unable to eat anything because it continually turns into flowers and thorns in her mouth and throat. She's surviving on broth and is realizing that her people are also enduring the same pain that she is so she wants to enlist the help of the Enchanted Moura, Fatyan, to help her reverse her magic and allow her to turn flowers into food. But the twist? She's magically trapped and the only way to set her free is for Yza to grant her a kiss. The kiss not only sets Fatyan free but also awakens something inside of Yza and it was such a lovely story of acceptance and, well, love!

The writing. Oh wow the writing. I was immediately transported to Yza and Fatyan's world and it was absolutely magical! I have a hard time staying interested in fantasy stories if the writing is hard for me to follow but I found Diana Pinguicha's writing to be absolutely magical. She has a lyrical way of writing that had me hooked and wanting to know more about the story and the characters from the very beginning. I found the story to be both well written and easy to follow which allowed me to get through the story with ease. But it also made me want to read more as soon as I was finished so I will absolutely be looking out for more by this amazing author! Oh, and did I mention that the descriptions of the food (and for some reason the flowers as well?) made me constantly hungry?! I found myself snacking while reading because some of the foods sounded so delectable that I couldn't resist eating something, as much as I wished I could be eating some of the food from the story. That was a huge plus in my book, personally. I also liked that the magic was...simple? It didn't feel complicated or hard to keep up with like a lot of YA fantasy books tend to get sometimes. I wasn't really confused and found it easy to follow which, again, is a huge plus.

All in all, A Curse of Roses was a fantastically beautiful read. With historical legend roots, a love story between two amazing women, and world building that will draw you into this magical world and keep you hooked from start to finish, this is a book you absolutely do not want to miss!