Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: March 29, 2022
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / HistoricalFrom the author of Sing Me Forgotten comes a lush new fantasy novel with an art-based magic system, romance, and murder…
Myra has a gift many would kidnap, blackmail, and worse to
control: she’s a portrait artist whose paintings alter people’s bodies.
Guarding that secret is the only way to keep her younger sister safe now
that their parents are gone. But one frigid night, the governor’s wife
discovers the truth and threatens to expose Myra if she does not
complete a special portrait that would resurrect the governor's dead
son.
Once she arrives at the legendary stone mansion, however,
it becomes clear the boy’s death was no accident. A killer stalks these
halls--one disturbingly obsessed with portrait magic. Desperate to get
out of the manor as quickly as possible, Myra turns to the governor’s
older son for help completing the painting before the secret she spent
her life concealing makes her the killer’s next victim.
Jessica S. Olson's A Forgery of Roses is a retelling of Picture of Dorian Gray. 17-year-old Myra
Whitlock is a Prodigy, an artist who can alter a person’s body through
painting. It is a dangerous gift that Myra keeps hidden, even more so
since other Prodigies, including her mother, as well as her father, have gone missing. Since
their disappearances, Myra has struggled to provide food and shelter
for herself and her younger sister, who suffers from a debilitating
disease and desperately needs medical care.
When
Myra is offered a significant amount of money to create a painting,
it’s an offer she can’t refuse – especially since since it’s made by the
governor’s wife, who also threatens to expose Myra if she can’t
resurrect her dead son with the portrait. For
Myra’s magic to work, she has to know exactly what happened to the
subject of the painting and what they felt – and it soon becomes clear
murder is involved. When the governor’s other son, August, offers his
assistance, he and Myra undertake a dangerous journey to discover that
truly happened.
Can Myra trust
August, and what really happened to August’s
brother Wilbur Harris, Jr? The more secrets Myra learns, the more her life becomes
endangered. Then she meets a man named Vincent, and things become so dangerous, that Myra may end up losing everything. The
only thing Myra can be sure of, as she searches for answers and dodges
shadows with murderous intent, is that nothing is as it seems. August is an interesting character in that he's portrayed to have sort of anxiety representation, and it isn't until Myra's strength, that he breaks his shell.
You'll likely read this a lot but Myra’s
relationship with her sister Lucy is the bright spot in the story. Their
sisterly bond is really strong, and it is what motivates Myra throughout
the story. They have such a wonderful bond, and they are very close.
Myra loves her sister more than anything, and she will do whatever it
takes to help her sister get well. Myra puts her own life at risk many
times to save her sister. Lucy is also brilliant in that she wants to study biology and make life better for everyone around her.
I am going ask the question that I can't seem to find an answer for. The ending leaves lots of questions. Was that a cliffhanger ending, thus a sequel will be likely, or are we supposed to make up our own minds what's to happen next.
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