“This is what happens, when things are not quite a fairy tale.
You go into the woods to find your story. If you are brave, if you are fortunate, you walk out of them to find your life.”
Roses and Rot, the debut novel of author Kat Howard, is a richly atmospheric fantasy/fairy tale-ish novel that asks the difficult question, “what would you sacrifice in the name of success?”
The story follows two sisters, Imogene and Marin, who were both accepted into a prestigious artist’s retreat in New Hampshire called Melete. I must say, Melete itself was one of my favorite parts of the book. A year-long retreat for gifted artists who want to be successful in their craft, whether their craft is writing like Imogene or dancing like Marin, and the opportunity to work alongside an already famous artist and learn directly from them… It’s an opportunity to die for! And the way Kat Howard describes the setting alone makes you feel as if you’re right there along with the characters. I was captivated by this world within the first few chapters.
But things at Melete aren’t what they seem… As this is a spoiler free review, I’m going to refrain from sharing too much details regarding the fey, however I will note that I loved the way they were incorporated into the story. I almost want to call this book magical realism rather than straight-up fantasy, as it’s written in such a way that the fey seem almost plausible, if that makes any sense at all. Or perhaps I just have a very overactive imagination…
This is a slower paced, atmospheric novel, and while generally speaking I’m more interested in faster, more action-packed stories, I found myself having a difficult time putting this book down. While it’s a slow build up, the story gets progressively stranger and more fascinating with every chapter. Especially towards the conclusion…I was desperate to see how it ended!
My favorite part of this book was definitely the characters themselves. But, then again, the characters are pretty much my favorite part of any book. I had difficulty deciding on who was my most favorite character. It’s probably Imogene, as we are both writers, although I did end up find myself liking Helena a bit as well. There really aren’t any pointless side characters in this book – every named character has a certain amount of depth and relevance to the plot, which I really appreciated. It made the story even more exciting and engrossing, as I really did come to care about these characters. They weren’t just characters, they were people!
I would say that the only part of the story I really did not enjoy was the romance, as I am not a huge romance fan, but thankfully it did not overshadow the plot too much so it didn’t ruin the reading experience for me.
I’ve decided to rate this book four out of five stars. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read, and one that I definitely recommend. Who do I recommend this too?
Anyone who is an artist!
Anyone who loves fairy tales!
Anyone who enjoys darker, creepy stories!
Anyone who dreams of fame and success!
I’d also recommend this book to anyone who’s read and enjoyed The Call by Peadar O’Guilin. The books aren’t super similar, but I still thought this book felt oddly reminiscent of it. Maybe that’s just me.
I think this is the perfect story to read this month, as while I wouldn’t call it straight-up horror it does have a nice eeriness to it. It’s what you could call a ‘real’ fairy tale story.
I’m going to the Merrimack Halloween Book Festival later this month, and I’m excited to get to meet Kat Howard there and get a copy of her newest book An Unkindness of Magicians, which sounds like a very exciting read.
Have you read Roses and Rot? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂
Wonderful Meep 