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A Curse of Roses

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A Curse of Roses

By: Diana Pinguicha
Narrated by: Rebecca Mozo
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About this listen

Based on Portuguese legend, this #OwnVoices historical fantasy is an epic tale of mystery, magic, and making the impossible choice between love and duty....

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 for years.

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.

A Curse of Roses includes themes, imagery, and content that might be triggering for some listeners. Discussions of religious-based self-harm, religious-based eating disorders, and religious-based internalized homophobia appear throughout the novel.

©2020 by Diana Pinguicha (P)2020 by Blackstone Publishing Fiction LGBTQ+ Literature & Fiction Magic Royalty Science Fiction & Fantasy Fantasy Portugal

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Most relevant
This book is primarily a coming of age story for Ysabella, wherein she learns to accept herself, her magic and her desires. One of the devices used to provoke this coming of age is an evil sorceror, who in the process of the story worms his way into Ysabella's betrothed's trust, in order to kill him, and send the country into chaos. The final confrontation with this sorceror is anticlimatic if you're looking at his plot as a prime mover of the book.

There are two dubiously consensual sex scenes with Ysabella, one with her beloved, the enchanted mora Fatyan, before she's ready to accept that she's a lesbian, and one with the betrothed, King Denys. King Denys handles Ysabella's lack of consent far better, accepting that she is not in fact ready or willing to have sex with him, whereas Fatyan verbally abuses and abandons her for not responding the way Fatyan would have preferred to being honestly, pressured into sex. Fortunately when Ysabella finds a way to reach Fatyan she does admit that she was in the wrong as well.

And there's a gloriously sensual and consensual sex scene between the two of them after that, with a strong emotional resolution bringing her into the potential of a stable relationship.

Great coming of age

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I don't normally leave reviews but the only review I could see for this book (on the .co.uk audible) was a one star from someone who admitted in their review/rant that they didn't go beyond the forward of the book. So here's one from someone who listened to the whole thing and is reviewing out of justified pettiness.

This book is based on a Portuguese legend of a Queen who turned bread into roses in the 13th century. In the forward the author states the hold of religion and how the views of people, even to this day, affect others who do not fit into a certain box. In the 13th century women had almost no choices of their own, especially when it came to marriage in the nobility and royalty. Death from childbirth was a very real danger, there was often no love in political marriages and who's to say the people involved were even heterosexual in the first place? All this is posed before the book starts.

So this fantastical delve into the legend explores those ideas. The book itself has characters to like and loath, bearing in mind the main cast are teenagers there is a fair bit of angst, but considering the pressures of religion, royal decree and potential curses, it's understandable. Sometimes things are a bit over-explained that I'm sure the audience would get regardless but it was a smooth listen, there are some twists you don't expect and a constant tension underlying the main character - I mean, who wouldn't be tense when people might think you're a witch?

It was read well, the narrator making efforts to pronounce Portuguese words and names accurately and she defined each character with distinctive voices that fit their image.

Overall, this book is about a young woman learning who she is and accepting it fully, the magic adds a little extra spice. It is adventurous and holds people at its heart and makes you wonder what the histories didn't say.

Alright, done. Enjoy!

A review from someone who listened to all of it

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This is a beautifully captivating book, well written, humorous and surprisingly educational (I loved googling the references and learning more).

Have fun listening 😊

Incredibly captivating story

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Very good story, personally I hated the way all names were pronounced because it felt like I couldn’t understand until halfway thru the book. But also I despise the portuguese accent so I am not the best person to ask about this lol

Amazing

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This was an interesting story. Yza is cursed, or so she thinks, but what if that curse is really a gift? What could a future Queen do with a gift?

Magic or Miracle

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