A Curse of Roses

Diana Pinguicha

Dec 2020 · Sold by Entangled: Teen

About this ebook

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 readers. Discussions of religious-based self harm, religious-based eating disorders, and religious-based internalized homophobia appear throughout the novel.

Ratings and reviews

3.5 stars — Hmmm…there were a lot of interesting things in this book, and after reading the author’s note at the end, I actually have a more interesting perspective on the book. But, all the same, I found it hard to get into the story at times, the pacing felt…not quite right to me. And it deals with a lot of uncomfortable subjects that apparently I just wasn’t in the mood for. Definitely read the content warnings at the beginning of the book (or under the author’s Goodreads review). All right, let’s start with our heroine, Yzabel. She…can be hard to like. Not because she’s unlikeable per se…in fact, she has a lot of admirable qualities. But the shame is just so much!! Like, about everything. The shame, the literal self flagellation, the stubborn hold on to her piousness…I totally stood up and cheered when Brites or Fatyan called her on it. It just ended up overwhelming her character, and made it hard for her good parts to shine through. But I did love how kind she was, how she tried to choose kindness at every turn. I loved how she saw all aspects of her new kingdom and wanted to *act* to help them. I loved it when she gathered her courage and stood up for what she believed in. I just feel like the good and bad aspects of her personality weren’t balanced enough for me. She was surrounded by some interesting characters right from the start, and I was intrigued with where the story was going. I felt the chemistry with Fatyan almost immediately, and I loved that. But the story kind of took a turn I wasn’t expecting, and I think I was strangely disappointed in the choices…or maybe I needed different resolutions? I started to question things along with Yzabel, and while I’m sure that was the intention, I personally would have enjoyed it more if things had progressed differently at certain parts. Sorry that was so vague and handwavey, but I don’t want spoilers. I had a hard time enjoying the romance with Fatyan because of all the shame and emphasis on wrongness in Yza’s head. I get it to a degree, and for 1200s Portugal, it makes sense. But I guess I wanted less realism in that sense, and a bit more wonder and happiness mixed in. Denis was pretty surprising. I feel like I didn’t quite understand his reactions sometimes, and even looking back, I can’t figure out if it was just Yza being an unreliable narrator or not. But I appreciated how his story played out. So yeah…it was interesting, it offered something kind of refreshing, and given it was this author’s debut, I bet she’ll just continue to improve.

About the author

Born and raised in the sunny lands of Portugal, Diana is a computer engineer graduate who currently lives in Lisbon. She can usually be found writing, painting, devouring extraordinary quantities of books and video games, or walking around with her bearded dragon, Norberta. She also has two cats, Sushi and Jubas, who would never forgive her if she didn’t mention them.
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