The Rose Bride   By Nancy Holder                                           Release Date: Buy it Today! Simon Pulse Ratings Action Romance Characters Overall Purchase on Amazon. Purchase at Powell’s. Find independent bookstores near you.

Rose’s mother, Celestine, grew a glorious rose garden behind their chateau, and central to that garden was the statue of Artemis. Celestine was faithful to her goddess, and on the eve of her daughter’s thirteenth birthday, she asked the goddess to give Rose the gift of always knowing that she is loved. Thus began Celestine’s death, the growth of the purple roses, and Rose’s journey to discovering what love really is.

The elements of love, grief, and dealing with death are central to this book, and I found that it covered all these emotions in a rather realistic way. Rose is told throughout the book, by whispers from the purple roses (which sprouted up after her mother’s death), that she is loved, but she can’t believe it. How can she be loved when her parents are gone, she has a wicked stepmother, and she has been turned into a deer? Still, she manages to find love in many places, from that of her goddess, her mother’s everlasting love, and even the love of friendship and long-lost family.

One thing that rather bothered me about the book was how they worshiped the Greek gods so devoutly, yet spoke French all the time. The use of French was confusing in itself because it was portrayed that they spoke French at all times, yet there would simply be random phrases in the book in French. Kind of like in comic books or on TV shows where they have to remind you that the character is from another country by having them randomly say “yes” and “no” in their own language when they were just discussing nuclear physics in perfect English. Also despite the use of the Greek gods there was also a very definite introduction of the devil as the enemy and witchcraft in use by the stepmother. There was a lot of mish mashing of religions and cultures that just didn’t quite fit for me as the reader and kept me questioning the society/culture/religion of the book’s characters.

For a relatively fluffy book, it did manage to challenge the notion of love at first sight, and I admired that the main character resolved by the end to only accept true love – not simply a man who would care for her, but one who loved her as well. And even as the king showers her with gifts, it’s not until he really forgets about her and looks at himself that he is able to present himself as someone who can love her. These are aspects of love and fairytales that aren’t always examined.

Ratings Reasons:
Action 1 – This was a pretty slow book action wise. For being so short, it sure took a long time to tell the story.

Romance 4 – As mentioned above, I liked the way the book handled love, true love, love at first sight, and familial love. The main romance was pretty believable, and I liked that the main character didn’t just settle, but instead waited until the love interest really loved her and not just the memory of his dead wife (who she happened to look exactly like).

Characters 3 ½– Grimm’s fairytales tend to follow some pretty standard characters, and this book only takes those characters one step forward. They all are pretty identifiable as their stereotypes, but are still enjoyable.

Overall 3 ½ – A fun and interesting take on a fairytale that wasn’t quite the normal fare, it still didn’t leave that big of an impression on me. I love the Once Upon a Time series, I tend to buy a lot of the books, but reread value on it isn’t high.

Extras:
Maybe I should just make a sub-page for the Once Upon a Time series–I certainly seem to keep reviewing the books. So far, I’ve reviewed Sunlight and Shadows and Scarlet Moon, and I’ve also enjoyed reading The Night Dance, Beauty Sleep, and Snow, but haven’t reviewed yet. The other books in the series I haven’t read yet are: Before Midnight, Golden, The Storyteller’s Daughter, Spirited, Water Song, and Midnight Pearls. The whole series is pretty standard for fairytale retellings, though the books do tend to both take lesser known fairytales and often put in less usual twists. Still, it’s almost always a fairytale ending with some pretty descriptions in between, and the characters tend to be just slightly more developed than the Grimm stereotypes.

The Rose Bride is based on the Grimm’s fairytale The White Bride and the Black Bride. Read the original tale here. Wikipedia also has an interesting article about the false hero that often appears in Grimm’s fairytales, taking the place of the hero/ine in the story. That’s the role that Rose’s stepsister plays.

Another story that uses the role of the false hero is the Goose Girl, which has been reinterpreted in a book by the same name by Shannon Hale, and I’ve heard wonderful things about that book. A Greek tale called The Sleeping Prince also reminds me of a cross between the Goose Girl and The White Bride and the Black Bride.

Parents:
Parents: 10+ I don’t remember anything indecent about this book. There is a bit of “well, married people have babies” in the book, phrased like “man lying with his wife.” This might be a good book to give a child to help them understand death, loss, and love.

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