A Forgery of Roses
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3.7 • 7 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
"A deliciously twisted gothic fantasy you'll want to read again and again, with characters you'll adore, prose that'll spellbind you, romance you'll swoon over, and a mystery that'll keep you guessing until the last stunning twist."
—Diana Urban, author of These Deadly Games
From the author of Sing Me Forgotten comes a lush new fantasy novel with art-based magic, 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.
“A heady blend of the fantastical, the murderous, and the romantic.” —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review
“Marvelously magical and steeping with mystery.” —Adalyn Grace, author of All the Stars and Teeth
Also by Jessica S. Olson:
Sing Me Forgotten
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Olson (Sing Me Forgotten) crafts a lush and atmospheric murder mystery in this take on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Seventeen-year-old Myra Whitlock has a powerful gift: she can alter living bodies through her paintings. But in the fictional city of Lalverton—where the governor considers her gift a blasphemy—Myra has been forced to become a portraitist's assistant, knowing that to expose her power would be akin to targeting Myra and her ill younger sister, Lucy, just like their mother, who disappeared a year before. When she inadvertently reveals her gift to the governor's wife, Myra has no choice but to accept the woman's offer: if Myra can paint a portrait that can resurrect the governor's murdered son, Wilburt, she will receive enough money to find better care for Lucy and ensure the woman's silence. Together with August Harris, the governor's forgotten eldest son, who experiences anxiety, Myra must work to solve Wilburt's murder so she can fulfill her bargain—before his killer catches up with her. Though an uninspiring romantic subplot detracts from the twisting, secret-layered narrative, its gothic ambiance and the strong bond between Myra and Lucy delivers. Protagonists read as white. Ages 13–up.
