Roses and Rot

Roses and Rot
By Kat Howard
Saga Press, 2016, 307 pages, Fantasy

Imogen and her sister Marin are accepted to an elite post-grad arts program; Imogen as a writer and Marin as a dancer. Soon enough, though, they realize that there's more to the school than meets the eye. Imogen might be living in the fairy tale she's dreamed about as a child, but it's one that will pit her against Marin if she decides to escape her past to find her heart's desire.

If you can’t guess from this review and my recent review of The Invisible Library, Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. When I saw that he’d recommended this book I knew I had to read it! Roses and Rot is everything I hoped it would be—dark and mysterious and dangerously magical, it’s a modern fairy tale written for adults. I also loved that the main characters were women, dealing with the struggles and pressures that success brings. This book reminded me a lot of Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane in both tone and writing style.  Basically, I loved everything about this book!

MB