Never the Roses

Jennifer K. Lambert

EXPECTATIONS

I love forbidden romance, high fantasy, and anything related to mythology, so this novel is right up my alley. I looked forward to how the author would execute the forbidden romance and how the chemistry would build up to their first meeting, and ultimately, how the protagonists navigate a world wherein they are tethered to lifelong debt and blood geasa. 

STORY

Dread Sorceress Oneira is retired from a life bound to servitude, obligation, and violence after paying off her debt to the kingdom, a reparation made with heavy sacrifice and endless regret. This story was particularly interesting in that Oneira’s life truly starts once she’s self-exiled and retired from her previous harrowing life, appreciating mundane things such as baking bread, cooking soup, and gardening. She finds comfort in the creatures that somehow gravitate towards her in her solitude, appreciating the company and color they bring to her life. Oneira’s biggest conundrum, however, is the underlying question burrowed deep inside her, a question she knows not yet what she asks, much less the answer she seeks; and so begins her thieving from the library of her greatest nemesis, indisputable Sorcerer Stearanos Stormbreaker, hoping to unravel the answer lurking in the deepest recesses of her heart. The author’s sophisticated narration and intricate world building envelopes the reader and spellbinds them to a world filled with yearning, a longing of more to life and all it has to offer.

CHARACTERS

Oneira is a complex, morally grey character, forced into a situation she did not ask for, indebted to a life she never dreamed of. The same stands for Stearanos, and one cannot help but empathize with these characters and simultaneously question their own moralities. Regardless, I found myself ardently rooting for these people, that they are successful in their endeavors to find solutions to circumstances that isolate them from obtaining love and freedom-both that may come with a heart-wrenching cost.

In depth review coming soon (may contain spoilers)