The Rose and the Briar by J. M. Stengl
Fantasy. 216 Pages. 5 Stars
Synopsis:
Power-hungry princes are Rosa’s greatest dread.
Deep within the gardens of Faraway Castle sleeps a secret Rosa the gardener has sworn to protect with her life—the legendary princess Zafira. For three years she has hidden the princess almost in plain sight. But two nosy princes threaten to undo the work of a century.
When asked to take his sister’s old job as Faraway Castle’s Magical-Creature Controller, Prince Briar leaps at the chance. But nothing works out the way he’d expected, and he is far too busy working to gain Rosa’s trust to bother about uncovering her secrets. Until devious Prince Javier of Evora begins shadowing Rosa . . . and Briar suspects the rival prince of dark motives.
Which prince will wake the sleeping beauty with a kiss?
My Review:
Wow. I thought for sure that The Little Siren would be my favorite of this series until the end. Now, I’m not so sure anymore.
Stengl has tackled Sleeping Beauty, and as some of you may know, that was my favorite fairy tale as a young girl. I have high standards for Sleeping Beauty because it holds such a special place in my heart. But, boy, did Stengl go above and beyond! She did not disappoint!
As always, Stengl’s Faraway Castle books leave me warm and fuzzy inside. They’re well-written, clean, cute, and always so encouraging to read. I never feel discouraged by what I’m reading, disappointed in how she threads her plots, or bored at any points in the story. They’re well-balanced with action and adventure, mystery and intrigue, and just a hint of romance and a lesson to be learned underneath it all. She writes light stories that hold just enough core to temper the fluff. At the same time, some fluff is good every now and then! It’s nice to take a break from the severity of our world and enjoy a simple, lighthearted moment in time.
That’s not to say the story lacks weight because it most certainly does not. Though I left the book feeling like I was soaring on cloud nine, the plot showcases many moments that kept me down on the ground, so to speak. In this book, Stengl addresses self-worth and true beauty of character, but she does it in such a way that a vast array of audiences can each appreciate the meat of the story as well as the icing on top.
This particular plot held a surprising twist on the classic tale, which I shot over the moon for! I never in a hundred years would have thought of portraying the sleeping princess and her history in the way Mrs. Stengl did here. Personally, I thought it was ingenious! It stayed just true enough to the original to comfort my sentimentality, but expressed such originality to please my creative side. I was thoroughly engaged from page one until the very end; I enjoyed both the height of the action as well as the lulled moments that built up to it.
The setting was primarily outside of the castle for this book. It took place mostly on the castle grounds and I really enjoyed it. Actually, I didn’t really think about the fact that we didn’t see much of the castle or the lake until just now. I knew it was all there because of previous books, and I didn’t really have to construct the world around the story because I had that previous knowledge. This just felt like another addition onto the land I’m very much a fan of at this point. I loved seeing Rosa’s gardens and what she did with them. I loved seeing how they were influenced and managed by her and her co-workers. The gardens themselves were very beautiful incorporations to the resort setting and I think Mrs. Stengl did an enchanting job with them, creating the perfect setting for this classic story.
And I have saved the best for last. These characters. Ough! The plot ofThe Little Siren was absolutely clever and heartbreaking. It was brilliant. The characters were absolutely endearing and I love them still. That’s what made it my favorite it the series. (That and I’m a little obsessed with mermaids!) But even then, from the moment we met Briar in book 1, I was hooked. He was always my favorite character, though then I wasn’t sure why I was so excited about him. Now, now I see exactly why I knew I’d love him. He turned out to be everything I’d hoped for and more. Oh how I wish we could have read more from his pov! I fell for Rosa almost from the start, and very much enjoyed watching her inner struggle throughout the book; it’s what makes The Rose and the Briar what it is and I wouldn’t really change it. But Briar has completely stolen my heart. I truly hope we see much more of him in the future. The side characters were creative and adorable. I loved seeing Tasha and Chuck so much and the garden magic was so stunning. I loved reading about how Rosa interacted with her plants and they with her. The fairies (from the original) were incorporated in such a cool way, y’all!!! I’ve always loved Fauna, Flora, and Merryweather, but these guys were just flat out awesome additions to the tale! Gosh, I think I’ll just go read the book again…
Clean romance, no foul language, very mild violence, a completely wholesome read!
In short, the book fell far from short of the mark. I can’t recommend the series more highly and I am honored to have been a reader.
Note: I did receive a free advanced reader copy of the ebook from the author, though y’all know by now my opinion cannot be swayed. (And, I bought my own copy anyway when it released.) Thank you, Mrs. Stengl!!
More:
Prequel novella 0.5 Cinder Ellie (4 Stars)
Prequel novella 0.6 The Little Siren (5 Stars)
Book 1 in the Faraway Castle series is Ellie and the Prince (5 Stars)
Book 2 is The Siren and the Scholar (5 Stars)
Book 4 is The Lady and the Wish (5 Stars)
Book 5, The Mirror and the Curse, is being written as we speak! Eep!
You can get The Little Siren free here by signing up for Stengl’s newsletter! I haven’t been bombarded and spammed by her letters yet (they’ve been pretty infrequent so far), so I can totally recommend signing up. If you find you don’t enjoy the newsletters, you can always unsubscribe at any time.
I have reviewed each of the above on Goodreads. Follow the links to find more info on the books and then scroll down to see the reviews. Mine is among them.
This series should be read in order.
On Gracebought:
If you missed it, be sure to check out the reviews for the previous books in the series here on GraceBought! And stay tuned next week for my thoughts on the next book!