Roses and Rot by Kat Howard

Imogen and Marin are sisters who've not actively spoke in years.  When Marin reaches out to her older sister to apply for a residency at the famous artist colony Melete, something about it doesn't seem quite right to Imogen but she cannot imagine getting a better opportunity to finally dedicate her life to her art.  Imogen is a writer and Marin is a dancer - both artists in their own right - with disciplines so different, there should never be a reason to compete.

Melete at first seems just like the fairy tales that Imogen had written and dreamed of being a part of since her childhood.  The scenery is absolutely inspired and enhanced by the presence of her sister.  If only Imogen had paid closer attention to what happens in fairy tales before the happy ending occurs. There's always a price and now Imogen must decide if she is willing to pay it, in order to save her sister.

I read Roses and Rot in one day.  I simply couldn't put it down. I don't remember the last time I picked up a book which captivated me from start to finish the way Howard's Roses and Rot has. The pacing was absolutely perfect, drawing me in as Howard revealed the various layers of her story. The writing was absolutely gorgeous and so vivid that I could easily see the campus of Melete and feel Imogen's doubts.  Even when Howard stepped away from the main story to delve into the Imogen's book, rather than being a distraction, it simply added to the complicated beauty of Roses and Rot.

One of the things that  really stood out to me was the relationship between the sisters. Sure, they each had their own romances but at the end of the day, unlike fairy tales we have grown up on, the love that mattered most was the love between Imogen and Marin.  No man, no matter how he may have claimed to love either Imogen or Marin could have saved either of them.

Ostensibly, Roses and Rot is about an artist making a deal with the fae.  Faerie needs to feed off the emotions of humans and so to accomplish this, one person is chosen every seven years and in return for becoming a food source for the fae, the artist is given their deepest desire and success in their chosen field of art.  Alumni of Melete have gone on to win Tonys, Oscars, Pulitzer Prizes and appear on the New York Times bestseller list.  That may seem to be a steep price to pay for something the artist might well have achieved on their own with hard work, dedication and a little luck, but it also comes along with the assurance that hundreds of years after you're dead that your name will live on and your art will continue to be loved.  It's a form of immortality that few artists have achieved.

The Watchtower (Black Swan Rising #2) by Lee Carroll

When we last left Garret and Will, Will had stolen the box in the hope of traveling to the summer country in order to become human again.  In The Watchtower, Garret follows Will's trail, determined to join him on his journey. The Watchtower shifts POV between Garret and Will for a large part of the story and we see the romance between Will and Marguerite.   It is essentially the story of Will's attempt to become human and Garret's bid to help him.

Part of the problem with this story is that in Black Swan Rising, we were told what happened between Will and Marguerite, making this entire plot anti-climactic.  It wasn't helped by the fact that there is absolutely nothing compelling about young Will.  He is the typical emo, overwrought, angst ridden, male love interest. I also found myself skipping the poetry.  It was just over the top and irritating.  For this to have worked, Carroll either should not have given us so much of Will's back story in the first book, or written his character differently.  It was however slightly amusing to at least have Will acknowledge that his past self was ridiculous, just as young Will was ripping his shirt and screaming poetry into the night.

What kept this story moving was Garret's attempt to follow Will.  Unfortunately, it essentially moved from speaking with faerie A, then to faerie B, then faerie C etc,. Garret didn't really investigate, she simply was passively moved along.  I do like protagonists that aren't necessarily running around kicking ass and taking names but at the same time, reading as Garret passively moved from place to place and allowed everyone else to take an active role really wasn't that interesting. It is worth noting that Carroll once again spent a lot of time doing research because the the faeries were varied and true to the lore surrounding them.  Someone who is interested in faeries will find this part of the story very interesting.