10 out of 10 !!! Before I express my unfathomable love for this book, behold the Goodreads blurb; 'Cassandra Caravello is trying to forget Falco, the wild artist who ran off with her heart, as she grows closer to her strong, steady fiancé, Luca. But Luca seems to have his own secrets. When he′s arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night, Cass′s life is once again thrown into chaos. She must save Luca, and that means finding the Book of the Eternal Rose -- the only evidence that will prove he is innocent. So begins her journey to Florence, a city haunted by whispers of corruption, secret soirees and clandestine meetings of the Order of the Eternal Rose. And home to Falco, who′s working for the Order′s eerily stunning leader, the Belladonna herself. |
Nothing is as it seems in this seductive thriller, where the truth may be the deadliest poison of all.'
OK first of all lets just say OMFG !!! This was by far my favorite book thus forth in 2015, I loved it so much I'm going to rant and rave to you guys about it !!! :) It was inconsequentially such an amazing book that is has gained the mysterious 10/10 rating which I have had yet to give until today ! It really deserved it and just blew me away by how well thought out, elaborate, constructive, mysterious, beautiful, romantic and accurate this book was. I am still speechless at my own reaction to this amazing find.
Firstly, and fore mostly, the environments and settings set up in this book are phenomenally accurate, the way that Miss Paul manages to reconstruct the environment and atmosphere of not only Venice but Florence and the surrounding farm lands is better than I've ever even seen in adult fiction books. It's not even overbearing also, she manages to subtly add in details about the culture, society and landscape around the characters without droning on with visual and emotional imagery for pages and pages on end. This is a technique that allows the fluidity of a novel yet doesn't overbear the plot, allowing the progression of the story and the characters to pick up speed and therefore get more done in a shorter time; this I have seen, marks a fantastic writer.
This book focuses much more on Luca de Peraga and less so on Falco, however this allows for the love triangle to be that much more explored because as readers we already have a very set idea of how Falco is, and Cass and Falco's feelings towards each other, and this sticks in the back of our minds as we watch the interactions between Cass and Luca. I must say that this book gave me a much deeper appreciation between Cass and Luca and I found myself having mental arguments with myself trying to decide who I wanted Cass to change; Luca or Falco.
The way that Miss Paul manages to explore the difficulties Cass is having with herself by ultimately loving two very different men in two very different ways, is extraordinarily sophisticated. She manages to make her look like a strong woman truly trying to work out and decipher her feelings, who really feels distraught for the tiniest of pains she causes various people along her path. Miss Paul makes sure that she grows as a young, powerful woman, without making her look like a whiny teenager who can't choose between her boyfriends, and this is what makes it so different from a lot of YA love triangles in which the women turn whiny and needy after dealing with the two or more men in their lives.
As I am a teenage girl, I loved the fashion and style in this book, and really enjoyed learning more about the traditional dress and requirements in that day and age. Talking about society and culture, in a whole I loved the way that the author managed to reconstruct the 18th century atmosphere from the politics to the way that the various classes interact; beautifully genius.
I found this book a lot easier to read than the first, because a lot of the confusing terms and words and names I had already come across and wasn't seeing for the first time. Therefore, it made it a much more flowing read that I didn't have to go back and double read like I had to do in book 1.
In a whole, I could go on for pages and pages about this amazing novel, but I'm just going to pray that you will all go out for yourselves and read it :)
This is by far my favorite series in a long time, and I have never swayed you guys wrong before ! Go out and read the first 10/10 book I've ever done !
Hayley xx