DNF at 30%. I started this because The Jewel had an evil cliffhanger and I really wanted to know what happened to the characters. Well, upon starting The White Rose, I realized that I remember NOTHING from the first book, which made it extremely had to remain invested in this book. So once I found out what happened to the characters, my interest took a nose dive and I knew it was time to put The White Rose aside.

If you enjoyed The Jewel, I highly recommend a quick re-read before jumping into th
DNF at 30%. I started this because The Jewel had an evil cliffhanger and I really wanted to know what happened to the characters. Well, upon starting The White Rose, I realized that I remember NOTHING from the first book, which made it extremely had to remain invested in this book. So once I found out what happened to the characters, my interest took a nose dive and I knew it was time to put The White Rose aside.

If you enjoyed The Jewel, I highly recommend a quick re-read before jumping into this one.
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The first book was a fun caper; this one felt like a bad fever dream. God’s sake, HOW is it possible to write such a tone-deaf, irresponsible, waffling protagonist? And Ash! Ash, go to hell! The dude is a hired companion and yet he has the cheek – the bare-faced cheek! – to talk about “common prostitutes” as if they’re worthless! This dude telling us all about how awful it is to be a sex worker, talking shit about other sex workers whose job is EVEN MORE dangerous than his! And who are at far mo
The first book was a fun caper; this one felt like a bad fever dream. God’s sake, HOW is it possible to write such a tone-deaf, irresponsible, waffling protagonist? And Ash! Ash, go to hell! The dude is a hired companion and yet he has the cheek – the bare-faced cheek! – to talk about “common prostitutes” as if they’re worthless! This dude telling us all about how awful it is to be a sex worker, talking shit about other sex workers whose job is EVEN MORE dangerous than his! And who are at far more risk than he is!* I knew from the first book when Ash guilted Violet into backtracking on the only smart decision she made (to break up with him) that he was a sack of shit, but damn, he’s a piece of work in this one.

*Of course, the “common prostitutes” are women, and the companions are all male, and Ash is a misogynist, so the mystery of why he feels that the companions are superior to other sex workers is effectively solved. I hate Ash.

And by the way, this is the most poorly organised revolution ever: people [fucking Ash!] are given really important positions even when they aren’t qualified for them, just so that their feelings don’t get hurt. Should it not be Violet, who has actual magical powers, leading the charge? Oh, but no! Then Ash might cry his tiny male tears. We have to all make sure that he feels important, even if it fucks up the uprising and gets us all killed.

This book isn’t boring – the pacing of this series is remarkably, brilliantly fast – but the plot is so flaccid. The plot just cannot get it up. Maybe it drank too much or it’s just not in the mood. But shit, guys; you’re going to have to do better than 250 pages of filler, a totally random colonisation backstory that makes no genetic sense, and then a mindless cliffhanger that we’d all give ten times as many shits about if Hazel had been more to us than a lump of bloody chalk thus far. I couldn’t care less if I tried.

The only character I liked was Lucien. He had the good sense to hate Ash and to keep secrets from Violet, who is such a dumbshit that it’s sheer luck that she’s even still alive. He was smart and his backstory was fucking tragic, but I guess we’re supposed to hate him because he doesn’t indulge the self-importance of these thick teenagers? Bonus points to Ash for making fun of the fact that Lucien’s body has been mutilated, not once but twice! Oh, Ash.

I’ll give the last book four stars if Ash dies. Five if Lucien kills him.
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