Review: Starling (Secrets of the Eternal Rose #3) by Fiona Paul

Firstly, thanks to HarperCollins Australia for this review copy <3



Date Read: February 13 - 18 2015
Date Published: March 24th 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
Source: Review copy via publisher

Genre: Historical fiction/mystery
My Rating: 

Synopsis:

"In the stunning conclusion to the Secrets of the Eternal Rose trilogy, there is nothing more dangerous that a secret closely kept... Cass and Luca are fugitives, on the run from the law and the deadly Order of the Eternal Rose. As they separate to pursue the only evidence that could save them, their worlds-and their romance-are torn apart by spiteful friends and murderous enemies. When Cass finds herself ensnared in the Order's twisted plot, Falco emerges once again as her only hope for freedom. But it turns out Luca has a shocking scheme of his own. From ancient mercenaries to sly magicians, from clever courtesans to vengeful killers, no one can be trusted. In the breathtaking conclusion to the Secrets of the Eternal Rose trilogy, Cass must confront the Order and once and for all decide her destiny. Who will fly beside her when she finally finds her wings? This historical romantic thriller is perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl, Anna Godberson's The Luxe, and Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty and The Diviners."

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This was a serious case of “it’s not the book, it’s me” where I think I’ve just grown out of the style of this series. Had I read this maybe 3 years ago I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more but I found that Starling was too simplistic for my liking.

Cass has always been my biggest issue throughout the series and I find that her character is the weakest link, dragging the books down when they could have been a lot better. I seem to always have issues with heroines in historical novels as I find them annoying, weak, stubborn and more often than not, stupid when they’re trying to be brave. Either I’m not reading well-written historical novels or this is just the way they have to be and historical novels aren’t for me. There’s a definite struggle to keep the customs and limitations of women in accordance with history while balancing the need for character growth and acts of bravery. Throughout Starling, I found Cass’s actions to be rash and ignorant. Every time she said she was trying to be brave and she would think things through, she was actually running headlong into situations and putting everybody around her at risk. It killed me and I wanted to shake some sense into her. I feel that she hasn’t grown at all throughout the series and while brave, she’s also immature and ignorant of the consequences of her actions. What I did like though was that Cass made decisions for herself and not because of her love interests which is what I thought the previous books did.

As secondary characters go, everybody has always been black or white. You’re either a good guy or a bad guy. For me, the characters lacked the layering I’d expect of a conspiracy type historical story. I expected characters to have hidden agendas, complex motives and the like but instead, it was straight-laced “I want this, I will get this, that’s it.” And that, in turn, killed the plot.

Funnily enough my favourite part of this series was the love triangle. I’m a hater of love triangles and don’t find them necessary but from the beginning of The Secrets of the Eternal Rose, I’ve always been conflicted about the guys. In this world, a love triangle was plausible, made sense and I liked the differences between the two love interests. This series was one of the only ones where I actually had no clue where the romance was headed and who Cass would end up with – it could really have gone both ways. I loved Falco’s passion, intensity and volatility but at the same time I loved Luca’s stability, strength and unwavering support. Luca was a real constant while Falco came and left leaving a storm in his wake every time as he challenged her beliefs. I’m happy to say I would have been fine with whoever she ended up with but what’s more important is how Cass got there – I liked her decision process and the way the book progressed to allow her these revelations of which guy was right for her. I’m happy with her choice!

In terms of the plot, it was Cass’s determination to get to the Book of the Eternal Rose so I didn’t think there was much there as a lot had been established in Belladonna. Cass faced various obstacles but to me they weren’t major and I felt like I was driving on a straight road where I knew my destination. I wasn’t thrown any curve balls and I wasn’t really wow’d in any way.

The series definitely sits on the younger end of YA for me – I’m not sure why I think that. Some of the themes are definitely mature but it read like a MG book. The world-building is great as usual, with lovely (and not so lovely) detailed descriptions of Venice, filled with sights and smells. I felt that Paul was really on point with the historical accuracy of this. Despite all the issues I had, I found that Paul managed to tie up all the loose ends and bring the series to a satisfying close.

Blogoversary Day 3: Paula Stokes

Blogoversary day 3 whewwww and I have Paula Stokes aka Fiona Paul on my blog today with some awesome excerpts of her books. Paula/Fiona (I still don't know what to call her, I use the names interchangeably) was actually the first author I had on my blog for a blog tour. I adore her Secrets of the Eternal Rose series - Starling, the final book in the trilogy comes out this year and I'm super-duper excited because as love-triangles go, we're approaching the third book and I STILL haven't chosen which boy I like better. That's how awesome the love-triangle is. Paula's also releasing her contemporary YA, The Art of Lainey, this year which I'm very excited for!

Fiona... Paula... and I talk frequently on Twitter about Korean things. I sort of went a little crazy when I found out she'd lived in Korea for a while - I MEAN HOW COOL IS THAT. You guys know my blog name is derived from the chorus of a K-pop song right? Well you do now ;)

Fiona has very kindly put together the following post which features excerpts from all her books whew. THIS MEANS EXCERPTS FROM STARLING AND THE ART OF LAINEY GUYS. *Twirls*

Paula Stokes/Fiona Paul

Hi everyone! Paula Stokes AKA Fiona Paul here, thrilled to be part of the blogoversary celebration for Fiction in Fiction in Fiction. (Is anyone else’s brain about to explode from thinking about that? It’s like Inception or something). Anyway, I’ve known Jaz on twitter for almost a year and have enjoyed talking to her, especially about bookish things and Korean things! Did you Korean things are awesome? If not, you do now :)

Blogoversaries are some of my favorite celebrations (along with any holiday when Cadbury makes crème eggs) so I thought I would share some of my favorite non-spoilery lines from my books for this event. Here goes:

from THE ART OF LAINEY, (HarperTeen, 2014):

“This is called ‘Wake Up Dreaming,’” the lead singer says. Her voice is a mix of throaty and little girlish. “Someday we hope to perform it with a full symphony.” Around me, people are pulling out their cell phones, lighting up the screens and holding them above their heads. The girl counts out a beat and the whole band begins to play at once. It’s one of the songs Micah played on the way to Mizz Creant’s. The song that almost made me cry. 

The bright lights blink off and suddenly the stage is awash in overlapping blue circles. I can feel vibrations from the amps, from the floor. I swear I can even feel the individual notes moving through the air. My blood hums in my veins. I look over at Micah. He’s got his eyes closed. 

The music pitches and swells, violin and guitars, drumbeats and thudding bass. As I sway back and forth in front of the stage, it feels like being in the eye of a tornado, where it’s calm, but everything is going crazy whirling around me. I can’t stop looking at Micah, at the way the lights reflect off his mohawk, at the way he’s completely lost in the storm of overlapping chords.

Like Micah, I am very passionate about music, even though I don’t play instruments. The way people talk about #YASaves? Music saved me like that. Lainey has never really been moved by music prior to this scene. I worked hard to bring her “musical awakening” to life for others who have not yet had songs get inside of them like this.

from STARLING, (Philomel, 2014):

“I see.” Luca paused for a moment. “So let me ask you again, Cassandra. Do you love him?” 

Did she love Falco? Two months ago she would have said yes. Two weeks ago she would have said no. And then tonight when he showed up at the palazzo, everything had become muddled again. “I’m not sure,” Cass admitted. “But I know I love—” 

Luca cut her off. “You realize my sentence, as handed down by the Senate, nullified our engagement contract, right?” He looked down at the ground. 

“Well, I suppose, but I—” 

“Perhaps it was foolish of me not to clarify that earlier, to assume that you wanted things to stay as they were.” He looked up, eyes hard. Empty. “Consider yourself officially released of any obligation to me.” 

“But Luca, I don’t want—” 

“Clearly you don’t know what you want, Cassandra. And you won’t figure it out with me by your side.”

I actually had to lobby to keep this scene in the book, because some of my editors thought it made Luca unappealing. I could not disagree more. As the author, I know better than anyone how Cass treated Luca deplorably at times in this trilogy, and I felt that for readers to respect him he would have to eventually call her on it. He not only calls her on it, he walks away from her. (After making sure she has a safe place to go—I mean, he is still Luca after all).

from BELLADONNA (Philomel, 2013):

But Cass didn’t get well. Over the next few days, she grew sicker and sicker, despite Piero’s constant attentions. Her temperature fluctuated. Her muscles weakened until she could not get out of bed without assistance, and, although she did not tell anyone, she began to have all sorts of hallucinations, especially just as she was drifting off to sleep. One night, the walls of her room pulsed with faint reddish light, expanding and contracting as if she were trapped inside the villa’s beating heart. The next night, the ivy that ran wild over the back wall of the garden twisted its way through the tiny crack in her shutters. Vines writhed past the heavy curtains, growing toward the bed where Cass lay helpless, reaching out to her like grabbing hands.

I like this paragraph even though Cass isn’t being active, because of the way her hallucinations manifest. Belladonna is a seriously creepy lady, and it was fun to write her villa as having this malevolent life force.

from VENOM (Philomel, 2012):

“Long spikes of rain stabbed circular wounds into the surface of the murky canal beneath them. Falco paused on the bridge to consider the view. “Water on water. Beautiful,” he said.
Cass stopped just long enough to try to see things through Falco’s eyes, the artist’s perspective, but all she saw was rain. Rain that was seeping through her dress to soak her undergarments. She put her hands on Falco’s lower back and pushed. “Keep moving.”

I like this passage because I like the imagery of the rain stabbing holes in the surface of the canal and think it works with the dark tone of the book. I also like that these lines emphasize how different Cass and Falco are. He’s always thinking about art, whereas she’s a little more practical—at least in this scene.


I hope you enjoyed a peek at some of my favorite snippets of my books. For my giveaway, the winner can choose between a signed Venom paperback or an ARC of The Art of Lainey. Once again, HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY JAZ!

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Luca walked away from Cass. HE WALKED AWAY FROM HER OMG WHAT. I still love you Luca. And omg Falco appears too? *Dies*

Anyways, how awesome were those excerpts?

Thank you so much for that Paula!!!

Giveaway

And and Paula/Fiona is giving you all a chance to win either a signed paperback of VENOM or an ARC of THE ART OF LAINEY. Derp *runs away with them* ;D This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway T&C:

• Please check clearly that you are in the region specified before entering the giveaway
• Winners must reply with address within 48h of being contacted or a new winner will be picked
• I assume that if you're under a certain age you need permission to enter these giveaways. You agree that by entering you have such permission from a parent or guardian (I don't even know but yeah).

So what's next? Well, Gabrielle Tozer, 2014 Australian debut author, will be next (((: stay tuned!

Review: Belladonna (The Secrets of the Eternal Rose #2) by Fiona Paul

This review should have been up ages ago (the blog tour was well over a month ago LOL) but it's taken me yonks to write because I suck. BUT HERE IT IS FINALLY!

Firstly, thanks to HarperCollins Australia for providing a copy of review as part of the Belladonna Australian blog tour <3

Date Read: June 27th – July 2nd 2013
Release Date: July 1st 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
Source: Review copy via publisher
Genre: Historical
My rating: 

Synopsis: "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.

Can Cass trust her heart to lead her to the truth this time?

Nothing is as it seems in this seductive thriller, where the truth may be the deadliest poison of all..."

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“No man can achieve greatness without risking his life for it.”

I think I’m in the minority with regards to my overall opinion of Belladonna. I wasn’t as fascinated by it as I was Venom and I think I had extremely high expectations going in. For the most part though, I was satisfied with what I got.

With Luca accused of treason, our protagonist Cassandra Caravello, ventures to Florence to try and clear Luca’s name and find out about the mysterious Order of the Eternal Rose which everybody seems to be tangled in. One thing I was really looking forward to was Cass’s growth from the impulsive, slightly immature girl in Venom. And although she did show signs of some growth, it was not to the degree I wanted to see that is usually customary over the course of a sequel. On the other hand, I can understand why Paul has kept the impulsive streak in Cass – it makes her stand out amongst the other 15 year-old girls of that era and really highlights the theme of women being trapped. I admired Cass’s dedication to her cause and her resilience. Despite those around her disagreeing with her desire to free Luca, she persists, even when it seems like the world is against her. With everything happening around and her conflicting emotions, Cass was determined to find the Book of the Eternal Rose.

“Luca had saved her once. Now it was her turn to save him.”

Resident sexy artist Falco makes his reappearance, but under the employ of the very owner of a certain book Cass is after. Personally, I was immensely happy to see Falco again as I love the chemistry between him and Cass. Although their encounters were much fewer, it made them all the more precious and definitely heightened emotions. I love how Paul has created Falco to be the very antithesis of Luca and the conflict this causes Cass.

“Falco grabbed her without warning. He spun her around him so that her body was pressed up against the wall. Cass’s heart leapt into her throat.”

Where Falco is volatile, passionate, a radical and free thinker, Luca is the constant in Cass’s life. He’s the calm and mature one but also the cause of Cass’s troubles in Belladonna. What I realised about Belladonna was that Luca is again in the background like with Venom. I thought it was interesting that although he’s a large part of the story and one-third of the love triangle, we don’t see much of him – that being said his presence is overarching and shares much of Cass’s thoughts along with Falco. I loved Luca’s selflessness. I’m not really sure how I feel about the love triangle and which boy I prefer. Tis a hard choice they’re both loveable and have their own distinct traits.

“Go be happy. It’s what I want for you.”

For me, the plot wasn’t as thrilling as Venom and I think I’m the black sheep here. In Paul’s defence I really think it’s an “it’s not the book, it’s me” thing as I’d gone into Venom not knowing what to expect and I came out all giddy. I had no idea Venom would be slightly macabre so I was really surprised, thus going into Belladonna I technically already knew Paul’s level of writing thrilling scenes and didn’t end up being wow’d as much as I sort of already knew what to expect – does that make sense? I don’t think it really did but oh wells. I still enjoyed the mystery though, and Paul takes the reader on a journey right into the grand home of the Belladonna herself. And from that moment we’re transported into the Order’s world and their intriguing proceedings which somehow tie in Cass’s past, present and future. I loved how Paul incorporated a paradigm shift of that era – the emergence of the Renaissance movement in art and thinking, combined with the scientific exploration of the anatomy of the human body. However, I do think that with these tools the plot could have been stronger than what was presented – at times it was predictable and a bit flat for my liking.

“The Order’s existence must remain a secret, and new members selected prudently and ardently.”

I could really see an improvement in Paul’s writing in this sequel; Venom and I got off to a rocky start as the first few chapters had noticeably short sentences that really got on my nerves. Therefore, I was extremely happy that Belladonna flowed a lot better. I think the pace was satisfactory and overall Paul has done a good job with a sequel. Excited for Starling next year!

“New life. New beginnings.”

Blog Tour: Belladonna (The Secrets of the Eternal Rose #2) by Fiona Paul

Hey guys! Today's my stop for the Belladonna Aussie Blog Tour *dances* Belladonna is the sequel to Fiona Paul's 2012 debut, Venom. This is also my first ever actual blog tour so I'm really happy it's for a book that follows up something I really enjoyed (:

Yesterday you would have seen the awesome guest post Fiona wrote on Speculating on SpecFic. And today? You guys get a little teaser (a total non-spoilery excerpt don't worry) scene from Belladonna woohoo!

Synopsis:
"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.

Can Cass trust her heart to lead her to the truth this time?

Nothing is as it seems in this seductive thriller, where the truth may be the deadliest poison of all."

Now for the excerpt, leggo!

Cass stood in the grass, inhaling deeply. She was grateful for the occasional wisp of wind that blew through the damp curls at the nape of her neck. The pounding in her head was fading away.

She was surprisingly unafraid, all alone, wrapped in the starry darkness. The trees, the flowers, even the elaborately manicured hedges cast soft shadows in the light of her flickering lantern. Cass realized she hadn’t had the nightmare about [Venom spoiler] since leaving Venice. She didn’t know if it was the change of scenery or the reappearance of Falco that had driven away those terrible nightly visions. Either way, she was grateful.


Something rustled in a grove of trees that ran along the northern edge of the property. Cass turned toward the noise, nearly dropping her lantern as a deer materialized from the inky blackness. It ambled to the edge of the lawn and bent down to nibble at the base of a freshly clipped hedge. Cass stifled a laugh. Belladonna seemed so protective of her plants. Eating them was probably not permitted.

“I won’t tell,” Cass said out loud. She had never seen a deer before, and she was spellbound, mesmerized by the graceful creature.

The deer raised its head and looked at her. Just for a moment. Then it turned, shaking its white tail as it loped back toward the wooded area.

“Wait!” Cass cried out. She took a small step forward. She wanted to admire the deer some more, to rest a hand on its flanks.

There! The deer paused at the edge of the trees, watching her from one deep brown eye. As she drew near, it turned and fled into the patch of darkness. Cass raised her lantern and stepped into the trees, careful to stick to the small path that had been cut amidst them.

Feathery branches brushed against her dress. The blackness fell around her like a curtain. Her lantern sliced away only the tiniest sliver of night, but Cass sensed that the deer was gone. She turned around to head back to the party.

And then she saw the eyes.

Yellow ones. Shining like copper pieces in the dark. Not one pair. Three. They were moving. Circling between her and the safety of Villa Briani.

Fiona:

"I picked this (slightly edited for the tour) scene because to me it does a good job of illustrating Cass’s character. For the first third of Belladonna, she’s been afraid to go anywhere on her own, which she hates because she always prided herself on being so independent. Now she’s in Florence and she’s gradually overcoming the trauma she suffered weeks ago at the end of Venom.

Initially my Paper Lantern editors objected to this scene on the grounds of “why would she go wandering off after a deer?” I tried to change it for them so that she saw a sparkling thing in the dark and thought it was a ring of the Order, and that was what drew her farther into the woods. But then my Penguin editor was like “Why would she see something shiny and just assume it was a ring of the Order?”
See what happens when you try to please everyone? J Sometimes you just have to trust your characters. I wrote Cass as an impulsive girl with a soft spot for animals. I was working in Arizona once when I looked out the front window and saw a bobcat padding across the driveway. Dude, we don’t have bobcats in the Midwest where I live, just like Renaissance Venice didn’t have deer running around. That bobcat was like a unicorn to me. I followed it back into some woods and would have kept going if it hadn’t ditched me. So even though some readers will probably think it’s weird that Cass got all enchanted by a deer, it fits her character. Unfortunately for her, being impulsive and following animals into dark and creepy places can sometimes get you into trouble, as she is about to find out."

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Belladonna is released on July 1st by HarperCollins AU

Add BELLADONNA to Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18042405-belladonna

About Fiona

Fiona Paul is a writer and registered nurse from St. Louis, MO. 

(I prefer the short and sweet bio since there's a lot of other stuff to read in these posts that's more relevant than my love of coffee or desire to shark dive).

Find her at the following places:
Blog: http://fionapaulbooks.blogspot.com
Twitter: twitter.com/fionawritesYA 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fionapaulbooks 

Don't forget to check out Tsana's Reads & Reviews TOMORROW (July 6th) for the next stop of the tour (((: