Reviews

Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

book_gremlin42's review

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ohclaire's review

3.0

3.5 - a very quick novela in an interesting fairytale world. the sort of novela that feels more like a short story than a novel.

turtlebrainlibrarian's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

gabalodon's review

5.0

I thought this was incredible. Perfectly laid out, fascinating characters, loved the way the fairy tales were nestled in there. Rosa's and Hou Yi's relationship and their histories were so interesting and unique, and the way their similarities and contrasts were laid out was just so good. They're very unique protagonists in that they are middle-aged and have very rife backstories full of grief and bad decisions and bigotry, and it's unusual to have a story deal so extensively with the fallout of youthful mistakes, and how the memory of those mistakes can change between POVs, and how you even approach redemption after running for so long. The ending made me cry. I think this is the first novella I've read where I didn't feel like I needed or even wanted more - it's just kind of perfectly encapsulated the way it is.

ettuladyblue's review

3.0

Poetic prose but felt it could have fleshed the world out a bit more. You may find various fairytale references a bit too cutesy.
I am a sucker for children/parental forgiveness stories so decidedly biased on that front. Short, sweet and sappy.

empressawesome's review against another edition

5.0

I have no words

destobie's review

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

chaifanatic18's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

zaz's review

Very middle of the mark for me. A nice little read but I don’t think I got anything from it, however I think it’s very possible that I just wasn’t the target audience. I think maybe for older queer women and parents it could hit harder, or maybe there are elements of the mythology mentioned that I just didn’t recognise and couldn’t relate to. 

corgimuffins's review

4.0

“and in rosa’s ear she heard the whisper of hou yi’s voice: ‘promise. together.’
rosa only had the tail end of a single lifetime, but she thought it might be just enough.”