Review: Briar Rose by Jana Oliver


Briar Rose
For Briar Rose, life is anything but a fairy tale. She's stuck in a small town in deepest Georgia with parents who won't let her out of their sight, a bunch of small-minded, gossiping neighbours and an evil ex who's spreading nasty rumours about what she may or may not have done in the back of his car. She's tired of it all, so when, on her sixteenth birthday, her parents tell her that she is cursed and will go to sleep for a hundred years when the clock strikes midnight, she's actually kind of glad to leave it all behind. She says her goodbyes, lies down, and closes her eyes . . . And then she wakes up. Cold, alone and in the middle of the darkest, most twisted fairy tale she could ever have dreamed of. Now Briar must fight her way out of the story that has been created for her, but she can't do it alone. She never believed in handsome princes, but now she's met one her only chance is to put her life in his hands, or there will be no happy ever after and no waking up

So many high hopes and so much let down. That's exactly how I feel after reading Briar Rose. The Demon Trapper's series is one of my favourite of all time and I was so unbelievably excited to see Oliver weave her magic with a fairytale, but Briar Rose was just one giant heap of mess that just couldn't redeem itself.

The plot was overly simplistic yet unnecessarily complex as well. I know I just contradicted myself but wait, let me explain. The writing and plot are very basic fairytale - girl in new land, girl has to save land with help of a rogueish hero, but all is not what it seems! Then there's the addition of metal monsters, obviously meant to make the whole book darker but just overcomplicating things. Then at the same time things happen so quickly - someone tells Briar that she's going to die and she just lies down and accepts her fate - literally! It was so basic and written in such a childish way that I felt like I could have written this book in first grade. Blind.

The start was hopeful, like I wanted Briar and Jake to be together from the start, which is... not all that good when the lack of development means that I stop rooting for them very quickly. The characters were flat and whiny and cliched and I disliked all of them.

I'mma stop here, because I do not bash books and there was some good stuff about Briar Rose, because there must have been! I made it to the end after all.


Overall, Briar Rose was just... disappointment.

Book released 12th September 2014
Book  purchased by myself

2 comments

  1. Awww it sounds like it was indeed disappointing with the simplistic writing, and Briar doesn't sound like a strong heroine. Great review Jade! Hope you enjoy your next read.

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  2. The Whole drazak part just made the plot confusing. It was already hard to follow, considering it was boring and cliché, and the unnecessary confusion made it even harder for me to follow along. The characters were extremely underdeveloped, and the book was just a typical teen melodrama. There were also many plot holes in the book. Overall, a disappointment. Personally, I would rate it a 2/5 stars, maximum 2.5. Sorry, it just wasn't for me.

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