Reincarnation stories are a staple of fantasy romance. Young lovers separated by death find each other again in another lifetime because their souls are so absolutely connected—it’s the epitome of timeless love. In Vera Morgana’s DARKEST ROSE, Ella Desouza and Edmund Gilmore are from rival noble families, yet find themselves drawn to each other despite Ella’s impending arranged marriage to a cruel man named Wilkin. As history begins to repeat itself, Ella and Edmund must unlock buried memories from their past before they lose each other once again.
There are some soft, heart-melting moments between the two protagonists, but it’s hard to hinge an entire love story on this premise when it’s not clear why Ella and Edmund actually feel so strongly for each other. Sure, they feel a “connection” despite having met only minutes before, but when they’re suddenly getting married after meeting twice, it’s a little hard to suspend disbelief. And it’s never understood why they fell for each other in the first place twenty years prior. While the prose struggles in places with stilted, over-the-top dialogue, there are some poignant declarations made by certain characters and beautiful turns of descriptive phrases and the book does have a nice thread of adventure running through it. DARKEST ROSE creates a world overflowing with magic—where werewolves, selkies, and elves exist together, mirrors and dreams are modes of transport, cards can trap enemies, gods of disparate pantheons scheme together, gems hold memories and absolute power, and roses can blossom with a single touch.
But it’s difficult to get a true sense of the characters when the novel doesn’t sit with them long enough—the same could probably be said of its world building, since the layout of Yovaria and its neighboring kingdoms are only briefly touched on. The story explains that these characters have power, that Ella and Edmund are in love, but there aren’t a lot of moments where they’re allowed to sit around and exist so readers can care about them and their conflicts. The plot is constantly picking them up and dropping them somewhere else, there’s always some convenient magic coming around the corner at a blistering pace, or important exposition to lay out in their conversations with each other. Giving them more room to breathe and simply get to know them better would’ve helped lend depth to the foundations of the book’s unnecessarily intricate plot.
Subplots and characters flit in and out of the story so fast that there isn’t much time to grab onto anything substantial. A complex system of “shadow code” which includes paying fealty to gods like Loki—yes, that Loki!—is introduced, but never fully realized to its potential. Most of the novel is spent trying to piece together the lovers’ backstory—the why and how of their untimely deaths and the endless parties tied to their fate. A lot of it happens through dreams, visions, or quests, but the whole explanation gets confusing, as more creatures, rules, and fragments of magic are introduced late into the story.
There is a much larger world to be explored in DARKEST ROSE, and while the story itself is resolved, the ending leaves hints as to the trouble that may be brewing for the sequel, one that might ultimately expand on all of the concepts introduced in Vera Morgana’s magical fantasy romance debut.
~Jessica Thomas for IndieReader