The Rebel and The Rose

In The Rebel and The Rose we discover more about the aftermath of the grand storm in book 1 *The Dagger and The Flame*. Seraphines destiny pushes her path to collide again with Ransom, now head of the Order of Daggers, with whom she has a complex but rather tense history. But she is backed by her best friends and supporters of their cause, the Flames, who want to eradicate Shade from the realm.

Sera not only possesses the power of lightfire within her being, she also learns she has the ability to create saints. She discovers this quite dramatically, along with the fact that more people have been affected by the storm and now possess powers.

In *The Rebel and The Rose* destiny is the book’s red thread and toys with Seraphine’s life. She is curious to find out what powers she possesses and how to control them, while having to deal with a quest by the king of Valterre. The kingdom is threatened by rebels and the rise of a prince, the king’s nephew.

For me this was a long awaited sequel to *The Dagger & the Flame*, which I enjoyed reading last year.

On characters: After Lark’s death, our team of Daggers (Ransom& Nadia) is completed by Caruso, a naïve and straightforward, arrogant type who fits the Dagger style completely. Furthermore, we follow our group of Flames (Theo, Seraphine, Val & Bibi) and we meet the other Saints slowly but gradually throughout the story, with a strong villain in their midst.

On writing: Quite literary writing style with beautiful descriptions, even for a YA novel. Which makes me like it even more. The story line is tense and engaging, after a slower start and re-introduction to the story. It’s perfect for a sequel to keep you wanting more for an enemies-to-lovers trope and fantasy specifically. I did however have my doubts with the awkward descriptions on an intimate scene between Ransom and Sera. I’m not sure if this is typical for YA to introduce the intimacy, while keeping out the specified body parts and explicit descriptions, but I guess so.

I found the sequel not as emotionally challenging as the first one. It was clear that Ransom and Sera would always end up together one way or another, so I wasn’t bothered by their bickering, pushing and pulling in this story. I hear it’s not atypical for a sequel to lay low, at the 2/3 mark it’s already obvious that we’ll need a third installment to go on with the story. I am however still curious to see where Catherine takes us with the next book in the series!

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Simon&Shuster. All opinions are my own*