Will I love A Curse of Roses?

In this atmospheric Portuguese historical fantasy, Princess Yzabel’s got a serious problem: Her country is plagued by famine and she can’t stop wasting food. Why? Every bite turns to flowers in her mouth. She’s crumbling under a mountain of royal pressures. What sets her apart from the “unlikeable” natures of the others on this list is that her niceness, not her dark side, is what landed her here. Decision paralysis and Pinguicha’s exploration of being “good” to a fault make Yzabel a girl worth getting to know.

Set in the patriarchal 1200s, this book fascinated me with a look at the lengths people are willing to go for their beliefs. Yzabel tries to turn a curse into a blessing but is hindered by men who think they know better and believe they need to keep the women in line. I was absolutely taken with the intelligence, cunning, and magic Yzabel and a few other women use to try to save the people of Portugal!