Kitty G Books’s Reviews > Beneath the Silver Rose > Status Update

This labyrinth is by far most intriguing part of the story to me. I am reminded of HP and the Chamber of Secrets with all the trials to navigate through :)

Admittedly the second half of the book has been more interesting in terms of finding out a lot more about the magic of the world and also about the ways people can make illusions. I particularly like the relationship built between Aaron and Shadyia, but I do feel like all the relationships in this book are a bit too keen to work and so feel a bit forced.

I like reading the book to find out what is going to happen next, but it's definitely not a PG story. There's so much talk of sex and rape that it's pretty abusive towards the women. I do think the author may be trying to show strong female characters as the leads, but by beating down all the others or making them stereotypical witch-figures it seems a little too cliche.

There's a story of immortals trying to escape their confines and regain power here too. I am intrigued by that plot, but I also feel like quite a few of the dialogue moments between characters have felt too forced or too scripted. There's actually a section where the two lead ladies are discussing how to lie as if they are five years old, but they're actually women who have killed and whored...it's odd...

So far I'm mixed on this one. On the one hand, I like a strong lead character and Shadiya is certainly that, but on the other, this book deals a lot with rape, sex and violence and although I understand that the setting of the book (a brothel) lends itself to that, I still feel some of the scenes have been a little in poor taste.
Also, there have been a fair few typos which need fixing too.

Just started this one and we're following a warrior who works in a brothel, She's called Shadiya, and she's a badass so far so I am happy about that!