Wolves and Roses is the telling of a sleeping beauty who in, in fact, no sleep beauty. If you're looking for a twist on fairy tales with some dashing dudes and a romance-driven book yet has all the ferocity girl power has to offer, look no farther.
In the world of Magicorum, special individuals follow a fairytale template. For Briar Rose, she is a Sleeping Beauty Template. This means her life is settled. There should be thorns, and 3 fairies, a prince charming (named Philpot-why?) and happily ever afters galore. However, Briar Rose is anything but docile.
Okay, so Wolves and Roses is probably my least favorite series by Christina Bauer. BUT here's why. This tale is sold as a fairlytale driven book-and it is, but the reading level and story plot are definitely written for a younger audience- say late middle school early high school. We have insta-love and characters that turn immediately dopey in the face of their one true love. Also strong from a teenage boy who should not be in denial. You're going to get a lot of mixed feelings with age here. We've got these wily teens who definitely act like adults but have the maturity of...well, high schoolers.
The girl power aspect of the book was nice, albeit corny and a little over the top at times. The world building is too simple to be considered a book for those who are looking for a fantasy re-telling. The world isn't explained well and quite frankly surprised. Bauer is a master at complex characters and interesting worlds, this one was just so frustratingly lackluster. Will I read the second book? I mean, yea, probably. It wasn't a bad story just really not geared towards adults. Going on with the mind that this is written at the level of early high school, I think I'll go into the second book better prepared.