Review: Wolves and Roses: Fairy Tales of the Magicorum, Book 1

By: Christina Bauer

Available on: Amazon, Audible, and Barnes and Noble.

Overview:

Blurb: Bryar Rose’s sleeping curse keeps her life firmly stuck in fairy tale hell. Her life has been dictated by her sleeping curse and forced into the path of a Sleeping Beauty. With her three literal fairy godmothers trying to marry her off before her eighteenth birthday, Bryar is willing to do anything to just be normal. Unfortunately, she and her best friend Ella are going to find a world of trouble beyond the Wall Street Prince and his werewolf best friend that they occasionally steal from. From dumping her pushy fake boyfriend to avoiding a ball to burning down a house, Bryar has a rough few days leading up to her birthday.

Trigger Warnings:

Bastardization of Culture, Bastardization of Mythology, Blood, Bullying, Child Abuse, Child Prostitution, Death, Drug Use (Illicit), Drug Use (Non-Consensual), Drug Use (Prescription), Eating Disorder, Emotional Abuse, Excessive Profanity, Fatmisia, Fatphobia, Food, Gore, Gun Violence, Murder, Non-Consensual Touching, Plot Holes the Size of a Canadian Province, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic Masculinity, Unsafe Lifestyle, Violence, Violent Imagery

Body Count: too many to count

The Specs:

• Series 
  • Series Name: Fairy Tales of the Magicorum
  • Book Number: 1 of 3
• Genre
  • Technical Genre: Teen and Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy, Teen and Young Adult Werewolf and Shifter, Fiction
  • Theo Genre: YA Fiction, Shifter Romance, Urban Fantasy
• POV: Alternating 1st
• Publication information:
  • Paperback page count: 294 pages
  • Publisher: Monster House Books, LLC
  • Language:  English
  • ISBN13: 9781945723070
  • ASIN: B01N7D5C5P

Other Fun Stuff:

To Read or Not To Read (Again):

Donated

Rating out of five: 2.5 out of 5

Representation and Sexism Tests:

• Bechdel–Wallace Test: 
  • Purpose: to establish actual female characters that act independently of male characters in a story.
    • Do two female characters talk about something other than a male character? Yes
  • Pass or Fail: Pass
• DuVernay Test:
  • Purpose: to establish characters of color in a story.
    • Are there fully actualized characters of color? No
  • Pass or Fail: Fail
• Ellen Willis Test:
  • Purpose: to show balance in characters regardless of gender.
    • Would two related characters still work to carry the story if their genders were reversed? Yes
  • Pass or Fail: Pass
• Hays Code Test:
  • Purpose: to ignore outdated and queer-degrading/punishing standards that once were the standard for produced mass media.
  • Part One: outdated moral guidelines
    • Are there any outdated “moral content” rules gloriously kicked in the teeth by this story? Yes
    • Are there people of color allowed a happy ending? No
    • Is there an interracial couple? No
    • Is there profanity used at all? No
    • Is there one or more homicidal acts and/or murder? Yes
  • Part Two: queer representation
    • Are there queer characters that get a happy ending? No
    • Is there an illegal or otherwise distasteful age gap between characters, queer or otherwise? Yes
    • Do the queer characters die tragically, violently, or at all? No
  • Pass or Fail: Fail
• Mako Mori Test:
  • Purpose: to assure that in the story there is at least one female character independent of a male character’s story.
    • Is there a female character? Yes
    • Does she get her own arc? Yes
    • Does it do anything other than serve to support a man’s story? Yes
  • Pass or Fail: Pass
• Sexy Lamp Test:
  • Purpose: to assure that a female character in the story serves as an active protagonist, not just a device to be used by the male main character.
    • Would the plot fall apart if the female character was replaced by a sexy looking lamp? Yes
  • Post-It Note Caveat:
    • Would the character be able to be replaced by a Sexy Lamp with a sticky note on it for information conveyance? No
  • Pass or Fail: Pass
• Tauriel Test:
  • Purpose: to help support the existence of competent, independent female characters regardless of a romantic sub-plot.
    • Is there at least one woman in the story? Yes
    • Is this woman competent in her chosen occupation and not immediately shown up by a newcomer male character? Yes
    • If she has or develops a love interest during the story, either implied or explicitly stated, does she suddenly abandon her job and/or chosen path to support or pursue said love interest?  No
  • Pass or Fail: Pass
• Vito Russo Test:
  • Purpose: to establish more characters that are on the SAGA (Sexuality And Gender Acceptance), QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) or LGBTQIAP+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual/Biromantic/Bigender, Transgender, Queer/Genderqueer, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic/Agender, Pansexual/Panromantic, and others not listed here) spectrum.
    • Is there a character on the queer spectrum? No
    • Are they a character beyond their orientation? Not applicable
    • Do they actually affect the plot? Not applicable
    • Is the character something beyond a punchline? Not applicable
  • Pass or Fail: Fail

Overall review:

Thoughts: It was… okay. I didn’t actually like the author’s writing style, but their pacing was all right. I didn’t engage enough in the text to want to read the rest of the series.

Smutty moments/smut review: One elevator kiss and a couple other smooches. Meh.

Was it engaging?

Room for improvement

Favorite Character:

Ella

Review format updated 5 March 2019