By: Mariah Thomas
With such an intricate plot, Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause jumps right into the main story. As the reader you are brought into the central plot without much backstory. This leaves plenty of room to wonder what will happen in the rest of the book as so much happens in the first few chapters. Filled with twists and turns, Grave Flowers wonderfully breaks down the different types of love in our lives and the trauma that sometimes comes with it.
What would you do for love? That question is what Princess Madalina faces as she has spent her life berated by her family and viewed as the weak link since her twin sister, Inessa, was thought of in a more prominent light. When Inessa is set to marry the heir of a wealthy kingdom, Prince Aeric, something goes terribly awry. Stuck in an endless purgatory, Madalina must avenge her sister, set her free and also follow her father’s orders. The plan is simple – marry the prince and then kill him. We follow as Madalina searches for answers to what happened to her twin while trying to process what has been asked of her. Though the task is simple, Inessa was more loyal to their father and Madalina took more after her mother. So, she struggles with what is right and wrong in this situation while also falling in love. Princess Madalina finds herself wanting the love of her family, mourning the love she knew with her sister and finding new love with the man she was sent to kill.
Without giving away spoilers, my favorite part of this book is the final paragraph. Similar to the film Frozen, there is a love story within a love story. The complex relationship between Princesses Madalina and Inessa breaks and heals the reader’s heart in the same breath. Their lives holds so many twists and turns from the first page to the very last.
Author Autumn Krause does a beautiful job of world building. She takes the reader directly into the story with vivid descriptions and details. Each character is carefully crafted and that is what makes Krause a beloved and critically acclaimed author as these are traits that follow her writing throughout each novel. She is able to present a huge moral dilemma for the main character while offering evidence and reasons why she could make any choice by the end – reminding us that tthe “right” choice isn’t always the obvious one.
A year ago I would have said I am not a fan of the fantasy genre. It is authors like Krause that have made me expand my reading palette and want to continue to do so. By mixing themes I know and love, it makes it easier to digest a newer genre. For those who enjoy the created worlds of the fantasy genre and those who may be new to it, Grave Flowers offers something for everyone. It has undertones of minimal horror and romance with a whimsical edge. This is a book that comes to full fruition by the end and worth the read even if it is on the longer side.