A Constellation of Roses

Warning: this review has a lot of spoilers! (and is also a bit rambly)

Seventeen-year-old Trix McCabe has had a really rough life thus far. At present, she's living in a motel room alone after her mother ran off to get cigarettes and never came back. It's all good, though. See, Trix has this gift: she can steal anything without getting caught. Unfortunately, her gift doesn't protect against things already stolen. Found with a bunch of wallets, Trix is taken back into the system. She expects it to be the same old thing: a foster home, running away, and starting up her funds for...something. This time, though? There's a bombshell. She's either going to be charged with a crime or she's going to go live with some relatives she never even knew existed until this point. And thus begins Trix's heartbreaking and beautiful transformation.

I loved this book. Like, LOVED this book. It spoke to a core part of me that's still the hurt little sixteen-year-old who was abandoned by her family. It was so wonderful to read Trix's journey and see everything that happened to her. Perhaps its because I was once Trix that it affected me so much, but all of the other characters in the book really brought it to life for me. It was great seeing Ember, Mia, Jasper, Shane, and the others showing her so much love despite their own pains and heartache. How each character interacted with one another was just phenomenal to me.

Now, I haven't read Urban Fantasy in many-a-year, so I don't know how the genre has changed over time, but this really ticked off all the boxes for me. It was written so well that I bought the fact that the people of Rocksaw understood that the McCabe women were magical and that's just the way it was. It wasn't the kind of magic that sparkles or zaps, but it was a magic in little things: pie that makes people feel less-lonely or to comfort a broken heart; palm-reading; touches that reveal deep secrets. It really isn't that different from some things people in reality can do, or believe they can do.

Aside from Trix, Ember was my favorite character. She grows throughout the story, her personality and hobbies get a fair bit of screen time, and it's wonderful to see her leave her lonely library and become friends with others at her school. Taking it back to Trix, it was just SO refreshing to read a book where you can visibly see the differences our main character has made. She's connected people and helped people without even seeming to realize it: She gets Jasper to open up, brings Ember into a friend-group after years of solitude, she plays a piece in Mia being able to move on in her own life.

Now, I really could lavish praise on this novel all day long, but there were two issues with the book that I feel I need to address. If only to make the review more balanced. Issue number one: the ending was rather lack luster. I was particularly frustrated with the fact that the big confrontation occurred without Trix even being there! What actually happened was Jordan and Mia talked on the porch about how Jordan refused to let Trix's mother tell her father that she was pregnant, as he believed Connor COULDN'T be the father. He'd taken that choice away from them! All of this pain and heartache all due to Jordan's actions! And having heard this, Trix races up to her room, thinks she's going to be kicked out, and...draws on the ceiling? Like, I get it, she's showing that she's putting down roots there. That THIS is where she belongs, but like... I view the climax of any book as the moment where the main character makes the most definitive decision they could make in the story, where the line is drawn and proven and the main character either succeeds or fails. And Trix...well, Trix does neither. She waits for Mia to come to her and tell her that everything's been sorted out. And yes, it was still beautiful. Yes, I still cried. But at this juncture, it just didn't make sense that Trix would still doubt being a McCabe. I think it's been proven a hundred times over that she's Connor's daughter. Nah. It would've been much cooler if she'd reaffirmed herself as a McCabe, especially since she has a gift. And then she could've stood by as Auntie and Ember and Mia defended her and got the truth out of Jordan.

Now, you may think, “Heather, this is a pretty big gripe. Are you sure you meant to give 5 stars?” And then answer is a resounding “hell yes”. Because despite this lackluster climax, the action in this book wasn't what it was really about for me. It was about Trix's emotional journey, and due to the pain she'd already suffered, I really just wanted her to be wrapped up in blankets with some hot chocolate and be surrounded by her loved ones for the rest of the book. And that DID happen – or, well, their version of it did. She got her loving family, her true friends. Hell, even Shane truly loves her! That I hadn't been expecting at all, but absolutely loved.

Now, my second gripe is far more trivial. There were a couple of typos and instances where it felt as though the wrong word had been chosen. An instance is in Chapter Sixteen where “is” was used when I think “are” would've fit better. And in Chapter Seventeen where “tselling” is used. Little, and infrequent, things like that.

In the end, this book was perfect for me. I was once a hurt and angry teenaged girl, and this book was like a warm blanket reminding me of that ache and pain gently. It showed me how much I've grown, like Trix had. I really hope there's another book in this universe.