[Book] Review: The Rose Bargain By Sasha Peyton Smith

My love for historical dramas led me to this fine novel that blends the genre with fantasy about a girl who walks into a ballroom carrying the usual weapons of a debutante: a beautiful dress, good manners and the hope of making a respectable marriage. Her expectations are high if only to defy her family. But in The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith, even beauty has a price and sometimes that price is a piece of your own body. This idea made me curious about the author's world as this is my first time reading any of her works.

The Rose Bargain looks like a fine Victorian romantasy but underneath the colourful gowns, balls, handsome princes and faeries is a rather uncomfortable story about what women are expected to sacrifice to survive which is what held my attention all through the 389 pages.

Set in London 1848, the author takes her readers to an alternate England ruled by Queen Moryen, an immortal faerie who gained control of the country centuries earlier with the aim of ruling forever. Each year, young women entering society have a chance to make a “Rose Bargain” with her. They can trade something precious for a quality they want such as beauty, talent, charm or some other advantage that might help them secure a good husband. The catch is that the payment is often painful. A girl might give up part of her body, a sense or a memory for something she has always wanted.

The author builds this magic system to feel almost normal to the characters and the girls grow up knowing that becoming desirable might mean giving away a part of themselves. But not the main character, Ivy Benton, who has more pressing concerns than becoming the prettiest girl in the ballroom. Her older sister, Lydia, disappeared after making a bargain with the queen and returned with memory loss.

The scandal of Lydia's disappearance has damaged the Benton family's reputation while their financial situation is also falling apart. Ivy wants answers but she also knows marrying well might be the only way to save her family. Then Queen Moryen announces that her son, Prince Bram, is looking for a bride, turning the marriage season into a competition. Ivy enters alongside other young women knowing she might lose any chance of marriage. Will she succeed in her agenda to save her sister?

Genres: Historical Fantasy, Adventure, Romantasy, Magic Publication: February 2025 Pages: 398

My Review And Rating

The plot is interesting and reminds me of The Selection by Kiera Cass though the fantasy and historical elements sets them apart. Still, The Rose Bargain is well written and enjoyable. I liked the way the book plays with the idea of choice especially in a time when girls were not allowed any. The girls choose whether to bargain or not and they choose what they want. But the uncomfortable part is how much of a choice is it when society has already decided that a woman's future depends on her beauty, marriage and family reputation?

I find the main female character, Ivy, particularly interesting and likeable. She enters the competition not because she dreams of marrying a prince. She has a family to save and a sister she wants to understand. That made her easier for me to connect with. I also liked the friendship between the competing girls. They begin as rivals, yet some gradually become allies and friends. Their different perspectives also give the story more room to explore the pressures placed on women from different backgrounds.

The romance was enjoyable for me although I didn't buy the love triangle because it's a familiar romantasy pattern. There is the seemingly perfect prince and the complicated, dangerous one so figuring out who deserves Ivy's trust becomes part of the fun. I liked the tension more when it connected to the larger mystery than when it leaned too heavily into romantic uncertainty.

The worldbuilding is another strong part of this book. I liked the combination of Victorian era and faerie magic. The ballroom scenes, gowns and social expectations give the story that Bridgerton setting while the bargains and fae politics being in a darker fantasy atmosphere. The author blends these elements perfectly to deliver a fascinating story.

Though this book occasionally leaned into familiar young adult romantasy territory, I found the idea of treating bodily sacrifice as part of beauty culture unsettling. It's almost a magical version of the ways women are encouraged to hurt, restrict or change themselves to fit an ideal.

Rating this book, I’d give it 7.5 out of 10 stars. The Rose Bargain is a well-written and interesting historical fantasy. It kept giving me enough mystery to turn the pages. The deeper I got into the story, the more I became fascinated by the world Sasha Peyton Smith had created.

Images generated with Chatgpt using the e-book cover

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