Goodreads Summary:In this sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, Camille, her sister Edel, and her guard and new love Remy must race against time to find Princess Charlotte. Sophia’s Imperial forces will stop at nothing to keep the rebels from returning Charlotte to the castle and her rightful place as queen. With the help of an underground resistance movement called The Iron Ladies-a society that rejects beauty treatments entirely-and the backing of alternative newspaper The Spider’s Web, Camille uses her powers, her connections and her cunning to outwit her greatest nemesis, Sophia, and restore peace to Orleans.

It had actually been a really long time since I read the first book (The Belles) so the beginning of The Everlasting Rose was a challenge. I completely forgot what happened at the end and I forgot names so trying to figure out who was who at the beginning was honestly a struggle. Thankfully it did a pretty good job reminding the reader what happened so I caught up quickly. 

Likes: The idea of people being born grey and the Belles being able to change everyone’s appearance however they want it is so unique! Honestly, how their society is changed because of this ability is so cool. I love reading books that are political and have societies different than my own. The simple ways that society was changed, that I never would have thought of but that make so much sense, is interesting. For example, they have laws limiting how small your waist can be because people would try to make their waist so small it would not be safe for them physically. The fact that they communicate with message balloons is pretty interesting too. The author is so good at describing scenery and the way in which their magic works. I can really picture everything they are doing when I read the story. I love how she describes the magic, and how they see it like sculpting and painting. It was truly beautiful to picture.

Dislikes: For the entire book one of the sisters is hating on the other sister. She wants to leave her behind in terrible situations and she believes that the sister is betraying them all. The book is from Camille’s POV which may be why there seems to be no reason for the sisters to not trust each other –  because Camille doesn’t think there is. However, this sister goes so overboard in her mistrust – no matter whether she should have mistrusted her or not – that it is a little scary and disarming. It is just hard to believe that two people who grew up together and were basically sisters could really dislike each other so much that would be willing to let the other fall in harms way and not do anything. 

Overall, I have this book four stars. The book was a little slow at some parts and didn’t give me the spark of joy that five star books give me. I honestly loved most things about it and truly did enjoy the story line and the world, I just didn’t get that feeling that I attribute to five star reads. I would 100% recommend this book though!