War of the Wilted Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

War of the Wilted (Garden of Thorns #2)
Author: Amber Mitchell
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: October 1, 2018
Publisher: Entangled Teen

Description:

Like flowers denied water, people are wilting under the emperor's tyranny.
 
Rose will not rest until the Gardener is dead. But there are bigger battles to fight, and Rayce—leader of the rebellion and the only man Rose has ever loved—believes their best chance at winning the war is to join forces with her sworn enemy.
 
Saving innocent people is more important than her quest for revenge. But their new ally can’t be trusted—and he knows her darkest secret. One betrayal could leave the war and Rayce’s life hanging in the balance, and Rose will need to make the ultimate sacrifice to save them all.  

Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | B&N | iBooks | Kobo

 

War of the Wilted is the exciting second installment in the young adult fantasy series, Garden of Thorns. It picks up where the first book left off, with Rose and her fellow rebels taking down the Gardener and thwarting the plans of the emperor. You really need to read the first book before this one so you don't get confused and are caught up on what has happened and what's currently being done. I loved reconnecting with Rose and her world and I fell right back inside the fascinating world the author created right from the beginning of the novel. The plot was taut and tense, with political problems coming from both sides of the Blue Gate - from the emperor and from Rose's homeland of Varsha. The rebellion is doing what they can, but they need to score a big win to turn the tables. I liked following along with their daring feats and all of the political intrigue and deception was fascinating.

Rose continued to be a wonderful main character and I loved getting to know her even better in this installment. She's changed a lot since her days as a flower/dancer for the Gardener. She's more proactive, mature, brave, courageous, and determined to do what's right and stop the injustices against the people. The story is told in the first person point of view, from Rose's perspective, which I loved. I think the reader gets to really know the narrator in this writing style, and that holds true with this book as well. I loved getting to peek inside Rose's heart and mind throughout the story and see exactly what she was thinking and feeling. 

Of course, I have to mention the romance in the book because it does play a large part. I normally don't like a lot of romance because it tends to overshadow the rest of the plot, but it didn't happen that way with this book. I loved seeing Rose and Rayce together - watching their relationship grow and change. It was sweet and I adored them together - I was definitely rooting for them the entire time. I'm not going to go into the plot that much because I don't want to accidentally do any spoilers, but I'm really excited to see where the next book will take us and what's going to happen when everything comes to an end. Very highly recommended for fans of YA, fantasy, and romance. 

Amber Mitchell was born and raised in a small town in Florida. After briefly escaping small town life by attending the University of South Florida where she earned her degree in Creative Writing, she decided to ditch traffic jams and move back to her hometown. There she writes Young Adult novels, usually with a bit of magic in them, rolls D20s with her friends on Thursday nights and enjoys hanging out with her husband and four cats. Her other job involves crafting cardstock in to 3D art and has allowed her to travel all over the US vending at comic conventions which has only increased her love for fantasy and fandoms. She is represented by Nikki Terpilowski of Holloway Literature.

 Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads

$25 Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway