Never the Roses Builds a Fun World That Needed More | Review

Never the Roses by Jennifer K. Lambert is the perfect enemies-to-lovers read if you’re looking to lean into the sad girl summer aesthetic.

Never the Roses follows a war-hardened sorceress named Oneira as she finds love and a new sense of purpose following a life filled with death and destruction. It offers lessons on grief, redemption, and finding meaning in things others may deem mundane. Set in a world where magic is the ultimate weapon for those in power, Lambert delivers beautifully written enemies-to-lovers romantasy. While the plot is fresh and full of potential, it unfortunately fizzles out in the end.

A powerful sorceress with the power to travel into the dreamscape and control the dreams of others, she can be a formidable weapon. She flees her kingdom after taking an assignment that costs her humanity while granting her freedom from the service of Queen Zarja. Vowing never to kill again, Oneira seeks a life of solitude to atone and wither away. Thus, the story begins with her building a warded sanctuary far from warring kingdoms and the cruelties of their rulers.

Oneira finds peace in building a home, growing her own food, reading, tending to her animal companions (more about them later), and decorating her death altar with fresh flowers daily. She finds herself yearning for new knowledge after reading all of the books in her library, but isn’t quite ready for death’s embrace. There’s only one library that might answer her call for enticing reads, that of her rival and fellow sorcerer, Stearanos Stormbreaker. Oneira sneaks into his library via her dream powers and takes a book on rare roses that will set them on a collision course to each other.

Stearanos is a well rounded and equally powerful sorcerer bound to King Uhtric, ruler of the opposing kingdom. When the king learns that Queen Zarja has lost the protection of Oneira, he petitions Stearanos to mastermind a plan to conquer the neighboring kingdom. Stearanos and Oneira must then work together to prevent the destruction of countless innocent lives, while growing closer to each other.

Let’s start with the good aspects of the book. Lambert is a beautiful writer. She uses lush imagery that makes you want to visit Oneira’s seaside abode. I also found her rules for magic very interesting. Sorcerers and sorceresses are sold to magic academies at a young age by their families. Their debts are then sold to the wealthy, creating a debt cycle few can escape. Sounds like student loans, am I right? Additionally, I adored Oneira’s dream magic. I would love to be able to pull tangible items from the dream world on a whim. Who wouldn’t want to manifest their own house in this economy?

Another enjoyable element of the story was the back and forth between Stearanos and Oneira, especially in their letters. They’re just two damaged people, with more in common than they realize, finding solace in each other one snarky note at a time. The classic enemies-to-lovers trope is well done for the most part throughout Never the Roses, although it ultimately falls flat.

Which brings me to what could have been better. One of my biggest gripes is how the stories introduce extremely interesting characters, with no context given to their backgrounds. There’s Adsila, who is a kestrel companion to “She Who Eats Bears,” a goddess of old…And that’s all we get. I would have loved to learn more about the goddess and why Adsila was sent to Oneira.

Then there’s Moriah, a talking cat who allegedly is a repository of all known spells in the world. We get a few sentences from her, but no information on how she came to be, what her powers are, or why she came to Oneira. And Sweet Bunny, whose only purpose seems to be catching rabbits in the garden. Again, why is he here?! There was so much potential to expand on these characters and it never materializes.

Another missed opportunity was the lack of spice. I know, I know. I bring this up often, but it’s a warranted gripe. There is such a good build up of chemistry between Oneira and Stearanos, I was expecting fireworks! Lambert gave us sparklers that culminated in one of the most disappointing endings I’ve read in quite a while. I found myself asking “What was the point of all this,” as I closed the book.

I’m sure Lambert is setting us up for a possible sequel, but found I lacked any investment in rooting for our female main character. She just gave up, as did I by the end of the book. While I did enjoy how beautifully written Never the Roses is, it’s unfortunately not enough to pull me back into the garden.