The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith
on February 4, 2025
ISBN: 0063372525
Pages: 389
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance
Format: Young Adult
Goodreads

Sasha Peyton Smith’s newest YA novel, The Rose Bargain, is both easy and difficult to describe. It would be easy to say that this is a mash up of many successful YA series like The Cruel Prince, The Selection, or even Twilight. But despite its many familiar plot lines and tropes, Smith’s writing makes this a uniquely compelling story in the oversaturated roman-tasy genre.

Set in an alternate Victorian-era England that is ruled by an immortal, totalitarian fairy Queen from the Otherworld. The Rose Bargain follows Ivy as she fights to save her disgraced family from poverty. Things do not go according to plan on the day of her debut when the Queen announces that instead of the normal courting season, girls can choose to compete to marry the beloved fairy Prince, Bram, but in true fairy fashion there are dangerous consequences for losing. Furious with the choices in front of her, Ivy enters the competition and joins a plot to dethrone the Queen with the black-sheep of the court, the fairy Queen’s human step-son, Emmet.

What sets The Rose Bargain apart is its sharp critique of the Victorian era’s patriarchal standards for women. The young women in this novel all have their own motivations for entering into the competition and the attention paid to them as individuals lifts the novel from being about “girls fighting over the same boy”. Though the plot is fairly predictable, the twists are still satisfying and the magical Bridgerton-esk setting allows the reader to fully sink into the story.

On the other hand, the good boy / bad boy step-brother love triangle that Ivy engages in is a tired trope that holds this story back. And though Emmet is an interesting character and their relationship does feel organic, there is an “open door” intimate scene that feels unnecessary and makes this novel more New Adult than YA.

Ultimately, this story is best for patrons over 16 who feel like they have outgrown YA, and adult readers who like YA-adjacent series like ACOTAR and Fourth Wing. The Rose Bargain could be the next big thing – if it doesn’t blend into the overcrowded roman-tasy shelf.

Reviewed by Ivy Burns, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth.