The main characters are cued as White the story thoughtfully addresses Lucy’s chronic illness and August’s anxiety.Ī heady blend of the fantastical, the murderous, and the romantic. The novel focuses on Myra’s touching relationships with Lucy and August, the twisting murder investigation, and, above all, Myra’s own empowering journey. This effortless blend of fantasy, sisterly love, sweet romance, and murder mystery is a gorgeous take on Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. In doing so, she meets August, Will’s painfully shy brother, and-once Myra realizes that Will’s death was not an accident-they immerse themselves in a world of dangerous secrets. But when the governor’s wife offers Myra money (and threatens to expose her secret) to bring Will, her recently deceased son, back to life, Myra has no choice but to comply. If she is found out, her life could be in danger from those who would exploit her abilities-or destroy her as an abomination. But just like her mother’s, Myra’s artistry holds a big secret: As a Prodigy, Myra can use her painting to change the bodies of humans and animals. Barely making ends meet, Myra survives as a painter’s apprentice in the same studio where her own mother used to work. It’s been one year since Myra’s parents vanished without a trace, and she has been left alone to take care of her ailing younger sister, Lucy.

Desperate to get out of the manor as quickly as possible, Myra turns to the governor's older son for help completing the painting before the secret she spent her life concealing makes her the killer's next victim.Magic, romance, and mystery intertwine in this stand-alone historical fantasy. A killer stalks these halls – one disturbingly obsessed with portrait magic.

Once she arrives at the legendary stone mansion, however, it becomes clear the boy's death was no accident. But one frigid night, the governor's wife discovers the truth and threatens to expose Myra if she does not complete a special portrait that would resurrect the governor's dead son. Guarding that secret is the only way to keep her younger sister safe now that their parents are gone. 'A deliciously twisted gothic fantasy you'll want to read again and again, with characters you'll adore, prose that'll spellbind you, romance you'll swoon over, and a mystery that'll keep you guessing until the last stunning twist' Diana Urban, author of These Deadly Games Myra has a gift many would kidnap, blackmail, and worse to control: she's a portrait artist whose paintings alter people's bodies.

A forgery of roses review