Review: The Bear & the Rose by E.K. Larson-Burnett

A haunted hero risks everything to break the curse of her violent calling in The Bear & the Rose by E.K. Larson-Burnett, a lyrical masterpiece of fantasy and creativity.

In a supernaturally crafted world of animalistic tradition, magic, and the looming specter of doom from bears both living and dead, one relentless Bearslayer is determined to free her people from fear and perennial oppression. As Springtide arrives, the festivities are interrupted by the first savage attack of the year, and rather than face another season watching innocents die beside her warrior-companion Nathaire, she vows to end the beastly threat once and for all. Not long after embarking on her desperate mission, however, she encounters an enchanting young woman – mesmerizing, hurt, and mysteriously bound to the forest.

Battling sleepless wraithbears and monstrous fleshbears, while wrestling with her own magnetic attraction to the enigmatic Diomath, Rhoswen the Bearslayer finds herself torn between duty and desire. Sworn to protect her people against the children of Artio, she understands her role as protector and liberator, but a reawakened heart can be a cruel and confusing master. As Rhoswen’s mind opens and the truth of her shape-shifting obsession comes into focus, the clash of their blood and heritage may leave both with wounds that will not heal. Eventually abandoning her post to seek a mystical force that could turn the tide of her war against nature itself, this inimitable protagonist is a warrior rose in a world of painful thorns.

Expertly weaving classic fantasy tropes and injecting contemporary themes of acceptance, identity, and nebulous intimacy, this is a timely and tremendously rewarding book, with more than enough twists to keep even veteran fantasy readers guessing. Challenging expectations of gender, class, ability, and purpose, this instantly reads like a modern classic that has been polished and hand-spun to perfection. Expert world-building is abundant on every page, while the exposition is executed organically and subtly, along with the patient unfurling of character development, as Larson-Burnett deftly manipulates language into a complex web of vivid scenes and larger-than-life characters, lacing the prose with unique and memorable descriptions, without ever letting the story grow sluggish or overly verbose.

Whether rawly musing on the nature of vulnerable emotions or the existential motivations of the gods, the flow of language is uniquely structured, cementing the illusion of this lush realm with every syntax-twisted line: “Though he thinks I nurture no fear when it comes to bearslaying – though I let him believe it – it is not the truth. I am intimately acquainted with fear; with the way it turns my feet to lead; the way its claws of ice seize upon my legs; the way it doesn’t touch me at all and yet paralyzes me to my very core.” No word is wasted and no exchange is redundant, while every brief chapter drives this spiraling tale further into legendary territory.

Like so many classic novels of the past, this book beautifully captures universal struggles in an immersive world different than any we’ve ever seen, resulting in a fiercely original and expressive work of fantasy.

The Bear & the Rose was the Bronze winner in the 2023 SPR Book Awards.