Book Review: Venom - Fiona Paul

Title: Venom
Series: Secrets Of the Eternal Rose #1
Author: Fiona Paul
Source: ARCycling

Cassandra Caravello is one of Renaissance Venice’s lucky elite: with elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, her own lady’s maid, and a wealthy fiancé, she has everything a girl could desire. Yet ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape.

When Cass stumbles upon a murdered woman—practically in her own backyard—she’s drawn into a dangerous world of courtesans, killers, and secret societies. Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, a mysterious artist with a mischievous grin... and a spectacular skill for trouble. Can Cassandra find the murderer, before he finds her? And will she stay true to her fiancé, or succumb to her uncontrollable feelings for Falco?

Beauty, love, romance, and mystery weave together in a stunning novel that’s as seductive and surprising as the city of Venice itself.




Review:

I really liked the plot in this book, as it is a murder mystery in renaissance  ITALY!  And it is also a love story! What can get better than that!
Honestly, there are some things that the author could have explained for the plot to flow better, but most everything was explained well, and the different plot twists worked out.
The main character Cassandra, is not the best main character that I have come across, but she was still ok. I think that Cass didn't stand up for herself as much as I would have liked. And she also made some stupid decisions regarding where she should be at different times.
Example: Cass goes to a graveyard, alone, in the middle of the night. Daring or just plain stupid? Who knows. Some of the other things that she did, were either something that someone does who is seriously in love, or just seriously dumb. And seeing as how she doesn't act in love at other parts, I am leaning toward the seriously dumb.
The plot in this made the solid 4 stars for me. Not the characters, although I do think that the author did an amazing job with them, no matter how unlikeable they were they lacked the fall-in-love-with-me quality that I really like characters to have. The romance in this book is a love triangle, sort of. Cass is engaged to Luca who is studying in France, but she goes and meets interesting young artist Falco, who introduces her to newer more exciting things. Neither of the guys, were amazing or book boyfriend quality.
There were some mature things in this book that were a little too much for a young adult book and I think that the author could have left quite a few of the things out.
I usually can figure out a whole book after about half of it. But this one wasn't like that. The plot twists and turns were so incredible and I was never completely right! The way that the author caused the book to flow from one mystery to another was just plain beautiful. And although the characters were sub-par, the plot just did it for me. I could not put this down! Everything about it screamed for me to read it. Which is probably why I read it in the same day I got it in the mail :-)
4/5 stars to this amazing story line.