The Rose and the Sword by Gina Marinello-Sweeney

I wish I could give this book 4.5 stars! It was so good!

She is an admirable character and a good role model. Rather than simply go along with things, Rebecca struggles to find the best way to handle the challenging situations that she faces. This story has so much packed into it! While Rebecca works on her internship with a popular psychiatrist, who is not what she seems, mystery, danger, and an unpleasant surprise sneak up on her. Therese the Little Flower and the Blessed Mother. I especially enjoyed the elements of faith in the story and the lovely poetic thoughts about St. Many chapters contain or end with a sort of poetic or symbolic daydream that expresses the main character’s mood or concerns, reminding me of how we often don’t have adequate words to explain how situations make us feel. Sweeney has a unique poetic writing style. She is extremely well-developed through her thoughts and actions. Rebecca is an intelligent, joyful, often care-free character with compassion, virtue, strong faith, and a quirky sense of humor. The Rose and The Sword is the second book I’ve read by Gina Marinello Sweeney and many of the same characters are back! The story is told in first-person from Rebecca Veritas’ view. Gina lives in southern California with her husband, where she is at work on a fairy tale novel and short story collection. In her spare time, she enjoys going to the beach, reading, and dreaming of Prince Edward Island.

Graduating summa cum laude, Gina holds credentials in both elementary education and Spanish. Although unable to attend this event, a presentation of the poems was well-received at another scholarly event that same year. In 2009, she was asked to present her original Spanish poetry at an international literature conference in Costa Rica. Gina is also an avid poet in both the English and Spanish languages. As her own stories were “checked out” by family and friends, she dreamed of a day in which her work would be available in public libraries. Gina has been writing ever since she was a little girl and turned her bedroom into a “library,” complete with due date slips and a check-out stamp. The first book in the series, I Thirst, received the 2013 YATR Literary Award for Best Prologue from Young Adult Teen Readers. Gina Marinello-Sweeney is the author of The Veritas Chronicles, a contemporary YA trilogy that has been compared to the writing of L.M.

The Rose and the Sword by Gina Marinello-Sweeney