Series: Secrets of the Eternal Rose #1

Published: December 6, 2012

Publisher: Harper Collins Australia
Source: Publisher

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.

The main thing that attracted me to this book was the cover, I mean this cover is absolutely stunning! I love the masquerade mask and the Australian/New Zealand version is just as stunning. I'm also a sucker for anything set in Renaissance Venice. I love the whole historical lady's maid life and all the glitz and glamour that is depicted in such settings. Venom by Fiona Paul, whilst not terrible, wasn't my favourite read and it did disappoint me somewhat. It took me a long time to read it, as I just didn't feel the urge to keep turning the pages. 

Cass is from a well-renowned family but one that is no longer as rich. She is betrothed to a childhood friend, Luca, despite her not having seen him for several years. Cass feels restricted and confined in her current lifestyle, she wants to be released and free to do as she pleases. When one of Cass' friend passes away and her body stolen, she is thrust into a whole new world within her own that is filled with deceit, secrets and lies. 

Venom by Fiona Paul is indeed an intriguing story that has you wondering at each page turn what's around the corner. It's a mystery, thriller YA novel written in a historical setting which makes it all the more interesting. Venom seemed well researched and it truly transported readers to the time and the place in which her story belonged in. I'm a lover of this era so I really enjoyed reading about it and Fiona Paul's descriptive writing on the setting was very eloquently done.

Venom however, fell a bit flat for me in the characters department. I did not find Cass to be a character that I really enjoyed reading about. I certainly didn't feel her attraction towards Falco, it could also be because I did not like the boy at all! He's meant to be one of the leading men within the love triangle, but I did not feel that there was any competition at all between him and Luca. Falco was just not a good character and I felt throughout the book that he was just shady and was looking for the revelation where we are told this, however, it unfortunately never came around. I actually enjoyed the secondary characters more so than the main characters, I really liked Luca and Cass' Aunt. The Aunt was multi-dimensional, she had this armour where she seemed harsh, rude and not at all agreeable in any way but then the real her peeks out every now and then for us to see and love. Luca was not the most likeable character that I've read, but he was one of the characters that I did like in Venom and I did like him over Falco.

Venom by Fiona Paul has an appealing premise with an astonishing historical setting within an era that is very captivating. Fiona Paul also excelled in expressing Renaissance Venice in the time period that Venom is set in. Venom had a lot of potential but whilst the execution didn't fall flat for me, I don't really know what did as I did enjoy the mystery and the premise of the story, I just wasn't invested in it. I had read and put Venom down for weeks at a time and came back to it, so it didn't give me the urgency of finishing the novel. Having said that, I really enjoyed the setting and the story itself, if I was to guess why it didn't entertain me as much as I had hoped it would, I'd probably say the characters were not as likeable and I didn't relate to them well nor was I invested in their lives, therefore making the story not as enjoyable. I will still persevere with the consecutive books in The Secrets of the Eternal Rose series, and I do have high hopes for the remaining books in the series.