ABANDONED. Y/A Fiction Book About Some Weird Modern Continuation of the War of the Roses, With Magic

[Thelostcoast]

Read this book from a school library around 2011-13. Main character was mid-late teenage guy, might have been British, but I remember that there was a lot about two houses probably descended from the York and Lancaster clans and keeping the white/red rose symbology at war.

But the important part was that the main character was special. He was magically enhanced through some talisman or magicky genetic alteration, a Warrior. There were other breeds of enhanced individuals, I'm pretty sure, but the Warrior was the rarest after long years of ritual proxy dueling, and this one was a particularly impressive specimen. There was lots of magi-roided-up sword fighting, but more drama about him being a kid and being used as a gladiator by his female caretaker and such. That's all I really remember, and the author was almost pretty positively male and had a pretty visceral style while describing a barely-grown kid (aside the roids) getting a feel for pulling a broadsword out of another person.

[Kris]

A guess - The Serpent and the Rose by Kathleen Bryan?

[Bryn]

A Queen from the North by Erin McRae -- "What if the Wars of the Roses had never ended?

Lady Amelia Brockett, known to her family as Meels, is having the Worst. Christmas. Ever. Dumped by her boyfriend and rejected from graduate school, her parents deem her the failure of the family. "

It mentions a "court witch" later, so I'm guessing there's magic too.

[Robert]

The Warrior Heir, by Cinda Williams Chima

Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high-schoolers.

At least, until one day Jack forgets his 'medicine'. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great - right up to the moment when he loses control of his own strength and almost kills another player during the soccer team tryouts. An incident which proves to be just the beginning.

Jack is about to learn the startling truth about himself: he is Weirlind; part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At the head of this magical society sit the feuding houses of the Red and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game - a magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death. The winning house rules the Weir. As if his bizarre magical heritage isn't enough, Jack discovers that he's not just another member of Weirlind: he's one of the last of the warriors, and his power has manifested at a time when both houses are scouting for a player. Jack's performance on the soccer field has alerted the entire magical community to the fact that he's in Trinity. And until one of the houses is declared Jack's official sponsor, they'll stop at nothing to get Jack to fight for them ...

[Kris]

No response, moving to Abandoned folder.

Thelostcoast (OP) was last active on the site in July 2019.