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A review by thefox22
The Emblazoned Red by Dawn McCullough-White
1.0
I was really stuck on how to rate this book. I've been going back and forth about it. But I just didn't find any of it enjoyable. I found the characters to be lacking good development, found the mix of genres to be a mess, the plot confusing, and I wasn't left wanting more of the story-line.
It has occurred to me that there is a kind of prequel series, if you will, about Cameo and is set fifteen years prior to the Trilogy of the Tyrant. Perhaps if I had read that series first, it would have given me a better understanding of this world and its history. But as it stands, I'm basing my review on this book alone.
Final rating: 1 star!
First of all, what genre do I even call this book? Is it historical romance, fantasy, or paranormal? It had all three elements, sure, but the mix of these genres just didn't work for me. I don't like to categorize books, because most of them are a mix of different genres. But with The Emblazoned Red, it was sort of a mess. The plot seriously didn't make much sense. And I know that this is a series, but it doesn't change how I feel about the story-line. It was like the author had randomly thrown together a bunch of scenes and called it a plot. Half of the book found the main character, Ilka, on a boat after being injured in a mob fight. The rest of it is Ilka and her fellow paladins trying to catch the escapee pirate whom Ilka starts to care about. But that plot was so boring, and I never knew where it was going to lead or how it all came together. Like I said, it was a mess.
The characters were poorly developed. It was in third person, and had more than one characters' POV, but I still didn't find out much about them. And with Ilka's inner dialogue, it was confusing with her back and forth feelings. Is she dishonoring Jesse? Is it okay to care for the pirate? I know she was only eighteen, but she seemed really immature. And I also thought she was a pretty weak character. She's supposed to be this kickass undead slayer, and yet I thought she relied on everyone else too much. She's still grieving over the loss of her fiance, and it leads her to making some poor judgments and mistakes. Now, I'm always able to overlook flaws, but only if there's character growth. But I felt like Ilka's character was underdeveloped.
Okay, and the romance was... dull. And honestly, really disgusting. I cannot get over the age difference between the pirate, Captain Sutton, and Ilka. He's forty-one, and she just turned eighteen. (Hello, cradle-robber!). And I just didn't see the appeal in him, or in his way of life. The way he talked made him seem even older, and I just couldn't see that he was more than a pirate, that he wanted to be good.
What bugged me the most about this book, though, was the way it was written. Not that it was written poorly. But that it was supposed to be an historical novel, and yet, it was very modern. Uses of words like "heck" and "bam" just made me laugh out loud. It wasn't just in the way the characters talked, but in their morals and ideals. I guarantee you that a woman like Ilka in that time would not have done the things she did, would not have slept with a man she hardly knew and who was much, much older than her. I just couldn't picture these characters in a historical time period because of the way they talked and the way they acted.
You're probably wondering to yourself why I haven't mentioned any of the paranormal or fantastical aspects. Well, there were hardly any of those. I mean, the book even starts out in a vampire's POV. It was actually a pretty great beginning, and I was so intrigued. But it never made sense that the prologue was of a vampire because Augustine was not an important character, unless you count the fact that later on he helps Ilka. But even then, I didn't understand why his character was even put in the story. I also didn't understand who Cameo was and why she was important. Nothing was really explained! I don't understand what the difference between a zombie and draugr is. I don't know how the vampires, zombies, and other paranormal entities came to be. What's their history? What's the history of the paladins and why they do the work they do? After I finished the book, I was left with so many questions. I know that it's a series and that they'll likely be answered in the following books, but I find myself not interested in knowing more about the story-line.
The synopsis was intriguing, but the actual story was not.
It has occurred to me that there is a kind of prequel series, if you will, about Cameo and is set fifteen years prior to the Trilogy of the Tyrant. Perhaps if I had read that series first, it would have given me a better understanding of this world and its history. But as it stands, I'm basing my review on this book alone.
Final rating: 1 star!
First of all, what genre do I even call this book? Is it historical romance, fantasy, or paranormal? It had all three elements, sure, but the mix of these genres just didn't work for me. I don't like to categorize books, because most of them are a mix of different genres. But with The Emblazoned Red, it was sort of a mess. The plot seriously didn't make much sense. And I know that this is a series, but it doesn't change how I feel about the story-line. It was like the author had randomly thrown together a bunch of scenes and called it a plot. Half of the book found the main character, Ilka, on a boat after being injured in a mob fight. The rest of it is Ilka and her fellow paladins trying to catch the escapee pirate whom Ilka starts to care about. But that plot was so boring, and I never knew where it was going to lead or how it all came together. Like I said, it was a mess.
The characters were poorly developed. It was in third person, and had more than one characters' POV, but I still didn't find out much about them. And with Ilka's inner dialogue, it was confusing with her back and forth feelings. Is she dishonoring Jesse? Is it okay to care for the pirate? I know she was only eighteen, but she seemed really immature. And I also thought she was a pretty weak character. She's supposed to be this kickass undead slayer, and yet I thought she relied on everyone else too much. She's still grieving over the loss of her fiance, and it leads her to making some poor judgments and mistakes. Now, I'm always able to overlook flaws, but only if there's character growth. But I felt like Ilka's character was underdeveloped.
Okay, and the romance was... dull. And honestly, really disgusting. I cannot get over the age difference between the pirate, Captain Sutton, and Ilka. He's forty-one, and she just turned eighteen. (Hello, cradle-robber!). And I just didn't see the appeal in him, or in his way of life. The way he talked made him seem even older, and I just couldn't see that he was more than a pirate, that he wanted to be good.
What bugged me the most about this book, though, was the way it was written. Not that it was written poorly. But that it was supposed to be an historical novel, and yet, it was very modern. Uses of words like "heck" and "bam" just made me laugh out loud. It wasn't just in the way the characters talked, but in their morals and ideals. I guarantee you that a woman like Ilka in that time would not have done the things she did, would not have slept with a man she hardly knew and who was much, much older than her. I just couldn't picture these characters in a historical time period because of the way they talked and the way they acted.
You're probably wondering to yourself why I haven't mentioned any of the paranormal or fantastical aspects. Well, there were hardly any of those. I mean, the book even starts out in a vampire's POV. It was actually a pretty great beginning, and I was so intrigued. But it never made sense that the prologue was of a vampire because Augustine was not an important character, unless you count the fact that later on he helps Ilka. But even then, I didn't understand why his character was even put in the story. I also didn't understand who Cameo was and why she was important. Nothing was really explained! I don't understand what the difference between a zombie and draugr is. I don't know how the vampires, zombies, and other paranormal entities came to be. What's their history? What's the history of the paladins and why they do the work they do? After I finished the book, I was left with so many questions. I know that it's a series and that they'll likely be answered in the following books, but I find myself not interested in knowing more about the story-line.
The synopsis was intriguing, but the actual story was not.