Title: The Scarlet Veil [The Scarlet Veil 1]
Author: Shelby Mahurin
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Rating: 3 Stars
Description/Synopsis:
Six months have passed since Célie took her sacred vows and joined the ranks of the Chasseurs as their first huntswoman. With her fiancé, Jean Luc, as captain, she is determined to find her foothold in her new role and help protect Belterra. But whispers from her past still haunt her, and a new evil is rising—one that Célie herself must vanquish, unless she falls prey to the darkness.
WARNING – SPOILERS MAY ENSUE BEYOND THIS POINT – REVIEW BELOW
I wish I had liked this book more because the writing was well-done. I loved the characters and the overarching mystery of the plot. Unfortunately, it took me a while to sink into the story.
This is not a stand-alone story. Despite being the first book in this particular series, it is also a continuing story of the events in a completely different series… just in the same world. That meant that when the story started, it fell months after the events of the other series, after the big bad was thwarted, and after the major struggles of the characters. When I first picked up the book, I thought I’d somehow missed the first book in the series, and this was a sequel. The first book in a series shouldn’t require you to read an entirely different series just to understand what’s going on.
Eventually, after many chapters, I picked up on what was going on overall in the story, even though I didn’t have any real understanding of the characters or what led them to that point. Even having read the book, there are still characters I can’t identify – no idea who they are, their gender, or what part they play in the story – and that’s a huge problem.
Once I sunk into the story, it was fine. I liked Celie. I found her vampire companions interesting. The romance was rather lackluster, but I liked the lore… but the ending? It sucked. It felt like the story ended too soon and inconclusive. There was no resolution, and no further explanation as to who was still alive after the big fight, and what happened to them. There was only a brief and unsatisfying glimpse into Celie’s condition after the end… and I mean brief… and that was it. The story was over. There were no confessions of love. No real hope for the future and what that might look like. All Celie’s feelings were gone – invalidated by the last page.
In the end, I’m glad I read the story, but I wish I’d picked up the previous series first… and even then, I don’t know that I’d have enjoyed it more because of the ending. I probably won’t pick up the next book in the series because the way the story ended doesn’t feel good, and it doesn’t make me want to continue reading.
Author Unpublished 