2 out of 4 stars
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Chasing the Red Queen by Karen Glista Book Review
Donja Bellanger is a typical teenage girl; she had a boyfriend, a best friend, however her life is far from ideal. Forced to move after her mother’s marriage to an old haunted house and share a room with her super glamorous step sister, leaving her friends and cheating ex-boyfriend behind. On her 18th birthday she is given a makeover from goth to glam and taken to an exclusive nightclub by her step sister. It is here a whole new world is opened to Donja beginning with her intense attraction to the mysterious Torin. Torin is an immortal Iridescent, a vampire like creature, on the hunt for a serial killing Iridescent who kills and rapes women with Chippewa blood. This just happens to be Donja’s heritage, which she knows little about due to her grandparents refusal to share information and through the book we discover the killer Iridescent wants Donja’s bloodline for a more nefarious reason. Torin continues to protect Donja while fighting his desire for her due to his past history with his dead wife; however neither can halt the flow of love for one another.
Paranormal romance is my favourite genre of book so I was excited to read Chasing the Red Queen. I liked Donja’s backstory and the relationship she developed with her step sister. The intense attraction between Donja and Torin was exciting to read, the sexual tension simmered from the pages. Karen Glista has written a brilliant villain who the reader would love to hate throughout the book. I enjoy any story with the focus on the lead heroine, as the bad guys were after Donja it ensured she remained the focal point for at least some of the book. The action scenes were also thrilling and made me want to continue reading.
The book provided an interesting twist to the typical vampire romance with its incorporation of Native American mythology. However it actually took some time to get into the book; I did not like how the story jumped in perspective and believe it should have been told only from Donja’s point of view and possibly Torin’s as well. The plot about the Chippewa, the Iridescent origins and the Red Queen was a little confusing with more of a fleshier explanation needed. Nevertheless my main problem is with the characters and their relationships. I did not feel like I could root for Donja and her relationship with Torin went from lust to love pretty quickly. It seemed Torin was still in love with his dead wife yet he and Donja did not have a full discussion about this; it was more of a throwaway comment about it. Torin also seemed to be lusting after any attractive female that appeared in the story. I really disliked the arrival of Donja’s grandmother and how she suddenly looked the same age as a teenager, went from being terrified to loving her Iridescent in the space of a millisecond and became one of the lead protagonists of the story. Donja's whole family turning into Iridescents was also a tad strange; especially being turned by the Iridescent who loved her gran since she was literally a child.
I believe this book would appeal to those who like vampire books, along with Native American mythology. This book should be aimed at a young adult audience due to the lead characters young age and some sexual language as well as content. However it will not appeal to those who dislike paranormal romance books.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. This rating is due to the spelling and grammatical errors throughout the book, along with how often the plot jumped and relationships being rushed. I did enjoy the connection between the main characters, the action scenes and the twist on the typical vampire book.
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Chasing The Red Queen
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