Review by Katie Blackmore -- The Scarlet Queen:
Posted: 22 Apr 2021, 15:10
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Scarlet Queen:" by Mitch Reinhardt.]
The Scarlet Queen is the third book in the Darkwolf Saga by Mitch Reinhardt. Jane, Sawyer, and Geoff are coming of age, modern-day teenagers that are transported from their reality into the magical land of Alluria filled with elves, dwarves, knights, and more. They find themselves expected to fulfil a prophecy to save Alluria from Queen Lysis, the Scarlet Queen. Jane is captured by the vampire Shadowlord, Zorn, and the Scarlet Queen’s subordinate. With the help of two elves, Arial and Ishara, Sawyer and Geoff finally manage to rescue Jane. Even though Jane is safely back, they realise that she has been bitten by the Shadowlord and this is turning her into a dark druid that will be completely controlled by him and ultimately, the Scarlet Queen. Sawyer, Geoff, Ariel, and Ishara fight to save Jane from turning before it is too late, all the while trying to stop the Scarlet Queen’s attempts to take over Alluria, leaving death and destruction in her path. Will they be able to save Jane in time, or will they have to do the unthinkable and end her life? Will they be able to stop the powerful Scarlet Queen and her dark soldier's advance when they are outnumbered fifty to one and there are obstacles in every direction? It is an epic battle to the death where only one side may stand, light or dark. Find out in this exciting and thrilling adventure.
I appreciated that Mitch Reinhardt filled the gaps in information, allowing for me to easily follow the story without having read the previous two novels in the series. He gives detailed descriptions of the land and events, allowing the reader to vividly imagine the story. The multiple events going on at the same time and unexpected turns every few pages made the book exciting and a definite page-turner. I enjoyed that the children didn’t arrive masters of their skills but have to struggle and fail in order to learn. This gives a sense of reality. I felt the strongest part of the book was the beginning where Jane is struggling with the darkness raging inside her.
There were a couple of aspects I did not like about the book. The first is that I felt that there were too many main characters that led to the characters being inadequately developed. Ariel had the most development (which is interesting as you would think it would be the 3 children), followed by Jane and Sawyer. Geoff had very little development and Ishara had none, which is a pity as I feel both of these had great potential. The Scarlet Queen also had no development and was painted as a cliché one-dimensional evil character. It would have added so much depth to the book if the queen was multifaceted with dreams, fears, and reasons for her choices. Though it was exciting, I found that there were too many battles / near-death experiences which lead to the battles being too short and choppy (e.g. the important battle between the Shadowlord and Alex). This reduces the severity and impact of the situation. It would have been far better to have fewer battles more detailed and drawn out so that the reader could really get invested and wonder if the character will make it out alive. Lastly, I found that the plot was a little too similar to Narnia (human children get transported to a magical land to defeat the evil queen that is taking over the magical realm). I realise that there were previous books and a book to follow that may resolve the issues I put forward, I really do hope more will be revealed in the other books in the series.
I rate The Scarlet Queen 3 out of 4 stars. This book was professionally edited as there were very few errors found. The author did an amazing job at transporting the reader to the fantasy world of Alluria without the need to read the previous books. The book was a page-turner with an exciting and unexpected twist on every page and I enjoyed reading it. I’m taking a star away because I found there was not enough character development of the protagonists and antagonist, the many battles resulted in them feeling stunted and losing impact. I also found the plot clichéd.
I would recommend this book to anyone from teens to young adults who enjoy fantasy and adventure with a sprinkle of romance.
******
The Scarlet Queen:
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Scarlet Queen is the third book in the Darkwolf Saga by Mitch Reinhardt. Jane, Sawyer, and Geoff are coming of age, modern-day teenagers that are transported from their reality into the magical land of Alluria filled with elves, dwarves, knights, and more. They find themselves expected to fulfil a prophecy to save Alluria from Queen Lysis, the Scarlet Queen. Jane is captured by the vampire Shadowlord, Zorn, and the Scarlet Queen’s subordinate. With the help of two elves, Arial and Ishara, Sawyer and Geoff finally manage to rescue Jane. Even though Jane is safely back, they realise that she has been bitten by the Shadowlord and this is turning her into a dark druid that will be completely controlled by him and ultimately, the Scarlet Queen. Sawyer, Geoff, Ariel, and Ishara fight to save Jane from turning before it is too late, all the while trying to stop the Scarlet Queen’s attempts to take over Alluria, leaving death and destruction in her path. Will they be able to save Jane in time, or will they have to do the unthinkable and end her life? Will they be able to stop the powerful Scarlet Queen and her dark soldier's advance when they are outnumbered fifty to one and there are obstacles in every direction? It is an epic battle to the death where only one side may stand, light or dark. Find out in this exciting and thrilling adventure.
I appreciated that Mitch Reinhardt filled the gaps in information, allowing for me to easily follow the story without having read the previous two novels in the series. He gives detailed descriptions of the land and events, allowing the reader to vividly imagine the story. The multiple events going on at the same time and unexpected turns every few pages made the book exciting and a definite page-turner. I enjoyed that the children didn’t arrive masters of their skills but have to struggle and fail in order to learn. This gives a sense of reality. I felt the strongest part of the book was the beginning where Jane is struggling with the darkness raging inside her.
There were a couple of aspects I did not like about the book. The first is that I felt that there were too many main characters that led to the characters being inadequately developed. Ariel had the most development (which is interesting as you would think it would be the 3 children), followed by Jane and Sawyer. Geoff had very little development and Ishara had none, which is a pity as I feel both of these had great potential. The Scarlet Queen also had no development and was painted as a cliché one-dimensional evil character. It would have added so much depth to the book if the queen was multifaceted with dreams, fears, and reasons for her choices. Though it was exciting, I found that there were too many battles / near-death experiences which lead to the battles being too short and choppy (e.g. the important battle between the Shadowlord and Alex). This reduces the severity and impact of the situation. It would have been far better to have fewer battles more detailed and drawn out so that the reader could really get invested and wonder if the character will make it out alive. Lastly, I found that the plot was a little too similar to Narnia (human children get transported to a magical land to defeat the evil queen that is taking over the magical realm). I realise that there were previous books and a book to follow that may resolve the issues I put forward, I really do hope more will be revealed in the other books in the series.
I rate The Scarlet Queen 3 out of 4 stars. This book was professionally edited as there were very few errors found. The author did an amazing job at transporting the reader to the fantasy world of Alluria without the need to read the previous books. The book was a page-turner with an exciting and unexpected twist on every page and I enjoyed reading it. I’m taking a star away because I found there was not enough character development of the protagonists and antagonist, the many battles resulted in them feeling stunted and losing impact. I also found the plot clichéd.
I would recommend this book to anyone from teens to young adults who enjoy fantasy and adventure with a sprinkle of romance.
******
The Scarlet Queen:
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
. If you like fantasy, it definitely is 
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