Ensnared by Rita Stradling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
[I received an ARC from the Author, as part of a LibraryThing giveaway, in exchange for a review.]
I have read a couple of Rita’s earlier works, which I loved so it was natural that my interest was piqued when I saw her latest work and I jumped at the chance of reading her book.
As much as it is a retelling of beauty and the beast (Is it me or are there too many of these coming up recently esp on beauty and the beast?), I liked the futuristic take on the fairy tale as it gives a nice twist to the story.
The initial pages caught my attention and kept me hooked for some time, though certain sections did make me pause and read them over once more as either there was a break in the action or the narrative felt off. There was a reference to Alainn being away and coming back… but from where is not mentioned, until much later.
As I progressed, I was able to match pace with the story, though I felt that there were a lot of ups and down in the action that was happening. There would be a pause in the narrative and a different thread would be picked upon and taken forward. The whole mountain section when Rose steps out of her window needs a once over. There’s something there that disturbs the flow. Same goes for the detailed description of Lorccan’s tower where the flow again breaks a few times and left me confused a bit. The voice leading Alaine around the house or giving her directions, especially phrases like ‘come this way’ were left hanging. Come this way … how.. Is there a 3D projection of a life-size Rose, leading the way or are signs flashing around the walls telling her where to go. This section would require a little more information on how Alainn was being led around the house with the voice asking her to take a left or a right or turn around the corner and walk up the stairs, kind of, which would sound more practical and probable.
The sex scene definitely raised an eyebrow… one minute you have Lorccan writhing in pain on the floor, screaming cause he is living a nightmare and in a wink he is awake and his hand is up her dress and he wants to roll around with her or in her. I mean—what the heck!
As I said earlier, there are a few highs and lows in the story. The high point for me was the rescue scene and the fight scene— this is an intense action scene and the excitement rubs off on you. Post the rescue, the story slightly dips into the daily routine of the characters and I began to wonder where it was going.
The dramatic closing caught me by surprise as it sort of concluded the story, which I had begun to think, should have ended a few pages back. A lot of things get explained here and most of the questions that rose earlier are answered. The end was nice, sweet and sterile.
Good work with a potential for becoming great. I would highly recommend the author for one more round of editing.
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