Review: Emblaze by Jessica Shirvington

Emblaze

Jessica Shirvington

(The Violet Eden Chapters #3)

Publication Date: March 5, 2013

Hardcover, 464 pages, Sourcebooks Fire

Genres: YA, Paranormal

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Once again Violet Eden faces an impossible choice ... and the consequences are unimaginable.

Violet has come to terms with the fact that being part angel, part human, means her life will never be as it was.

Now Violet has something Phoenix - the exiled angel who betrayed her - will do anything for, and she has no intention of letting it fall into his hands. The only problem is that he has something she needs too.

Not afraid to raise the stakes, Phoenix seemingly holds all the power, always one step ahead. And when he puts the final pieces of the prophecy together, it doesn't take him long to realise exactly who he needs in order to open the gates of Hell.

With the help of surprising new allies, ancient prophecies are deciphered, a destination set and, after a shattering confrontation with her father, Violet leaves for the islands of Greece without knowing if she will have a home to return to...

My Review

I am slowly, but surely making my way through this series, and, thankfully, each book is getting easier and more enjoyable to read as the series progresses. Emblaze was definitely better than the second book both plot- and character-wise. It seems like the plot is finding its purpose and the characters are getting more personality.

While I did have fun reading some of this book, it did have quite a few issues. I’ve been complaining throughout this series that Violet seems immature, and I still think that. Her personality reminds me of a 12-year-old, not a 17-year-old. Not all the time, just whenever she’s having high emotional moments, especially ones with her dad or Lincoln. It also makes her dialogue a tad cringey too. Again, not always, but more often than I’d like. But thankfully, Lincoln is stepping up. I’ve been worried Lincoln would just be the good-looking boy who never gets to actually do anything, but he’s finally contributing to the plot. Yay!

One thing that did really start to bother me in this book was the way Shirvington writes. She makes it seem like you’re missing something while reading. It’s hard to explain, but there’s just some emotion, thought, or even plot point that simply wasn’t explained very well. This happened multiple times throughout the book. I found myself rereading certain scenes, simply to make sure I hadn’t zoned out or skipped over something. I hadn’t. It’s just something that Shirvington does, and it’s rather confuzzling. I wish I’d had the foresight to bookmark a passage, so I could provide an example. *sigh* Oh well…

Although I’m harping on this one, Emblaze did start out really good. I was honestly surprised by how much I was enjoying it at first. But then, it went awry towards the end with some developments that weren’t thoroughly explained. Though, I did enjoy how Lincoln and Violet’s relationship played out, and I’m intrigued to see what happens with their bond. I do wish Shirvington could make her dialogue a little less mushy and angsty, however. The angst should be in the exposition and narration, not the dialogue. Let the characters stare longingly at each other, not blurt out super long sentences and declarations of love in moments of crisis. Those kinds of scenes are eye-roll inducing.

All in all, I liked most of Emblaze. It’s definitely an early 2010s paranormal YA series, and boy, does it read like it. I’ll continue to read books four and five for personal reasons, but I’m not sure I would recommend this series for others unless they’re a younger teen reader. Older teens might get frustrated with Violet’s narration style and dialogue.

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.