(The Violet Eden Chapters #3)
Publication
Date: March 5, 2013
Hardcover, 464 pages, Sourcebooks Fire
Genres:
YA, Paranormal
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.
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