A review by linnybear
Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

 I think the author had a wonderful idea for this novel, I loved how each part is separated by roses representing each rose Lilith gives to Vale, I loved the setting of a plagued human lands and a dangerous forbidden love between human and a vampire but at the same time this book felt way too short to establish any form of connection between two main characters that didn’t feel artificial. Compared to Oraya and Raihn from book one, Lilith and Vale didn’t have that much in common and instead were initially drawn together by a sheer force of fate called ‘the author’s imagination’. I also can’t say I liked them as individual characters, I’ve spent too little time with them to fully understand them and their attraction. I think the entire story as well as their relationship unfortunately lacked that sort of depth we could get in a full length novel (but I guess we had enough time for a whole chapter of smut, right?).

I was also hoping for some insight into human lives away from Obitraes and Nyaxia’s power but didn’t get much of that. I think it’s a lost opportunity to not introduce the whole White Pantheon, show their qualities and sort of compare them to Nyaxia in this installment especially given ‘the plague’ and how it was caused by one of the gods. 

Not disappointed by the writing though, I think Carissa Broadbent has a way to write so much emotions and chemistry into characters even when seemingly there shouldn’t be that much there (seriously there’s one chapter around 50% mark when I suddenly was overwhelmed by Lilith’s words and how beautiful they were, given how one chapter earlier I didn’t feel any of that). I don't think about time with this book as really wasted, to be honest I oddly enjoyed it while acknowledging it didn't hold the standard of the first book at the same time. Definitely skippable piece if you are only interested in the main storyline of the series but short enough to give it a try if you need more. 
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