A review by bubblewombat
Crimson Hunter: A Red Riding Hood Reimagining by N.D. Jones
4.0
In a world where female children are born witches and male children born werewolves, a pair of them falls in love and tries their best to make it work.
Oriana isn't just a witch but also a Matriarch ruler and a Crimson Hunter. Marrok is her chosen mate and a black wrewolf. No one is very optimistic about their union as werewolves have an intense hunger for the blood and magic of witches and ultimately end up leaving their mates to protect them...or worse.
It's Oriana's mission to make witches and werewolves equal but there's people on both sides who aren't making it easy for her. After all, in the past it was werewolves who ruled over witches and now that the tables have turned why would anyone life a hand to help?
One of the ways the werewolves are subdued is by wearing special collars that trigger a calming effect when the wolf starts to get riled up. Occasionally, those who couldn't control their hunger and tasted a witch's blood got turned into feral white werewolves who lost all sense of who they were before. They're mostly isolated from everyone else...until they aren't.
The book took me a while to get into, but it got much more interesting after 35% or so. I didn't get immediately attached to the characters like I did in some other N. D. Jones books I read but they eventually grew on me. Keira is my favourite and Zed the most annoying.
I liked the metal inclusion, that was a nice touch. And the glossary, the map and the illustrations were awesome too. It didn't feel very Little Red Riding Hood-ish but that's fine.
The ending was very satisfying, I almost thought it wouldn't work but it did. I'd like to think all the relationships got repaired post ending though.
I enjoyed this story, it was a welcome escape from the real world.
*Thank you to Booksirens for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Oriana isn't just a witch but also a Matriarch ruler and a Crimson Hunter. Marrok is her chosen mate and a black wrewolf. No one is very optimistic about their union as werewolves have an intense hunger for the blood and magic of witches and ultimately end up leaving their mates to protect them...or worse.
It's Oriana's mission to make witches and werewolves equal but there's people on both sides who aren't making it easy for her. After all, in the past it was werewolves who ruled over witches and now that the tables have turned why would anyone life a hand to help?
One of the ways the werewolves are subdued is by wearing special collars that trigger a calming effect when the wolf starts to get riled up. Occasionally, those who couldn't control their hunger and tasted a witch's blood got turned into feral white werewolves who lost all sense of who they were before. They're mostly isolated from everyone else...until they aren't.
The book took me a while to get into, but it got much more interesting after 35% or so. I didn't get immediately attached to the characters like I did in some other N. D. Jones books I read but they eventually grew on me. Keira is my favourite and Zed the most annoying.
I liked the metal inclusion, that was a nice touch. And the glossary, the map and the illustrations were awesome too. It didn't feel very Little Red Riding Hood-ish but that's fine.
The ending was very satisfying, I almost thought it wouldn't work but it did. I'd like to think all the relationships got repaired post ending though.
I enjoyed this story, it was a welcome escape from the real world.
*Thank you to Booksirens for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*