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A review by paigebars
Scarlet Princess by Robin D. Mahle, Elle Madison
3.0
I was going to DNF because the MMC is bland and kind of cringe to be honest. No "olive skinned" 6 foot 200 pound warrior is going to BLUSH because a girl is flirting with him. First of all, I've never seen a real human in my life blush, let alone a TAN man. Like how would that even work?
However, it was well worth it to stick it out for book two because
Another annoying thing, that did not get better but apparently is just par for the course in fantasy nowadays, is that Rowan, a 5 foot tall 100~ pound girl with NO SPECIAL POWERS TO ENHANCE HER STRENGTH, can wield a sword better than some of the most viciously trained warriors in Socair. Not sure why this is such a common trope, but it's unrealistic and takes me out of the story. Ok, if her fae blood gives her enhanced strength, sure, but it doesn't. Being a fantasy novel does not mean you do away with all sense of reality - a 5' 100 lbs princess would not be able to wield a broadsword well enough to take out a highly trained 6'+ 200 lbs+ SOLDIER.
The only thing worth it in this series is the romance, imo. It's slow burn and really well done. Unfortunately, the plot is not super interesting and it begins to drag at the end of book 2. I'd say reading 1-2 and skimming 3-4 is worth it to me.
However, it was well worth it to stick it out for book two because
Spoiler
Theo is NOT the MMC, Evander is. And while Evander is written like a kind of skeezy ass in the first book, it's just to subvert expectations and he is 100x better than Theo book 2.Another annoying thing, that did not get better but apparently is just par for the course in fantasy nowadays, is that Rowan, a 5 foot tall 100~ pound girl with NO SPECIAL POWERS TO ENHANCE HER STRENGTH, can wield a sword better than some of the most viciously trained warriors in Socair. Not sure why this is such a common trope, but it's unrealistic and takes me out of the story. Ok, if her fae blood gives her enhanced strength, sure, but it doesn't. Being a fantasy novel does not mean you do away with all sense of reality - a 5' 100 lbs princess would not be able to wield a broadsword well enough to take out a highly trained 6'+ 200 lbs+ SOLDIER.
The only thing worth it in this series is the romance, imo. It's slow burn and really well done. Unfortunately, the plot is not super interesting and it begins to drag at the end of book 2. I'd say reading 1-2 and skimming 3-4 is worth it to me.