A review by sayvilahsiav
Scarlet Princess by Elle Madison, Robin D. Mahle

adventurous funny hopeful tense fast-paced

3.5

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review is a Read-Along Review (I've reviewed the book as I read it) and pretty much SPOILER-FREE! (Minor Spoilers only).

Contents
  • First Impression
  • Little things I appreciate
    • The Scarlet in The Title
    • The Dresses
    • Stars
    • Friendship with Mila
    • Princess Rowan's Character
    • World Building
  • Things I didn't enjoy
    • The romance
    • The characters
    • Bonus
  • Final Impression
    • The Last Chapters
    • Summary

FIRST IMPRESSION

Scarlet Princess starts with quoted lines from one of my favourite songs - Runaway by Aurora. That gives me a gist of what I might be in for. I start expecting an adventure here. As I read the prologue, I get exactly that. Princess Scarlet seems to be on run but from what? Or who? Before we can find that out, she's caught.

I like the fact that there is no mention of any Prince Charming in the very first pages.  I like good romance in my books but I don't like to jump to it directly. I want to hear some backstory and Scarlet Princess gives me exactly that. So far so good.

Enter Prince Charming.

And oh the handsome devil does make a sinister entry.  Seems like the Princess and the cousin have done a capital crime. That's what our Prince Charming Laird Theodore says. Now if you're smarty pants, you know that nobody is dying just yet. But I dooooo sense an enemies-to-lovers trope and I am so excited!

LITTLE THINGS I APPRECIATE

The Scarlet in The Title

Until the second chapter, I thought Scarlet was the name of the Princess. It's not. That's fine but what disappointed me was that she wasn't the only princess with red hair. In fact, her sisters had even curls like her along with the same red colour. This was disappointing because it just made me feel like any of them could be addressed as the Scarlet Princess. So what unique value did that title bring?

I realized later that during Princess Rowan's stay at Elk Clan, she was the only one with red hair. And she was a princess. Hence the Scarlet Princess. It seems fitting now.

However, I still think this book could be named something else.

The Dresses

In their texts, the authors have successfully described how complex and intricate the Socairan dresses are. I can feel the suffocation through the description.

The details weren't as good as that mentioned in a fairly similar book The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller but they came close.

Later in the book, we saw Princess Rowan wearing another kind of dresses which I wish I had the talent to draw!

The suffocating dresses weren't just for show, however, as they added to the story when more than once, they helped ease the tense atmosphere.

Stars

In Shadowhunters, they'd say "By the Angel". In Lochlann Feuds, they say, "Stars". This is unique and Intriguing. I wonder what it means. I suspect it has to do with astrology. Were there Astrologers during Lochlann times? What is their importance, if yes?

I figure I'd be able to check that out if I read The Lochlann Treaty series by the same authors.

Friendship with Mila

Among the entire squad of Princess-Haters, I was glad to find someone who was friendly with her from the beginning of their relationship. Princess Rowan met Mila at The Summit. (The Summit decides the fate of the princess. I would not spoil the book for you by detailing the subject:)

Mila was the first one to openly call her the Scarlet Princess. I look forward to their relationship progressing in the next books. (Oh, did I not mention? It's a series and I'm hoping for the second book soon!)

Princess Rowan's Character

Last but not least, I've a separate section for this as I think the princess deserves a distinctive focus. I feel that she was the only character written in-depth. I liked her really much. She is fierce and fiery like her hair. It suits her. She is unlike other girls in Socair (but not unlike book heroines). 

I liked her forwardness. It reminded me of Alessandra from The Shadows Between Us. However, I strongly feel Alessandra was a much better (but not the best) character. The reason probably being Rowan's character influenced by Clarie from Outlander.

Yet she was pretty sassy and I enjoyed that. What for her amusing terms like arseling for Lord Evander to the de-stars-damned-mure, a play on the word demure, a vital trait required in  Socairan women! Oof.

She reminds me of a song by Caylee Hammack perfectly fitting for a Scarlet Princess:
God made the blondes, black-haired, and the brunettes
Devil dropped in said, "I don't think you're done yet"
Let's make a compromise, make an angel backslide
So they chipped in, and they made a little redhead 

Rowan's an astounding character! Despite being caught in the land of the foe, she takes time to truly look around. She strives to understand why things are the way they are, all the while being surrounded by those who believe red-hair is cursed.

Her fight scene is especially impressive. I almost expected that to happen yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. As you read it, you'd understand that it was a pivotal scene in the story.

However, like her father said, she couldn't go five minutes without doing something stupid. She does live up to her reputation until the end. Many would say that the character is stupid and lacking but I only think that this very trait gave Rowan the naturality much needed in a lead.

The story hence is all about how a reckless princess survives the culture shock and save her life. I applaud the authors for this one.

World Building

The world of Socairns and Lochalnns is a pretty intricate one. What with their laws and regulations. The unclanned also bring in flavor to the world. I'm reasonably satisfied with Lochlann universe and wish to read more of it.

THINGS I DIDN'T ENJOY

The romance

While I was looking forward to an enemies-to-lovers dark romance, I didn't really get the feels of it as we progress in the book.  Scarlet Princess had undertones of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I figured the authors were aiming for a couple like Jamie and Claire. First off, I have mixed feelings about that ship, to begin with. However, in the setting of Outlander, it seemed fitting. What went wrong here I feel is that  Jamie and Claire weren't enemies-to-lovers (e2l). They were friends from the start. One could convert that into e2l but I feel the authors did not do it efficiently enough.

Our Princess Rowan and Prince Charming Lord Theodore started off nice and I was looking forward to how it'd develop but along the way, the flow was somehow lost. Lord Theodore wasn't dark enough to be a morally grey character and hence be one of the enemies in the e2l. If I had to really stretch it, I'd say he was pretty light grey but only at the very beginning.

Moreover, when they actually came together, the confession didn't make much sense. I couldn't figure out at what point exactly did they start liking each other. Frankly, there weren't any strong moments between them until then at least.

On a side note, I felt that Lord Evander could have been a better suitor. A true enemy but much charming he was.

Like I said before, I was very excited about it, but now I'm fairly disappointed. This is where I subtract half star as this is something that cannot even be fixed in the later books.

And seriously? In-love within a week?

Love-at-first-sight is my biggest pet peeve! As I have stated in my review of The Sun is Also A Star, "that term is so wrong really. Like attraction-at-first-sight or like-at-first-sight, is okay. That’s natural. Biological. But Love-at-first-sight is misleading. That never happens. Not literally."

Following bonus part contains a huge spoiler of both Scarlet Princess and Outlander so read at your own risk.


The Marriage Proposition

Bluntly, I really hated this. It felt like cheating. Okay so hear me out, in Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, a similar thing happened. Jamie and his clan proposed marriage to Claire to save her from the English army who were after her. She reluctantly agreed. But in her case, it totally started as friends helping out each other. It was undertsandable. (They did ruin it by having a wedding night which was UGH!) But now in this, it's just such an uncomfortable situation. I just cannot imagine it in any way. For Jamie and Claire, there was hope for falling in love after marriage but here they are just in love already, more like attracted and not actually in love because they still hardly know each other and it's hardly been two stars-damned weeks! Why-oh-why would you do that... This wasn't creative, nope, nope. This is a plain turn-off for me and this is why another star from my rating is gone. It's just that, I reeeallly like Rowan and Theodore isn't bad either but gosh their relationship is giving me creeps. It's so very unnatural in every way and I cannot just bear it. I just wish I could delete that part of the story entirely. Maybe then Rowan would have a chance with Evander? Yes, yes?

BUT anyway, I'm an optimistic person so here goes something of an idea: Now that what's done is done and the ugly romance element is fulfilled, I'm praying to the stars and storms that the story focuses on our heroine and her battles and becomes less of Outlander. That would be ammmaazing. So pretty please, dear Authors? Speaking of, I know I have been a bit meany here and I didn't want to sound rude, just that I had to express my total distaste for this one element in the nearly perfectly entertaining story. I have high hopes for you both and I truly look forward to reading the rest of the series. So do try to fix these things in the next books? I'm rooting for you!!


The characters

Except for Rowan's and Mila's character, I enjoyed none others truly. They weren't deep enough and I see no valuable development. I cannot really feel any strong connections among the characters in the story. I feel like it may fare better to include more Lochlann characters as they sounded richer than  Socairan characters, which were just different shades of the same colour (except Lord Evander).

But to be fair, I'd better judge the characters at the series end and not at the book's end as there's much hope for them. They have a lot of potentials and I look forward to experiencing that.

FINAL IMPRESSION

The Last Chapters

OMGOMGOMG!! The last chapters are completely mind-blowing!! Like I will not tell you what happens because gosh that would just be a majoooorrr spoiler but stars be damned, you gotta read this book! It is so thrilllling by the end and makes up for the disappointment just before! Like this is where I change my star rating to 3.5 instead of 3 because really really it is worth it! Go ahead and read it, I promise you won't be disappointed by it.


Mini Spoiler: It has to do with LORD EVANDER, the big bad enemy of the book!


Authhorsss, when next book?? (BTW It is called "Tranished Crown"! I'm excited for the cover reveal even!!)

Summary

Princess Rowan is an astonishing character laced with a flare of recklessness and fearlessness. She's a feisty redhead who has the bravery to rebel but not the brains to preserve. Everything was good and there was some very disappointing parts, too. However, it was the end that blew my mind! I totally did not see that coming. I don't like the Outlander undertone of the book. I'm hoping that it'd be fixed in the next books and the story would be naturally Lochlannian and Socairn instead of Outlandish. (Which if the last chapters are any suggestion, it very much might be!) 

The romance is more of forbidden love than enemies to lovers which was very much of a disappointment. The characters Mila and Davin are fairly entertaining however we don't get to see a great lot of either, which I wish would change in the next books. (Also I'm totallllly shipping Rowander. I might finally get my enemies-to-lovers!). The writing style was pretty impressive. The world-building was crafty. The story wasn't enthralling but it surely was an entertaining experience. It definitely is fast-paced and the perfect length for me. 

I would love to read more from Robin D. Mahle and Elle Madison in the hopes that this time they deliver a more rich experience. Tell me what do you think of the book. I welcome similar recommendations and your thoughts even if they don't align with mine.

Thank you for reading, have a good day!