Hunted
- Jan 3, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 18
Heaven Realm Chronicles, Book One
by Mila Young
"Little Red Riding Hood. Three Big Bad Wolves. A Poisonous Scheme.
Scarlet, a healer, lives nestled in the forest surrounded by humans on one side and wolves on the other. But when a rogue wolf attacks her, she's rescued by another pack and taken deep into their den to perform her healing magic on an injured Alpha.
The wolves in the forest are under threat from a mysterious affliction, and Scarlet is the only hope they have left. Faced with a mixed pack of threatened shifters, Scarlet must use her wits and magic to survive and unravel the strange affliction now affecting the wolves... All while trying to navigate an overpowering attraction to not just one, but three of the Alphas."
My first book of 2021. Ironically not part of The Project.
I did not like this book. The ending, man...
It started out OK - or about how I expect this kind of book to be. It was a bit different, with a pretty original world and plot at the start. I mean, wasn't that great, maybe a generous 3 stars, but it was fine - until the very end.
It was just SUCH a bad ending. Everything was wrapped up too quickly with easy, super-convenient solutions to all the problems. And it just... ruined it completely.
SPOILER TIME!
The main issue throughout the book has been that one of the packs (the closest one, belonging to the territory in which they are most of the book) has gone crazy and are attacking each other because of some poison / spell in the river, which is their main water source.
So here's my first problem with the ending:
The FL finds her grandma's book with recipes with a "Cure for TOXIC water". And it just seems to be a magic cure-all for any contaminated water, I guess? Without them ever actually needing to find out what kind of poison/spell was put in the water to begin with - which is a huge let-down since the FL has been conducting experiments to find this out.
Right after she finds this cure-all, she's kidnapped by the priestess and her henchmen (the main antagonist, and the one who's also behind the water plotline). In no time at all, FL is rescued by her mates and the priestess is killed.
And they brought wolves from another pack. I don't really get how: I know the pack belonged to one of the other mates - but how did they have time to get them? I think they live further away, on the other side of the territory of the closest mate's pack. Was this ever explained? If so, I missed it. Anyway - to me - it was, like, magic back-up. Super convenient!
In the middle of all this, FL has found out she's actually half-werewolf, and the priestess was also the one who killed her parents. Which solves a bunch of other problems.
I could have lived with the other stuff, it's not entirely abnormal for this kind of book, but the thing that killed me, and actually triggers me a bit, is this last one.
Because one of the guys had this HUGE issue with her being human. Because he was betrayed by a human love-interest in the past, he doesn't want to be mates with FL. Which is, I mean, kind of ridiculous on his part, but still an issue they would have had to overcome to be together - IF IT DIDN'T TURN OUT SHE'S ACTUALLY A SHIFTER! Gah! Suddenly everything is fine. He just apologizes for calling her VILE, and then they have sex. I mean...
And he was supposed to look after her and treat her INJURIES, but goes straight to f***ing her. ALL of it is just super cringey.
Oh, I almost forgot! Another issue the FL has been thinking about through the whole book: They're three alphas, with their own packs and territories, and then she has her (kind of) pharmacy/medicine store: Where will they live?
But, as it turns out - they ALREADY have a HUGE house in where the 3 territories meet, for SOME reason. And it's not even an idea to build a house so they can all live together, it's already there!
Gah, I'm so mad! They didn't have to solve a single one of the major issues themselves (except killing the priestess, but that was SO rushed). And all of these magic fixes came one after the other in some bizarre snow-balling, right at the very end. Did the author reach some specific word-count and just gave up? What happened?
I'm so disappointed. Another ending, and I would have actually liked this book, but you're killing me with this.
⭐
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