"The Lady Rogue"

“The Lady Rogue”

Written by Jenn Bennett

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

“The Lady Rogue” is a mystifying adventure, spanning through Transylvania, Romania, Bulgaria, and other countries in Europe during the 40s. Our main characters are Theodora and Huck, who are searching to find Theodora’s father and the ring of Vlad the Impaler. Theodora’s father has been on his own adventure searching for the ring, but Theodora jumps in when she suspects that her father is in danger.

Told in first person from Theodora and diary entries from her father, the story is reminiscent of many adventurous journey stories. Theodora reminds me of a female Indiana Jones, a smart and cunning hero.

In this story, we experience crazy characters, great fight scenes, and interesting folklore. The main thing that I had felt disappointed with is that there are small sprinklings of horror and fantasy, but this is more like a Dan Brown mystery thriller than anything else. I was hoping for vampires, creatures, a little bit of Van Helsing-like missions.

Additionally, I was not invested in the love interest, her best friend Huck. He was cute and charming, but the romance felt unnecessary to the story line.

The conclusion of this story felt very rushed and simple. I was absolutely hoping for so much more, but in leaving room for a future sequel, the climax and conclusion of the story were lacking. I appreciated the final large boss battle and the reveal of the true villain, but I was not truly happy with the conclusion.

In conclusion, I still enjoyed this novel. This was a fun and entertaining story to read over two nights. I would happily read more books in this series, but if it does not continue to be a series, I would not consider re-reading this story. It does not work as purely a standalone.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for reading and reviewing purposes.