Official Review: Embellished by Karen Glista

jamesabr · Post by **jamesabr** » 12 Feb 2017, 22:18

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Embellished" by Karen Glista.]

3 out of 4 stars

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When Bekka, her brother Travis, and his friends become the main characters of their own fantasy world, life becomes risky and potentially enchanting. After years of being critically ill with Marfan syndrome, Bekka gains a chance to know what life outside IV tubes are for the first time. As the men of this fantasy world become enchanted by her, a war may break out over one decision: marry Vallas, an honored human prince, or marry a prince of the notoriously hated Vadarc race?

Embellished is the first novel of the Orian trilogy, written by Karen Glista. It begins by introducing Travis, Bekka, and Travis’s friends in Galveston, Texas. Travis is a few days away from attending college, while Bekka, suffering from Marfans syndrome, rests in critical condition. Upon playing a fantasy game with Travis and his friends, she enjoys living through her character until the hurricane storm zaps the whole group out of the modern world and into Orian, the world of their game.

As far as the romance is concerned, this book is very well pieced together. The love triangle between Vallas, Bekka, and Randar becomes gritty, with both male’s tactics hitting hard without them having to directly contact each other until the middle of the story. Some background characters even develop alongside the main characters, which kept the first plot interesting.

The world of Orian is very well created, with interesting races of people and species of animals being utilized for the plot’s progression. The manner in which each kingdom conducts itself is reminiscent of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The rituals are well orchestrated throughout to separate the royalty from the commoners and slaves, resulting in a fascinating array of cultures.

The end of the book surprised me, but I welcomed it. I didn’t expect the worse from this book, and Glista wrote it masterfully to avoid cliché routes that could’ve thrown off the entire story. The last fifty pages of the novel managed to be a quick read more so than the rest of the book because I knew all of the characters involved by that point. It also provided more depth to characters that I admittedly thought were going to be less than three dimensional.

I gladly rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I would’ve given it a rating of 4 if there weren’t so many comma splices and grammatical errors. It is very much a romance novel, but the sexual moments are grounded in the question of the existence of true love rather than explicit romps between two characters. Because of this, as well as the setting of Orian, I recommend Embellished for Fantasy and Romance novel enthusiasts over the age of sixteen. I look forward to Glista’s second novel of the series.

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Embellished
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Andrea Ryan · Post by **Andrea Ryan** » 16 Feb 2017, 07:46

Nicely written review. It made me want to read the book + the cover looks really good, so I think I'm going to pick it up.

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 12 Mar 2017, 09:35

A very interesting book. I love books with various races and species. Too bad, though, about the errors. Good job on the review.

christinac_2585 · Post by **christinac_2585** » 13 Mar 2017, 11:24

Very good review. I have added this book on my list to read this year. I'm interested to dig and read about this world that Karen Glista has created.

Dh_ · Post by **Dh_** » 18 Mar 2017, 19:20

I want to read it! It seems like it has everything I like in a book and more. Great review!

islandgirlpoetry1981 · Post by **islandgirlpoetry1981** » 26 Apr 2017, 14:34

I definitely will add it to my book shelf for books I want to read. The review drew my interest.

jamesokunmd · Post by **jamesokunmd** » 22 Jul 2017, 00:55

Excellent review. Definitely want to read this one! Very complete analysis.

gali · Post by **gali** » 22 Jul 2017, 00:55

A group of kids that are whisked through an online game into the world of the game sure sounds intriguing. Too bad about the grammatical errors, though. Thank you for the review!

Naval Aulakh · Post by **Naval Aulakh** » 22 Jul 2017, 01:28

The review is very good. Also, the book seems good. I would like to read it ?

OmololaAK · Post by **OmololaAK** » 22 Jul 2017, 02:04

For one, I'm always interested in romance that is not too sex-explicit; it doesn't reek of flesh and blood annoyances. Obviously Beta was not encumbered with her ailment in the fantasy world. Great review.

LivreAmour217 · Post by **LivreAmour217** » 22 Jul 2017, 02:30

Great review! The story sounds like something that I would enjoy, but I'm a little cautious to read this one because of the grammatical errors. Still, I might give it a chance.

Rajanis · Post by **Rajanis** » 22 Jul 2017, 03:03

Embellished by Karen Glista.
An online game transports Travis, Bella and their friends to a beautiful but dangerous world of Orion through some elementary force of nature. What follows is abduction, barbaric rituals and hopelessness.

Georgialouise · Post by **Georgialouise** » 22 Jul 2017, 03:12

Great review. This book sounds really interesting and right up my street, despite the gramatical errors. I will be adding it to my TBR list. Thank you!

Post by **kandscreeley** » 22 Jul 2017, 12:08

This sounds quite interesting. It's interesting that one of the main characters is suffering from marfans. Sounds like something I'll have to pick up.

Strangerthanfiction · Post by **Strangerthanfiction** » 22 Jul 2017, 12:11

Great review! This definitely sounds like a book that I will enjoy. It sounds very exciting and well developed with the characters, races of people and species of animals. I'm always wary about grammar and punctuation errors as they can pop me out of the story but I'm willing to take the chance on this one. Thanks so much for sharing.