Chasing the Red Queen by Karen Glista

Donja Bellanger is a regular teenage girl who lost her father. She misses him very much and thinks that perhaps he mother is forgetting about him after only six years. She has reached a point of cordial tolerance with the ‘new daddy’. She must also contend with a new glamorous Ivy League stepsister in addition to a new home ad town. She grows quite close to the stepsister though. She will be leaving behind her fellow goth mate Debbie. 

Moving to Sault Ste Marie will change Donja’s life in more ways than one. Unbeknownst to her, she is a rare breed. She is very desirable to the iridescent community. She is in danger but lucky for her she finds a worthy and capable protector in the handsome 800-year-old Torin Mancini.

Torin is drawn to Donja for a myriad of reasons. The first being her delicious, rare and mutated blood. The other being the spark of affection they share. All the other reasons are unknown even to them. That is just how love is. You love without knowing why. These reasons drive Torin to an inch of his life trying to keep his beloved happy and alive. Will love indeed conquer all? Will the nature of Gage and Torin matter little to the young sweethearts? How will they overcome the mortality question?

‘Chasing the Red Queen’ is a young adult novel. It has a happy ending but with lots of action and twists in the middle. The way Karen Glista weaves in technology to bring the story into this century is pretty genius, as it does not leave the reader feeling at sea. The sentence structure is simple and appealing. The author has done a good job of weaving an intriguing plot with a bit of surprising homosexuality revelation towards the end. Usually, the transformations of these creatures would be quite difficult to picture but the author has done a great job of painting a picture of the process with an appearance of the fangs and glowing eyes. This lends the story with a bit more excitement for a paranormal enthusiast. 

Most stories with heroes tend to make the heroes unbendable. They make them hard as steel and unable to feel pain. It is a fresh thing to see Torin get slowed down by that bullet that he needs to be saved. It makes him a bit more relatable and almost human to the reader. He is a hero, yes but he is not beyond needing help and appreciating it. 

As would most people, the whole grown man and teenage girl relationship is a bit unnerving. However, experiencing the relationship between Torin and Donja takes the discomfort out of it. They love each other beyond age and nature. Their relationship has an intrinsically profound element that you cannot help but admire. There is a lot of cursive in the dialogues. To be honest, these words are necessary sometimes especially in a war like the one Torin was embroiled in. 

This book is entertaining and well written. The story does not leave questions unanswered. Torin sort of stumbles into the marriage proposal. This is not in line with the romantic affectionate man we have come to know through the book but when you know you know. Five stars out of five all the way. ‘Chasing the Red Queen’ is highly recommended to anyone who enjoys fantasy and love stories. Donja could very well be the girl who launched a thousand ships