Veiled Rose review

Veiled Rose is the second book in The Tales of Goldstone Woods. Released recently, it tells the story of Rose Red, who has a dark secret that causes her to shroud herself in garments. She lives in the mountainous woods with her father and goat, seeing no one until Leo's wealthy family sends him to the mountains for the summer. The two of them strike up a friendship and explore the woods - only Leo seeks the dreaded Monster that supposedly hides there. Rose Red desperately wants to assist him, but she knows more about the Monster than she lets on and is terrified of it. She knows how to find the cave the Monster supposedly hides in, but she doesn't want to tell Leo for fear of the Monster's wrath. Leo wants her to leave the mountains and go with him to his country - but the Monster has something to say about it.

The writing is simplistic. At times the novel is hard to get through, but it has one of the best opening lines. "Hill House, though abandoned, had remained unscathed during the years of the Dragon's occupation" (7). If the reader had previously read Heartless, the first in the series, they would know that the Dragon took over the country and left nothing untouched by poisonous smoke - except apparently Hill House. Why? Readers have to continue the book to find out what's so special about Hill House that the Dragon left it. And, we find out more of the story of Leonard and Una and why he gave her up when challenged by the Dragon in Heartless.

The ending is heartbreaking but I won't spoil it for readers!

Looking into the author's statement and life, one finds the story is a Christian allegory, which may turn some readers off, but it's not a heavy allegory. Lets see if the readers can put together the allegory - I think I managed to do it.

The genre is fantasy and will thrill people who love fantasy!