Named of The Dragon by Susanna Kearsley: A Book Review

Named of The Dragon
Author: Susanna Kearsley
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Paranormal
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Release Date: 2015
Pages: 322
Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: SOMEWHERE IN THE HEART OF LEGEND
LIES THE KEY TO HER TERRIFYING DREAMS
The charm of spending the Christmas holidays in South Wales, with its crumbling castles and ancient myths, seems the perfect distraction from the nightmares that have plagued literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw since the loss of her baby five years ago.
Instead, she meets an emotionally fragile young widow who's convinced that Lyn's recurring dreams have drawn her to Castle Farm for an important purpose--and she's running out of time.
With the help of a reclusive, brooding playwright, Lyn begins to untangle the mystery and is pulled into a world of Celtic legends, dangerous prophecies, and a child destined for greatness.

My Review: Lyn, a literary agent, decides to spend the Christmas holidays with her best friend and client, Bridget, in the town of Angle. She hopes that during her stay she will get to convince Bridget’s boyfriend and famous author, James, to be her client. While there, she meets a young widow, who fervently believes that a dragon is trying to take her child away from her. Lyn agrees to help protect her child. Soon she is thrust into Celtic Mythology and Arthurian Legends, and soon learns that the infant that she has vowed to protect is destined for greatness.

Lyn is an emotionally distraught woman. She has lost her child, and still suffers from it. She uses her work as a way of coping. She is drawn to the young widow because she relates to her situation. I found her to be clever and observant. However, I found her to be a passive character. She lets people walk all over her and does not make many decisions. I found her to be a flat character because there was not any growth development in her character. She stayed the same throughout the novel.

Overall, this story is about a woman’s journey to heal. The story is very slow-paced, and there are no twists until the end. I found the mystery aspect to be disappointing. I wanted the whodunit epic to be a part of the Celtic mythology as the book hinted on throughout the story. Sadly, it had nothing to do with the prophecies and was very misleading. The whodunit was very passive in itself, rushed, and filled with gaping plot holes, so that it seemed to be the author’s rough draft instead of the final copy. The characters were one-dimensional and boring. The only character I liked was Bridget, and I wished she was the protagonist in the story. However, I did like the setting of the novel. It seemed like the perfect place for where legends were created and a gothic mystery. I also like the historical and mythological aspects in the novel. If you like old castle settings, and Welsh and Arthurian legends, then you may like this book. However, this is clearly not Mrs. Kearsley's best work.

Rating: 2 ½ out of 5 stars

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