Violet and Nate may have escaped the labyrinth, but only one of them came out unscathed. Nate is now the bearer of a mysterious eye-shaped tattoo, a mark he has no memory of receiving. While Vi is intent on discovering the meaning of the tattoo, Nate seems less interested. His experience in the labyrinth has caused recurring nightmares, and he’d prefer to pretend none of it ever happened. But Vi has never been one to let a mystery go unsolved, and she’ll do whatever she can to discover who’s behind the tattoo—even if it means leaving Nate out of her plan. (Goodreads summary)
Be ye warned, if you’ve not read Guardian or Labyrinth, there may be slight spoilerishness ahead…
The thing I’m loving about the Creepy Hollow novelette series is that they’re written to be very much like a serialized television drama. And indeed, ringing in at about 60 pages, it’s very near the length of an hour long TV episode. I’ve been incredibly impressed thus far at how Morgan has heightened the tension and suspense gradually through each novelette – complicating and weaving her story arcs throughout each, slowly revealing how characters are connected to one another or that they might have deeper connections than first suspected, revealing bits of the world through further exposure to it, giving answers while at the same time deepening the mystery. Morgan’s an author who’s truly excellent at pacing stories of this length. It’s a delicate balance between giving the story just enough depth and development while still keeping it short and thrilling, and all in all, she does a wonderful job. It truly feels like reading each of her novelettes is akin to watching an exciting episode of a must “DVR-or-die” TV show where the drama keeps compounding, creating a larger story through all of the smaller ones.
In Traitor, we’re granted a rare glimpse of what Violet’s normal day-to-day looks like as a Guardian trainee. Previously, we’ve only seen Violet in the midst of highly abnormal situations, but seeing how she reacts with her fellow trainees and instructors just gives up more clues to the puzzle of who Violet is and why she is the way she is. I love watching her interact with Nate too – this boy who’s opened up a part of her closed-off heart that she didn’t know, or perhaps forgot, existed. She’s such a tough, kick-butt character, but knowing Nate – sweet, normal Nate – has allowed her to admit some of her vulnerabilities at least to herself, if not actually to him. She’s complicated and a bit of a mystery herself, and I love that while she is unraveling the larger enigmas of the plot, we the reader get to slowly unravel just who Violet is.
In this installment, we also see the continuation of the larger story arc with Nate’s origins and the appearance of the strange tattoo. Traumatized by the events in the labyrinth, Nate shuts down whenever Violet tries to broach the topic of his strange disappearance during their narrow escape from the magical maze or when she tries to discuss the topic of how he got his mysterious tattoo and what it might mean. Not easily dissuaded and more than a little concerned about this boy she’s allowed herself to care for, Vi is determined to discover the answers to all of those questions and ventures off on her own to unravel the mystery. But as is often the case with mysteries, answers uncovered tend to unearth even more unsettling and shocking questions.
Overall, the most compelling Creepy Hollow novelette yet, Traitor raises the stakes, deepens the mystery, and ultimately left me exclaiming, “What just happened?!” July, and the release of the fourth novelette, cannot come soon enough.
Author: Rachel Morgan Title: Traitor Series: Creepy Hollow (Novelette #3) Published: May 25th 2012 Format: Kindle; Ebook (Smashwords) Website: www.creepyhollowbooks.com Source: Review copy provided by author
Happy Reading!
I am so in love with your review! It shall be one of those that I re-read when I need happy feelings 😉 Thank you, once again!
Thank you! And thank you for a fantastic series!
I love the Creepy Hollow series as well. So entertaining and fun:)