en-US Tue, 29 Apr 2025 11:35:04 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 216970864
This place is shrouded in folklore—old stories of ghosts, of witches, of a child who was not quite a child.

Now the woods are creeping closer, and something has been unleashed.

Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965, one of a string of young women sent to Lichen Hall to give birth. And she soon suspects the proprietors are hiding something.

Then she meets the mysterious mother and young boy who live in the grounds—and together they begin to unpick the secrets of this place.

As the truth comes to the surface and the darkness moves in, Pearl must rethink everything she knew—and risk what she holds most dear.]]> 368 C.J. Cooke 0593550226 Mogsy 4
This is the fifth book I’ve read by C.J. Cooke, and I think her writing and storytelling just keep getting better and better. The Ghost Woods has quickly become one of my new favorites by the author, second only to A Haunting in the Arctic. Once more, readers are transported to a historical setting where the atmosphere is thick with tension and mystery—with just a touch of the supernatural—and the emotional depth of the characters takes center stage.

In The Ghost Woods, Cooke returns to Scotland’s misty and isolated countryside to spin a tale exploring themes of motherhood and life altering decisions. Set in 1959 and in 1965, the novel follows two women who finds themselves at Lichen Hall, a home for unwed pregnant girls. Mabel is first to arrive in the earlier timeline, frightened and confused because she has no idea how she got pregnant, and no one believes her even though she swears she has never been with a man. Several years later, Pearl makes the same journey to the old mansion in preparation for the birth of her baby, the result of a careless one-night stand following a split from her long-term boyfriend. After losing her nursing job because of it, Pearl’s family thought it would be best for her to lay low until she gives birth.

While Mabel and Pearl come from very different backgrounds, both women come to similar conclusions about Lichen Hall. It is a strange and eerie place, hidden in the woods far from the nearest town and hospital. Many parts of the house are in disrepair, with mold permeating the walls. The property belongs to the Whitlock family, but it is Mrs. Whitlock who clearly runs the show, as old Mr. Whitlock is ill and mostly bedridden, kept out of sight. Also living with them is their grandson, a trouble young man who makes some of the girls staying at the home uncomfortable. As hosts, the Whitlocks are cagey and seemingly hiding some secret knowledge about their huge crumbling mansion, in which Mable, Pearl, and the other women shut away there find themselves trapped.

Like all of Cooke’s other novels, The Ghost Woods excels in atmosphere. Lichen Hall is a character unto itself—distinct with its own unique personality, and that personality to malevolent and threatening. The women, already feeling alone and vulnerable because of their conditions, are made even more anxious knowing Mrs. Whitlock does not believe in outside help. The lady of the house is a mysterious character, kind and comforting one moment, cold and cruel the next. Whatever her motives though, she is adamant that no doctor will ever be called, so the young expectant mothers can only rely on each other. This gives the story a claustrophobic and oppressive vibe, where among the vivid descriptions of the encroaching forest, nothing feels entirely safe.

The plot also employs dual timelines, which I felt was mostly effective. Being relatively close in time, however, sometimes the two threads blurred, especially once Mabel and Pearl’s perspectives came together and intertwined later in the book. The slow build at the beginning also made those early chapter the most challenging, but pacing improves once the story introduces more characters and gives the chance for the horrors at Lichen Hall to develop.

There’s also the slight issue of too many things happening at once, to the point where I feel some of the more minor story threads were not satisfactorily resolved. However, the answer to the most important mystery as well as the twist at the end of the book helped make up for it and made me more forgiving of any loose ends. In fact, the abundance of ideas and themes added overall to the novel’s rich layered feel, even if I would have welcomed a bit more tightening.

All in all, C.J. Cooke delivers another chilling and atmospheric tale in The Ghost Woods, and I think both fans of her previous work as well as new readers will find plenty to love here. This is gothic horror at its finest. Also highly recommended if you enjoy broody historical fiction with a touch of the fantastical, such as influence from fairytales and folklore, or simply unearthly ways of looking at the natural world.]]> 4.15 2022
author: C.J. Cooke
name: Mogsy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: review-copy, arcs-and-galleys, audiobook, gothic, horror, historical-fiction, mystery
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

This is the fifth book I’ve read by C.J. Cooke, and I think her writing and storytelling just keep getting better and better. The Ghost Woods has quickly become one of my new favorites by the author, second only to A Haunting in the Arctic. Once more, readers are transported to a historical setting where the atmosphere is thick with tension and mystery—with just a touch of the supernatural—and the emotional depth of the characters takes center stage.

In The Ghost Woods, Cooke returns to Scotland’s misty and isolated countryside to spin a tale exploring themes of motherhood and life altering decisions. Set in 1959 and in 1965, the novel follows two women who finds themselves at Lichen Hall, a home for unwed pregnant girls. Mabel is first to arrive in the earlier timeline, frightened and confused because she has no idea how she got pregnant, and no one believes her even though she swears she has never been with a man. Several years later, Pearl makes the same journey to the old mansion in preparation for the birth of her baby, the result of a careless one-night stand following a split from her long-term boyfriend. After losing her nursing job because of it, Pearl’s family thought it would be best for her to lay low until she gives birth.

While Mabel and Pearl come from very different backgrounds, both women come to similar conclusions about Lichen Hall. It is a strange and eerie place, hidden in the woods far from the nearest town and hospital. Many parts of the house are in disrepair, with mold permeating the walls. The property belongs to the Whitlock family, but it is Mrs. Whitlock who clearly runs the show, as old Mr. Whitlock is ill and mostly bedridden, kept out of sight. Also living with them is their grandson, a trouble young man who makes some of the girls staying at the home uncomfortable. As hosts, the Whitlocks are cagey and seemingly hiding some secret knowledge about their huge crumbling mansion, in which Mable, Pearl, and the other women shut away there find themselves trapped.

Like all of Cooke’s other novels, The Ghost Woods excels in atmosphere. Lichen Hall is a character unto itself—distinct with its own unique personality, and that personality to malevolent and threatening. The women, already feeling alone and vulnerable because of their conditions, are made even more anxious knowing Mrs. Whitlock does not believe in outside help. The lady of the house is a mysterious character, kind and comforting one moment, cold and cruel the next. Whatever her motives though, she is adamant that no doctor will ever be called, so the young expectant mothers can only rely on each other. This gives the story a claustrophobic and oppressive vibe, where among the vivid descriptions of the encroaching forest, nothing feels entirely safe.

The plot also employs dual timelines, which I felt was mostly effective. Being relatively close in time, however, sometimes the two threads blurred, especially once Mabel and Pearl’s perspectives came together and intertwined later in the book. The slow build at the beginning also made those early chapter the most challenging, but pacing improves once the story introduces more characters and gives the chance for the horrors at Lichen Hall to develop.

There’s also the slight issue of too many things happening at once, to the point where I feel some of the more minor story threads were not satisfactorily resolved. However, the answer to the most important mystery as well as the twist at the end of the book helped make up for it and made me more forgiving of any loose ends. In fact, the abundance of ideas and themes added overall to the novel’s rich layered feel, even if I would have welcomed a bit more tightening.

All in all, C.J. Cooke delivers another chilling and atmospheric tale in The Ghost Woods, and I think both fans of her previous work as well as new readers will find plenty to love here. This is gothic horror at its finest. Also highly recommended if you enjoy broody historical fiction with a touch of the fantastical, such as influence from fairytales and folklore, or simply unearthly ways of looking at the natural world.
]]> 205064715 In this Southern gothic horror debut, a young Black woman abandons her life in 1960s Chicago for a position with a mysterious family in New Orleans, only to discover the dark truth. They’re under a curse, and they think she can break it.

In the fall of 1962, twenty-seven-year-old Jemma Barker is desperate to escape her life in Chicago—and the spirits she has always been able to see. When she receives an unexpected job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans, she accepts, thinking it is her chance to start over.Ěý

But Jemma discovers that the Duchon family isn’t what it seems. Light enough to pass as white, the Black family members look down on brown-skinned Jemma. Their tenuous hold on reality extends to all the members of their eccentric clan, from haughty grandmother Honorine to beautiful yet inscrutable cousin Fosette.ĚýAnd soon the shocking truth comes The Duchons are under a curse. And they think Jemma has the power to break it.

As Jemma wrestles with the gift she’s run from all her life, she unravels deeper and more disturbing secrets about the mysterious Duchons. Secrets that stretch back over a century. Secrets that bind her to their fate if she fails.]]> 384 Del Sandeen 0593639529 Mogsy 3 3.61 2024
author: Del Sandeen
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: review-copy, historical-fiction, paranormal, horror, ghosts, gothic
review:

]]> 165938560 A deserted shipwreck off the coast of Iceland holds terrors and dark secrets in this chilling horror novel from the author of The Lighthouse Witches.

The year is 1901, and Nicky is attacked, then wakes on board the Ormen, a whaling ship embarked on what could be its last voyage. With land still weeks away, it's just her, the freezing ocean, and the crew - and they're all owed something only she can give them...

Now, over one hundred years later, the wreck of the Ormen has washed up on the forbidding, remote coast of Iceland. It's scheduled to be destroyed, but explorer Dominique feels an inexplicable pull to document its last days, even though those who have ventured onto the wreck before her have met uncanny ends.

Onboard the boat, Dominique will uncover a dark past riddled with lies, cruelty, and murder--and her discovery will change everything. Because she'll soon realize she's not alone. Something has walked the floors of the Ormen for almost a century. Something that craves revenge.]]> 340 C.J. Cooke 059355020X Mogsy 4
Few books have left me as disturbed and creeped out as A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke. This novel delves into the depths of psychological terror and trauma, weaving a narrative that is both addictive and profoundly unsettling.

The story is told in two timelines, first opening in Dundee, Scotland in 1901 with Nicky, a young woman whose father owns the whaling ship Ormen. Times have been hard for her–following a devastating loss, her husband has gone off to war, leaving her alone. After receiving some unnerving news about her father’s business, Nicky heads to the park and is suddenly attacked and abducted. When she wakes, she finds herself inexplicably aboard the Ormen, beginning its months-long voyage to Icelandic waters. As the ship carries her further away from home, Nicky realizes with horror what the crew intends for her.

Meanwhile, the second timeline unfolds in the present day. The wreck of a whaling ship, determined to be the Ormen, has washed ashore in the arctic. A young explorer named Dominique is determined to make her way to the site to document the wreck and find out what happened to it in its last days before it is scheduled to be destroyed. Initially traveling alone, her plans hit a snag when she encounters a trio of adventurers heading to Iceland to do exactly the same thing. Ultimately deciding to team up, the group makes it to the shipwreck only to find themselves stalked by an eerie presence on the ice while trapped in a storm.

Before I proceed with my review, it must first be noted that A Haunting in the Arctic is not for the faint of heart. It is one of the darkest books I’ve read in a while, unapologetic in its portrayal of human suffering. There are sensitive and distressing themes aplenty, most of them dealing with sexual assault and violence. Although these are woven into the very bones of the novel, integral to its premise and progression, the detailed depiction of such scenes may prove distressing to some. Therefore, reader discretion is strongly advised.

That said, this is my third book by C.J. Cooke, and it might be my favorite yet. The author’s strength has always been her remarkable talent for crafting immersive atmospheres, which she displayed even in her earlier novels, The Nesting and The Lighthouse Witches. In A Haunting in the Arctic, Cooke’s prose again brings the setting to life, evoking a palpable sense of isolation and dread.

For all its bleakness though, the novel also contains moments of deep and powerful emotion, exploring themes of loss and resilience. Nicky and Dominique emerge as intricately written characters, both living through their own private hells, yet the subtle connections between them, spanning across time, won’t be fully revealed until much later at the end. The mystery kept the tensions high and added an additional layer of intrigue, keeping me hooked as answers were gradually revealed.

Again, A Haunting in the Arctic was not an easy book to read, nor would it be suitable for all readers. However, I do believe horror fans brave enough to venture into its icy depths will find a haunting narrative that offers gut-wrenching and chilling resonance.]]> 3.63 2023
author: C.J. Cooke
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/21
date added: 2024/02/27
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, netgalley, horror, historical-fiction, gothic, mystery, ghosts, mythology
review:
4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

Few books have left me as disturbed and creeped out as A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke. This novel delves into the depths of psychological terror and trauma, weaving a narrative that is both addictive and profoundly unsettling.

The story is told in two timelines, first opening in Dundee, Scotland in 1901 with Nicky, a young woman whose father owns the whaling ship Ormen. Times have been hard for her–following a devastating loss, her husband has gone off to war, leaving her alone. After receiving some unnerving news about her father’s business, Nicky heads to the park and is suddenly attacked and abducted. When she wakes, she finds herself inexplicably aboard the Ormen, beginning its months-long voyage to Icelandic waters. As the ship carries her further away from home, Nicky realizes with horror what the crew intends for her.

Meanwhile, the second timeline unfolds in the present day. The wreck of a whaling ship, determined to be the Ormen, has washed ashore in the arctic. A young explorer named Dominique is determined to make her way to the site to document the wreck and find out what happened to it in its last days before it is scheduled to be destroyed. Initially traveling alone, her plans hit a snag when she encounters a trio of adventurers heading to Iceland to do exactly the same thing. Ultimately deciding to team up, the group makes it to the shipwreck only to find themselves stalked by an eerie presence on the ice while trapped in a storm.

Before I proceed with my review, it must first be noted that A Haunting in the Arctic is not for the faint of heart. It is one of the darkest books I’ve read in a while, unapologetic in its portrayal of human suffering. There are sensitive and distressing themes aplenty, most of them dealing with sexual assault and violence. Although these are woven into the very bones of the novel, integral to its premise and progression, the detailed depiction of such scenes may prove distressing to some. Therefore, reader discretion is strongly advised.

That said, this is my third book by C.J. Cooke, and it might be my favorite yet. The author’s strength has always been her remarkable talent for crafting immersive atmospheres, which she displayed even in her earlier novels, The Nesting and The Lighthouse Witches. In A Haunting in the Arctic, Cooke’s prose again brings the setting to life, evoking a palpable sense of isolation and dread.

For all its bleakness though, the novel also contains moments of deep and powerful emotion, exploring themes of loss and resilience. Nicky and Dominique emerge as intricately written characters, both living through their own private hells, yet the subtle connections between them, spanning across time, won’t be fully revealed until much later at the end. The mystery kept the tensions high and added an additional layer of intrigue, keeping me hooked as answers were gradually revealed.

Again, A Haunting in the Arctic was not an easy book to read, nor would it be suitable for all readers. However, I do believe horror fans brave enough to venture into its icy depths will find a haunting narrative that offers gut-wrenching and chilling resonance.
]]> 35297458 Pride and Prejudice meets Frankenstein as Mary Bennet falls for the enigmatic Victor Frankenstein and befriends his monstrous Creature in this clever fusion of two popular classics.

Threatened with destruction unless he fashions a wife for his Creature, Victor Frankenstein travels to England where he meets Mary and Kitty Bennet, the remaining unmarried sisters of the Bennet family from Pride and Prejudice. As Mary and Victor become increasingly attracted to each other, the Creature looks on impatiently, waiting for his bride. But where will Victor find a female body from which to create the monster’s mate?

Meanwhile, the awkward Mary hopes that Victor will save her from approaching spinsterhood while wondering what dark secret he is keeping from her.

Pride and Prometheus fuses the gothic horror of Mary Shelley with the Regency romance of Jane Austen in an exciting novel that combines two age-old stories in a fresh and startling way.]]> 371 John Kessel 1481481479 Mogsy 4
Admittedly, I’m not so big a fan of Jane Austen or Austen-inspired fiction that I would normally pick up any book with a title that begins with “Pride and…�, but there was just something irresistible about John Kessel’s novel that called to me. Of course, the added element of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein didn’t hurt. Still, although it may draw inspiration from one of two of the most beloved novels of classic literature, it would be a disservice to simply label Pride and Prometheus as just your average literary mashup. Not only has the author succeeded in capturing the tone, spirit, and style of these two works, he’s managed to create a perfect fusion of its deeper themes as well.

Expanding upon Kessel’s 2008 Nebula Award winning novelette of the same name, the story begins with the chance meeting between an English high society woman and a young scientist from Switzerland. Mary Bennet, one of the sisters of Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice, is persuaded to attend a ball by her mother, who is desperate to find marriage prospects for her two remaining unwed daughters. It is there that Mary first encounters the quiet and pensive Victor Frankenstein, who is in town with his friend Henry Clerval. Drawn to his intelligence and his shared love of the sciences and natural philosophy, Mary immediately strikes up a rapport with Frankenstein, but is disappointed when the scientist ends up standing her up for a dance, having slipped out of the party earlier without letting anyone know.

The reason for Victor Frankenstein’s reticence and hasty departure is soon made apparent with the introduction of the Creature, a monster whom the scientist had brought to life and then cast out, appalled by what he had done. But now the Creature stalks him, driven by Victor’s promise that he would fashion a bride for him. He has followed his maker to England, growing impatient. Victor knows that until he has delivered on his promise, any new relationship would be impossible because no one around him would be safe.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the writing. Kessel’s writing is absolutely gorgeous, emulating the style and manner of the original novels that inspired this tale, both of which were written in the early 19th century. As such, the language might take some getting used to, but gradually the story will ease you into the rhythm of the alternating viewpoints between Mary Bennet, Victor Frankenstein, and the Creature (who has dubbed himself Adam). I was also surprised to find that not only were the elements from both Regency Romance and Gothic Horror represented equally, they were blended perfectly. Granted, I was initially skeptical of the novel’s premise and the ambitious idea of throwing these two disparate genres together, but John Kessel managed to knock it out of the park.

As for the story and characters, my feelings are a lot more complicated—but in the good way. For the most part, Kessel stays true to the personalities of Mary, Victor, and Adam, expanding upon them in a way that feels different without abandoning the essence of what makes them who they are. His version of Mary is especially sympathetic. As the middle Bennet sister, she is plain and bookish, much like Austen’s version. However, in Pride and Prometheus, she is a much deeper and contemplative character, and her love of the natural sciences (manifested as an interest in fossils) is genuine. Beneath her social awkwardness is also a caring and spiritual heart, even if she is sometimes driven by self-interest. Just as complex are the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his Creature, but because their tale closely mirrors that of Shelley’s original, I didn’t find them nearly as fascinating. Still, close to the end was a scene that filled me with so much anger and then with so much sorrow that I was almost driven to tears. All I’ll say about it is that, beyond the three main characters, there are a few others who I’ll never look at quite the same way again after reading this novel.

All in all, I adored everything about Pride and Prometheus, from the utterly engrossing struggles of its characters to the emotional themes about obsession and attachment. The book is also artfully written, and I think Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein fans will be impressed with how well Kessel has captured the original novels� forms and styles, even if it might make it more challenging for some readers to get into the writing. If you’re familiar with both classics, there will still be plenty of surprises, many of which I loved but couldn’t elaborate on in this review because I badly want prospective readers to discover these plot developments for themselves. This book endeared itself to me and then broke my heart, but all I could think about after finishing this was how I wanted more. Truly a treasure of a novel.]]> 3.63 2008
author: John Kessel
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2018/02/09
date added: 2024/02/06
shelves: review-copy, netgalley, arcs-and-galleys, fantasy, historical-fiction, horror, retellings, gothic
review:
4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

Admittedly, I’m not so big a fan of Jane Austen or Austen-inspired fiction that I would normally pick up any book with a title that begins with “Pride and…�, but there was just something irresistible about John Kessel’s novel that called to me. Of course, the added element of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein didn’t hurt. Still, although it may draw inspiration from one of two of the most beloved novels of classic literature, it would be a disservice to simply label Pride and Prometheus as just your average literary mashup. Not only has the author succeeded in capturing the tone, spirit, and style of these two works, he’s managed to create a perfect fusion of its deeper themes as well.

Expanding upon Kessel’s 2008 Nebula Award winning novelette of the same name, the story begins with the chance meeting between an English high society woman and a young scientist from Switzerland. Mary Bennet, one of the sisters of Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice, is persuaded to attend a ball by her mother, who is desperate to find marriage prospects for her two remaining unwed daughters. It is there that Mary first encounters the quiet and pensive Victor Frankenstein, who is in town with his friend Henry Clerval. Drawn to his intelligence and his shared love of the sciences and natural philosophy, Mary immediately strikes up a rapport with Frankenstein, but is disappointed when the scientist ends up standing her up for a dance, having slipped out of the party earlier without letting anyone know.

The reason for Victor Frankenstein’s reticence and hasty departure is soon made apparent with the introduction of the Creature, a monster whom the scientist had brought to life and then cast out, appalled by what he had done. But now the Creature stalks him, driven by Victor’s promise that he would fashion a bride for him. He has followed his maker to England, growing impatient. Victor knows that until he has delivered on his promise, any new relationship would be impossible because no one around him would be safe.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the writing. Kessel’s writing is absolutely gorgeous, emulating the style and manner of the original novels that inspired this tale, both of which were written in the early 19th century. As such, the language might take some getting used to, but gradually the story will ease you into the rhythm of the alternating viewpoints between Mary Bennet, Victor Frankenstein, and the Creature (who has dubbed himself Adam). I was also surprised to find that not only were the elements from both Regency Romance and Gothic Horror represented equally, they were blended perfectly. Granted, I was initially skeptical of the novel’s premise and the ambitious idea of throwing these two disparate genres together, but John Kessel managed to knock it out of the park.

As for the story and characters, my feelings are a lot more complicated—but in the good way. For the most part, Kessel stays true to the personalities of Mary, Victor, and Adam, expanding upon them in a way that feels different without abandoning the essence of what makes them who they are. His version of Mary is especially sympathetic. As the middle Bennet sister, she is plain and bookish, much like Austen’s version. However, in Pride and Prometheus, she is a much deeper and contemplative character, and her love of the natural sciences (manifested as an interest in fossils) is genuine. Beneath her social awkwardness is also a caring and spiritual heart, even if she is sometimes driven by self-interest. Just as complex are the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his Creature, but because their tale closely mirrors that of Shelley’s original, I didn’t find them nearly as fascinating. Still, close to the end was a scene that filled me with so much anger and then with so much sorrow that I was almost driven to tears. All I’ll say about it is that, beyond the three main characters, there are a few others who I’ll never look at quite the same way again after reading this novel.

All in all, I adored everything about Pride and Prometheus, from the utterly engrossing struggles of its characters to the emotional themes about obsession and attachment. The book is also artfully written, and I think Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein fans will be impressed with how well Kessel has captured the original novels� forms and styles, even if it might make it more challenging for some readers to get into the writing. If you’re familiar with both classics, there will still be plenty of surprises, many of which I loved but couldn’t elaborate on in this review because I badly want prospective readers to discover these plot developments for themselves. This book endeared itself to me and then broke my heart, but all I could think about after finishing this was how I wanted more. Truly a treasure of a novel.
]]> 123204365
1968: Actress Gemma Turner once dreamed of stardom. Unfortunately, she’s on the cusp of slipping into obscurity. When she’s offered the lead in a radical new horror film, Gemma believes her luck has finally changed. But L’Etrange Lune’s set is not what she expected. The director is eccentric, and the script doesn’t make sense.

Gemma is determined to make this work. It’s her last chance to achieve her dream—but that dream is about to derail her life. One night, between the shadows of an alleyway, Gemma disappears on set and is never seen again. Yet, Gemma is still alive. She’s been transported into the film and the script—and the monsters within it—are coming to life. She must play her role perfectly if she hopes to survive.

2015: Gemma Turner’s disappearance is one of film history’s greatest mysteries—one that’s haunted film student Christopher Kent ever since he saw his first screening of L’Etrange Lune. The screenings only happen once a decade and each time there is new, impossible footage of Gemma long after she vanished. Desperate to discover the truth, Christopher risks losing himself. He’ll have to outrun the cursed legacy of the film—or become trapped by it forever.]]> 471 Constance Sayers 0316493740 Mogsy 4
I love Constance Sayers, as she is wonderfully consistent. When it comes to haunting and evocative historicals, no one else can deliver stories quite like hers. The Star and the Strange Moon is no exception. Much like her previous books A Witch in Time and The Ladies of the Secret Circus, it is a captivating tale of sorrow and ambition, mystery and allure.

It also features a dual timeline structure. In the opening pages, readers meet Christopher Kent whose childhood with a troubled mother meant an unstable and nomadic existence living out of cheap motel rooms. Eventually, she had a breakdown which led to their separation, and Christopher came under the care of his aunt. While he never lived with his mother again, he would never forget what triggered her mental collapse—a photo of Gemma Turner, a 1960s starlet who famously vanished without a trace while on the set of a radical vampire-themed movie being filmed in France.

It is a memory that will shape our protagonist’s destiny. Fast forward to 2015, an adult Christopher has become obsessed with the actress and her potential link to his mother. His quest for the truth leads him to try and hunt down a copy of L’Etrange Lune, the notorious film Gemma had been working on when she disappeared. Though it was completed, it was never released, thought to be lost to time. However, Christopher’s investigation leads him to discover a clandestine group that receives a private screening of the movie every ten years. It is also rumored that each time it is shown, the footage is altered, sometimes even featuring new scenes with Gemma Turner, long presumed dead.

Then, in a 1968 timeline, we follow Gemma herself as she makes a final bid for stardom, traveling to France to audition for a part she so desperately needs. When she is offered the lead role of L’Etrange Lune, she can’t believe her luck. But the production is plagued with problems from the start, including behind-the-scenes animosities and a director who doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing. Then one day, while shooting a scene in an alleyway, Gemma unexpectedly finds herself transported to a different time—one mirroring the world of L’Etrange Lune, where its monsters also come to life.

Sayers skillfully weaves a tale filled with secrets spanning decades and generations, incorporating timeless themes in both the past and present narratives. While not strictly horror, the novel does utilize some of the genre’s elements to enhance the mysterious atmosphere which has become a hallmark of the author’s work. Case in point, the concept of an actress being transported into the very world depicted in her film can be a ridiculous one on the surface. Written in another tone or style, the story could have gone in a very different direction, yet Sayers manages to nail the mood down perfectly.

That said, if forced to choose, I probably prefer her previous two books to this one. Despite its brilliance, The Star and the Strange Moon runs up against several hurdles, notably towards the end. The phenomenal potential in the novel’s first half begins to fizzle as we move into the sections that provide the explanations and big reveals. In other words, as the mystique faded, so too did the momentum. The remainder wasn’t quite enough to keep up the strong pacing through to the final chapters, and the late addition of a romantic element also felt unconvincing and shoehorned in.

Still, a glitchy conclusion notwithstanding, The Star and the Strange Moon remains a compelling read, showcasing Constance Sayers� talents for character development and storytelling. It’s perfect for readers seeking a delightful blend of historical fiction with just a touch of the unexplained.]]> 4.06 2023
author: Constance Sayers
name: Mogsy
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/15
date added: 2023/11/19
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, gothic, historical-fiction, fantasy, paranormal, vampires
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

I love Constance Sayers, as she is wonderfully consistent. When it comes to haunting and evocative historicals, no one else can deliver stories quite like hers. The Star and the Strange Moon is no exception. Much like her previous books A Witch in Time and The Ladies of the Secret Circus, it is a captivating tale of sorrow and ambition, mystery and allure.

It also features a dual timeline structure. In the opening pages, readers meet Christopher Kent whose childhood with a troubled mother meant an unstable and nomadic existence living out of cheap motel rooms. Eventually, she had a breakdown which led to their separation, and Christopher came under the care of his aunt. While he never lived with his mother again, he would never forget what triggered her mental collapse—a photo of Gemma Turner, a 1960s starlet who famously vanished without a trace while on the set of a radical vampire-themed movie being filmed in France.

It is a memory that will shape our protagonist’s destiny. Fast forward to 2015, an adult Christopher has become obsessed with the actress and her potential link to his mother. His quest for the truth leads him to try and hunt down a copy of L’Etrange Lune, the notorious film Gemma had been working on when she disappeared. Though it was completed, it was never released, thought to be lost to time. However, Christopher’s investigation leads him to discover a clandestine group that receives a private screening of the movie every ten years. It is also rumored that each time it is shown, the footage is altered, sometimes even featuring new scenes with Gemma Turner, long presumed dead.

Then, in a 1968 timeline, we follow Gemma herself as she makes a final bid for stardom, traveling to France to audition for a part she so desperately needs. When she is offered the lead role of L’Etrange Lune, she can’t believe her luck. But the production is plagued with problems from the start, including behind-the-scenes animosities and a director who doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing. Then one day, while shooting a scene in an alleyway, Gemma unexpectedly finds herself transported to a different time—one mirroring the world of L’Etrange Lune, where its monsters also come to life.

Sayers skillfully weaves a tale filled with secrets spanning decades and generations, incorporating timeless themes in both the past and present narratives. While not strictly horror, the novel does utilize some of the genre’s elements to enhance the mysterious atmosphere which has become a hallmark of the author’s work. Case in point, the concept of an actress being transported into the very world depicted in her film can be a ridiculous one on the surface. Written in another tone or style, the story could have gone in a very different direction, yet Sayers manages to nail the mood down perfectly.

That said, if forced to choose, I probably prefer her previous two books to this one. Despite its brilliance, The Star and the Strange Moon runs up against several hurdles, notably towards the end. The phenomenal potential in the novel’s first half begins to fizzle as we move into the sections that provide the explanations and big reveals. In other words, as the mystique faded, so too did the momentum. The remainder wasn’t quite enough to keep up the strong pacing through to the final chapters, and the late addition of a romantic element also felt unconvincing and shoehorned in.

Still, a glitchy conclusion notwithstanding, The Star and the Strange Moon remains a compelling read, showcasing Constance Sayers� talents for character development and storytelling. It’s perfect for readers seeking a delightful blend of historical fiction with just a touch of the unexplained.
]]> 65213595 A grim and gothic new tale from author Alix E. Harrow about a small town haunted by secrets that can't stay buried and the sinister house that sits at the crossroads of it all.

Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote The Underland--and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it’s best to let the uncanny house―and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling―go to rot.

Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she’s never had: a home.

As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire choice to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares.

If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it.]]> 320 Alix E. Harrow 1250799058 Mogsy 4
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is a novel which blends elements of gothic fantasy, subtle horror, and intriguing mystery to deliver an enchanting read with low-key creepy vibes—perfect for the spooky season. While I can’t say it’s my favorite of the author’s works due to its more generic themes, the story’s broad appeal is also why I think it will resonate with a wide audience.

As the book opens, readers are transported to a small dying town in rural Kentucky called Eden, known only for a peculiar legend surrounding a haunted house. It’s said to have belonged to a reclusive 19th century author named E. Starling, who wrote one celebrated masterpiece and then seemingly vanished into thin air. The locals say that the Starling House is cursed, warning others to stay away lest they too become caught up in its dark energies and run afoul of misfortune like its original owner. Its current and lone occupant, Arthur Starling, is the last of his line and lives a quiet and isolated existence, burdened by the weight of his family’s legacy and the secrets that the old house holds.

Starling House is also the last place Opal wants to be, but as a struggling young adult with no real job prospects living in a motel room and trying to raise a little brother by herself, she can’t afford to be selective. So, when Arthur offers her a job as a housecleaner, Opal reluctantly accepts, hoping that the extra cash will be enough to give her brother Jasper a better life after high school, far from the dead-end bleakness of Eden. But in truth, there’s more to it than that. Long before she even set foot in Starling House, Opal had been haunted by visions of it in her dreams. By agreeing to work for Arthur, she is answering a call that has been echoing in her heart for years, and she could hardly pass up the opportunity to get to the bottom of her mysterious dreams.

First, the good. I felt the overall premise of Starling House was superb. For self-professed scaredy-cat readers, I also have great news: I personally would not categorize this novel as true horror. Infused with an atmosphere that’s at once a little gloomy and a little whimsical, “eerie� is perhaps the best description for the general mood of the story. I’ve said before as well that I enjoy an unexpected romance, and indeed there was one in here that snuck up on me and took me by surprise. While I have my issues with Opal (more on that later), I can’t deny being drawn to characters with diametrically opposed personalities coming together, sparking a certain dynamic which adds depth to the relationship.

As for the not-so-good, I have to say I was somewhat let down by the unoriginal nature of the book’s plot and themes. This is Alix E. Harrow, who wrote such imaginative works as The Ten Thousand Doors of January and The Once and Future Witches, and I’m afraid Starling House simply does not achieve a similar caliber. For one thing, the world-building seemed a bit slapdash, skimping on some details and glossing over others that don’t make sense. For another, while this novel is marketed as an adult novel and Opal reads like she is around her late teens or early twenties, the overall formation of the narrative feels strangely YA.

Much of it may have something to do with Opal herself, whom I oftentimes found infuriating. She’s a tough young woman, but also stubborn to the point of self-destructiveness, and I just really can’t stand characters who are “my way or the highway.� These pages are filled with examples of Opal constantly sabotaging herself, either because she’s too full of her own selfish pride or unable to deal with her many hang-ups leading her to take them out on others. Take the way she is with her brother, for instance—clearly, she loves Jasper very much, yet she doesn’t seem to trust or respect him enough to actually listen to him and honor his wishes.

In sum, Starling House is a novel of mostly hits but also a few misses. While it is not the best or the most innovative story that I’ve read by Alix E. Harrow, it is still a good showcase of her talent especially her skills in creating moody atmospheres and immersive fantastical worlds that draw readers into the plot.]]> 3.77 2023
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/30
date added: 2023/10/03
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, fantasy, gothic
review:
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is a novel which blends elements of gothic fantasy, subtle horror, and intriguing mystery to deliver an enchanting read with low-key creepy vibes—perfect for the spooky season. While I can’t say it’s my favorite of the author’s works due to its more generic themes, the story’s broad appeal is also why I think it will resonate with a wide audience.

As the book opens, readers are transported to a small dying town in rural Kentucky called Eden, known only for a peculiar legend surrounding a haunted house. It’s said to have belonged to a reclusive 19th century author named E. Starling, who wrote one celebrated masterpiece and then seemingly vanished into thin air. The locals say that the Starling House is cursed, warning others to stay away lest they too become caught up in its dark energies and run afoul of misfortune like its original owner. Its current and lone occupant, Arthur Starling, is the last of his line and lives a quiet and isolated existence, burdened by the weight of his family’s legacy and the secrets that the old house holds.

Starling House is also the last place Opal wants to be, but as a struggling young adult with no real job prospects living in a motel room and trying to raise a little brother by herself, she can’t afford to be selective. So, when Arthur offers her a job as a housecleaner, Opal reluctantly accepts, hoping that the extra cash will be enough to give her brother Jasper a better life after high school, far from the dead-end bleakness of Eden. But in truth, there’s more to it than that. Long before she even set foot in Starling House, Opal had been haunted by visions of it in her dreams. By agreeing to work for Arthur, she is answering a call that has been echoing in her heart for years, and she could hardly pass up the opportunity to get to the bottom of her mysterious dreams.

First, the good. I felt the overall premise of Starling House was superb. For self-professed scaredy-cat readers, I also have great news: I personally would not categorize this novel as true horror. Infused with an atmosphere that’s at once a little gloomy and a little whimsical, “eerie� is perhaps the best description for the general mood of the story. I’ve said before as well that I enjoy an unexpected romance, and indeed there was one in here that snuck up on me and took me by surprise. While I have my issues with Opal (more on that later), I can’t deny being drawn to characters with diametrically opposed personalities coming together, sparking a certain dynamic which adds depth to the relationship.

As for the not-so-good, I have to say I was somewhat let down by the unoriginal nature of the book’s plot and themes. This is Alix E. Harrow, who wrote such imaginative works as The Ten Thousand Doors of January and The Once and Future Witches, and I’m afraid Starling House simply does not achieve a similar caliber. For one thing, the world-building seemed a bit slapdash, skimping on some details and glossing over others that don’t make sense. For another, while this novel is marketed as an adult novel and Opal reads like she is around her late teens or early twenties, the overall formation of the narrative feels strangely YA.

Much of it may have something to do with Opal herself, whom I oftentimes found infuriating. She’s a tough young woman, but also stubborn to the point of self-destructiveness, and I just really can’t stand characters who are “my way or the highway.� These pages are filled with examples of Opal constantly sabotaging herself, either because she’s too full of her own selfish pride or unable to deal with her many hang-ups leading her to take them out on others. Take the way she is with her brother, for instance—clearly, she loves Jasper very much, yet she doesn’t seem to trust or respect him enough to actually listen to him and honor his wishes.

In sum, Starling House is a novel of mostly hits but also a few misses. While it is not the best or the most innovative story that I’ve read by Alix E. Harrow, it is still a good showcase of her talent especially her skills in creating moody atmospheres and immersive fantastical worlds that draw readers into the plot.
]]> 60784409 A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.]]> 247 T. Kingfisher 1250829798 Mogsy 5
When I think Southern Gothic fiction, I generally picture grim haunting tales set in creepy small towns in the American South. I think overall bleak tones with a sense of foreboding and dread. I think horror, the supernatural, the disturbing and the macabre.

What I don’t usually expect is to be laughing my ass off at the gut-busting humor. Yes, I know morbid or dark comedy is sometimes used in the genre to poke fun at Southern societal norms and traditions, but as usual, T. Kingfisher’s famed wit and lightness of touch makes her latest novel an instant gem.

In A House With Good Bones, we follow recently furloughed archaeoentomologist Samantha Montgomery on a visit to her hometown in rural North Carolina. Needing a place to stay for a while, she also figures this would be a good time to check in with her mother Edith, who has been acting very strange lately according to recent reports from Sam’s brother. Upon her arrival, Sam could immediately see what he means. Normally a happy-go-lucky woman, Edith has become tense and jumpy, overly cautious about everything. The house that Sam remembers as colorful and vibrant has also been repainted to the original bland hues which were favored by her miserable grandmother Mae, back when she was still alive and owned the home. Plus, the less said the better about the questionable décor which now adorns the place, which Sam knows to be completely out of character for her mom.

Worried that it might be dementia or worse, Sam sets out to find out what ails her mother. She learns that what Edith is experiencing could be symptoms of delayed bereavement for Gran Mae, even though the old woman has been dead for many years. But Edith’s odd behavior is also just the tip of the iceberg. As insects are her life’s work, Sam can’t help but notice her mother’s garden is completely devoid of any of the creepy crawlies which would normally be everywhere. Not a single ant, spider, or bee despite the garden being filled with Gran Mae’s famously beautiful rosebushes which have been growing at the house for decades. And that’s not even the weirdest part. One night, Sam wakes up to a horrifying discovery which even she as a seasoned entomologist finds disturbing, and that’s only the first of many more nasty surprises the house has in store for her.

If you enjoyed Kingfisher’s The Twisted Ones, then I think you’ll also come to love A House with Good Bones. That’s because the two books feel very similar to me in terms of tone and style, both serving up a perfect blend of horror and humor. Even the title is a cheeky gibe in its own way. The story also features a charismatic and lovable protagonist with an unforgettable voice. Sam Montgomery’s personality is positively infectious, reflected in her laidback narration which flows naturally off the page and frequently includes hilarious observations of the things happening around her. Even in the face of terrifying uncertainty, she can still liven things up with a joke or two.

I was also touched by Sam’s concern for Edith and the way she was so fiercely protective of her. Having just finished a string of novels about dysfunctional families, reading one that featured a strong, loving mother-daughter bond felt quite refreshing for a change. I also enjoyed the side characters, like the neighbors Gail, bitter rival of Gran Mae when she was alive, and Phil, the awkward but intelligent handyman who Sam becomes sweet on as the story progresses. I was even charmed by the wake of vultures, part of a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation program, which have taken over the street and made it their home.

It’s little things like that which made A House with Good Bones such a joy to read. Whenever a scene got too scary, some quirky detail or random quip would bring the tone back to lighter territory. Kingfisher has always had a knack for finding this balance between creepy and funny, and that’s why I keep coming back to her horror books. And no question about it, this one has become one of my favorites.

]]> 3.65 2023
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/25
date added: 2023/03/30
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, horror, paranormal, gothic
review:
5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

When I think Southern Gothic fiction, I generally picture grim haunting tales set in creepy small towns in the American South. I think overall bleak tones with a sense of foreboding and dread. I think horror, the supernatural, the disturbing and the macabre.

What I don’t usually expect is to be laughing my ass off at the gut-busting humor. Yes, I know morbid or dark comedy is sometimes used in the genre to poke fun at Southern societal norms and traditions, but as usual, T. Kingfisher’s famed wit and lightness of touch makes her latest novel an instant gem.

In A House With Good Bones, we follow recently furloughed archaeoentomologist Samantha Montgomery on a visit to her hometown in rural North Carolina. Needing a place to stay for a while, she also figures this would be a good time to check in with her mother Edith, who has been acting very strange lately according to recent reports from Sam’s brother. Upon her arrival, Sam could immediately see what he means. Normally a happy-go-lucky woman, Edith has become tense and jumpy, overly cautious about everything. The house that Sam remembers as colorful and vibrant has also been repainted to the original bland hues which were favored by her miserable grandmother Mae, back when she was still alive and owned the home. Plus, the less said the better about the questionable décor which now adorns the place, which Sam knows to be completely out of character for her mom.

Worried that it might be dementia or worse, Sam sets out to find out what ails her mother. She learns that what Edith is experiencing could be symptoms of delayed bereavement for Gran Mae, even though the old woman has been dead for many years. But Edith’s odd behavior is also just the tip of the iceberg. As insects are her life’s work, Sam can’t help but notice her mother’s garden is completely devoid of any of the creepy crawlies which would normally be everywhere. Not a single ant, spider, or bee despite the garden being filled with Gran Mae’s famously beautiful rosebushes which have been growing at the house for decades. And that’s not even the weirdest part. One night, Sam wakes up to a horrifying discovery which even she as a seasoned entomologist finds disturbing, and that’s only the first of many more nasty surprises the house has in store for her.

If you enjoyed Kingfisher’s The Twisted Ones, then I think you’ll also come to love A House with Good Bones. That’s because the two books feel very similar to me in terms of tone and style, both serving up a perfect blend of horror and humor. Even the title is a cheeky gibe in its own way. The story also features a charismatic and lovable protagonist with an unforgettable voice. Sam Montgomery’s personality is positively infectious, reflected in her laidback narration which flows naturally off the page and frequently includes hilarious observations of the things happening around her. Even in the face of terrifying uncertainty, she can still liven things up with a joke or two.

I was also touched by Sam’s concern for Edith and the way she was so fiercely protective of her. Having just finished a string of novels about dysfunctional families, reading one that featured a strong, loving mother-daughter bond felt quite refreshing for a change. I also enjoyed the side characters, like the neighbors Gail, bitter rival of Gran Mae when she was alive, and Phil, the awkward but intelligent handyman who Sam becomes sweet on as the story progresses. I was even charmed by the wake of vultures, part of a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation program, which have taken over the street and made it their home.

It’s little things like that which made A House with Good Bones such a joy to read. Whenever a scene got too scary, some quirky detail or random quip would bring the tone back to lighter territory. Kingfisher has always had a knack for finding this balance between creepy and funny, and that’s why I keep coming back to her horror books. And no question about it, this one has become one of my favorites.


]]> 60784411
When he comes across the strange ad for the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric thinks they may have finally caught a lucky break. The Masson property, notorious for being one of the most haunted places in Texas, needs a caretaker of sorts. The owner is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there. Provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.

The job calls to Eric, not just because there’s a huge payout if they can make it through, but because he wants to explore the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it’ll help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, making them afraid to stop running. A terrifying Gothic thriller about grief and death and the depths of a father’s love, Johnny Compton’s The Spite House is a stunning debut by a horror master in the making.]]> 261 Johnny Compton 1250841410 Mogsy 3
So, the title and the cover and the description of this book was a bit deceiving. I went into The Spite House thinking I was reading a horror novel, but quite honestly there was nothing too scary about it. What it can rightfully claim to be though, is a southern gothic novel dripping with atmosphere, spiced up with a dash of the paranormal.

The story opens with an introduction to single father Eric Ross, who is on the run with his two daughters Dess and Stacy. Originally from Maryland, he has made his way to Degener, Texas, where dwindling resources have forced him to lie low and find work. A black man new in town with no work history or anyone to vouch for him, Eric is faced with limited options. He ends up answering an ad in the newspaper for a caretaker post at a property called Masson House, not knowing its history. As it turns out, it is an oddly constructed spite house, built for the sole purpose of antagonizing neighbors or anyone with stake in the land. Standing on a hilltop overlooking an abandoned orphanage, it is also said to be haunted.

In fact, Eric’s new employer is hoping he could help keep an eye out for any paranormal activity while he is staying at the house and is paying him handsomely to do it. Certainly the money would go a long way in solving his problems, providing a future for him and his girls, but is it worth it? The longer he stays at Masson House, the more Eric feels like it is taking a toll on his sanity. The place is practically drowning in negative energy, and as he learns more about the house’s history and what happened to its past owners, Eric begins to fear for the safety of his family.

For all the talk of ghosts and hauntings, I thought The Spite House was startlingly sparse in the chills department. Still, what the story lacked in horror it more than made up for with its tantalizing mystery. The questions hit you almost right away, with the most burning ones being: Why is Eric on the run, and what is he running from? Author Johnny Compton keeps the answers quite close to vest for most of the novel, not revealing them until quite far into the book, but when he does, wow, what a doozy!

Eric himself is a compelling and deeply sympathetic protagonist. He clearly cares a lot about his daughters and is fiercely protective of them. From the occasional chapters we get from the girls� perspectives, it was also clear they were a close-knit family, better to keep secrets among themselves. Amidst the uncertainty and fear in this chaos of emotion, there is also love and a heartwarming connection while they are staying in this strange house.

Speaking of which, before now I had never heard of the term spite house, and only thought it made a cool sounding title for a book. Turns out they are pretty common and you can find spite houses all over the country, pretty much anywhere you have super passive-aggressive individuals with neighbors they want to annoy. Some of them, as I later found out while doing further reading, have even become tourist attractions because of how odd they look. Of course, the Masson House in The Spite House has its own harrowing story behind why it was built, taking readers on a wild journey through some dark history and memories.

In truth, I started The Spite House expecting a more traditional haunted house story and was only sightly disappointed when that turned out not to be the case, mainly because of the complexity of its other elements. The atmosphere was a mix of both modern and southern gothic, and its mystery kept me hooked through the whole book. I also liked Eric Ross as a character, and rooted for him to get to the bottom of whatever was wrong with Masson House, even if it took him down some dangerous paths.

In sum, how you feel about this book will depend on your expectations. Diehard horror fans will likely not find the thrills and frights they seek here, but if you enjoy a good twist on a ghostly tale, especially one infused with mysterious vibes, you’ll want to pick up this impressive debut.]]> 3.50 2023
author: Johnny Compton
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/04
date added: 2023/02/17
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, horror, gothic, paranormal
review:
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

So, the title and the cover and the description of this book was a bit deceiving. I went into The Spite House thinking I was reading a horror novel, but quite honestly there was nothing too scary about it. What it can rightfully claim to be though, is a southern gothic novel dripping with atmosphere, spiced up with a dash of the paranormal.

The story opens with an introduction to single father Eric Ross, who is on the run with his two daughters Dess and Stacy. Originally from Maryland, he has made his way to Degener, Texas, where dwindling resources have forced him to lie low and find work. A black man new in town with no work history or anyone to vouch for him, Eric is faced with limited options. He ends up answering an ad in the newspaper for a caretaker post at a property called Masson House, not knowing its history. As it turns out, it is an oddly constructed spite house, built for the sole purpose of antagonizing neighbors or anyone with stake in the land. Standing on a hilltop overlooking an abandoned orphanage, it is also said to be haunted.

In fact, Eric’s new employer is hoping he could help keep an eye out for any paranormal activity while he is staying at the house and is paying him handsomely to do it. Certainly the money would go a long way in solving his problems, providing a future for him and his girls, but is it worth it? The longer he stays at Masson House, the more Eric feels like it is taking a toll on his sanity. The place is practically drowning in negative energy, and as he learns more about the house’s history and what happened to its past owners, Eric begins to fear for the safety of his family.

For all the talk of ghosts and hauntings, I thought The Spite House was startlingly sparse in the chills department. Still, what the story lacked in horror it more than made up for with its tantalizing mystery. The questions hit you almost right away, with the most burning ones being: Why is Eric on the run, and what is he running from? Author Johnny Compton keeps the answers quite close to vest for most of the novel, not revealing them until quite far into the book, but when he does, wow, what a doozy!

Eric himself is a compelling and deeply sympathetic protagonist. He clearly cares a lot about his daughters and is fiercely protective of them. From the occasional chapters we get from the girls� perspectives, it was also clear they were a close-knit family, better to keep secrets among themselves. Amidst the uncertainty and fear in this chaos of emotion, there is also love and a heartwarming connection while they are staying in this strange house.

Speaking of which, before now I had never heard of the term spite house, and only thought it made a cool sounding title for a book. Turns out they are pretty common and you can find spite houses all over the country, pretty much anywhere you have super passive-aggressive individuals with neighbors they want to annoy. Some of them, as I later found out while doing further reading, have even become tourist attractions because of how odd they look. Of course, the Masson House in The Spite House has its own harrowing story behind why it was built, taking readers on a wild journey through some dark history and memories.

In truth, I started The Spite House expecting a more traditional haunted house story and was only sightly disappointed when that turned out not to be the case, mainly because of the complexity of its other elements. The atmosphere was a mix of both modern and southern gothic, and its mystery kept me hooked through the whole book. I also liked Eric Ross as a character, and rooted for him to get to the bottom of whatever was wrong with Masson House, even if it took him down some dangerous paths.

In sum, how you feel about this book will depend on your expectations. Diehard horror fans will likely not find the thrills and frights they seek here, but if you enjoy a good twist on a ghostly tale, especially one infused with mysterious vibes, you’ll want to pick up this impressive debut.
]]> 59808593 Andy Davidson's epic horror novel about the spectacular decline of the Redfern family, haunted by an ancient evil.

Nellie Gardner is looking for a way out of an abusive marriage when she learns that her long-lost grandfather, August Redfern, has willed her his turpentine estate. She throws everything she can think of in a bag and flees to Georgia with her eleven-year-old son, Max, in tow.

It turns out that the estate is a decrepit farmhouse on a thousand acres of old pine forest, but Nellie is thrilled about the chance for a fresh start for her and Max, and a chance for the happy home she never had. So it takes her a while to notice the strange scratching in the walls, the faint whispering at night, how the forest is eerily quiet. But Max sees what his mother can't: They're no safer here than they had been in South Carolina. In fact, things might even be worse. There's something wrong with Redfern Hill. Something lurks beneath the soil, ancient and hungry, with the power to corrupt hearts and destroy souls. It is the true legacy of Redfern Hill: a kingdom of grief and death, to which Nellie's own blood has granted her the key.

From the author of The Boatman's Daughter, The Hollow Kind is a jaw-dropping novel about legacy and the horrors that hide in the dark corners of family history. Andy Davidson's gorgeous, Gothic fable tracing the spectacular fall of the Redfern family will haunt you long after you turn the final page.]]> 448 Andy Davidson 0374538565 Mogsy 2
This year, I find many of my low ratings have been given to good books that didn’t quite float my boat for whatever reason. Generally, their stories are sound and the writing solid from a craft perspective, but maybe something in the style or pacing just didn’t work for me. The Hollow Kind is one of these books. Artistically, it is a well put together horror with a fascinating premise at its heart, but I had a hell of a time trying to get through it.

First off, it is a very complex family saga spanning generations and timelines, and to be a fair, these types of stories aren’t always the best suited for audio, which is the format I reviewed. As the book opens in 1989, we follow Nellie Gardner and her eleven-year-old son Max on their journey to Redfern Hill in Georgia, where she had just inherited her grandfather’s estate. There, they find a rundown house surrounded by a dying forest, which is all that’s left of a once proud turpentine mill. Although it’s not the prettiest place, it’s the safest Nellie can provide for Max while they go in hiding from her abusive husband, Wade. But soon after they move in, mother and son begin hearing unsettling noises from within the house’s dilapidated walls and experiencing strange things they can’t explain.

In a separate thread, the story also reveals the history the Redfern Hill, following Nellie’s grandfather August. This part of the tale begins in 1917, when August marries into the Baxter family and takes over their burgeoning turpentine business. This event also sets off a bitter dispute carrying into the present in which Lonnie Baxter, believing that the Redferns stole the mill from his family years ago, launches an aggressive campaign to retake the property by pressuring Nellie to sell. However, what no one realizes is that the place is cursed. Back when he tended the land, August thought he understood the evil force that lurked within the forest but quickly learned that the monster’s hunger will never be appeased.

Overall, The Hollow Kind is a unique take on a southern gothic horror novel, but the plot’s construction and its unconventional trajectories meant at times it became difficult to follow, and the pacing was slow. After having to restart the book multiple times because I kept zoning out during the intro, I almost gave up. I will say though, once each timeline gets a chance to get established, some things improved while a few other problems persisted.

One such problem was the overall flow of the novel. With the frequent switching between the two eras and the awkward transitioning, it wasn’t always clear who I was following right away, especially with my attention constantly in danger of wandering. As a result, I was often left feeling lost and disoriented. Granted, this problem was likely exacerbated by the audio format, but I feel in general the pacing was jerky and inconsistent, giving my brain whiplash as we went from the highs to the lows. There’s certainly no denying the story had its moments, but these were too few and far between, and when things dragged, they slow to a crawl.

I also felt ambivalent towards the characters. That said, that may have a lot to do with many of them being guilty of doing terrible things, and the theme of darkness and violence hidden in people’s hearts is one that crops up again and again. On the positive note though, the author does much better with the supernatural darkness of the novel, the demonic entity beneath the surface and the horrors that it manifests. While most of the time the story moved too slowly for me to fully appreciate the gothic atmosphere, when it came time for the outright terrifying and grotesque elements of the story to shine, that was when The Hollow Kind was at its best.

Still, even with its occasional high points, at the end of the day this book failed to hold my interest for the long term and I was underwhelmed by the overall experience due to the awkward structure and rough pacing. I also tend to struggle with audiobooks for stories featuring multiple timelines and/or perspectives with only one narrator, so despite the impressive performance by Susis James, I had a hard time getting into The Hollow Kind.]]> 3.58 2022
author: Andy Davidson
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2022/12/14
date added: 2023/01/03
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, horror, gothic, paranormal
review:
2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

This year, I find many of my low ratings have been given to good books that didn’t quite float my boat for whatever reason. Generally, their stories are sound and the writing solid from a craft perspective, but maybe something in the style or pacing just didn’t work for me. The Hollow Kind is one of these books. Artistically, it is a well put together horror with a fascinating premise at its heart, but I had a hell of a time trying to get through it.

First off, it is a very complex family saga spanning generations and timelines, and to be a fair, these types of stories aren’t always the best suited for audio, which is the format I reviewed. As the book opens in 1989, we follow Nellie Gardner and her eleven-year-old son Max on their journey to Redfern Hill in Georgia, where she had just inherited her grandfather’s estate. There, they find a rundown house surrounded by a dying forest, which is all that’s left of a once proud turpentine mill. Although it’s not the prettiest place, it’s the safest Nellie can provide for Max while they go in hiding from her abusive husband, Wade. But soon after they move in, mother and son begin hearing unsettling noises from within the house’s dilapidated walls and experiencing strange things they can’t explain.

In a separate thread, the story also reveals the history the Redfern Hill, following Nellie’s grandfather August. This part of the tale begins in 1917, when August marries into the Baxter family and takes over their burgeoning turpentine business. This event also sets off a bitter dispute carrying into the present in which Lonnie Baxter, believing that the Redferns stole the mill from his family years ago, launches an aggressive campaign to retake the property by pressuring Nellie to sell. However, what no one realizes is that the place is cursed. Back when he tended the land, August thought he understood the evil force that lurked within the forest but quickly learned that the monster’s hunger will never be appeased.

Overall, The Hollow Kind is a unique take on a southern gothic horror novel, but the plot’s construction and its unconventional trajectories meant at times it became difficult to follow, and the pacing was slow. After having to restart the book multiple times because I kept zoning out during the intro, I almost gave up. I will say though, once each timeline gets a chance to get established, some things improved while a few other problems persisted.

One such problem was the overall flow of the novel. With the frequent switching between the two eras and the awkward transitioning, it wasn’t always clear who I was following right away, especially with my attention constantly in danger of wandering. As a result, I was often left feeling lost and disoriented. Granted, this problem was likely exacerbated by the audio format, but I feel in general the pacing was jerky and inconsistent, giving my brain whiplash as we went from the highs to the lows. There’s certainly no denying the story had its moments, but these were too few and far between, and when things dragged, they slow to a crawl.

I also felt ambivalent towards the characters. That said, that may have a lot to do with many of them being guilty of doing terrible things, and the theme of darkness and violence hidden in people’s hearts is one that crops up again and again. On the positive note though, the author does much better with the supernatural darkness of the novel, the demonic entity beneath the surface and the horrors that it manifests. While most of the time the story moved too slowly for me to fully appreciate the gothic atmosphere, when it came time for the outright terrifying and grotesque elements of the story to shine, that was when The Hollow Kind was at its best.

Still, even with its occasional high points, at the end of the day this book failed to hold my interest for the long term and I was underwhelmed by the overall experience due to the awkward structure and rough pacing. I also tend to struggle with audiobooks for stories featuring multiple timelines and/or perspectives with only one narrator, so despite the impressive performance by Susis James, I had a hard time getting into The Hollow Kind.
]]> 60521937
This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . .

Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.

Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.]]> 292 S.T. Gibson 0316501077 Mogsy 4
After I finished A Dowry of Blood, I went to look up the book on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ and was not surprised to see that the ratings for it were all over the place. Because this one is very much a niche book. I have a feeling it will strike the perfect note for some, while for others it will fall flat on its face. Stylistically, you could tell author S.T. Gibson was going for a certain vibe, and whether it’s a vibe that appeals to you will depend on your personal tastes.

A Dowry of Blood reimagines the story of Dracula, though the classic figure is never mentioned by name, referred only to as “My Lord� by our narrator, Constanta. This is the tale of how she became the bride of her vampire master and lived for centuries by his side, eventually helping him add two more members to their immortal family as they migrate across Europe.

The book opens upon the site of a massacre, with our protagonist barely clinging on to life while the rest of her family lay dead around her, slaughtered by a group of armed men. Like a vulture attracted to the carnage, the vampire lord suddenly appears before her and offers her salvation and a chance to live forever. Filled with desperation and in awe of the power of her savior, she accepts—and becomes reborn as Constanta. And her first act as a vampire? Exacting revenge on her family’s killers, reveling in her newfound powers.

As the years pass, the obsessive love for her master continues to consume Constanta, until they arrive in Spain and meet Magdalena, so beautiful and full of life—the perfect addition to their clan. Gradually, Constanta’s jealousy of the other woman turns to admiration, respect, and then love. And later, when the trio end up in Russia, the young artist and actor Alexi also awakens a protective instinct in Constanta after he joins their family, forcing her to face some difficult truths about her relationship with her lord.

If you enjoy retellings from a different angle, ones that are a little unconventional, then A Dowry of Blood might provide you with what you are looking for. But although the novel may reimagine the character of Dracula from the point-of-view of his “wife�, it also makes several nods to the original classic which inspired it. The entire tale is told in second person epistolary format, addressing her words to her vampire master. I also feel that the prose is written in a way that brings to mind the works of Anne Rice, with dramatic language that at times is almost too flowery.

The results, however, are quite effective. It’s as though Constanta is speaking directly into your mind, creating an atmosphere that feels both immediate and immersive. The mood is thick with seduction and gothic vibes, as the narrative takes us through the darkest parts of history including times of plague and war. Yet at the same time, it’s not all just filth and blood and death. We’re also treated to the imposing backdrops of resplendent castles and the bustling theater scene and nightlife of cities at the prime of their power.

But for all that, the scope of this story feels small. The overall plot is also uncomplicated and linear. Remove all the paranormal and fantastical dressings, and what A Dowry of Blood boils down to is a story about our main character struggling to break free from an abusive relationship. In that sense, there’s really nothing sexy and romantic about this book. Whatever we get to see is constrained by Constanta’s limited experience within the sphere of influence strictly enforced by her husband, and she freely admits she knows little of the world outside of their little family. And unlike Magdalena and Alexi who are a little more willing to test their master’s limits, Constanta herself displays little motivation to go against his wishes for most of the book.

Still, simple plot or not, the point is that our protagonist does eventually find the emotional strength to break that vicious cycle to protect those she loves. It was an epic journey, in its own way, of Constanta’s centuries-long awakening from the spell cast upon her by her so-called beloved.

Bottom line, A Dowry of Blood is a gothic vampire novel filled with dark and sexually charged vibes—not so much “horror� in the traditional sense, but more designed to fill you with a sense of unease. As I said, I believe the response will be mixed on this one due to its niche appeal. Not so sure that it was really for me, but nevertheless I was quite impressed by the way it was all put together.]]> 3.91 2021
author: S.T. Gibson
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/16
date added: 2022/11/01
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, horror, gothic, vampires, historical-fiction, retellings, fantasy
review:
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

After I finished A Dowry of Blood, I went to look up the book on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ and was not surprised to see that the ratings for it were all over the place. Because this one is very much a niche book. I have a feeling it will strike the perfect note for some, while for others it will fall flat on its face. Stylistically, you could tell author S.T. Gibson was going for a certain vibe, and whether it’s a vibe that appeals to you will depend on your personal tastes.

A Dowry of Blood reimagines the story of Dracula, though the classic figure is never mentioned by name, referred only to as “My Lord� by our narrator, Constanta. This is the tale of how she became the bride of her vampire master and lived for centuries by his side, eventually helping him add two more members to their immortal family as they migrate across Europe.

The book opens upon the site of a massacre, with our protagonist barely clinging on to life while the rest of her family lay dead around her, slaughtered by a group of armed men. Like a vulture attracted to the carnage, the vampire lord suddenly appears before her and offers her salvation and a chance to live forever. Filled with desperation and in awe of the power of her savior, she accepts—and becomes reborn as Constanta. And her first act as a vampire? Exacting revenge on her family’s killers, reveling in her newfound powers.

As the years pass, the obsessive love for her master continues to consume Constanta, until they arrive in Spain and meet Magdalena, so beautiful and full of life—the perfect addition to their clan. Gradually, Constanta’s jealousy of the other woman turns to admiration, respect, and then love. And later, when the trio end up in Russia, the young artist and actor Alexi also awakens a protective instinct in Constanta after he joins their family, forcing her to face some difficult truths about her relationship with her lord.

If you enjoy retellings from a different angle, ones that are a little unconventional, then A Dowry of Blood might provide you with what you are looking for. But although the novel may reimagine the character of Dracula from the point-of-view of his “wife�, it also makes several nods to the original classic which inspired it. The entire tale is told in second person epistolary format, addressing her words to her vampire master. I also feel that the prose is written in a way that brings to mind the works of Anne Rice, with dramatic language that at times is almost too flowery.

The results, however, are quite effective. It’s as though Constanta is speaking directly into your mind, creating an atmosphere that feels both immediate and immersive. The mood is thick with seduction and gothic vibes, as the narrative takes us through the darkest parts of history including times of plague and war. Yet at the same time, it’s not all just filth and blood and death. We’re also treated to the imposing backdrops of resplendent castles and the bustling theater scene and nightlife of cities at the prime of their power.

But for all that, the scope of this story feels small. The overall plot is also uncomplicated and linear. Remove all the paranormal and fantastical dressings, and what A Dowry of Blood boils down to is a story about our main character struggling to break free from an abusive relationship. In that sense, there’s really nothing sexy and romantic about this book. Whatever we get to see is constrained by Constanta’s limited experience within the sphere of influence strictly enforced by her husband, and she freely admits she knows little of the world outside of their little family. And unlike Magdalena and Alexi who are a little more willing to test their master’s limits, Constanta herself displays little motivation to go against his wishes for most of the book.

Still, simple plot or not, the point is that our protagonist does eventually find the emotional strength to break that vicious cycle to protect those she loves. It was an epic journey, in its own way, of Constanta’s centuries-long awakening from the spell cast upon her by her so-called beloved.

Bottom line, A Dowry of Blood is a gothic vampire novel filled with dark and sexually charged vibes—not so much “horror� in the traditional sense, but more designed to fill you with a sense of unease. As I said, I believe the response will be mixed on this one due to its niche appeal. Not so sure that it was really for me, but nevertheless I was quite impressed by the way it was all put together.
]]> 59808007
“A great day is upon us. He is coming. The world will be washed away.�

On the wind-battered isle of Altnaharra, off the wildest coast of Scotland, a clan prepares to bring about the end of the world and its imminent rebirth.

The Adder is coming and one of their number will inherit its powers. They all want the honor, but young Eve is willing to do anything for the distinction.

A reckoning beyond Eve’s imagination begins when Chief Inspector Black arrives to investigate a brutal murder and their sacred ceremony goes terribly wrong.

And soon all the secrets of Altnaharra will be uncovered.]]> 271 Catriona Ward 1250812658 Mogsy 4
Originally published in the UK in 2018, Catriona Ward’s award-winning Little Eve has been republished by Nightfire Books, and compared to my first experience with her work The Last House on Needless Street, I have to say this one was definitely more my speed.

On the Isle of Altnaharra, just off the coast of Scotland, lives Little Eve and her family of six headed by her “Uncle�. On a cold winter day in 1921, the local butcher making his usual delivery of meat to their crumbling castle makes a horrific discovery when he notices the front gate open. On the altar of the nearby church, he finds five bodies laid out in the shape of a star, each with their right eye gouged out. More shocking yet, one of victims still lives—a girl named Dinah. All other family members are accounted for—all except Eve. It’s believed that she is the one who committed this atrocity.

The story then flashes back in time to 1917 where readers get to the world through Eve’s eyes—a dreary and secluded existence created by Uncle for her and her “sisters� whom he controls with draconian force and cruel punishment. Anyone to step out of line would be subjected to days locked in the dark cellar without food or water, for example. Uncle also fills his family members� heads with a number of strange “truths� and forces them all to participate in his rituals to prepare for the end of the world, all the while maintaining a semblance of normalcy to the outside world so that one will come around asking difficult questions—though of course everyone in town already has their suspicions.

One of these outsiders is Chief Inspector Christopher Black, who has long known things are not as they seem at the castle on Altnaharra. After the massacre of 1921, he has also taken upon himself to get to the bottom of the case.

What Catriona Ward has deftly created here is a chilling tale of horror with the classic trappings of a cult story and old-school gothic vibes, but she has also added some of her own flair and resonating twists. Alternating between the earlier and later points in the story, the author plays with the flow of time leaving her readers feeling disoriented and adrift—but this is all by design. Rest assured everything will come together in the end.

And speaking of disorienting, Eve’s narrative itself is the very definition of unreliable, leaving you constantly guessing and wondering, but in the best way. The very confusion is what creates the sensation of uneasiness and dread, the specter of the other shoe waiting to drop. We explore her childhood through her relationship with her family members, especially Dinah, the lone survivor of the 1921 massacre. As young girls, they were almost inseparable, and brainwashed together by Uncle’s manipulative ways. Eve came to be in all on the dubious religion he preached, believing in snake gods rising from the sea to bring ruin to the earth, and that she would be the chosen one to succeed Uncle and inherit his powers. Some of the things Eve describes makes it difficult to discern whether what she witnessed was real or simply the product of her delusions. Or perhaps, could there be an actual supernatural element at play here?

Ward’s writing also shines with a story like this. All the ingredients are there for her to turn Little Eve into a delectable gothic horror mystery, from the setting of the dilapidated castle by the stormy sea to the shocking opening scene with the gruesome discovery. A dark pall hangs over the entire story—again, by design. This complements the cult elements well, casting a oppressive, gloomy and almost hopeless shadow over all the novel’s characters and events, which was most keenly felt in the sections that take place at Altnaharra.

All told, Little Eve is a haunting gothic tale drenched with terror and atmosphere. Twisted and cleverly plotted, this story is crafted to mess with your mind and keep you guessing. Recommended for horror fans who enjoy exceptional characterization and complex motifs.]]> 3.69 2018
author: Catriona Ward
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/15
date added: 2022/10/27
shelves: review-copy, horror, historical-fiction, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

Originally published in the UK in 2018, Catriona Ward’s award-winning Little Eve has been republished by Nightfire Books, and compared to my first experience with her work The Last House on Needless Street, I have to say this one was definitely more my speed.

On the Isle of Altnaharra, just off the coast of Scotland, lives Little Eve and her family of six headed by her “Uncle�. On a cold winter day in 1921, the local butcher making his usual delivery of meat to their crumbling castle makes a horrific discovery when he notices the front gate open. On the altar of the nearby church, he finds five bodies laid out in the shape of a star, each with their right eye gouged out. More shocking yet, one of victims still lives—a girl named Dinah. All other family members are accounted for—all except Eve. It’s believed that she is the one who committed this atrocity.

The story then flashes back in time to 1917 where readers get to the world through Eve’s eyes—a dreary and secluded existence created by Uncle for her and her “sisters� whom he controls with draconian force and cruel punishment. Anyone to step out of line would be subjected to days locked in the dark cellar without food or water, for example. Uncle also fills his family members� heads with a number of strange “truths� and forces them all to participate in his rituals to prepare for the end of the world, all the while maintaining a semblance of normalcy to the outside world so that one will come around asking difficult questions—though of course everyone in town already has their suspicions.

One of these outsiders is Chief Inspector Christopher Black, who has long known things are not as they seem at the castle on Altnaharra. After the massacre of 1921, he has also taken upon himself to get to the bottom of the case.

What Catriona Ward has deftly created here is a chilling tale of horror with the classic trappings of a cult story and old-school gothic vibes, but she has also added some of her own flair and resonating twists. Alternating between the earlier and later points in the story, the author plays with the flow of time leaving her readers feeling disoriented and adrift—but this is all by design. Rest assured everything will come together in the end.

And speaking of disorienting, Eve’s narrative itself is the very definition of unreliable, leaving you constantly guessing and wondering, but in the best way. The very confusion is what creates the sensation of uneasiness and dread, the specter of the other shoe waiting to drop. We explore her childhood through her relationship with her family members, especially Dinah, the lone survivor of the 1921 massacre. As young girls, they were almost inseparable, and brainwashed together by Uncle’s manipulative ways. Eve came to be in all on the dubious religion he preached, believing in snake gods rising from the sea to bring ruin to the earth, and that she would be the chosen one to succeed Uncle and inherit his powers. Some of the things Eve describes makes it difficult to discern whether what she witnessed was real or simply the product of her delusions. Or perhaps, could there be an actual supernatural element at play here?

Ward’s writing also shines with a story like this. All the ingredients are there for her to turn Little Eve into a delectable gothic horror mystery, from the setting of the dilapidated castle by the stormy sea to the shocking opening scene with the gruesome discovery. A dark pall hangs over the entire story—again, by design. This complements the cult elements well, casting a oppressive, gloomy and almost hopeless shadow over all the novel’s characters and events, which was most keenly felt in the sections that take place at Altnaharra.

All told, Little Eve is a haunting gothic tale drenched with terror and atmosphere. Twisted and cleverly plotted, this story is crafted to mess with your mind and keep you guessing. Recommended for horror fans who enjoy exceptional characterization and complex motifs.
]]> 58340706
Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.

Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.]]> 399 Rachel Gillig 0316312487 Mogsy 3
It might be the spooky season, but just because the nights come earlier and there’s a chill in the air, sometimes a book needs a little more than mood to help get it off the ground. One Dark Window is certainly an ambitious debut that strives for those Gothic fantasy vibes and romantic allure, but the polish just isn’t quite there.

The story follows Elspeth Spindle, who survived a mysterious illness in her childhood which left her with magical abilities. Fearing persecution, she goes in hiding to live with her aunt and uncle, keeping the secret of monster trapped inside her head—an ancient spirit she calls Nightmare. Sometimes Nightmare controls her, but sometimes, it also protects her.

In addition, Elspeth gained the power to absorb the essence from the Providence Cards, twelve magical playing cards that give their owners special abilities. But this magic also has a cost. When the Providence Cards were created, this also destroyed Blunder, the world in which the book takes place. It’s a dreary existence, and nowhere is safe. One day, Elspeth runs afoul of a highwayman while in the forest, and discovers that the bandit is in fact Ravyn Yew, the king’s nephew in disguise. Ravyn also happens to be the Captain of the Destriers, the kingdom’s fearsome law enforcers and the very people Elspeth hopes to avoid.

Fate has other plans, however, as our protagonist unwittingly becomes the key to the Yew family’s mission to reunite the Providence Cards and cleanse the blight from Blunder. This unfortunately requires her to get close to Ravyn, to whom she feels a connection growing in spite of herself. Meanwhile, the Nightmare inside her mind is also becoming stronger, and Elspeth wonders how much longer before it takes over her mind completely.

No doubt with all these elements, One Dark Window had the potential to be the dark and eerie novel it aspired to be, but due to a few missteps and questionable stylistic decisions, it fell short of those expectations. Mainly, we have a story here that struggles with an identity crisis. For one, rather than Gothic, things felt more melodramatic. We’re clearly going for an atmosphere that’s dark, violent and bloody, yet this is somewhat sabotaged by the cringey Young Adult vibes not to mention the cheesy, riddle-me-this way the Nightmare speaks.

I also feel that while author Rachel Gillig is obviously talented and has a way with words, she stumbles with the narrative and pacing. Momentum was very slow to build, and even once we had achieved it, the plot struggled to maintain it. Then there was the slow-burn romance between Elspeth and Ravyn, which to its credit was a luxuriant and seductive, but it was also hard to see self-indulgence or shake the feeling that Gillig prioritized their romance arc even though it was only supposed to be a subplot. No other relationship between Elspeth or any of the other characters got nearly as much attention, and the glossing over of other parts of the story also made some the big reveals at the end very predictable.

Ultimately, my feelings for One Dark Window were as mixed and confused as the novel’s direction and themes. There’s a sense that it tries to be too much and so it doesn’t quite meet any of the goals that it set for itself, and as you know, books that are neither here nor there are always the hardest ones to review. Bottom line, I probably would have enjoyed this one a lot more had I been in the mood for a YA fantasy romance, which I’ve been known to crave on occasion. This time though, I’d been expecting something more mature and a lot darker, and while there were hints of that which came through, it just wasn’t enough.]]> 4.25 2022
author: Rachel Gillig
name: Mogsy
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/10/07
date added: 2022/10/24
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, fantasy, gothic, horror, romance
review:
2.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

It might be the spooky season, but just because the nights come earlier and there’s a chill in the air, sometimes a book needs a little more than mood to help get it off the ground. One Dark Window is certainly an ambitious debut that strives for those Gothic fantasy vibes and romantic allure, but the polish just isn’t quite there.

The story follows Elspeth Spindle, who survived a mysterious illness in her childhood which left her with magical abilities. Fearing persecution, she goes in hiding to live with her aunt and uncle, keeping the secret of monster trapped inside her head—an ancient spirit she calls Nightmare. Sometimes Nightmare controls her, but sometimes, it also protects her.

In addition, Elspeth gained the power to absorb the essence from the Providence Cards, twelve magical playing cards that give their owners special abilities. But this magic also has a cost. When the Providence Cards were created, this also destroyed Blunder, the world in which the book takes place. It’s a dreary existence, and nowhere is safe. One day, Elspeth runs afoul of a highwayman while in the forest, and discovers that the bandit is in fact Ravyn Yew, the king’s nephew in disguise. Ravyn also happens to be the Captain of the Destriers, the kingdom’s fearsome law enforcers and the very people Elspeth hopes to avoid.

Fate has other plans, however, as our protagonist unwittingly becomes the key to the Yew family’s mission to reunite the Providence Cards and cleanse the blight from Blunder. This unfortunately requires her to get close to Ravyn, to whom she feels a connection growing in spite of herself. Meanwhile, the Nightmare inside her mind is also becoming stronger, and Elspeth wonders how much longer before it takes over her mind completely.

No doubt with all these elements, One Dark Window had the potential to be the dark and eerie novel it aspired to be, but due to a few missteps and questionable stylistic decisions, it fell short of those expectations. Mainly, we have a story here that struggles with an identity crisis. For one, rather than Gothic, things felt more melodramatic. We’re clearly going for an atmosphere that’s dark, violent and bloody, yet this is somewhat sabotaged by the cringey Young Adult vibes not to mention the cheesy, riddle-me-this way the Nightmare speaks.

I also feel that while author Rachel Gillig is obviously talented and has a way with words, she stumbles with the narrative and pacing. Momentum was very slow to build, and even once we had achieved it, the plot struggled to maintain it. Then there was the slow-burn romance between Elspeth and Ravyn, which to its credit was a luxuriant and seductive, but it was also hard to see self-indulgence or shake the feeling that Gillig prioritized their romance arc even though it was only supposed to be a subplot. No other relationship between Elspeth or any of the other characters got nearly as much attention, and the glossing over of other parts of the story also made some the big reveals at the end very predictable.

Ultimately, my feelings for One Dark Window were as mixed and confused as the novel’s direction and themes. There’s a sense that it tries to be too much and so it doesn’t quite meet any of the goals that it set for itself, and as you know, books that are neither here nor there are always the hardest ones to review. Bottom line, I probably would have enjoyed this one a lot more had I been in the mood for a YA fantasy romance, which I’ve been known to crave on occasion. This time though, I’d been expecting something more mature and a lot darker, and while there were hints of that which came through, it just wasn’t enough.
]]> 55077699
When two former friends reunite after decades apart, their grudges, flawed ambitions, and shared obsession swirl into an all-too-real echo of a terrible town legend.

Centuries ago, beautiful young Ilsbeth Clark was accused of witchcraft after several children disappeared. Her acquittal did nothing to stop her fellow townsfolk from drowning her in the well where the missing children were last seen.

When author and social media influencer Elena returns to the summer paradise of her youth to get her family's manor house ready to sell, the last thing she expected was connecting with―and feeling inspired to write about―Ilsbeth’s infamous spirit. The very historical figure that her ex-childhood friend, Cathy, has been diligently researching and writing about for years.

What begins as a fiercely competitive sense of ownership over Ilsbeth and her story soon turns both women’s worlds into something more haunted and dangerous than they could ever imagine.]]> 296 Camilla Bruce 1250302099 Mogsy 3
In a small town in the Norwegian countryside, childhood friends Elena and Cathy grew close to each other over many summers of vacationing there. Now adults, the two have become bitter rivals after discovering that both have decided to start a writing project about the same topic: Isbeth Clark.

A local woman who had been denounced as a witch back in the nineteenth century, Isbeth was drowned in a well by a mob of angry townsfolk who believed her responsible for the disappearance of several children. Stories of her have since become entrenched in the history of the town as well as many local legends. In the present day, having returned from the city to get her family’s estate ready for sale, Elena is reminded of her bucolic summers spent here in her youth and is suddenly struck with an inspiration to write a tribute to Ilsbeth’s spirit. A bestselling author of a spiritual self-help book, Elena also hopes to use her reach as a social media influencer to spread the word about the infamous witch in the well.

This does not sit well at all with Cathy, who has remained in town after all these years and earned herself a bit of a reputation as the local kook. Obsessed with the subject of Ilsbeth Clark, Cathy has dedicated years of her life researching the woman’s life for a novel about her, and now feels anger towards Elena for encroaching upon what she perceives is her area of expertise. The story is told in the epistolary style, opening with a news report on a tragic death followed by excerpts from Elena’s journal, entries on Cathy’s blog, notes purported written by Ilsbeth herself, as well as other documentation.

After writing out the book’s description, I couldn’t help but notice some similarities to another one of Camilla Bruce’s novels, You Let Me In. There’s first the blending of horror and paranormal elements with smalltown history and folklore. Then there’s the aspect of the unreliable narrator. And finally, thanks to the vagueness created by the combination of all these ingredients, the result is an eerie uncertainty of what is real and what is imagined.

The author also seems to have a penchant for characters who are writers. But while both Cathy and Elena in The Witch in the Well are hoping to write about Ilsbeth Clark, their visions for their respective works couldn’t be any more different. And much of it has to do with the differences between the two women themselves. Cathy has always been the quiet, somber, and introverted one who struggles socially with expressing how she feels. Elena is the opposite, making friends easily with her bubbly and bright personality.

Due to the structure of the novel, these character differences became an invaluable way to tell their voices apart. However, here’s where I think Bruce’s writing falters a bit; the story is supposed to be told through the characters� own writings such as journal entries, notes, etc. but in fact the writing style varies very little. Sure, we had personality quirks come through that were used to tell the voices apart, but in general these were rather shallow affectations.

The Witch in the Well also had the feel of a “here’s what happened� story where the major crux was revealed right from the start, leaving the rest of the novel to go back and fill in the details. Without spoiling anything, I will say that in a way we already know the fates of our characters very early on so there’s no big shock, especially with a big reveal of what happened to one of them right off the bat. As a plot device, I wasn’t exactly turned off by it, though I can’t say it did the story any favors either. It simply left the rest of it with little wind in its sails to carry the mystery or intrigue all the way through.

That’s pretty much how I feel about the book overall—smooth sailing but generally an uneventful ride. Not bad at all, though after my stellar experience with the Camilla Bruce’s two previous novels, You Let Me In and In the Garden of Spite, it’s hard not to see The Witch in the Well as a slight downgrade. Still a good book and a worthy pick if you are a fan of the author, but if you are just starting out with her work I would recommend starting elsewhere, like with either of the aforementioned novels which are much more impressive in terms of storytelling, atmosphere, character development.]]> 2.99 2022
author: Camilla Bruce
name: Mogsy
average rating: 2.99
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/10/03
date added: 2022/10/16
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, horror, gothic, paranormal, witches-and-wizards
review:
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

In a small town in the Norwegian countryside, childhood friends Elena and Cathy grew close to each other over many summers of vacationing there. Now adults, the two have become bitter rivals after discovering that both have decided to start a writing project about the same topic: Isbeth Clark.

A local woman who had been denounced as a witch back in the nineteenth century, Isbeth was drowned in a well by a mob of angry townsfolk who believed her responsible for the disappearance of several children. Stories of her have since become entrenched in the history of the town as well as many local legends. In the present day, having returned from the city to get her family’s estate ready for sale, Elena is reminded of her bucolic summers spent here in her youth and is suddenly struck with an inspiration to write a tribute to Ilsbeth’s spirit. A bestselling author of a spiritual self-help book, Elena also hopes to use her reach as a social media influencer to spread the word about the infamous witch in the well.

This does not sit well at all with Cathy, who has remained in town after all these years and earned herself a bit of a reputation as the local kook. Obsessed with the subject of Ilsbeth Clark, Cathy has dedicated years of her life researching the woman’s life for a novel about her, and now feels anger towards Elena for encroaching upon what she perceives is her area of expertise. The story is told in the epistolary style, opening with a news report on a tragic death followed by excerpts from Elena’s journal, entries on Cathy’s blog, notes purported written by Ilsbeth herself, as well as other documentation.

After writing out the book’s description, I couldn’t help but notice some similarities to another one of Camilla Bruce’s novels, You Let Me In. There’s first the blending of horror and paranormal elements with smalltown history and folklore. Then there’s the aspect of the unreliable narrator. And finally, thanks to the vagueness created by the combination of all these ingredients, the result is an eerie uncertainty of what is real and what is imagined.

The author also seems to have a penchant for characters who are writers. But while both Cathy and Elena in The Witch in the Well are hoping to write about Ilsbeth Clark, their visions for their respective works couldn’t be any more different. And much of it has to do with the differences between the two women themselves. Cathy has always been the quiet, somber, and introverted one who struggles socially with expressing how she feels. Elena is the opposite, making friends easily with her bubbly and bright personality.

Due to the structure of the novel, these character differences became an invaluable way to tell their voices apart. However, here’s where I think Bruce’s writing falters a bit; the story is supposed to be told through the characters� own writings such as journal entries, notes, etc. but in fact the writing style varies very little. Sure, we had personality quirks come through that were used to tell the voices apart, but in general these were rather shallow affectations.

The Witch in the Well also had the feel of a “here’s what happened� story where the major crux was revealed right from the start, leaving the rest of the novel to go back and fill in the details. Without spoiling anything, I will say that in a way we already know the fates of our characters very early on so there’s no big shock, especially with a big reveal of what happened to one of them right off the bat. As a plot device, I wasn’t exactly turned off by it, though I can’t say it did the story any favors either. It simply left the rest of it with little wind in its sails to carry the mystery or intrigue all the way through.

That’s pretty much how I feel about the book overall—smooth sailing but generally an uneventful ride. Not bad at all, though after my stellar experience with the Camilla Bruce’s two previous novels, You Let Me In and In the Garden of Spite, it’s hard not to see The Witch in the Well as a slight downgrade. Still a good book and a worthy pick if you are a fan of the author, but if you are just starting out with her work I would recommend starting elsewhere, like with either of the aforementioned novels which are much more impressive in terms of storytelling, atmosphere, character development.
]]> 55994101 Ěý
Victorian Edinburgh. Captain Edward Henry Hyde is chief detective for the City of Edinburgh Police; as such, he is responsible for investigating all murders and serious crimes in the city. Hyde is a striking but severe-looking man who provokes unease, and often fear, in those who encounter him. Nevertheless, Edward Hyde is truly a good man ...Ěý though he wrestles fiercely with his own unique demons.

When Hyde finds himself at the scene of a heinous murder, with no idea of how he got there or the events leading up to the discovery, his alarm is triggered on two levels. First, the crime scene is brutal and involves the Threefold Death, an ancient Celtic rite of sacrifice entangled with dark Scottish spiritual mythology. Second, Hyde's inability to remember any detail of his arrival at the crime scene makes him immediately fret about the secret he keeps from all but his He suffers from a rare form of epilepsy that causes him to lose time—amnesiac absences where he cannot account for his actions—and nocturnal seizures that manifest themselves as vivid and lucid dreams.
Ěý
As Hyde begins his investigation of the murder in a city on edge, he finds himself not only searching for real world clues, but trying to unravel the significance of the imagery in the otherworld of his dreaming. His investigation leads to the very places he fears, but has never fully imagined.]]> 352 Craig Russell 0385544448 Mogsy 2
It’s hard to say exactly why Hyde didn’t really work for me, though I did enjoy the author’s last novel The Devil Aspect and somehow I just didn’t feel this one held the same fascination or appeal.

Our story begins in Victorian Edinburgh where Captain Edward Henry Hyde holds the post of chief detective, and as such it is his job to uphold the law and lead the investigation into any serious crimes in the city. And so, when he wakes up one day at the scene of a grisly murder, he is immediately alarmed. For you see, Hyde suffers from a particularly worrying form of epilepsy that causes him to lose time. These amnesic occurrences can come on very suddenly, and every time he finally comes to, he can never remember anything that happened.

In this case, his awakening so near to the crime scene inevitably leads him to wonder whether he had any connection to the murder. To make things worse, the victim was killed in an especially brutal manner called the Threefold Death, linked to an ancient Celtic ritual involving the spirts and sacrifice. As the chief detective though, Hyde has no choice but to keep his condition and suspicions a secret, even as his investigation takes him to some dark places, both literally and figuratively.

First let me just say my issues with this novel are entirely subjective. Craig Russell is an excellent writer, as I found out with The Devil Aspect, and his prose was just as delectable here in Hyde, as was the overall style which was pure immersion and atmosphere. However, it was the story itself that failed to engage me. Due to the circumstances surrounding our protagonist, there was a disjointed feel to the plot that didn’t quite do it for me, not to mention the entire book felt simply too drawn out.

In some ways, I think my indifference might also have been the result of the author doing his job too well. Had my interest been greater in the time period or the ultra-gothic vibes, the book might have resonated with me more. An obvious example of this was the Hyde’s internal exposition detailing his thoughts, emotions and memories, which was heavy-handed to the point of driving all life from the writing. To a lesser extent, this over-telling was also happening with the dialogue, resulting in conversations that felt awkward and contrived.

Ultimately, it became very difficult to care about the story or the characters. This made reading Hyde a struggle for much of my time with it, and it didn’t help that the narrator for the audiobook had a relatively flat, droning kind of voice. Despite zoning out on the audiobook frequently, I also found I was missing very little because of how slowly the plot progressed. Credit where it’s due though, when all was revealed, the final resolution to the mystery was enjoyable, though probably not enough to make up for everything else. I wish we’d gotten more of the mythological side of things too, but instead the story decided to go in another direction. In hindsight, I can understand why, but in the end that did little to help spark my enthusiasm.

Bottom line: you win some, you lose some. I’d looked forward to Hyde ever since having such a great time with The Devil Aspect, so of course I’m heartbroken that this turned out to be a disappointment. My previous positive experience with Craig Russell makes me want to chalk this up to one of those “it’s not this book, it’s me� situations though, so your mileage may vary, and I’m probably going to keep checking out the author’s projects and hope that his next one will be more my speed.]]> 3.83 2021
author: Craig Russell
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/10/24
date added: 2021/11/08
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, gothic, horror, mystery, historical-fiction
review:
2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

It’s hard to say exactly why Hyde didn’t really work for me, though I did enjoy the author’s last novel The Devil Aspect and somehow I just didn’t feel this one held the same fascination or appeal.

Our story begins in Victorian Edinburgh where Captain Edward Henry Hyde holds the post of chief detective, and as such it is his job to uphold the law and lead the investigation into any serious crimes in the city. And so, when he wakes up one day at the scene of a grisly murder, he is immediately alarmed. For you see, Hyde suffers from a particularly worrying form of epilepsy that causes him to lose time. These amnesic occurrences can come on very suddenly, and every time he finally comes to, he can never remember anything that happened.

In this case, his awakening so near to the crime scene inevitably leads him to wonder whether he had any connection to the murder. To make things worse, the victim was killed in an especially brutal manner called the Threefold Death, linked to an ancient Celtic ritual involving the spirts and sacrifice. As the chief detective though, Hyde has no choice but to keep his condition and suspicions a secret, even as his investigation takes him to some dark places, both literally and figuratively.

First let me just say my issues with this novel are entirely subjective. Craig Russell is an excellent writer, as I found out with The Devil Aspect, and his prose was just as delectable here in Hyde, as was the overall style which was pure immersion and atmosphere. However, it was the story itself that failed to engage me. Due to the circumstances surrounding our protagonist, there was a disjointed feel to the plot that didn’t quite do it for me, not to mention the entire book felt simply too drawn out.

In some ways, I think my indifference might also have been the result of the author doing his job too well. Had my interest been greater in the time period or the ultra-gothic vibes, the book might have resonated with me more. An obvious example of this was the Hyde’s internal exposition detailing his thoughts, emotions and memories, which was heavy-handed to the point of driving all life from the writing. To a lesser extent, this over-telling was also happening with the dialogue, resulting in conversations that felt awkward and contrived.

Ultimately, it became very difficult to care about the story or the characters. This made reading Hyde a struggle for much of my time with it, and it didn’t help that the narrator for the audiobook had a relatively flat, droning kind of voice. Despite zoning out on the audiobook frequently, I also found I was missing very little because of how slowly the plot progressed. Credit where it’s due though, when all was revealed, the final resolution to the mystery was enjoyable, though probably not enough to make up for everything else. I wish we’d gotten more of the mythological side of things too, but instead the story decided to go in another direction. In hindsight, I can understand why, but in the end that did little to help spark my enthusiasm.

Bottom line: you win some, you lose some. I’d looked forward to Hyde ever since having such a great time with The Devil Aspect, so of course I’m heartbroken that this turned out to be a disappointment. My previous positive experience with Craig Russell makes me want to chalk this up to one of those “it’s not this book, it’s me� situations though, so your mileage may vary, and I’m probably going to keep checking out the author’s projects and hope that his next one will be more my speed.
]]> 44027147
Failing crime writer Bradley Ellison and former prostitute Missy Holiday are drawn to this place, fleeing a world turned against them. For Brad, it is work—he must find a compelling story before the true-crime magazine he writes for judges him expendable. For Missy, it is recuperation—four years at "the club" have left her drained.

But the price of peace is high, and soon Brad and Missy discover that something hides behind the quiet. Something moves in the night. Something that manifests itself in bizarre symbols and disturbing funeral rites. Something that twists back through time and clings in the dust of the ancient house. A presence they must uncover before their own past catches up with them.]]> 445 Noah Broyles 1947848879 Mogsy 3
I believe there are books that require you to be in a certain mood in order to truly enjoy them, and I can’t help but think The House of Dust is a prime example. This is as Southern Gothic as you can get, set “deep in the heat and silence of rural Tennessee�, a simple yet telling line in the novel’s official description. Yes, it’s dark. Yes, it’s heavy. And sometimes, the story can get a little too bogged down by both these traits.

Our tale opens on a lonely road on the way to a small remote town, where protagonist Bradly Ellison plans to kill himself. But what has happened to bring him to this point? Following a split-structure alternating narrative, The House of Dust reveals the story of Brad, a struggling true crime writer, as well as Missy Holiday, his fiancée and a former escort, as they head to the tumbledown town of Three Summers, Tennessee in a last-ditch attempt to find what they need to save themselves. For Brad, it’s a chance to revive his career before the magazine he writes for fires him, and for Missy, it’s a place she can retreat to and heal from her traumatic past.

The couple has rented a rundown plantation house after Brad gets a lead on a possible story in a nearby town. Strange fate has led them here, after a creepy encounter with an old woman brought the dilapidated house to their attention. In his investigation, Brad makes even more disturbing discoveries about the town, including a possible cultish ritual among its residents as well as whispers related to the worshipping of an angel called Adamah. As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for. Brad believes he is on to something big here, but the deeper he digs, the more he is haunted by the town’s dark and rotten history.

Maybe it’s the structure of the novel, or simply the disjointed nature of the plot itself, but the beginning of this book presented a huge struggle. The early sections were a mess, with issues ranging from ambiguously surreal situations to the deliberate withholding of information, and as you know, it never sits well with me when an author does that, especially when it feels contrived and forced. It’s also difficult to tease out what’s real versus what is merely a product of the characters� minds, and when the basis of your entire novel rests on that uncertainty, well then, the storytelling is bound to be a bit weaker.

Fortunately, the narrative eventually smooths out somewhat. Once I caught on to the split format and figured out where we were going with it, it did make things easier, and with that obstacle out of the way, I was also able to appreciate the more positive aspects of the novel. First of all, this is a very atmospheric tale. The heat and oppression of the setting mixes with the strange and dreamlike fugue of the story to create a haunting miasma that’s thick enough to choke on. Speaking of which, we also didn’t get as much about the old plantation house as I would have liked, but that said, it’s also the type of vagueness that encourages readers to use their own imagination to fill in the blanks, and one can argue that might be even more effective.

Still, Noah Broyles makes a few mistakes that many debut authors are prone to, namely overwriting which unnecessarily encumbers the prose and restricts the flow of pacing. This story could have been a lot spookier and more disturbing, but I was tripping over too many wonky transitions and instances of awkward phrasing to really feel all that creeped out. Finer edits and polishing might have fixed some things, but generally I feel this was a very ambitious and thus complicated story, and Broyles might have bit off more than he can chew.

Overall, I love Gothic fiction, as well as horror stories about cults or strange things happening in small forgotten towns. The House of Dust is probably worth reading if, like me, you are a fan of those things as well, with the caveat that the novel is a bit rough around the edges. Still, Noah Broyles has a lot of potential, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for his next projects.

]]> 3.59 2021
author: Noah Broyles
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/10/12
date added: 2021/11/01
shelves: review-copy, arcs-and-galleys, horror, gothic, mystery
review:
3 of 5 stars at

I believe there are books that require you to be in a certain mood in order to truly enjoy them, and I can’t help but think The House of Dust is a prime example. This is as Southern Gothic as you can get, set “deep in the heat and silence of rural Tennessee�, a simple yet telling line in the novel’s official description. Yes, it’s dark. Yes, it’s heavy. And sometimes, the story can get a little too bogged down by both these traits.

Our tale opens on a lonely road on the way to a small remote town, where protagonist Bradly Ellison plans to kill himself. But what has happened to bring him to this point? Following a split-structure alternating narrative, The House of Dust reveals the story of Brad, a struggling true crime writer, as well as Missy Holiday, his fiancée and a former escort, as they head to the tumbledown town of Three Summers, Tennessee in a last-ditch attempt to find what they need to save themselves. For Brad, it’s a chance to revive his career before the magazine he writes for fires him, and for Missy, it’s a place she can retreat to and heal from her traumatic past.

The couple has rented a rundown plantation house after Brad gets a lead on a possible story in a nearby town. Strange fate has led them here, after a creepy encounter with an old woman brought the dilapidated house to their attention. In his investigation, Brad makes even more disturbing discoveries about the town, including a possible cultish ritual among its residents as well as whispers related to the worshipping of an angel called Adamah. As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for. Brad believes he is on to something big here, but the deeper he digs, the more he is haunted by the town’s dark and rotten history.

Maybe it’s the structure of the novel, or simply the disjointed nature of the plot itself, but the beginning of this book presented a huge struggle. The early sections were a mess, with issues ranging from ambiguously surreal situations to the deliberate withholding of information, and as you know, it never sits well with me when an author does that, especially when it feels contrived and forced. It’s also difficult to tease out what’s real versus what is merely a product of the characters� minds, and when the basis of your entire novel rests on that uncertainty, well then, the storytelling is bound to be a bit weaker.

Fortunately, the narrative eventually smooths out somewhat. Once I caught on to the split format and figured out where we were going with it, it did make things easier, and with that obstacle out of the way, I was also able to appreciate the more positive aspects of the novel. First of all, this is a very atmospheric tale. The heat and oppression of the setting mixes with the strange and dreamlike fugue of the story to create a haunting miasma that’s thick enough to choke on. Speaking of which, we also didn’t get as much about the old plantation house as I would have liked, but that said, it’s also the type of vagueness that encourages readers to use their own imagination to fill in the blanks, and one can argue that might be even more effective.

Still, Noah Broyles makes a few mistakes that many debut authors are prone to, namely overwriting which unnecessarily encumbers the prose and restricts the flow of pacing. This story could have been a lot spookier and more disturbing, but I was tripping over too many wonky transitions and instances of awkward phrasing to really feel all that creeped out. Finer edits and polishing might have fixed some things, but generally I feel this was a very ambitious and thus complicated story, and Broyles might have bit off more than he can chew.

Overall, I love Gothic fiction, as well as horror stories about cults or strange things happening in small forgotten towns. The House of Dust is probably worth reading if, like me, you are a fan of those things as well, with the caveat that the novel is a bit rough around the edges. Still, Noah Broyles has a lot of potential, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for his next projects.


]]> 57088295 Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found—but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting.

When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters--Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she's frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed.

Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she's initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers—except she's still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished. Luna is worried Clover is a wildling. Luna has few memories of her time on the island, but she'll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. But she doesn't realize just how much the truth will change her.]]> 368 C.J. Cooke 0593334248 Mogsy 4
After The Nesting last year, I just knew I had to get my hands on more of C.J. Cooke’s work. So, when the synopsis of The Lighthouse Witches promised more of that same Gothic suspense and atmospheric goodness, I was quite anxious to dive right in.

Our story begins in 1998, as artist Olivia Stay arrives on Scottish isle Lòn Haven along with her three daughters Sapphire, Luna, and Clover. Commissioned to paint a mural inside an ancient lighthouse supposedly built on the ruins of prison for witches, Olivia knows very little about the client who hired her or why he wanted the work done, but she’s desperate for work and also looking to start fresh in a new place.

Her teenager Sapphire, however, is quite unhappy about having been uprooted from their old home and is taking her anger out on her mother and sisters. Exploring on her own, she comes across an old tome left near the lighthouse filled with accounts of the witch burnings that happened on the island back in in the 1600s. The residents of the village, friendly as they are, also seem to be deeply superstitious, believing in the old stories about changelings, and it doesn’t help that for such a small place, Lòn Haven has a long and disturbing history of children randomly disappearing.

And then the unthinkable happens. Two of Olivia’s daughters go missing, setting her off on a panicked search. But in the end, only one girl is found. Fast forward twenty-three years later to the present day, we follow Luna, now a grown woman expecting her first child. Her life is a bit of a mess, having been estranged from her mother Olivia and now having relationship troubles with her boyfriend, which is putting even more stress on her already high-risk pregnancy. Through it all though, Luna has never given up searching for her lost sisters, and then one day, she unexpectedly receives news from the police that Clover has been found. Excited to be reunited with her sister, who should be around thirty years old by now, Luna is shocked to arrive at the station to find a little girl.

At first, her heart sinks knowing this can’t be Clover, but at the same time, the child looks exactly like her seven-year-old sister who went missing back in 1998. Not only that, she also sounds exactly like her, knows all the things that only Clover would know. It shouldn’t be possible, but the more time Luna spends with the girl, the more she is convinced that she is her sister. But how to explain the fact that she hasn’t aged a day since they last saw each other?

Basically, there are narratives from three timelines that make up The Lighthouse Witches—the one in 1998 told from Olivia and Sapphire’s POVs, the one in 2021 from Luna’s POV, and the last one told through diary entries from the old book, which I won’t comment on any further in case of spoilers. As you can imagine, all that jumping around can get a little dicey, and I won’t lie, there were definitely moments where things got confusing. Still, for the most part, I thought the author handled the POV switches very well, alternating and contrasting the timelines in a way that delivered the most tension and impact.

That said, it does take a while for the three arcs to build and weave together some semblance of a conflict, so patience is required until the main plot can get off the ground. Once you hit a certain point though, the mystery reaches a climax, and the rest of the novel unfolds at a breathless pace. I would say if you enjoyed The Nesting, then there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy The Lighthouse Witches too, and in fact, in certain respects, I liked this one better. Both books begin with a single woman relocating to a remote place to start a new job, and both also involve creepy children. Then there’s the paranormal element, which is even more pronounced in this novel, and that’s great news if that’s your jam. This time, I also wasn’t as hung up on certain questionable explanations or leaps of logic, because the presence of the otherworldly and uncanny gave the plot a lot more leeway.

As with most novels that can be described as moody, twisty, slow-burn Gothic suspense, The Lighthouse Witches probably won’t be for everyone, but if you happen to be on the lookout for that kind of story and won’t mind a somewhat indeterminate supernatural angle, then this book is for you.]]> 3.97 2021
author: C.J. Cooke
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/10/04
date added: 2021/10/12
shelves: review-copy, fae, witches-and-wizards, gothic, horror, fantasy, mystery, paranormal
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

After The Nesting last year, I just knew I had to get my hands on more of C.J. Cooke’s work. So, when the synopsis of The Lighthouse Witches promised more of that same Gothic suspense and atmospheric goodness, I was quite anxious to dive right in.

Our story begins in 1998, as artist Olivia Stay arrives on Scottish isle Lòn Haven along with her three daughters Sapphire, Luna, and Clover. Commissioned to paint a mural inside an ancient lighthouse supposedly built on the ruins of prison for witches, Olivia knows very little about the client who hired her or why he wanted the work done, but she’s desperate for work and also looking to start fresh in a new place.

Her teenager Sapphire, however, is quite unhappy about having been uprooted from their old home and is taking her anger out on her mother and sisters. Exploring on her own, she comes across an old tome left near the lighthouse filled with accounts of the witch burnings that happened on the island back in in the 1600s. The residents of the village, friendly as they are, also seem to be deeply superstitious, believing in the old stories about changelings, and it doesn’t help that for such a small place, Lòn Haven has a long and disturbing history of children randomly disappearing.

And then the unthinkable happens. Two of Olivia’s daughters go missing, setting her off on a panicked search. But in the end, only one girl is found. Fast forward twenty-three years later to the present day, we follow Luna, now a grown woman expecting her first child. Her life is a bit of a mess, having been estranged from her mother Olivia and now having relationship troubles with her boyfriend, which is putting even more stress on her already high-risk pregnancy. Through it all though, Luna has never given up searching for her lost sisters, and then one day, she unexpectedly receives news from the police that Clover has been found. Excited to be reunited with her sister, who should be around thirty years old by now, Luna is shocked to arrive at the station to find a little girl.

At first, her heart sinks knowing this can’t be Clover, but at the same time, the child looks exactly like her seven-year-old sister who went missing back in 1998. Not only that, she also sounds exactly like her, knows all the things that only Clover would know. It shouldn’t be possible, but the more time Luna spends with the girl, the more she is convinced that she is her sister. But how to explain the fact that she hasn’t aged a day since they last saw each other?

Basically, there are narratives from three timelines that make up The Lighthouse Witches—the one in 1998 told from Olivia and Sapphire’s POVs, the one in 2021 from Luna’s POV, and the last one told through diary entries from the old book, which I won’t comment on any further in case of spoilers. As you can imagine, all that jumping around can get a little dicey, and I won’t lie, there were definitely moments where things got confusing. Still, for the most part, I thought the author handled the POV switches very well, alternating and contrasting the timelines in a way that delivered the most tension and impact.

That said, it does take a while for the three arcs to build and weave together some semblance of a conflict, so patience is required until the main plot can get off the ground. Once you hit a certain point though, the mystery reaches a climax, and the rest of the novel unfolds at a breathless pace. I would say if you enjoyed The Nesting, then there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy The Lighthouse Witches too, and in fact, in certain respects, I liked this one better. Both books begin with a single woman relocating to a remote place to start a new job, and both also involve creepy children. Then there’s the paranormal element, which is even more pronounced in this novel, and that’s great news if that’s your jam. This time, I also wasn’t as hung up on certain questionable explanations or leaps of logic, because the presence of the otherworldly and uncanny gave the plot a lot more leeway.

As with most novels that can be described as moody, twisty, slow-burn Gothic suspense, The Lighthouse Witches probably won’t be for everyone, but if you happen to be on the lookout for that kind of story and won’t mind a somewhat indeterminate supernatural angle, then this book is for you.
]]> 56552946
Twenty years after those storied events, the village is a quiet place. Fourteen-year-old Ben loves to play Sleepy Hollow boys, reenacting the events Brom once lived through. But then Ben and a friend stumble across the headless body of a child in the woods near the village, and the sinister discovery makes Ben question everything the adults in Sleepy Hollow have ever said. Could the Horseman be real after all? Or does something even more sinister stalk the woods?]]> 302 Christina Henry 0593199782 Mogsy 2
Christina Henry has made a name for herself with her dark retellings of classic fairy tales and fantasy legends, but Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow is really more of her imagining of a sequel to the Washington Irving story. In this novel, we follow fourteen-year-old Ben Van Brunt, who was born a girl but has always identified more as a boy. Approximately twenty years have passed since Ichabod Crane’s infamous encounter with the Headless Horseman, but the tales have since lived on in local gossip and in the games of children. One day, while re-enacting those events with the other youngsters in town, Ben comes across the body of one of his playmates in the woods, missing his head and hands. Soon, the news of this gruesome find has everyone in Sleepy Hollow asking some uncomfortable questions.

However, Ben’s grandfather Brom “Bones� Van Brunt insists that the Horseman isn’t real, and he should know better than most. As someone who was actually there when it all went down nearly two decades ago, if Brom says it’s all just a legend, then that should be the end of it, case closed. And yet, Ben still can’t help but wonder, not to mention the fact he’s sure there’s also more out there in the woods, something even more monstrous and evil than the Horseman, though its intentions are just as nebulous. Ben then finds out that his grandparents haven’t been completely truthful to him when it comes to their family history and the fate of his parents, which now casts doubt on everything Brom and his grandmother Katrina have ever claimed, including what they’ve said about the existence of the Horseman.

It took several days for me to gather my thoughts after finishing this book. Initially, I was going to give it 3 stars, but now that I’ve had some time to mull it over, I think I’ll be downgrading it to 2. Needless to say, I was disappointed in Horseman, and I think the last time I felt this let down by a Henry novel was with The Girl in Red, except this somehow feels worse. At least with The Girl in Red, it became clear relatively early on that the author was only basing the story on a loose interpretation of the source material, while Horseman, ostensibly touted as a sequel to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, felt more like a bait-and-switch.

Overall, there was minimal effort on Henry’s part into making the world feel reminiscent of the original classic. Sure, she may have provided names of a handful of familiar people and places, but details and descriptions were noticeably sparse. None of the characters, including our protagonist, felt like real people exhibiting motivations, personalities or behaviors that felt all that convincing. For example, reactions to shocking events, like finding a mutilated body of a child in the woods, or discovering an astounding new fact about your neighbor who you thought you’ve known your whole life, etc. came across as muted and completely unrealistic.

As some reviewers have noted, the matter of Ben’s gender was also handled rather poorly. Whatever happened to showing, not telling? There’s hardly any development beyond Ben’s endless exposition. At a certain point, the story also skips ten years ahead to Ben having already established his new identity and life in one of the most egregious examples of glossing over I’ve ever seen. But hey, at least in the end we find out that Ben’s gender actually has an essential role in the story’s final reveal so the issue wasn’t just tacked on, because that’s the only way this whole thing could have turned out worse.

Anyway, I hate to even think this, because I still respect the hell out of Christina Henry, she who wrote such brilliant works such as the Chronicles of Alice series or Lost Boy, but I was struck with the impression that Horseman was just an excuse to churn out a quick book. It felt rushed and lazy, and certainly not of the same caliber as her other aforementioned fairy-tale and mythical legend inspired novels. I suppose there is some entertainment value here if you are interested in the original Sleepy Hollow tale, but I was really looking forward to this and can’t say I was very happy with the way things turned out. At least the narrator for the audiobook did a good job though, and I’ll be watching out for any more of Em Grosland’s performances.]]> 3.68 2021
author: Christina Henry
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/10/03
date added: 2021/10/12
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, fantasy, horror, retellings, gothic, historical-fiction, fairy-tales-and-folklore
review:
2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

Christina Henry has made a name for herself with her dark retellings of classic fairy tales and fantasy legends, but Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow is really more of her imagining of a sequel to the Washington Irving story. In this novel, we follow fourteen-year-old Ben Van Brunt, who was born a girl but has always identified more as a boy. Approximately twenty years have passed since Ichabod Crane’s infamous encounter with the Headless Horseman, but the tales have since lived on in local gossip and in the games of children. One day, while re-enacting those events with the other youngsters in town, Ben comes across the body of one of his playmates in the woods, missing his head and hands. Soon, the news of this gruesome find has everyone in Sleepy Hollow asking some uncomfortable questions.

However, Ben’s grandfather Brom “Bones� Van Brunt insists that the Horseman isn’t real, and he should know better than most. As someone who was actually there when it all went down nearly two decades ago, if Brom says it’s all just a legend, then that should be the end of it, case closed. And yet, Ben still can’t help but wonder, not to mention the fact he’s sure there’s also more out there in the woods, something even more monstrous and evil than the Horseman, though its intentions are just as nebulous. Ben then finds out that his grandparents haven’t been completely truthful to him when it comes to their family history and the fate of his parents, which now casts doubt on everything Brom and his grandmother Katrina have ever claimed, including what they’ve said about the existence of the Horseman.

It took several days for me to gather my thoughts after finishing this book. Initially, I was going to give it 3 stars, but now that I’ve had some time to mull it over, I think I’ll be downgrading it to 2. Needless to say, I was disappointed in Horseman, and I think the last time I felt this let down by a Henry novel was with The Girl in Red, except this somehow feels worse. At least with The Girl in Red, it became clear relatively early on that the author was only basing the story on a loose interpretation of the source material, while Horseman, ostensibly touted as a sequel to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, felt more like a bait-and-switch.

Overall, there was minimal effort on Henry’s part into making the world feel reminiscent of the original classic. Sure, she may have provided names of a handful of familiar people and places, but details and descriptions were noticeably sparse. None of the characters, including our protagonist, felt like real people exhibiting motivations, personalities or behaviors that felt all that convincing. For example, reactions to shocking events, like finding a mutilated body of a child in the woods, or discovering an astounding new fact about your neighbor who you thought you’ve known your whole life, etc. came across as muted and completely unrealistic.

As some reviewers have noted, the matter of Ben’s gender was also handled rather poorly. Whatever happened to showing, not telling? There’s hardly any development beyond Ben’s endless exposition. At a certain point, the story also skips ten years ahead to Ben having already established his new identity and life in one of the most egregious examples of glossing over I’ve ever seen. But hey, at least in the end we find out that Ben’s gender actually has an essential role in the story’s final reveal so the issue wasn’t just tacked on, because that’s the only way this whole thing could have turned out worse.

Anyway, I hate to even think this, because I still respect the hell out of Christina Henry, she who wrote such brilliant works such as the Chronicles of Alice series or Lost Boy, but I was struck with the impression that Horseman was just an excuse to churn out a quick book. It felt rushed and lazy, and certainly not of the same caliber as her other aforementioned fairy-tale and mythical legend inspired novels. I suppose there is some entertainment value here if you are interested in the original Sleepy Hollow tale, but I was really looking forward to this and can’t say I was very happy with the way things turned out. At least the narrator for the audiobook did a good job though, and I’ll be watching out for any more of Em Grosland’s performances.
]]> 56347303
God is dead, his corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath Mordew.

In the slums of the sea-battered city, a young boy called Nathan Treeves lives with his parents, eking out a meagre existence by picking treasures from the Living Mud and the half-formed, short-lived creatures it spawns. Until one day his desperate mother sells him to the mysterious Master of Mordew.

The Master derives his magical power from feeding on the corpse of God. But Nathan, despite his fear and lowly station, has his own strength―and it is greater than the Master has ever known. Great enough to destroy everything the Master has built. If only Nathan can discover how to use it.

So it is that the Master begins to scheme against him―and Nathan has to fight his way through the betrayals, secrets, and vendettas of the city where God was murdered, and darkness reigns.

Propulsive, compulsively readable, full of unforgettable characters and a talking dog who wants to be a
philosopher, Mordew is an epic fantasy strange, new, and terrifyingly alive .]]> 624 Alex Pheby 1250817218 Mogsy 4
Oppressively dark and deliciously Gothic, with shades of Oliver Twist or maybe The Lies of Locke Lamora, Alex Pheby’s Mordew is the opener to a new epic fantasy trilogy called Cities of the Weft. In it, we follow protagonist Nathan Treeves, a 13-year-old boy living in desperate poverty in the slums of the titular city. His father is very ill, suffering from the late stages of a parasitic infection called lungworm, which is as terrible and disgusting as it sounds. His mother has resorted to selling her body just to pay for his care and for food, but it is still not enough. As a last resort, Nathan is sent to the Master of Mordew, their mysterious ruler from afar said to derive his magical powers from feeding on the corpse of a God, upon which the city is built. Children are periodically sold to him as “workers�, though not all are accepted. Nathan, having special magical abilities, is thought to be a shoo-in, but for whatever reason, the Master declines to take him.

Driven to find some other way to pay for his father’s life-saving medicine, Nathan turns to stealing, falling in with a group of street urchins to form their own little gang. Soon though, he realizes there are other more powerful, hidden forces pulling the strings behind the scenes, and now he must make a difficult choice. His whole life, Nathan has been told to keep his “spark� hidden, but when all the world’s cards are stacked against you, sometimes you just have to work with what you have.

On its surface, Mordew is the epitome of a literary fantasy novel, featuring complex and convincing characters who develop in multilayered yet natural ways. The themes of the story appear equally heavy and intricate, ostensibly carrying within them a deeper meaning or message. The norms of the fantasy genre are also followed, but not always in the ways we expect, and while there are certainly plenty of familiar tropes, there are many instances where the “rules� or patterns are broken as well.

Magic also plays a prominent role in the novel, but it’s relatively less important compared to Nathan’s journey. Our protagonist is an outcast of society, downtrodden and destitute, but through pluck and sheer determination manages to make something of himself and achieve his goals. But this general description of his story arc doesn’t really do it justice either. The trajectory of his life is intersected by so many people, events, experiences that it would be impossible to cover them all in one review.

That said, all the elements that make Mordew feel so lush and rich are also those that weigh it down at times. The plot suffers from slow pacing, particularly at the beginning as you’re trying to gather your bearings and orient yourself to these strange new surroundings. The prose comes across as very dense and bloated as a result, due to the vast amounts of information to take in and process early on (not to mention, the fact that the glossary adds about 100 more pages to the end of the book should probably tell you something).

To be fair though, world-building is absolutely phenomenal. The setting is vaguely Dickensian, characterized by Victorian era vibes as well as class disparities and the differences in living and working conditions. However, Pheby’s world is definitely more gruesome and visceral. For instance, the slums of Mordew are covered in a magical sludge called Living Mud, and in the opening pages, our young protagonist fishes from the banks something called a “limb baby�, or a mass of writhing arm-like appendages somehow manifested with his “spark�. The corpse-ridden streets and canals are a literal breeding ground for rats that feed on the rot. And of course, the less said about the symptoms of lungworm the better. Still, amidst the grotesque and the despair, there are also moments of levity in the form of playful banter between Nathan and his crew while they are attempting to pull off their daring capers, and even some talking dogs.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Mordew despite its excess. Admittedly, it’s quite rare to get a dark fantasy novel that places such an emphasis on world-building, but as much I appreciate what the author wanted to accomplish, it’s clear that he would sometimes get carried away with it. This ended up hurting the story, though thankfully, the effects are not too severe. I confess I’m still curious about the next book and where Nathan’s future will go from here, and the sequel’s definitely going on my watchlist.]]> 3.49 2020
author: Alex Pheby
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/28
date added: 2021/10/06
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, fantasy, gothic
review:
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

Oppressively dark and deliciously Gothic, with shades of Oliver Twist or maybe The Lies of Locke Lamora, Alex Pheby’s Mordew is the opener to a new epic fantasy trilogy called Cities of the Weft. In it, we follow protagonist Nathan Treeves, a 13-year-old boy living in desperate poverty in the slums of the titular city. His father is very ill, suffering from the late stages of a parasitic infection called lungworm, which is as terrible and disgusting as it sounds. His mother has resorted to selling her body just to pay for his care and for food, but it is still not enough. As a last resort, Nathan is sent to the Master of Mordew, their mysterious ruler from afar said to derive his magical powers from feeding on the corpse of a God, upon which the city is built. Children are periodically sold to him as “workers�, though not all are accepted. Nathan, having special magical abilities, is thought to be a shoo-in, but for whatever reason, the Master declines to take him.

Driven to find some other way to pay for his father’s life-saving medicine, Nathan turns to stealing, falling in with a group of street urchins to form their own little gang. Soon though, he realizes there are other more powerful, hidden forces pulling the strings behind the scenes, and now he must make a difficult choice. His whole life, Nathan has been told to keep his “spark� hidden, but when all the world’s cards are stacked against you, sometimes you just have to work with what you have.

On its surface, Mordew is the epitome of a literary fantasy novel, featuring complex and convincing characters who develop in multilayered yet natural ways. The themes of the story appear equally heavy and intricate, ostensibly carrying within them a deeper meaning or message. The norms of the fantasy genre are also followed, but not always in the ways we expect, and while there are certainly plenty of familiar tropes, there are many instances where the “rules� or patterns are broken as well.

Magic also plays a prominent role in the novel, but it’s relatively less important compared to Nathan’s journey. Our protagonist is an outcast of society, downtrodden and destitute, but through pluck and sheer determination manages to make something of himself and achieve his goals. But this general description of his story arc doesn’t really do it justice either. The trajectory of his life is intersected by so many people, events, experiences that it would be impossible to cover them all in one review.

That said, all the elements that make Mordew feel so lush and rich are also those that weigh it down at times. The plot suffers from slow pacing, particularly at the beginning as you’re trying to gather your bearings and orient yourself to these strange new surroundings. The prose comes across as very dense and bloated as a result, due to the vast amounts of information to take in and process early on (not to mention, the fact that the glossary adds about 100 more pages to the end of the book should probably tell you something).

To be fair though, world-building is absolutely phenomenal. The setting is vaguely Dickensian, characterized by Victorian era vibes as well as class disparities and the differences in living and working conditions. However, Pheby’s world is definitely more gruesome and visceral. For instance, the slums of Mordew are covered in a magical sludge called Living Mud, and in the opening pages, our young protagonist fishes from the banks something called a “limb baby�, or a mass of writhing arm-like appendages somehow manifested with his “spark�. The corpse-ridden streets and canals are a literal breeding ground for rats that feed on the rot. And of course, the less said about the symptoms of lungworm the better. Still, amidst the grotesque and the despair, there are also moments of levity in the form of playful banter between Nathan and his crew while they are attempting to pull off their daring capers, and even some talking dogs.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Mordew despite its excess. Admittedly, it’s quite rare to get a dark fantasy novel that places such an emphasis on world-building, but as much I appreciate what the author wanted to accomplish, it’s clear that he would sometimes get carried away with it. This ended up hurting the story, though thankfully, the effects are not too severe. I confess I’m still curious about the next book and where Nathan’s future will go from here, and the sequel’s definitely going on my watchlist.
]]> 30052003 Albie begins to look into Lizzie's death, but in this place where the old tales hold sway and the 'Hidden People' supposedly roam, answers are slippery and further tragedy is just a step away . . .

]]> 374 Alison Littlewood Mogsy 3
I’m always up for a good changeling story, and Alison Littlewood is an author I’ve been meaning to read for a long time. Thus when I found out about The Hidden People, I saw this book as the perfect place to start. There’s no doubt that the story is utterly atmospheric, full of the kind of beautiful, exquisite detail that slowly creeps up on you. Littlewood also writes wonderfully and has a flair for bringing a historical setting to life. And yet…I don’t know if I felt as fully engaged as I could be. This book had all the elements of a dark historical mystery or good horror tale, but lacked the pacing of one, and I think that’s where it might have missed its mark.

It is 1851 when a young Albie meets his cousin Lizzie for the first time at the Great Exhibition. It was a grand day of celebration for industry, modern technology, invention and design, but Albie only had Lizzie on his mind, and there she stayed for many, many years even though the two of them never saw each other again.

Fast forward to 1862, Albie is just sitting down to dinner with his wife Helena when his father breaks the horrible news: Lizzie, Albie’s pretty cousin that he met more than ten years ago, is dead. She was burned to death by her husband, who claimed his wife had been replaced by a changeling. Enraged and grieving, Albie takes it upon himself to visit the village where Lizzie had lived in order to pay his respects and seek justice. But upon his arrival, he is shocked and even more furious to see how deeply superstitious the people are. His cousin hasn’t even been buried yet, left in her twisted and charred state. And during the funeral, no one showed up. It appears that all the talk of magic and fairies is more than just that; the villagers actually believe that Lizzie has been fae-touched and is now anathema.

But Albie’s obsession with Lizzie means he is unable to let this injustice stand. He refuses to leave the village, even when his wife Helena comes to join him for the funeral and then tries to convince him to let it all go and return to his own life and family. After all, she reminds him, he’s only met his cousin once and that was more than a decade ago.

But apparently, Lizzie made quite an impression on Albie. The problem was, no one around him was convinced, and to be honest, neither was I. It’s unfortunate that this sets the precedent for the rest of the book, but also not surprising, considering the entire basis for Albie’s obsession rests on this one scene at the start of the book which lasts no more than seven pages. We’re told that Lizzie’s beauty, sweetness and charisma got under our protagonist’s skin and stayed with him for many years, but I never believed it. This huge disconnect made it hard for me to understand a key part of what made the main character tick, and as such it made sympathizing with him throughout the novel an uphill battle—especially when his preoccupation with Lizzie started straining his marriage.

Then there was the pacing. While I loved the dark, haunting, gothic style of The Hidden People, the story itself was very slow to build, taking away from the tensions the author was trying to convey. Littlewood’s prose is gorgeous, and she paints a detailed picture of rural village life in the mid-1800s complete with the different dialects and other cultural nuances, but the meticulous nature of her writing style also makes it difficult to stay engaged. That’s a shame because there’s really an excellent story in here, but I also can’t deny that at times I struggled with the restrained speed at which the plot unfolded.

Still, I’m happy I got to discover Alison Littlewood’s beautiful writing, and despite the book’s flaws I thought The Hidden People was worth my time. There’s a lot of good stuff in here too, a lot to counter the quibbles. If you have an interest in the time period and the subject matter, I strongly encourage you to take a look.]]> 3.27 2016
author: Alison Littlewood
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2016/11/15
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, audiobook, fae, horror, historical-fiction, gothic
review:
3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

I’m always up for a good changeling story, and Alison Littlewood is an author I’ve been meaning to read for a long time. Thus when I found out about The Hidden People, I saw this book as the perfect place to start. There’s no doubt that the story is utterly atmospheric, full of the kind of beautiful, exquisite detail that slowly creeps up on you. Littlewood also writes wonderfully and has a flair for bringing a historical setting to life. And yet…I don’t know if I felt as fully engaged as I could be. This book had all the elements of a dark historical mystery or good horror tale, but lacked the pacing of one, and I think that’s where it might have missed its mark.

It is 1851 when a young Albie meets his cousin Lizzie for the first time at the Great Exhibition. It was a grand day of celebration for industry, modern technology, invention and design, but Albie only had Lizzie on his mind, and there she stayed for many, many years even though the two of them never saw each other again.

Fast forward to 1862, Albie is just sitting down to dinner with his wife Helena when his father breaks the horrible news: Lizzie, Albie’s pretty cousin that he met more than ten years ago, is dead. She was burned to death by her husband, who claimed his wife had been replaced by a changeling. Enraged and grieving, Albie takes it upon himself to visit the village where Lizzie had lived in order to pay his respects and seek justice. But upon his arrival, he is shocked and even more furious to see how deeply superstitious the people are. His cousin hasn’t even been buried yet, left in her twisted and charred state. And during the funeral, no one showed up. It appears that all the talk of magic and fairies is more than just that; the villagers actually believe that Lizzie has been fae-touched and is now anathema.

But Albie’s obsession with Lizzie means he is unable to let this injustice stand. He refuses to leave the village, even when his wife Helena comes to join him for the funeral and then tries to convince him to let it all go and return to his own life and family. After all, she reminds him, he’s only met his cousin once and that was more than a decade ago.

But apparently, Lizzie made quite an impression on Albie. The problem was, no one around him was convinced, and to be honest, neither was I. It’s unfortunate that this sets the precedent for the rest of the book, but also not surprising, considering the entire basis for Albie’s obsession rests on this one scene at the start of the book which lasts no more than seven pages. We’re told that Lizzie’s beauty, sweetness and charisma got under our protagonist’s skin and stayed with him for many years, but I never believed it. This huge disconnect made it hard for me to understand a key part of what made the main character tick, and as such it made sympathizing with him throughout the novel an uphill battle—especially when his preoccupation with Lizzie started straining his marriage.

Then there was the pacing. While I loved the dark, haunting, gothic style of The Hidden People, the story itself was very slow to build, taking away from the tensions the author was trying to convey. Littlewood’s prose is gorgeous, and she paints a detailed picture of rural village life in the mid-1800s complete with the different dialects and other cultural nuances, but the meticulous nature of her writing style also makes it difficult to stay engaged. That’s a shame because there’s really an excellent story in here, but I also can’t deny that at times I struggled with the restrained speed at which the plot unfolded.

Still, I’m happy I got to discover Alison Littlewood’s beautiful writing, and despite the book’s flaws I thought The Hidden People was worth my time. There’s a lot of good stuff in here too, a lot to counter the quibbles. If you have an interest in the time period and the subject matter, I strongly encourage you to take a look.
]]> 32620376 The Demonologist radically reimagines the origins of gothic literature’s founding masterpieces�Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Dracula—in a contemporary novel driven by relentless suspense and surprising emotion. This is the story of a man who may be the world’s one real-life monster, and the only woman who has a chance of finding him.

As a forensic psychiatrist at New York’s leading institution of its kind, Dr. Lily Dominick has evaluated the mental states of some of the country’s most dangerous psychotics. But the strangely compelling client she interviewed today—a man with no name, accused of the most twisted crime—struck her as somehow different from the others, despite the two impossible claims he made.

First, that he is more than two hundred years old and personally inspired Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Bram Stoker in creating the three novels of the nineteenth century that define the monstrous in the modern imagination. Second, that he’s Lily’s father. To discover the truth—behind her client, her mother’s death, herself—Dr. Dominick must embark on a journey that will threaten her career, her sanity, and ultimately her life.

Fusing the page-turning tension of a first-rate thriller with a provocative take on where thrillers come from, The Only Child will keep you up until its last unforgettable revelation.]]> 304 Andrew Pyper 1476755213 Mogsy 3
Last year I had the distinct pleasure of reading The Damned, a chilling psychological horror that immediately landed Andrew Pyper on my must-read authors list. It was thus with great excitement that I approached his newest novel The Only Child, which sounded like it would be a very different experience—which just made me even more curious.

When the story opens, we get to meet protagonist Dr. Lily Dominick, a doctor at the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center whose job involves working with some of the country’s most dangerous and disturbed criminals. Lily, however, is battling a darkness of her own. Growing up, she has always been aloof, keeping others at a distance so that few people know about the traumatic experiences in her childhood and the details surrounding her mother’s violent death. But the past has come back to haunt her now, in the form of a new client at the clinic—a man whose only identity is a patient intake number and a police report detailing his horrific crimes. In spite of herself, Lily is drawn to the stranger, even before he tells her that they have actually met before, a long time ago before she was old enough to remember. He also claims he knew her mother…and the truth behind how she died.

At first, Lily is dismissive of the client’s statements. After all, he did not look old enough for any of his wild claims to be true. But then Michael, the name the man has chosen to call himself, has an explanation for this too, declaring that he is more than two hundred years old and was in fact the inspiration for many of the monsters in classic literature. At this point, Lily is almost sure the clinic’s newest patient is just another deranged psychopath suffering from delusions of grandeur, only there are few things about her he couldn’t have known—unless he is telling the truth, of course, which should be an impossibility. Unfortunately for Lily though, she doesn’t realize Michael is the real deal until it is too late. To free herself from this real-life monster, she will need to embark on a dangerous journey over oceans and across continents to unlock the secrets of her past.

Lately, I have been reading a lot of books that make references to or are inspired by the classics. I have to say, little did I expect to find this as well in The Only Child though. In a way, it was a pleasant surprise, as who doesn’t love a little Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Pyper managed to incorporate three of the greatest gothic horror novels of the 1800s into this strange tale, and he did it in an interesting and clever way.

On the flip side of this, however, there are the lengthy sections in the middle of the book detailing how Michael inspired these classic works, told mainly via flashback chapters in the form of letters to Lily. While the ideas were generally good, I was not as pleased with their execution. At best, they were a distraction from the main mystery plot, and at worst, it sometimes felt like I was reading an entirely different book. Rather than blending seamlessly with the rest of the story, the “classic monsters� angle felt like it was tacked on like an afterthought—almost gimmicky, in a way. That said, I enjoyed the added literary atmosphere immensely, which elevated this novel beyond your usual suspense-thriller. Other than that, though? The references to Shelley, Stoker, Stevenson and their works admittedly made very little impact on the story, which was kind of a shame.

Still, I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I didn’t enjoy this book, because I did. While it was not quite as mind-blowing as The Damned, the plot was addictive all the same, and I blew through the entire novel in about two sittings, a reliable sign that this was a enthralling read. At times the story seems confused as to what it wants to be (a portentously gloomy horror? Or a modern supernatural thriller?) but to its credit at no time does the pacing let up. The clues and developments come at you fast, punctuated by brief glimpses into Michael’s riveting history. While some of the plot points feel patently over the top, the possibility has crossed my mind that this is merely another one of Pyper’s nod to the classics, which would be a very clever touch if that’s the case. The characters were also genuinely compelling, if somewhat flawed, especially Michael whose presence is at once eerie and fascinating.

Overall, I thought The Only Child was a good read, if a little overambitious, resulting in a story that is not as focused as I would have liked. Still, for fans of the gothic horror tradition, it may be well worth it to take a look. I also felt this novel was an interesting direction for Pyper, one that I felt was bold and different, making me excited to read more of his future work.]]> 3.05 2017
author: Andrew Pyper
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.05
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2017/06/08
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, netgalley, review-copy, horror, paranormal, gothic
review:
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

Last year I had the distinct pleasure of reading The Damned, a chilling psychological horror that immediately landed Andrew Pyper on my must-read authors list. It was thus with great excitement that I approached his newest novel The Only Child, which sounded like it would be a very different experience—which just made me even more curious.

When the story opens, we get to meet protagonist Dr. Lily Dominick, a doctor at the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center whose job involves working with some of the country’s most dangerous and disturbed criminals. Lily, however, is battling a darkness of her own. Growing up, she has always been aloof, keeping others at a distance so that few people know about the traumatic experiences in her childhood and the details surrounding her mother’s violent death. But the past has come back to haunt her now, in the form of a new client at the clinic—a man whose only identity is a patient intake number and a police report detailing his horrific crimes. In spite of herself, Lily is drawn to the stranger, even before he tells her that they have actually met before, a long time ago before she was old enough to remember. He also claims he knew her mother…and the truth behind how she died.

At first, Lily is dismissive of the client’s statements. After all, he did not look old enough for any of his wild claims to be true. But then Michael, the name the man has chosen to call himself, has an explanation for this too, declaring that he is more than two hundred years old and was in fact the inspiration for many of the monsters in classic literature. At this point, Lily is almost sure the clinic’s newest patient is just another deranged psychopath suffering from delusions of grandeur, only there are few things about her he couldn’t have known—unless he is telling the truth, of course, which should be an impossibility. Unfortunately for Lily though, she doesn’t realize Michael is the real deal until it is too late. To free herself from this real-life monster, she will need to embark on a dangerous journey over oceans and across continents to unlock the secrets of her past.

Lately, I have been reading a lot of books that make references to or are inspired by the classics. I have to say, little did I expect to find this as well in The Only Child though. In a way, it was a pleasant surprise, as who doesn’t love a little Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Pyper managed to incorporate three of the greatest gothic horror novels of the 1800s into this strange tale, and he did it in an interesting and clever way.

On the flip side of this, however, there are the lengthy sections in the middle of the book detailing how Michael inspired these classic works, told mainly via flashback chapters in the form of letters to Lily. While the ideas were generally good, I was not as pleased with their execution. At best, they were a distraction from the main mystery plot, and at worst, it sometimes felt like I was reading an entirely different book. Rather than blending seamlessly with the rest of the story, the “classic monsters� angle felt like it was tacked on like an afterthought—almost gimmicky, in a way. That said, I enjoyed the added literary atmosphere immensely, which elevated this novel beyond your usual suspense-thriller. Other than that, though? The references to Shelley, Stoker, Stevenson and their works admittedly made very little impact on the story, which was kind of a shame.

Still, I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I didn’t enjoy this book, because I did. While it was not quite as mind-blowing as The Damned, the plot was addictive all the same, and I blew through the entire novel in about two sittings, a reliable sign that this was a enthralling read. At times the story seems confused as to what it wants to be (a portentously gloomy horror? Or a modern supernatural thriller?) but to its credit at no time does the pacing let up. The clues and developments come at you fast, punctuated by brief glimpses into Michael’s riveting history. While some of the plot points feel patently over the top, the possibility has crossed my mind that this is merely another one of Pyper’s nod to the classics, which would be a very clever touch if that’s the case. The characters were also genuinely compelling, if somewhat flawed, especially Michael whose presence is at once eerie and fascinating.

Overall, I thought The Only Child was a good read, if a little overambitious, resulting in a story that is not as focused as I would have liked. Still, for fans of the gothic horror tradition, it may be well worth it to take a look. I also felt this novel was an interesting direction for Pyper, one that I felt was bold and different, making me excited to read more of his future work.
]]> 29736099
Louisa begins to fear for a young man named Lee who is not like the other guests. He is charismatic and kind, and Louisa knows that it may be up to her to save him from an untimely judgment. But in this house of distortions and lies, how can Louisa be sure whom to trust?]]> 416 Madeleine Roux 0062498606 Mogsy 3
House of Furies opens with an introduction Louisa Ditton, a seventeen-year-old girl who accepts a maid position at a boarding house in order to escape a harsh life on the streets. Shortly after her arrival at her new job though, Louisa begins to realize with growing dread that there’s something seriously wrong with Coldthistle House. As it turns out, guests who come to stay within its walls are judged for their past crimes, with harsh punishments carried out by the house’s mysterious owner Mr. Morningside and his unnatural staff.

However, among the lodgers is young man named Lee Brimble, whom Louisa can tell is not like Coldthistle’s other guests. Desperate to save her new friend, our protagonist knows she must find a way for both of them to escape this nightmare place before it can trap them in.

For a YA horror novel, there’s surprisingly little to say about House of Furies. In part, this had to do with the fact that its plot was on the simpler, sparser side. As well, a scene or two featuring some blood and gore aside, there’s really nothing too scary about this book, which relies more heavily on the slow-building atmosphere typical of gothic horror. Louisa herself was a complicated protagonist, whom I found hard to like at first because of the fact she was a selfish and manipulative thief, but ultimately I was able to come around to some of her more admirable traits, such as her courage and determination to help Lee.

While it’s not a bad book, I think a weak start coupled with uneven pacing probably held this one back from being truly great. Still, the story did have a very interesting premise, and it was a fun read overall. It might be worthwhile if you’re in the mood for a quick shot of YA horror, though at the end of the day I have my doubts that either its plot or characters would stay with me for very long.]]> 3.78 2017
author: Madeleine Roux
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2017/07/09
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, edelweiss, review-copy, audiobook, young-adult, horror, paranormal, gothic
review:
3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

House of Furies opens with an introduction Louisa Ditton, a seventeen-year-old girl who accepts a maid position at a boarding house in order to escape a harsh life on the streets. Shortly after her arrival at her new job though, Louisa begins to realize with growing dread that there’s something seriously wrong with Coldthistle House. As it turns out, guests who come to stay within its walls are judged for their past crimes, with harsh punishments carried out by the house’s mysterious owner Mr. Morningside and his unnatural staff.

However, among the lodgers is young man named Lee Brimble, whom Louisa can tell is not like Coldthistle’s other guests. Desperate to save her new friend, our protagonist knows she must find a way for both of them to escape this nightmare place before it can trap them in.

For a YA horror novel, there’s surprisingly little to say about House of Furies. In part, this had to do with the fact that its plot was on the simpler, sparser side. As well, a scene or two featuring some blood and gore aside, there’s really nothing too scary about this book, which relies more heavily on the slow-building atmosphere typical of gothic horror. Louisa herself was a complicated protagonist, whom I found hard to like at first because of the fact she was a selfish and manipulative thief, but ultimately I was able to come around to some of her more admirable traits, such as her courage and determination to help Lee.

While it’s not a bad book, I think a weak start coupled with uneven pacing probably held this one back from being truly great. Still, the story did have a very interesting premise, and it was a fun read overall. It might be worthwhile if you’re in the mood for a quick shot of YA horror, though at the end of the day I have my doubts that either its plot or characters would stay with me for very long.
]]> 33294216
Only one person believes Valentine is innocent—Rowan Blackshaw, the son of the man her mother killed all those years ago. Valentine vows to find the real killer, but when she finally uncovers the horrifying truth, she must choose to face her own dark secrets, even if it means losing Rowan in the end.]]> 336 Teri Bailey Black 0765399482 Mogsy 3
It is the mid-1800s in the small New England town of Feavers Crossing, and Valentine Deluca is a teenager who has grown up with the stigma of being a murderer’s daughter. It didn’t matter that Valentine was only six years old when her mother was hanged for the killing of Nigel Blackshaw, a local man from a wealthy and prominent family; towns like Feavers Crossing don’t forgive and forget easily, and people in power have a way of holding a grudge. Still, thanks to the financial support provided by a mysterious benefactor, Valentine is able to attend the most prestigious school in the area, even if her presence there is met with scorn and severe backlash. Valentine finds it hard to mix with her fellow students, who whisper vicious things behind her back. Even more awkward is that Rowan Blackshaw, the son of the man her mother killed, is also enrolled at the school.

Shockingly though, instead of blaming her for her mother’s crimes, Rowan sees in Valentine a kindred spirit. As graduation approaches, their friendship deepens into something more, much to the dismay of Rowan’s grandmother, the indomitable Mrs. Blackshaw, as well as Sam Frye, Valentine’s best friend who has loved her since they were both children. But then one day, new information comes to light on the murder of Nigel Blackshaw, turning Valentine’s world upside down. With equal parts terror and excitement, our protagonist realizes that what she has discovered may help clear her mother’s name, but fears that it might also mean the end of her relationship with Rowan, because surely the truth would break his heart.

I won’t lie; this book started off with a lot of promise, but sadly I felt that most of it was negated by the contrived storytelling and some really poor decisions on the main character’s part. Let’s start off with the elephant in the room: the dreaded love triangle. I know this is a contentious topic for a lot of readers. Some love them, others can’t stand them. Personally, I’ve had my issues with love triangles in the past, but for the most part, I can deal with (and even enjoy) them as long as 1) they are well written, and 2) they don’t get in the way of the main story.

Bearing these two points in mind, when it comes to Girl at the Grave, I truly cannot think of a book that needed a love triangle less. And it’s a shame, because it single-handedly sabotaged what I believe could have been a great YA mystery suspense. What I wanted was more examples of Valentine being strong, clever, and steadfast as she sought for answers and worked tirelessly towards getting to the bottom of her mother’s history. What I got instead was her bouncing between Rowan and Sam like some deranged ping-pong ball. Her character ended up embodying everything I despise about indecisive female leads, especially those who can only think about boys and kissing while other lives are at stake. In all fairness though, our lovesick Valentine did manage to pull herself together by the third act, but by then an undue amount of time had already been wasted dwelling on the love triangle theatrics.

To the novel’s credit, when you take away all the unnecessary romantic drama, the author does write a compelling mystery plot. The twists are slightly ill-timed and inelegant, but they work well in spite of that. A couple of the major reveals genuinely surprised me, which incidentally made me all the more eager to get past the love triangle and right back into the main story. The writing was also solid, though some word choices, descriptions, and dialogue probably could have been polished up or reworked to better reflect the setting in a historical context. The gothic-style atmosphere didn’t always come through, and sometimes the mid-nineteenth century setting felt only like a thin cloth draped over a modern teen novel.

In sum, Girl at the Grave held some true potential, and really, for a debut, it’s not bad. However, too many missteps and plot banalities like an annoying love triangle ultimately made this one a disappointment.]]> 3.83 2018
author: Teri Bailey Black
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2018/09/08
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, young-adult, mystery, historical-fiction, gothic
review:
2.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

It is the mid-1800s in the small New England town of Feavers Crossing, and Valentine Deluca is a teenager who has grown up with the stigma of being a murderer’s daughter. It didn’t matter that Valentine was only six years old when her mother was hanged for the killing of Nigel Blackshaw, a local man from a wealthy and prominent family; towns like Feavers Crossing don’t forgive and forget easily, and people in power have a way of holding a grudge. Still, thanks to the financial support provided by a mysterious benefactor, Valentine is able to attend the most prestigious school in the area, even if her presence there is met with scorn and severe backlash. Valentine finds it hard to mix with her fellow students, who whisper vicious things behind her back. Even more awkward is that Rowan Blackshaw, the son of the man her mother killed, is also enrolled at the school.

Shockingly though, instead of blaming her for her mother’s crimes, Rowan sees in Valentine a kindred spirit. As graduation approaches, their friendship deepens into something more, much to the dismay of Rowan’s grandmother, the indomitable Mrs. Blackshaw, as well as Sam Frye, Valentine’s best friend who has loved her since they were both children. But then one day, new information comes to light on the murder of Nigel Blackshaw, turning Valentine’s world upside down. With equal parts terror and excitement, our protagonist realizes that what she has discovered may help clear her mother’s name, but fears that it might also mean the end of her relationship with Rowan, because surely the truth would break his heart.

I won’t lie; this book started off with a lot of promise, but sadly I felt that most of it was negated by the contrived storytelling and some really poor decisions on the main character’s part. Let’s start off with the elephant in the room: the dreaded love triangle. I know this is a contentious topic for a lot of readers. Some love them, others can’t stand them. Personally, I’ve had my issues with love triangles in the past, but for the most part, I can deal with (and even enjoy) them as long as 1) they are well written, and 2) they don’t get in the way of the main story.

Bearing these two points in mind, when it comes to Girl at the Grave, I truly cannot think of a book that needed a love triangle less. And it’s a shame, because it single-handedly sabotaged what I believe could have been a great YA mystery suspense. What I wanted was more examples of Valentine being strong, clever, and steadfast as she sought for answers and worked tirelessly towards getting to the bottom of her mother’s history. What I got instead was her bouncing between Rowan and Sam like some deranged ping-pong ball. Her character ended up embodying everything I despise about indecisive female leads, especially those who can only think about boys and kissing while other lives are at stake. In all fairness though, our lovesick Valentine did manage to pull herself together by the third act, but by then an undue amount of time had already been wasted dwelling on the love triangle theatrics.

To the novel’s credit, when you take away all the unnecessary romantic drama, the author does write a compelling mystery plot. The twists are slightly ill-timed and inelegant, but they work well in spite of that. A couple of the major reveals genuinely surprised me, which incidentally made me all the more eager to get past the love triangle and right back into the main story. The writing was also solid, though some word choices, descriptions, and dialogue probably could have been polished up or reworked to better reflect the setting in a historical context. The gothic-style atmosphere didn’t always come through, and sometimes the mid-nineteenth century setting felt only like a thin cloth draped over a modern teen novel.

In sum, Girl at the Grave held some true potential, and really, for a debut, it’s not bad. However, too many missteps and plot banalities like an annoying love triangle ultimately made this one a disappointment.
]]> 38525524
After a whirlwind romance, a young woman returns to the opulent, secluded Long Island mansion of her new fiancé Max Winter—a wealthy politician and recent widower—and a life of luxury she’s never known. But all is not as it appears at the Asherley estate. The house is steeped in the memory of Max’s beautiful first wife Rebekah, who haunts the young woman’s imagination and feeds her uncertainties, while his very alive teenage daughter Dani makes her life a living hell. She soon realizes there is no clear place for her in this twisted little family: Max and Dani circle each other like cats, a dynamic that both repels and fascinates her, and he harbors political ambitions with which he will allow no woman—alive or dead—to interfere.

As the soon-to-be second Mrs. Winter grows more in love with Max, and more afraid of Dani, she is drawn deeper into the family’s dark secrets—the kind of secrets that could kill her, too. The Winters is a riveting story about what happens when a family’s ghosts resurface and threaten to upend everything.]]> 320 Lisa Gabriele 0525559701 Mogsy 4
The Winters has been described as an updated, modern retelling of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Not having read the original novel, I can’t speak to how successful Lisa Gabriele was at nailing down the tone or atmosphere of the classic Gothic novel, but knowing the overall gist of the story, as far as I can tell, many of the plot, setting, and character elements have remained the same but are given a new twist.

Like its 1938 inspiration, The Winters stars an unnamed narrator, but many of the similarities to the original character end there. Our protagonist is a 20-something-year-old American woman from the Cayman Islands, where she works at a boat charter company that caters to clients from many of the elite local clubs. That is how she meets Max Winter, a charming and wealthy state senator from New York, who has come to the Caribbean for work and holiday. He is also a widower, his wife having died in fiery car crash about two years ago. In spite of this recent loss, Max and our protagonist fall into a whirlwind romance, and within a month of their meeting, he asks her to marry him.

Before she knows it, our narrator is whisked away to the Hamptons, where Max’s family owns a lavish seaside estate called Asherley. Needless to say, life in New York takes some adjusting to for our protagonist, who often finds herself alone at the mansion while her fiancé travels for his work in politics. It also doesn’t help that the house is filled with reminders of Max’s first wife Rebekah, the rich and beautiful socialite whose commanding presence can be felt strongly, even in death. Further complicating the issue is the couple’s glamorous teenage daughter, the wild and undisciplined Dani Winter, who was fiercely attached to her mother and is now clearly unhappy with her father’s decision to remarry. As determined as our protagonist is to get through to the girl, it seems Dani is hell bent on making her life at Asherley difficult, driving a constant wedge between her and Max. But when Dani reveals some disturbing details about the night her mother died, a seed of doubt is planted in our narrator’s mind. Was there a darker side to Max and Rebekah’s marriage, or is this just another attempt by their daughter to drive her away?

Like all retellings, The Winters takes a particular slant on a familiar story, and therein lies plenty of opportunities for fun fresh spins but also the possibility for some difficulties. Even though I really enjoyed this book, I’m going to start with a small list of negatives I encountered, with pacing issues being the chief among them. Between the narrator and Max’s courtship in the Cayman Islands and the point where we finally get some inkling of the dark secrets in Asherley’s past, there was a major lull in the first half of the book which I think hurt the overall momentum of the story. Not having read Rebecca, I’m also sure that I was missing a lot of the subtext and failed to appreciate many of the nuances Gabriele included in the novel. While I have no idea how this book would be received by those familiar with the original classic, I suspect we’ll see the general pattern of responses when it comes to retellings.

Still, from what I can gather, there are some major differences in the plot, particularly towards the end, allowing The Winters to stand proudly on its own. The characters are also very well drawn, especially our protagonist, whom despite being infuriatingly naïve is also exactly the kind of personality you would expect from someone who has lived the life she has, only to have her world turned upside down. I also loved Dani, as vicious and conniving as she was. Her flighty nature and mood swings made it incredibly difficult to pin her down, which added to the many compelling questions that piled up over the course of the story. Is Dani the antagonist orchestrating our narrator’s downfall? Or is she just as much of a victim, caught in a web of secrets and obfuscation? I found myself bounced back and forth between theories, guessing character motives at every turn. After the halfway point, it was like a rollercoaster ride of thrills and twists to the finish.

In the end, I can only speak for my own experience, but I really enjoyed The Winters. Fans of Rebecca will probably want to read this, with the added caveat that while it pays homage to the Daphne du Maurier novel by drawing heavily from some of its plot elements and themes, Lisa Gabriele’s retelling also brings a lot of her own voice and originality to the table. More generally, fans of psychological thrillers and suspenseful family dramas may also want to check it out. It’s tough to say much more about the story without risking spoilers, but suffice it to say, the delicious tension of not knowing what will happen made the slow build-up of the first half worth it.]]> 3.65 2018
author: Lisa Gabriele
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/10/16
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, retellings, mystery, thriller-suspense, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

The Winters has been described as an updated, modern retelling of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Not having read the original novel, I can’t speak to how successful Lisa Gabriele was at nailing down the tone or atmosphere of the classic Gothic novel, but knowing the overall gist of the story, as far as I can tell, many of the plot, setting, and character elements have remained the same but are given a new twist.

Like its 1938 inspiration, The Winters stars an unnamed narrator, but many of the similarities to the original character end there. Our protagonist is a 20-something-year-old American woman from the Cayman Islands, where she works at a boat charter company that caters to clients from many of the elite local clubs. That is how she meets Max Winter, a charming and wealthy state senator from New York, who has come to the Caribbean for work and holiday. He is also a widower, his wife having died in fiery car crash about two years ago. In spite of this recent loss, Max and our protagonist fall into a whirlwind romance, and within a month of their meeting, he asks her to marry him.

Before she knows it, our narrator is whisked away to the Hamptons, where Max’s family owns a lavish seaside estate called Asherley. Needless to say, life in New York takes some adjusting to for our protagonist, who often finds herself alone at the mansion while her fiancé travels for his work in politics. It also doesn’t help that the house is filled with reminders of Max’s first wife Rebekah, the rich and beautiful socialite whose commanding presence can be felt strongly, even in death. Further complicating the issue is the couple’s glamorous teenage daughter, the wild and undisciplined Dani Winter, who was fiercely attached to her mother and is now clearly unhappy with her father’s decision to remarry. As determined as our protagonist is to get through to the girl, it seems Dani is hell bent on making her life at Asherley difficult, driving a constant wedge between her and Max. But when Dani reveals some disturbing details about the night her mother died, a seed of doubt is planted in our narrator’s mind. Was there a darker side to Max and Rebekah’s marriage, or is this just another attempt by their daughter to drive her away?

Like all retellings, The Winters takes a particular slant on a familiar story, and therein lies plenty of opportunities for fun fresh spins but also the possibility for some difficulties. Even though I really enjoyed this book, I’m going to start with a small list of negatives I encountered, with pacing issues being the chief among them. Between the narrator and Max’s courtship in the Cayman Islands and the point where we finally get some inkling of the dark secrets in Asherley’s past, there was a major lull in the first half of the book which I think hurt the overall momentum of the story. Not having read Rebecca, I’m also sure that I was missing a lot of the subtext and failed to appreciate many of the nuances Gabriele included in the novel. While I have no idea how this book would be received by those familiar with the original classic, I suspect we’ll see the general pattern of responses when it comes to retellings.

Still, from what I can gather, there are some major differences in the plot, particularly towards the end, allowing The Winters to stand proudly on its own. The characters are also very well drawn, especially our protagonist, whom despite being infuriatingly naïve is also exactly the kind of personality you would expect from someone who has lived the life she has, only to have her world turned upside down. I also loved Dani, as vicious and conniving as she was. Her flighty nature and mood swings made it incredibly difficult to pin her down, which added to the many compelling questions that piled up over the course of the story. Is Dani the antagonist orchestrating our narrator’s downfall? Or is she just as much of a victim, caught in a web of secrets and obfuscation? I found myself bounced back and forth between theories, guessing character motives at every turn. After the halfway point, it was like a rollercoaster ride of thrills and twists to the finish.

In the end, I can only speak for my own experience, but I really enjoyed The Winters. Fans of Rebecca will probably want to read this, with the added caveat that while it pays homage to the Daphne du Maurier novel by drawing heavily from some of its plot elements and themes, Lisa Gabriele’s retelling also brings a lot of her own voice and originality to the table. More generally, fans of psychological thrillers and suspenseful family dramas may also want to check it out. It’s tough to say much more about the story without risking spoilers, but suffice it to say, the delicious tension of not knowing what will happen made the slow build-up of the first half worth it.
]]> 38363799 The prequel to Dracula, inspired by notes and texts left behind by the author of the classic novel, Dracul is a supernatural thriller that reveals not only Dracula's true origins but Bram Stoker's--and the tale of the enigmatic woman who connects them.

It is 1868, and a twenty-one-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water, and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night, the longest of his life. Desperate to record what he has witnessed, Bram scribbles down the events that led him here...

A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents' Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen--a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen--and that the nightmare they've thought long ended is only beginning.]]> 497 Dacre Stoker 0735219346 Mogsy 4
If the darkly atmospheric and intricately woven tale of Dracul feels personal, that’s because it is. Described as the prequel to the classic 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula, the novel is penned by the great-grand-nephew of Bram Stoker himself along with one of horror’s brightest voices tapped specifically by the family for this endeavor. Blending his famous ancestor’s true history with elements from his literary creation, Dacre Stoker and his co-author J.D. Barker have formulated and delivered on a concept that fans of the genre should find fascinating.

Our story begins in Ireland, where Bram Stoker was born and spent much of his sickly childhood. Many of his early years were spent ensconced and bedridden at home, cared for and doted on by Nanna Ellen, a young woman who is more than she appears. Intrigued by Ellen’s strange behavior, Bram and his sister Matilda decide to go sticking their noses into their nursemaid’s quarters, but instead of answers, they find even more questions. Soon afterwards, Ellen disappears, but the literal mark she has left on Bram’s life will always be with him. The scabs on his wrist might never heal, but whatever Ellen did to him, Bram has been as healthy as a horse ever since, his sickly days behind him forever.

Years later though, the Stoker siblings, now grown, are drawn into the mystery once again when Matilda returns from her studies in France to tell Bram that she has seen Ellen—and most bizarrely, their former nanny has not aged one bit, looking as young as they remembered her as children. After recruiting the help of their older brother Thornley, our characters embark on a supernatural journey that will cause them to question everything they knew about the old stories of Irish legends and monsters.

To understand this prequel, one must to an extent also understand the original. Spotting their parallels was a big part of my enjoyment, watching how the lines were blurred between reality and fiction. Emulating the Gothic atmosphere and suspense of the classic novel, Dracul is told in a mostly epistolary format, playing on the idea that before its publication, Dracula was divested of about a hundred pages which is said no living soul has ever seen. Using his great-grand-uncle’s notes from journals and other writings, Dacre Stoker sought to interpret these missing pages and piece together a picture of young Bram as a key figure placed in the context of his own literary work, and needless to say, this approach lent an authenticity to the narrative and the results were decidedly effective.

But the story also follows a second timeline of an older Bram, covered predominantly in the latter parts of the novel. The eerie and mysterious tone turns even darker and more disturbing as events shift gears to focus on Bram, Matilda, and Thornley as adults, alternating between their viewpoints. These multiple perspectives make for a compelling fast-paced read with an atmosphere which is in keeping with the original classic, yet at the same time, the story is also written in a cinematic style which would appeal to readers of modern-day horror and thrillers, proving you won’t have to be a mega-Dracula fan to enjoy this one.

For extra immersion, I would also highly recommend the audiobook for Dracul as read by a full cast consisting of Pete Bradbury as the narrator, Vikas Adam as Bram Stoker, Saskia Maarleveld as Matilda, Rachael Corkill as Thornley, Alana Kerr Collins as Ellen, and Allan Corduner as Arminius Vambéry. Of the narrators, I am most familiar with Vikas Adam, who did a phenomenal job giving voice to Bram, though the rest of the cast also delivered marvelous performances, making this moody tale come to life.]]> 4.15 2018
author: Dacre Stoker
name: Mogsy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/10/26
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, historical-fiction, horror, paranormal, vampires, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

If the darkly atmospheric and intricately woven tale of Dracul feels personal, that’s because it is. Described as the prequel to the classic 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula, the novel is penned by the great-grand-nephew of Bram Stoker himself along with one of horror’s brightest voices tapped specifically by the family for this endeavor. Blending his famous ancestor’s true history with elements from his literary creation, Dacre Stoker and his co-author J.D. Barker have formulated and delivered on a concept that fans of the genre should find fascinating.

Our story begins in Ireland, where Bram Stoker was born and spent much of his sickly childhood. Many of his early years were spent ensconced and bedridden at home, cared for and doted on by Nanna Ellen, a young woman who is more than she appears. Intrigued by Ellen’s strange behavior, Bram and his sister Matilda decide to go sticking their noses into their nursemaid’s quarters, but instead of answers, they find even more questions. Soon afterwards, Ellen disappears, but the literal mark she has left on Bram’s life will always be with him. The scabs on his wrist might never heal, but whatever Ellen did to him, Bram has been as healthy as a horse ever since, his sickly days behind him forever.

Years later though, the Stoker siblings, now grown, are drawn into the mystery once again when Matilda returns from her studies in France to tell Bram that she has seen Ellen—and most bizarrely, their former nanny has not aged one bit, looking as young as they remembered her as children. After recruiting the help of their older brother Thornley, our characters embark on a supernatural journey that will cause them to question everything they knew about the old stories of Irish legends and monsters.

To understand this prequel, one must to an extent also understand the original. Spotting their parallels was a big part of my enjoyment, watching how the lines were blurred between reality and fiction. Emulating the Gothic atmosphere and suspense of the classic novel, Dracul is told in a mostly epistolary format, playing on the idea that before its publication, Dracula was divested of about a hundred pages which is said no living soul has ever seen. Using his great-grand-uncle’s notes from journals and other writings, Dacre Stoker sought to interpret these missing pages and piece together a picture of young Bram as a key figure placed in the context of his own literary work, and needless to say, this approach lent an authenticity to the narrative and the results were decidedly effective.

But the story also follows a second timeline of an older Bram, covered predominantly in the latter parts of the novel. The eerie and mysterious tone turns even darker and more disturbing as events shift gears to focus on Bram, Matilda, and Thornley as adults, alternating between their viewpoints. These multiple perspectives make for a compelling fast-paced read with an atmosphere which is in keeping with the original classic, yet at the same time, the story is also written in a cinematic style which would appeal to readers of modern-day horror and thrillers, proving you won’t have to be a mega-Dracula fan to enjoy this one.

For extra immersion, I would also highly recommend the audiobook for Dracul as read by a full cast consisting of Pete Bradbury as the narrator, Vikas Adam as Bram Stoker, Saskia Maarleveld as Matilda, Rachael Corkill as Thornley, Alana Kerr Collins as Ellen, and Allan Corduner as Arminius Vambéry. Of the narrators, I am most familiar with Vikas Adam, who did a phenomenal job giving voice to Bram, though the rest of the cast also delivered marvelous performances, making this moody tale come to life.
]]> 40594396
Meanwhile, in Prague, fear grips the city as a phantom serial killer emerges in the dark alleys. Police investigator Lukas Smolak, desperate to locate the culprit (dubbed Leather Apron in the newspapers), realizes that the killer is imitating the most notorious serial killer from a century earlier--London's Jack the Ripper. Smolak turns to the doctors at Hrad Orlu for their expertise with the psychotic criminal mind, though he worries that Leather Apron might have some connection to the six inmates in the asylum.

Steeped in the folklore of Eastern Europe, and set in the shadow of Nazi darkness erupting just beyond the Czech border, this stylishly written, tightly coiled, richly imagined novel is propulsively entertaining, and impossible to put down.]]> 414 Craig Russell 0385544367 Mogsy 4
It’s been a while since I read something like The Devil Aspect, a historical suspense-thriller displaying many characteristics of Gothic horror. In some ways it felt like indulging in a treat that I haven’t had in a long time, because I ate this one right up.

It is 1935, and the story opens with our protagonist Viktor Kosárek arriving at the infamous Hrad Orlu Asylum in Prague, where he is about to begin his new post as its newest psychiatrist. The secluded facility, converted from a medieval castle on top of a mountain, only houses six inmates, but they are considered some the most dangerous and incurably insane killers the world has ever known. The asylum staff call them The Vegetarian, The Clown, The Woodcutter, The Sciomancer, The Glass Collector and The Demon, but together they are known as the Devil’s Six, named so because of the unthinkably vicious and abominable ways they’ve murdered their victims. Intrigued by this common attribute that the six inmates have, Viktor hopes to experiment with a new technique he has developed which would prove the presence of a “Devil Aspect� in their psyches, a phenomenon which drives people to commit evil.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country is gripped in fear and uncertainty as dark news looms just across the border with the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. Within the capital, the city’s populace has also been rocked by a series of disturbing murders similar to those committed half a century ago in Britain by a serial killer named Jack the Ripper. Now it appears Prague has its own Ripper, whom the police and the papers have dubbed Leather Apron, and lead detective Lukas Smolak has vowed to identify and apprehend him as quickly as possible. Working under such pressures, it would be tempting to build a case around their only suspect, a gypsy they captured at the scene of the last murder, except the raving young man seems terrified, insisting upon his innocence while convinced that the devil will come for him next.

The Devil Aspect was exactly what I wanted—not exactly fast-paced but oh so deliciously atmospheric, as well as creepy and gory but in a subtle way that avoids throwing the horror directly in your face. I loved how the two POVs—Viktor’s and Smolak’s—wove in and out of each other, creating a complex narrative rich with clues, false trails and surprises. And yes, rest assured that readers will get to meet each of the Devil’s Six and discover why they have been locked up in the Hrad Orlu Asylum; I would have been disappointed if the publisher had dangled such an irresistible tidbit in the blurb without following through.

But while the two main characters were a fascinating study, the real winner was the setting, both in the location and the historical period. Horror is perhaps one of the few genres in which I am okay with a little less characterization in favor of more world-building and tone-setting, because so much of my enjoyment rests on the author creating the perfect mood. Craig Russell did an amazing job, for the atmosphere was practically palpable as a pall of gloom hangs over Smolak’s investigation into Leather Apron in Prague, and Viktor is wrapped up in his own darkness atop his isolated mountaintop milieu as he carries out his experiments on the Devil’s Six. This has always been the type of psychological horror I prefer, the creeping dread versus the more unsubtle forms of the genre, e.g. gushing blood and gore with heavy emphasis on graphic and gruesome violence. In this sense, The Devil Aspect was right up my alley. Although the book contains its fair share of grisly scenes and descriptions, I didn’t think any of these were overdone.

In terms of criticisms, I did feel the story had a tendency to stray off-course every now and then, but because we were pursuing so many threads, it was difficult to tell whether some of these instances were attempts at red herrings. It did throw off the pacing some, in that I felt my attention drifting during many of these sections, but thankfully the author was always careful to steer things back on track. I thought the ending was a bit predictable too, but mostly because I always come into these kinds of books expecting a twist, and I happened to peg the outcome accurately. That said, my enjoyment was in no way diminished.

Overall, this novel was a delightful joy to read, which might seem strange to say of a dark and somber tale of psychological horror. But truly, it had everything that I wanted. Ambitious and provocative, The Devil Aspect was impressive in its execution and the way it integrated all its parts. Highly recommended.

Audiobook Comments: Narrator Julian Rhind-Tutt had a great voice for this story, making a good book even better. The only thing I can think of that would have improved the experience was a second narrator to bring more distinction between the two main POVs, but even with a single reader this was an excellent listen.]]> 4.01 2019
author: Craig Russell
name: Mogsy
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2019/03/10
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, horror, mystery, historical-fiction, thriller-suspense, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

It’s been a while since I read something like The Devil Aspect, a historical suspense-thriller displaying many characteristics of Gothic horror. In some ways it felt like indulging in a treat that I haven’t had in a long time, because I ate this one right up.

It is 1935, and the story opens with our protagonist Viktor Kosárek arriving at the infamous Hrad Orlu Asylum in Prague, where he is about to begin his new post as its newest psychiatrist. The secluded facility, converted from a medieval castle on top of a mountain, only houses six inmates, but they are considered some the most dangerous and incurably insane killers the world has ever known. The asylum staff call them The Vegetarian, The Clown, The Woodcutter, The Sciomancer, The Glass Collector and The Demon, but together they are known as the Devil’s Six, named so because of the unthinkably vicious and abominable ways they’ve murdered their victims. Intrigued by this common attribute that the six inmates have, Viktor hopes to experiment with a new technique he has developed which would prove the presence of a “Devil Aspect� in their psyches, a phenomenon which drives people to commit evil.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country is gripped in fear and uncertainty as dark news looms just across the border with the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. Within the capital, the city’s populace has also been rocked by a series of disturbing murders similar to those committed half a century ago in Britain by a serial killer named Jack the Ripper. Now it appears Prague has its own Ripper, whom the police and the papers have dubbed Leather Apron, and lead detective Lukas Smolak has vowed to identify and apprehend him as quickly as possible. Working under such pressures, it would be tempting to build a case around their only suspect, a gypsy they captured at the scene of the last murder, except the raving young man seems terrified, insisting upon his innocence while convinced that the devil will come for him next.

The Devil Aspect was exactly what I wanted—not exactly fast-paced but oh so deliciously atmospheric, as well as creepy and gory but in a subtle way that avoids throwing the horror directly in your face. I loved how the two POVs—Viktor’s and Smolak’s—wove in and out of each other, creating a complex narrative rich with clues, false trails and surprises. And yes, rest assured that readers will get to meet each of the Devil’s Six and discover why they have been locked up in the Hrad Orlu Asylum; I would have been disappointed if the publisher had dangled such an irresistible tidbit in the blurb without following through.

But while the two main characters were a fascinating study, the real winner was the setting, both in the location and the historical period. Horror is perhaps one of the few genres in which I am okay with a little less characterization in favor of more world-building and tone-setting, because so much of my enjoyment rests on the author creating the perfect mood. Craig Russell did an amazing job, for the atmosphere was practically palpable as a pall of gloom hangs over Smolak’s investigation into Leather Apron in Prague, and Viktor is wrapped up in his own darkness atop his isolated mountaintop milieu as he carries out his experiments on the Devil’s Six. This has always been the type of psychological horror I prefer, the creeping dread versus the more unsubtle forms of the genre, e.g. gushing blood and gore with heavy emphasis on graphic and gruesome violence. In this sense, The Devil Aspect was right up my alley. Although the book contains its fair share of grisly scenes and descriptions, I didn’t think any of these were overdone.

In terms of criticisms, I did feel the story had a tendency to stray off-course every now and then, but because we were pursuing so many threads, it was difficult to tell whether some of these instances were attempts at red herrings. It did throw off the pacing some, in that I felt my attention drifting during many of these sections, but thankfully the author was always careful to steer things back on track. I thought the ending was a bit predictable too, but mostly because I always come into these kinds of books expecting a twist, and I happened to peg the outcome accurately. That said, my enjoyment was in no way diminished.

Overall, this novel was a delightful joy to read, which might seem strange to say of a dark and somber tale of psychological horror. But truly, it had everything that I wanted. Ambitious and provocative, The Devil Aspect was impressive in its execution and the way it integrated all its parts. Highly recommended.

Audiobook Comments: Narrator Julian Rhind-Tutt had a great voice for this story, making a good book even better. The only thing I can think of that would have improved the experience was a second narrator to bring more distinction between the two main POVs, but even with a single reader this was an excellent listen.
]]> 36118682 Wicked Saints—an epic, passionate novel that you won't soon forget. Prepare to meet:

A GIRL named Nadya, who hears the whisper of the gods inside her head.

A PRINCE surrounded by desperate suitors and deadly assassins

A MONSTER hidden behind pale, tortured eyes � and a smile that cuts like a knife

The paths of these three characters become entwined during a centuriea-long war filled with sinners and saints, magic and mystery, and a star-crossed romance that threatens to tip the scales between dark and light . .. forever.]]> 385 Emily A. Duncan 1250195667 Mogsy 2
With so much hype surrounding Wicked Saints before its release, I was glad I took the time to check out some of the more critical reviews before diving in. Doing so helped me prepare myself for the possibility that it might not be everything I had expected, and there were also a few things frequently mentioned by reviewers that I thought might cause me some issues as well. Turns out, they were right. While I don’t actually regret my time with this book (it had its saving graces), I can’t say I was engaged much with it either.

Set in a fantasy world which draws much of its inspiration from Slavic culture and history, Wicked Saints splits its focus between three main protagonists: Nadya, a Kalyazi cleric raised in a monastery and trained to commune with the gods; Serefin, a High Prince of Tranavia who is also a blood mage; and Malachaisz, a rogue Tranavian mage who has defected against his own people. Nadya has spent her life hidden away in the remote mountains, Kalyazin’s secret weapon to use against Tranavia in the religious war between the two nations. However, before her time could come, the monastery that has been a safe haven to her for her whole life is suddenly attacked by Tranvaian forces led by Prince Serefin.

Fortunately, Nadya was able to escape, evading capture by falling in with a group of rebels. Meanwhile, Serefin is forced to abandon the search for the cleric when he is unexpected called back home by his father. Nadya is relatively safe again for now, but for how long? The resistance fighters are determined to take their cause all the way to the palace, where they plan on assassinating the king to put an end to the violence once and for all. Despite herself, Nadya also finds herself drawn to Malachiasz, the gorgeous blood mage who embodies everything she has been taught to hate and fear in her devout upbringing by the monastery priests. Every character seems to have an agenda of their own, each of them grinding against the others like rusty gears while none of them have a choice but to go along with the tide of the times. However, inevitably when the centuries of bad blood and brutal conflict come to a head, there will undoubtedly be consequences for them all.

First, let’s start with what I liked. Admittedly, this isn’t a long list, but what’s there is significant and goes a long way in making up for a lot of the issues in the book. Number one is the atmosphere. Wicked Saints is a gothic fantasy novel and that’s obvious enough; you can practically feel its dark and broody vibes wafting off the pages like some cheap perfume. No, it’s not subtle. One might even say it’s a bit overdone, that this novel is “gothic� in the way a preteen would interpret the word—nihilistic themes, blood magic and death gods, bad boys and bad girls in black edgy clothing, etc. And yet, despite the prose dripping with angst, Emily A. Duncan’s writing is fantastic, which brings me to the second thing I liked most about this book. The author clearly has way with words, and I found her style perfectly suited to creating this gritty world full of richly decadent details.

And now for the things that didn’t work so well for me. As much as I enjoyed Duncan’s writing, it pains me to say that the very nature of it prevented me from connecting with her story and characters. While the prose may be well-crafted, I wouldn’t exactly call it easy on the eyes. In some ways, I feel like the writing may have placed too much emphasis on artistry while sacrificing readability and overall engagement. The plot was decent, but slow, and none of the character POVs managed to excite me long enough to keep the momentum going. Which brings me to the characters. I didn’t like them, nor did I dislike them. They were just there—and it was this ambivalence towards everyone in the book that frustrated me to no end. Make me love your characters or make me hate them—I don’t care. Just make me feel something, anything! The fact that I couldn’t relate in any way to the characters left me with an overall sense of ennui and coldness, and I think this was what resulted in the emotion disconnect I had with the novel.

So yes, I struggled, even though I’d be hard-pressed to point out anything that was seriously flawed about this book. In fact, despite experiencing problems early on, I still knew that deep inside I wanted to see the story through to the end. The problem though, was the incredibly difficult time I had motivating myself to pick up the book again, and in the end, what finally did it was borrowing the audiobook from the library and finishing it in another, more convenient format. It just goes to show, some books and I are simply on different wavelengths, making it hard for us to jive. I believe this was the case with Wicked Saints, which sadly proved not to be my cup of tea after all, but I’m sure it will find lots of love with others.]]> 3.55 2019
author: Emily A. Duncan
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2019/04/26
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, netgalley, young-adult, fantasy, magic, gothic
review:
2.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

With so much hype surrounding Wicked Saints before its release, I was glad I took the time to check out some of the more critical reviews before diving in. Doing so helped me prepare myself for the possibility that it might not be everything I had expected, and there were also a few things frequently mentioned by reviewers that I thought might cause me some issues as well. Turns out, they were right. While I don’t actually regret my time with this book (it had its saving graces), I can’t say I was engaged much with it either.

Set in a fantasy world which draws much of its inspiration from Slavic culture and history, Wicked Saints splits its focus between three main protagonists: Nadya, a Kalyazi cleric raised in a monastery and trained to commune with the gods; Serefin, a High Prince of Tranavia who is also a blood mage; and Malachaisz, a rogue Tranavian mage who has defected against his own people. Nadya has spent her life hidden away in the remote mountains, Kalyazin’s secret weapon to use against Tranavia in the religious war between the two nations. However, before her time could come, the monastery that has been a safe haven to her for her whole life is suddenly attacked by Tranvaian forces led by Prince Serefin.

Fortunately, Nadya was able to escape, evading capture by falling in with a group of rebels. Meanwhile, Serefin is forced to abandon the search for the cleric when he is unexpected called back home by his father. Nadya is relatively safe again for now, but for how long? The resistance fighters are determined to take their cause all the way to the palace, where they plan on assassinating the king to put an end to the violence once and for all. Despite herself, Nadya also finds herself drawn to Malachiasz, the gorgeous blood mage who embodies everything she has been taught to hate and fear in her devout upbringing by the monastery priests. Every character seems to have an agenda of their own, each of them grinding against the others like rusty gears while none of them have a choice but to go along with the tide of the times. However, inevitably when the centuries of bad blood and brutal conflict come to a head, there will undoubtedly be consequences for them all.

First, let’s start with what I liked. Admittedly, this isn’t a long list, but what’s there is significant and goes a long way in making up for a lot of the issues in the book. Number one is the atmosphere. Wicked Saints is a gothic fantasy novel and that’s obvious enough; you can practically feel its dark and broody vibes wafting off the pages like some cheap perfume. No, it’s not subtle. One might even say it’s a bit overdone, that this novel is “gothic� in the way a preteen would interpret the word—nihilistic themes, blood magic and death gods, bad boys and bad girls in black edgy clothing, etc. And yet, despite the prose dripping with angst, Emily A. Duncan’s writing is fantastic, which brings me to the second thing I liked most about this book. The author clearly has way with words, and I found her style perfectly suited to creating this gritty world full of richly decadent details.

And now for the things that didn’t work so well for me. As much as I enjoyed Duncan’s writing, it pains me to say that the very nature of it prevented me from connecting with her story and characters. While the prose may be well-crafted, I wouldn’t exactly call it easy on the eyes. In some ways, I feel like the writing may have placed too much emphasis on artistry while sacrificing readability and overall engagement. The plot was decent, but slow, and none of the character POVs managed to excite me long enough to keep the momentum going. Which brings me to the characters. I didn’t like them, nor did I dislike them. They were just there—and it was this ambivalence towards everyone in the book that frustrated me to no end. Make me love your characters or make me hate them—I don’t care. Just make me feel something, anything! The fact that I couldn’t relate in any way to the characters left me with an overall sense of ennui and coldness, and I think this was what resulted in the emotion disconnect I had with the novel.

So yes, I struggled, even though I’d be hard-pressed to point out anything that was seriously flawed about this book. In fact, despite experiencing problems early on, I still knew that deep inside I wanted to see the story through to the end. The problem though, was the incredibly difficult time I had motivating myself to pick up the book again, and in the end, what finally did it was borrowing the audiobook from the library and finishing it in another, more convenient format. It just goes to show, some books and I are simply on different wavelengths, making it hard for us to jive. I believe this was the case with Wicked Saints, which sadly proved not to be my cup of tea after all, but I’m sure it will find lots of love with others.
]]> 41555927 State Road 177 runs along the Suwannee River, between Fargo, Georgia, and the Okefenokee Swamp. Drive that route from east to west, and you’ll cross six bridges. Take it from west to east, and you might find seven.

But you’d better hope not.

Titus and Melanie Bell leave their hotel in Fargo for a second honeymoon canoeing the Okefenokee Swamp. But shortly before they reach their destination, they draw up to a halt at the edge of a rickety bridge with old stone pilings, with room for only one car . . .

When, much later, a tow-truck arrives, the driver finds Titus lying in the middle of the road, but Melanie is nowhere to be found.]]> 336 Cherie Priest 076537823X Mogsy 3
The Toll by Cherie Priest is a disturbingly dark tale of the supernatural, tinged with gothic horror and eldritch elements. The story takes us to a tiny backwater town on the edge of the Okenfenokee Swamp in Georgia called Staywater, where every thirteen years or so, someone always goes missing. Their disappearance is usually preceded by reported sightings of a mysterious seventh bridge along the west-to-east route on State Road 177, though of course, only six bridges exist according to any map. Spooky!

On an unusually cool spring day, Titus and his wife Melanie are driving along 177 towards the state park where they will be spending their honeymoon, when they come across a one-lane rickety bridge leading into the swampy darkness. The next thing Titus knows, he is waking up on the side of the road, his SUV behind him is empty with its doors flung open, and Melanie is nowhere to be found. After calling for help and being told by the police that they’re doing all they can to find his wife, Titus accepts a ride to the nearby town of Staywater to find room and board. Filled with worries and unable to sleep, he heads to the dive bar down the street in order to drown his sorrows. There, the locals tell him not to worry, that most likely his wife simply lost her way in the swamp while trying to look for help. It happens often enough to the tourists and campers who come out this way, after all, and the police will certainly make sure Melanie comes home safe.

But in their hearts, the residents of Staywater know better. They all sensed the shift in reality when it happened, the first time in thirteen years. The swamp keeps what it takes, or rather, the thing that lives there does. The bridge has helped it claim another victim, and Titus will probably never see his wife again. No one knows this better than Claire and Daisy, two elderly cousins who have lived in Staywater their entire lives, watching it crumble and slowly die over the years. They thought they had put a stop to whatever was terrorizing the town, but apparently its connection to their world was too strong. And now, the cousins have even more to lose. The two of them have been raising a teenage boy named Cameron, who was left on their doorstep as a baby. No one knows where he came from, but Claire and Daisy knows that the thing in the swamp likes to take outsiders. All they want is for Cameron to grow up and one day escape Staywater, but until the problem in the swamp is taken care of once in for all, they know that things can never be safe.

To tell the truth, even though I thought The Toll was a decent read, it’s hard not to feel slightly let down by some of its incongruencies and flaws, especially in light of how much I adored Priest’s last novel The Family Plot. I can’t help but wonder though, if some of the constraints mentioned in the author’s acknowledgements—that she worked on the book in stages over a hectic period in her life or the fact that the manuscript had multiple editors—could have played into the novel’s overall sense of incompleteness and certain elements in it that felt out of place. For instance, despite its floundering status, Staywater is a town full of quirky idiosyncrasies that I would have loved to know more about: its resident ghosts, the old department store where the mannequins apparently come to life in the night, or the old blind dog in the tree. At the end of the day though, all these things felt like they were thrown willy-nilly into the story, with no intention to ever go back and explore them. Likewise, I felt the same way about the teases about Cameron’s origins, the real deal with the cousins, or what is truly going on with Jess. And those are just a few examples; scattered across this novel are a lot more of these poor orphaned threads that don’t seem to go anywhere or aren’t sufficiently explained. Like I said, it’s just disappointing.

The ending also felt a bit rushed, and failed to live up to the long and suspenseful build-up. To be sure, there’s a strong element of horror to The Toll, but at the same time I wouldn’t say it was particularly scary. Most of the story reads like a mystery, steadily paced while dropping delicious clues about the phantom bridge and what might have happened to Melanie. And I suppose that is also why the last section of the book felt so random when it switches tack and goes full tilt on horror and thrills, which made for some great reading. However, in terms of satisfaction, the ending might have missed its mark. To put it bluntly, it felt like a copout, with too many questions and conflicts left unresolved.

Bottom line? I didn’t love this, but I didn’t hate it either. My experience with Cherie Priest’s work has always been hit or miss in the past, but I still get that flutter of excitement in my chest whenever I find out she’s writing a new book. I went into The Toll with rather high expectations because of the story’s intriguing premise, but while it was well written and entertaining enough, in the end something felt missing. I guess I just expected a little more in terms of answers, cohesion, and horror.]]> 3.39 2019
author: Cherie Priest
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2019/07/31
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, netgalley, review-copy, horror, paranormal, gothic
review:
3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

The Toll by Cherie Priest is a disturbingly dark tale of the supernatural, tinged with gothic horror and eldritch elements. The story takes us to a tiny backwater town on the edge of the Okenfenokee Swamp in Georgia called Staywater, where every thirteen years or so, someone always goes missing. Their disappearance is usually preceded by reported sightings of a mysterious seventh bridge along the west-to-east route on State Road 177, though of course, only six bridges exist according to any map. Spooky!

On an unusually cool spring day, Titus and his wife Melanie are driving along 177 towards the state park where they will be spending their honeymoon, when they come across a one-lane rickety bridge leading into the swampy darkness. The next thing Titus knows, he is waking up on the side of the road, his SUV behind him is empty with its doors flung open, and Melanie is nowhere to be found. After calling for help and being told by the police that they’re doing all they can to find his wife, Titus accepts a ride to the nearby town of Staywater to find room and board. Filled with worries and unable to sleep, he heads to the dive bar down the street in order to drown his sorrows. There, the locals tell him not to worry, that most likely his wife simply lost her way in the swamp while trying to look for help. It happens often enough to the tourists and campers who come out this way, after all, and the police will certainly make sure Melanie comes home safe.

But in their hearts, the residents of Staywater know better. They all sensed the shift in reality when it happened, the first time in thirteen years. The swamp keeps what it takes, or rather, the thing that lives there does. The bridge has helped it claim another victim, and Titus will probably never see his wife again. No one knows this better than Claire and Daisy, two elderly cousins who have lived in Staywater their entire lives, watching it crumble and slowly die over the years. They thought they had put a stop to whatever was terrorizing the town, but apparently its connection to their world was too strong. And now, the cousins have even more to lose. The two of them have been raising a teenage boy named Cameron, who was left on their doorstep as a baby. No one knows where he came from, but Claire and Daisy knows that the thing in the swamp likes to take outsiders. All they want is for Cameron to grow up and one day escape Staywater, but until the problem in the swamp is taken care of once in for all, they know that things can never be safe.

To tell the truth, even though I thought The Toll was a decent read, it’s hard not to feel slightly let down by some of its incongruencies and flaws, especially in light of how much I adored Priest’s last novel The Family Plot. I can’t help but wonder though, if some of the constraints mentioned in the author’s acknowledgements—that she worked on the book in stages over a hectic period in her life or the fact that the manuscript had multiple editors—could have played into the novel’s overall sense of incompleteness and certain elements in it that felt out of place. For instance, despite its floundering status, Staywater is a town full of quirky idiosyncrasies that I would have loved to know more about: its resident ghosts, the old department store where the mannequins apparently come to life in the night, or the old blind dog in the tree. At the end of the day though, all these things felt like they were thrown willy-nilly into the story, with no intention to ever go back and explore them. Likewise, I felt the same way about the teases about Cameron’s origins, the real deal with the cousins, or what is truly going on with Jess. And those are just a few examples; scattered across this novel are a lot more of these poor orphaned threads that don’t seem to go anywhere or aren’t sufficiently explained. Like I said, it’s just disappointing.

The ending also felt a bit rushed, and failed to live up to the long and suspenseful build-up. To be sure, there’s a strong element of horror to The Toll, but at the same time I wouldn’t say it was particularly scary. Most of the story reads like a mystery, steadily paced while dropping delicious clues about the phantom bridge and what might have happened to Melanie. And I suppose that is also why the last section of the book felt so random when it switches tack and goes full tilt on horror and thrills, which made for some great reading. However, in terms of satisfaction, the ending might have missed its mark. To put it bluntly, it felt like a copout, with too many questions and conflicts left unresolved.

Bottom line? I didn’t love this, but I didn’t hate it either. My experience with Cherie Priest’s work has always been hit or miss in the past, but I still get that flutter of excitement in my chest whenever I find out she’s writing a new book. I went into The Toll with rather high expectations because of the story’s intriguing premise, but while it was well written and entertaining enough, in the end something felt missing. I guess I just expected a little more in terms of answers, cohesion, and horror.
]]> 42265183
When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights... and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.]]> 425 Renée Ahdieh 1524738174 Mogsy 4
While I’m no stranger to Renée Ahdieh’s work, having read The Wrath and the Dawn and Flame in the Mist, neither book enticed enough to pick up the rest of the series, so when I first heard about her new novel The Beautiful� a vampire book, no less—I was understandably skeptical. But I guess as they say, third time’s a charm. I was a little nervous going into it, considering how early reviews were mixed, but I ultimately enjoyed it quite a lot.

The Beautiful takes us to 1872 New Orleans, where we meet our protagonist Celine Rousseau, who is newly arrived from Paris. Forced to flee Europe because of a secret in her past, Celine has come to live in the Ursuline convent along with half a dozen other girls taken in by the strict Mother Superior. But life among the nuns has not softened Celine’s spirit or her natural curiosity, which leads her to explore the historical and cultural wonders of New Orleans. She soon catches the attention of Sébastien, the nephew and scion to one of the most powerful men in the city, Count Nicodemus Saint Germain. Sébastien is the leader of his own underground club, which operates out of their glitzy hideout La Cour des Lions, and it isn’t long before Celine finds herself deeply involved in their activities.

But at night, the streets of New Orleans are not the safest place to be. A killer has been terrorizing the city, leaving behind corpses completely drained of blood. When one of the victims, a girl from the Ursuline convent, is found inside La Cours des Lions, Celine has reason to suspect the club charming and glamorous proprietor, even as she finds herself falling for him. Sébastien is handsome and beguiling, but she also can’t deny there’s a darkness in him that she can’t figure out. And when the latest murder brings the attention of the city police down on them all, the investigation threatens to expose Celine’s own terrible past.

When it boils down to it, The Beautiful is pretty derivative as far as vampire fiction goes—for example, even now I can’t say for sure why this story had to be a historical fiction set in New Orleans, other than the obvious reason of being a call back to Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. Whether this or other references are intended to be a homage to Rice or other authors, Ahdieh was clearly influenced by popular vampire fiction. She borrows heavily from the greats, employing tropes that I think will be familiar with many readers.

But I started seeing the book from another perspective once I stopped thinking of it as a vampire book, but instead began considering it as a mystery. In fact, you could probably do away with the vampire aspect and the story would have still been as provocative and intriguing—bad news for vampire aficionados, perhaps, but perfectly fine for a historical mystery fan like myself. The plot is well-paced, capturing a certain Victorian gothic vibe. Sprinkled in is also a good dose of forbidden romance, which wasn’t the most prominent theme in the book, but it did help add some zing to the mystery narrative whenever it threatened to grow stale.

Best of all, for the first time I noticed that the author has improved her writing and mostly refrained from using overly flowery descriptions and purple prose. As this was a huge problem for me in both The Wrath and the Dawn and Flame in the Mist, I was happy to see Ahdieh is finally learning to lay off the melodrama and overwrought metaphors. Of course, there are still some issues, like insufficient world-building and the conspicuous absence of adults, but to be fair, I feel those are problems in YA as a whole and not particular to The Beautiful. Seriously, who’s going to believe the New Orleans police force is going to put a teenager at the head of one of their biggest murder cases of the century? We all know why Michael is young and hot, and it certainly isn’t because he’s a brilliant detective.

Unlike a lot of YA these days though, The Beautiful kept me engaged from beginning to end. I think it’s my favorite book by Renée Ahdieh to date, and upon finishing it, I actually felt motivated enough to want to continue with the series, and not just because the open ending. I’ll be watching for the sequel.

Audiobook Comments: The audio version of The Beautiful was narrated expressively by Lauren Ezzo, whose varied accents and voices conjured up the time period and the people and places described in the book. I didn’t care for a couple of her male character voices, which sounded awkward and rough like she was talking around a mouthful of rocks, but thankfully those instances were few and far between. I would recommend this audiobook overall.]]> 3.65 2019
author: Renée Ahdieh
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2019/09/29
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, young-adult, historical-fiction, fantasy, vampires, paranormal, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars The BiblioSanctum

While I’m no stranger to Renée Ahdieh’s work, having read The Wrath and the Dawn and Flame in the Mist, neither book enticed enough to pick up the rest of the series, so when I first heard about her new novel The Beautiful� a vampire book, no less—I was understandably skeptical. But I guess as they say, third time’s a charm. I was a little nervous going into it, considering how early reviews were mixed, but I ultimately enjoyed it quite a lot.

The Beautiful takes us to 1872 New Orleans, where we meet our protagonist Celine Rousseau, who is newly arrived from Paris. Forced to flee Europe because of a secret in her past, Celine has come to live in the Ursuline convent along with half a dozen other girls taken in by the strict Mother Superior. But life among the nuns has not softened Celine’s spirit or her natural curiosity, which leads her to explore the historical and cultural wonders of New Orleans. She soon catches the attention of Sébastien, the nephew and scion to one of the most powerful men in the city, Count Nicodemus Saint Germain. Sébastien is the leader of his own underground club, which operates out of their glitzy hideout La Cour des Lions, and it isn’t long before Celine finds herself deeply involved in their activities.

But at night, the streets of New Orleans are not the safest place to be. A killer has been terrorizing the city, leaving behind corpses completely drained of blood. When one of the victims, a girl from the Ursuline convent, is found inside La Cours des Lions, Celine has reason to suspect the club charming and glamorous proprietor, even as she finds herself falling for him. Sébastien is handsome and beguiling, but she also can’t deny there’s a darkness in him that she can’t figure out. And when the latest murder brings the attention of the city police down on them all, the investigation threatens to expose Celine’s own terrible past.

When it boils down to it, The Beautiful is pretty derivative as far as vampire fiction goes—for example, even now I can’t say for sure why this story had to be a historical fiction set in New Orleans, other than the obvious reason of being a call back to Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. Whether this or other references are intended to be a homage to Rice or other authors, Ahdieh was clearly influenced by popular vampire fiction. She borrows heavily from the greats, employing tropes that I think will be familiar with many readers.

But I started seeing the book from another perspective once I stopped thinking of it as a vampire book, but instead began considering it as a mystery. In fact, you could probably do away with the vampire aspect and the story would have still been as provocative and intriguing—bad news for vampire aficionados, perhaps, but perfectly fine for a historical mystery fan like myself. The plot is well-paced, capturing a certain Victorian gothic vibe. Sprinkled in is also a good dose of forbidden romance, which wasn’t the most prominent theme in the book, but it did help add some zing to the mystery narrative whenever it threatened to grow stale.

Best of all, for the first time I noticed that the author has improved her writing and mostly refrained from using overly flowery descriptions and purple prose. As this was a huge problem for me in both The Wrath and the Dawn and Flame in the Mist, I was happy to see Ahdieh is finally learning to lay off the melodrama and overwrought metaphors. Of course, there are still some issues, like insufficient world-building and the conspicuous absence of adults, but to be fair, I feel those are problems in YA as a whole and not particular to The Beautiful. Seriously, who’s going to believe the New Orleans police force is going to put a teenager at the head of one of their biggest murder cases of the century? We all know why Michael is young and hot, and it certainly isn’t because he’s a brilliant detective.

Unlike a lot of YA these days though, The Beautiful kept me engaged from beginning to end. I think it’s my favorite book by Renée Ahdieh to date, and upon finishing it, I actually felt motivated enough to want to continue with the series, and not just because the open ending. I’ll be watching for the sequel.

Audiobook Comments: The audio version of The Beautiful was narrated expressively by Lauren Ezzo, whose varied accents and voices conjured up the time period and the people and places described in the book. I didn’t care for a couple of her male character voices, which sounded awkward and rough like she was talking around a mouthful of rocks, but thankfully those instances were few and far between. I would recommend this audiobook overall.
]]> 42642111 The Tenth Girl is a gothic psychological thriller with a haunting twist.

At the very southern tip of South America looms an isolated finishing school. Legend has it that the land will curse those who settle there. But for Mavi—a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing the military regime that took her mother—it offers an escape to a new life as a young teacher to Argentina’s elite girls.

Mavi tries to embrace the strangeness of the imposing house—despite warnings not to roam at night, threats from an enigmatic young man, and rumors of mysterious Others. But one of Mavi’s ten students is missing, and when students and teachers alike begin to behave as if possessed, the forces haunting this unholy cliff will no longer be ignored.

One of these spirits holds a secret that could unravel Mavi's existence. In order to survive she must solve a cosmic mystery—and then fight for her life.]]> 458 Sara Faring 1250304504 Mogsy 2
I guess I’m just not having the best luck with my horror reads lately. The Tenth Girl was the latest to disappoint, and this one stings especially, considering how it started off leading me to believe I was going to fall in love with this book. Somewhere along the way though, everything started unraveling.

Labeled a gothic psychological thriller, The Tenth Girl follows 18-year-old protagonist Mavi who arrives at Carmela De Vaccaro’s elite finishing school for girls, to which she had given false information in order to gain a teaching job. Said to be cursed, the isolated boarding academy sits in an icy region of Patagonia which has seen much political unrest, resulting in the ousting of its local peoples. It is the 1970s, and Mavi herself has come to this remote part of the continent from her home of Buenos Aires following the death of her activist mother at the hands of the military regime, hoping to find some refuge in the mountains.

What she did not expect to find, however, was even more trouble. At the school, Mavi is introduced to its nine students, though if the whispers are true, there is a tenth girl who is missing, but everyone is tightlipped about that. Things are certainly creepy enough at Vaccaro’s without the disturbing rumors flying about, with its foreboding headmistress and dire warnings not to go wandering on the grounds at night. Whispers of phantoms and ghostly possession also plague the school halls, which have seen their fair share of tragedy and devastation. As Mavi learns more about the dreadful history of the academy, she also finds out about the mysterious Others through one of their members, a spirit boy named Angel.

One incredibly jarring thing about The Tenth Girl is its structure. The narration flips between perspectives, mainly those of Mavi and Angel, and the novel also appears to be told via more than one timeline, though seeing how that is one element of the ultimate surprise, I’m not going into too much detail about that. I think my biggest issue with this book is the ending. On the one hand, it had a great twist, one that should have been right up my alley due to certain elements I am unable to reveal. Unfortunately, though, I was not a fan of the way it was handled. Since I can’t really talk about it due to spoilers, I’ll say this: it felt like a copout, and I didn’t like the sudden shift in how it made readers view the world. All that delicious gothic atmosphere that I was enjoying? Completely destroyed.

The ending was also implemented in a way that felt out of place and broke any kind of connection I was having with the story up to that point, making me look back at the first three-quarters of the book with mistrust and more than a few eyerolls. Here’s the thing: twists that make me feel shocked and blindsided are fine, but twists that make me feel cheated and robbed are not. I bring this up because I suspect readers will fall into one of these two mindsets once they reach the end, and that will ultimately determine how you feel about this book.

And really, it’s just such a shame when looking back, because the author clearly has a good grasp of the gothic horror tradition, as evidenced by how well she created the perfect mood for her haunted school story. While billed as a thriller, the novel’s pacing is more of a slow-burn—which was exactly what the plot required. The characters were also intriguing, and I immediately took to Mavi and the heartbreaking history of her family, while the personalities and behaviors of the students, staff, and Others at the Vaccaro school added extra layers to the mysterious sense of the place. All this and more contributed to the fantastic historical setting, and if anything, that was what made the eventual bait-and-switch feel even more frustrating, adding to my regret.

Still, kudos to Sara Faring for taking such a bold risk here, with one of the most extreme and daring twists I’ve seen in a while. I certainly don’t resent the twist itself, and might have even enjoyed it had it been handled better, but I think that would have required a very different book. Ultimately, The Tenth Girl didn’t work too well for me, but I believe others might do better with it. So if you’re willing to take the chance, it could be worth a look.

Audiobook Comments: Of the two narrators for The Tenth Girl audiobook, Frankie Corzo probably did the better job reading as Mavi, while Mark Sanderlin voice sounds way too young for someone like Angel, hence his chapters were somewhat distracting and not as good.]]> 2.82 2019
author: Sara Faring
name: Mogsy
average rating: 2.82
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2019/10/09
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, young-adult, horror, mystery, gothic
review:
2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

I guess I’m just not having the best luck with my horror reads lately. The Tenth Girl was the latest to disappoint, and this one stings especially, considering how it started off leading me to believe I was going to fall in love with this book. Somewhere along the way though, everything started unraveling.

Labeled a gothic psychological thriller, The Tenth Girl follows 18-year-old protagonist Mavi who arrives at Carmela De Vaccaro’s elite finishing school for girls, to which she had given false information in order to gain a teaching job. Said to be cursed, the isolated boarding academy sits in an icy region of Patagonia which has seen much political unrest, resulting in the ousting of its local peoples. It is the 1970s, and Mavi herself has come to this remote part of the continent from her home of Buenos Aires following the death of her activist mother at the hands of the military regime, hoping to find some refuge in the mountains.

What she did not expect to find, however, was even more trouble. At the school, Mavi is introduced to its nine students, though if the whispers are true, there is a tenth girl who is missing, but everyone is tightlipped about that. Things are certainly creepy enough at Vaccaro’s without the disturbing rumors flying about, with its foreboding headmistress and dire warnings not to go wandering on the grounds at night. Whispers of phantoms and ghostly possession also plague the school halls, which have seen their fair share of tragedy and devastation. As Mavi learns more about the dreadful history of the academy, she also finds out about the mysterious Others through one of their members, a spirit boy named Angel.

One incredibly jarring thing about The Tenth Girl is its structure. The narration flips between perspectives, mainly those of Mavi and Angel, and the novel also appears to be told via more than one timeline, though seeing how that is one element of the ultimate surprise, I’m not going into too much detail about that. I think my biggest issue with this book is the ending. On the one hand, it had a great twist, one that should have been right up my alley due to certain elements I am unable to reveal. Unfortunately, though, I was not a fan of the way it was handled. Since I can’t really talk about it due to spoilers, I’ll say this: it felt like a copout, and I didn’t like the sudden shift in how it made readers view the world. All that delicious gothic atmosphere that I was enjoying? Completely destroyed.

The ending was also implemented in a way that felt out of place and broke any kind of connection I was having with the story up to that point, making me look back at the first three-quarters of the book with mistrust and more than a few eyerolls. Here’s the thing: twists that make me feel shocked and blindsided are fine, but twists that make me feel cheated and robbed are not. I bring this up because I suspect readers will fall into one of these two mindsets once they reach the end, and that will ultimately determine how you feel about this book.

And really, it’s just such a shame when looking back, because the author clearly has a good grasp of the gothic horror tradition, as evidenced by how well she created the perfect mood for her haunted school story. While billed as a thriller, the novel’s pacing is more of a slow-burn—which was exactly what the plot required. The characters were also intriguing, and I immediately took to Mavi and the heartbreaking history of her family, while the personalities and behaviors of the students, staff, and Others at the Vaccaro school added extra layers to the mysterious sense of the place. All this and more contributed to the fantastic historical setting, and if anything, that was what made the eventual bait-and-switch feel even more frustrating, adding to my regret.

Still, kudos to Sara Faring for taking such a bold risk here, with one of the most extreme and daring twists I’ve seen in a while. I certainly don’t resent the twist itself, and might have even enjoyed it had it been handled better, but I think that would have required a very different book. Ultimately, The Tenth Girl didn’t work too well for me, but I believe others might do better with it. So if you’re willing to take the chance, it could be worth a look.

Audiobook Comments: Of the two narrators for The Tenth Girl audiobook, Frankie Corzo probably did the better job reading as Mavi, while Mark Sanderlin voice sounds way too young for someone like Angel, hence his chapters were somewhat distracting and not as good.
]]> 45046726 Rebecca James unveils a chilling modern gothic novel of a family consumed by the shadows and secrets of its past in The Woman in the Mirror.

For more than two centuries, Winterbourne Hall has stood atop a bluff overseeing the English countryside of Cornwall and the sea beyond.

In 1947, Londoner Alice Miller accepts a post as governess at Winterbourne, looking after Captain Jonathan de Grey’s twin children. Falling under the de Greys� spell, Alice believes the family will heal her own past sorrows. But then the twins� adoration becomes deceitful and taunting. Their father, ever distant, turns spiteful and cruel. The manor itself seems to lash out. Alice finds her surroundings subtly altered, her air slightly chilled. Something malicious resents her presence, something clouding her senses and threatening her very sanity.

In present day New York, art gallery curator Rachel Wright has learned she is a descendant of the de Greys and heir to Winterbourne. Adopted as an infant, she never knew her birth parents or her lineage. At long last, Rachel will find answers to questions about her identity that have haunted her entire life. But what she finds in Cornwall is a devastating tragic legacy that has afflicted generations of de Greys. A legacy borne from greed and deceit, twisted by madness, and suffused with unrequited love and unequivocal rage.]]> 368 Rebecca James 1250230055 Mogsy 4
The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James genuinely surprised me. Normally I am skeptical whenever I see books described as “modern Gothic� because often I find the term never means what you think it means, but whether it was because I had no expectations or something else, I really enjoyed this one.

Told through alternating past and present timelines, this haunting novel takes us to the Cornwall coast, where an old ruined estate called Winterbourne Hall sits overlooking the sea. Rumored to be cursed because of its unusual provenance in the early 19th century and the strange stories which have surrounded the mansion since its construction, it was home to Captain Jonathan de Grey in 1947, who hired a young governess named Alice Miller to look after his son and daughter following the death of their mother. Upon arrival, Alice immediately falls under the house’s quiet and alluring spell, becoming infatuated with her handsome new employer. She also becomes charmed by his twin children Edmund and Constance, despite their troubled and sometimes mean-spirited natures.

Skip forward to the present day, New York City art gallery curator Rachel Wright has always felt adrift, longing for a family history she’ll never know, having been adopted. After discovering that her birth mother had died years ago, Rachel had long since given up hope of finding out where she came from, until out of the blue one day, she receives a letter of inheritance from across the ocean from an unknown English aunt, leaving her Winterbourne Hall. Seizing at this opportunity to learn more about her heritage, Rachel travels to Cornwall to see the house that now belongs to her, hoping to reveal the secrets of the past and how she is connected to the de Grey family who used to live there.

But within Winterbourne, Rachel uncovers a lot more than her family history. Tragedy and madness once lurked here, the decades of rage and grief trapped in the mansion’s dark halls. At times, Rachel feels like there’s a presence in the house with her, even when she knows she’s alone.

I had no idea what I was walking into when I picked up The Woman in the Mirror, but it certainly wasn’t this fascinating mix of mystery and suspense, with even a touch of horror thrown in. Initially, I found myself preparing to settle in with what I thought was a post-war historical drama, following naïve and starry-eyed Alice Miller as she takes on her new position as the de Grey governess. Having experienced her own losses during the war, she is looking forward to starting her life over in this idyllic setting, and soon even begins to regard Jonathan, Edmund, and Constance as her new family. Before long though, there’s a noticeable shift in the tone of the novel as Alice’s thoughts gradually turn from optimistic hope to disturbing obsession. That, and the spooky environment of the house starts playing tricks on her mind, making her hear and see things that might not be there. Oh, and we certainly can’t forget about the twins. Those creepy, creepy twins. Seriously, why do children in these Gothic novels always have to be so freaky?

Then, interspersed with these 1947 chapters are the ones following Rachel Wright in the present. Again, things in her storyline start off rather innocuously, painting a picture of a successful but unsatisfied woman. Winterbourne was supposed to be her chance to find some answers and finally move on, yet instead she finds herself drawn deeper into the estate’s secrets, unable to leave even when urged by her boyfriend to sell the land and return to New York. As more is revealed about Winterbourne’s complicated past, Rachel is determined to see this mystery through to the end, even though she risks the house’s malicious essence seeping deeper into her bones. I was pleasantly surprised to find a speculative element, however light it might be, threaded through the storyline, just a hint of ghostly paranormal horror to spice things up. The final parts of the book were also worthy of a pulse-pounding thriller, complete with a twist and too conveniently explained ending, but at least it was satisfying.

Overall, I was impressed with Rebecca James� ability to create this dark, suspenseful and eerie mood, the way it creeps up on you when you least expect it. The sense of mystery was well-maintained, driving my interest in the dual storylines unfolding. The Woman in the Mirror was a good read, living up to its Gothic atmosphere, and I will be interested to see what the author writes next.

]]> 3.70 2018
author: Rebecca James
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2020/04/03
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, mystery, historical-fiction, paranormal, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James genuinely surprised me. Normally I am skeptical whenever I see books described as “modern Gothic� because often I find the term never means what you think it means, but whether it was because I had no expectations or something else, I really enjoyed this one.

Told through alternating past and present timelines, this haunting novel takes us to the Cornwall coast, where an old ruined estate called Winterbourne Hall sits overlooking the sea. Rumored to be cursed because of its unusual provenance in the early 19th century and the strange stories which have surrounded the mansion since its construction, it was home to Captain Jonathan de Grey in 1947, who hired a young governess named Alice Miller to look after his son and daughter following the death of their mother. Upon arrival, Alice immediately falls under the house’s quiet and alluring spell, becoming infatuated with her handsome new employer. She also becomes charmed by his twin children Edmund and Constance, despite their troubled and sometimes mean-spirited natures.

Skip forward to the present day, New York City art gallery curator Rachel Wright has always felt adrift, longing for a family history she’ll never know, having been adopted. After discovering that her birth mother had died years ago, Rachel had long since given up hope of finding out where she came from, until out of the blue one day, she receives a letter of inheritance from across the ocean from an unknown English aunt, leaving her Winterbourne Hall. Seizing at this opportunity to learn more about her heritage, Rachel travels to Cornwall to see the house that now belongs to her, hoping to reveal the secrets of the past and how she is connected to the de Grey family who used to live there.

But within Winterbourne, Rachel uncovers a lot more than her family history. Tragedy and madness once lurked here, the decades of rage and grief trapped in the mansion’s dark halls. At times, Rachel feels like there’s a presence in the house with her, even when she knows she’s alone.

I had no idea what I was walking into when I picked up The Woman in the Mirror, but it certainly wasn’t this fascinating mix of mystery and suspense, with even a touch of horror thrown in. Initially, I found myself preparing to settle in with what I thought was a post-war historical drama, following naïve and starry-eyed Alice Miller as she takes on her new position as the de Grey governess. Having experienced her own losses during the war, she is looking forward to starting her life over in this idyllic setting, and soon even begins to regard Jonathan, Edmund, and Constance as her new family. Before long though, there’s a noticeable shift in the tone of the novel as Alice’s thoughts gradually turn from optimistic hope to disturbing obsession. That, and the spooky environment of the house starts playing tricks on her mind, making her hear and see things that might not be there. Oh, and we certainly can’t forget about the twins. Those creepy, creepy twins. Seriously, why do children in these Gothic novels always have to be so freaky?

Then, interspersed with these 1947 chapters are the ones following Rachel Wright in the present. Again, things in her storyline start off rather innocuously, painting a picture of a successful but unsatisfied woman. Winterbourne was supposed to be her chance to find some answers and finally move on, yet instead she finds herself drawn deeper into the estate’s secrets, unable to leave even when urged by her boyfriend to sell the land and return to New York. As more is revealed about Winterbourne’s complicated past, Rachel is determined to see this mystery through to the end, even though she risks the house’s malicious essence seeping deeper into her bones. I was pleasantly surprised to find a speculative element, however light it might be, threaded through the storyline, just a hint of ghostly paranormal horror to spice things up. The final parts of the book were also worthy of a pulse-pounding thriller, complete with a twist and too conveniently explained ending, but at least it was satisfying.

Overall, I was impressed with Rebecca James� ability to create this dark, suspenseful and eerie mood, the way it creeps up on you when you least expect it. The sense of mystery was well-maintained, driving my interest in the dual storylines unfolding. The Woman in the Mirror was a good read, living up to its Gothic atmosphere, and I will be interested to see what the author writes next.


]]> 50996769 The woods are creeping in on a nanny and two young girls in this chilling modern Gothic thriller.

Architect Tom Faraday is determined to finish the high-concept, environmentally friendly home he's building in Norway � in the same place where he lost his wife, Aurelia, to suicide. It was their dream house, and he wants to honor her with it.

Lexi Ellis takes a job as his nanny and immediately falls in love with his two young daughters, especially Gaia. But something feels off in the isolated house nestled in the forest along the fjord. Lexi sees mysterious muddy footprints inside the home. Aurelia's diary appears in Lexi's room one day. And Gaia keeps telling her about seeing the terrifying Sad Lady�

Soon Lexi suspects that Aurelia didn't kill herself and that they are all in danger from something far more sinister lurking around them.]]> 416 C.J. Cooke Mogsy 3
The Nesting by C.J. Cooke definitely earns its label of Gothic suspense, though I have to say it’s a different and interesting take on the subgenre. To be sure, what I enjoyed most about the book was its atmosphere, thick and heavy with intrigue. When it comes to reader engagement and thrills though, the story might have stumbled a little due to lack of cogency and uneven pacing.

Much of this novel takes place in the Norwegian wildnerness, but it does begin in London, where our protagonist Lexi Ellis finds herself adrift after a failed suicide attempt leaves her without any support. Her boyfriend has left her, and she’s also lost her job and her home, but one day, an opportunity presents itself as she overhears a conversation between two strangers on the train. One of the women, named Sophie, had been offered a nanny position but tells her friend she that she is unlikely to take it. An aspiring writer, Lexi is immediately intrigued upon learning the job is in Norway, which just happens to be the setting of the novel she’s working on. Inspired and emboldened, she uses Sophie’s identity and credentials to track down the employer and applies to be their nanny.

With her new stolen identity, Lexi—now Sophie—is hired by Tom Faraday, a recently widowed architect who needs someone to help care for his two young daughters. The family is currently living in a remote part of Norway, where Tom is trying to finish building a high-concept, environmentally-friendly house in honor of his late wife, Aurelia. Initially terrified that she is going to get found out, Lexi finds herself adjusting surprisingly well to her new role thanks to the charming Faraday children, Gaia and Coco. Soon, however, strange things begin to happen—and Gaia tells Lexi about her chilling visions of a sad lady she sometimes sees around the house. And then, there is the diary. Mysteriously appearing in Lexi’s room one day, it appears to have belonged to Aurelia. Everyone knows that her death had been a suicide, but the more Lexi reads from the diary, the more she wonders what Aurelia had been up to in the weeks before her death, and whether she had really taken her own life.

What we have here is all the hallmarks of an effective Gothic tale, but on the flip side, I am quite sad to say I found it weak as a psychological mystery/thriller—and bear in mind, this was how the book was pitched. What this means is, if you enjoy claustrophobic settings or the creeping nature of doubt and paranoia, then I think you will enjoy The Nesting, but on the other hand, those hoping for a more impactful and engaging tale might find themselves disappointed.

We’ll begin with the aspects I thought were strong, and first and foremost was the atmosphere. Setting the story in the Norwegian hinterlands was a stroke of genius. There’s just something about this environment that makes it both amazing and terrifying in its beauty, in turn making the novel’s themes of humanity vs. Mother Nature all the more poignant. And then we have the characters, starting with Lexi, who is a shadow of her old self when we first meet her. Gradually, we see the Faraday girls draw out the stronger and more confident side of her personality as well as her protective instincts as she strives to make sense of the strange happenings around her. Next, we have Tom’s point-of-view interspersed with Aurelia’s told in flashback, helping readers better understand the profundity of their decision to construct a dream home by the banks of a pristine fjord. A paranormal element is also present, which is good news for readers who enjoy a touch of nature-based folklore and mythology.

As for criticisms though, I had some major problems with the plot and pacing. The coincidences at the beginning, for example, were so absurd that I had feared not being able to take the rest of the story seriously. Granted, it was a fascinating setup, but the circumstances behind the way Lexi lands her job were simply too outlandish to be convincing. Then there were the plodding sections in the middle where the pacing dragged, and when the author tried to alleviate this problem with the use of time skips, the awkward execution only served to make things worse. Coupled with frequent flashbacks, the entire timeline of the story’s events became rather fuzzy for me.

So, to conclude, there are some high points in The Nesting, including a few genuine moments of pure creepiness, but on the whole, the weaknesses in the storytelling dampened a lot of my enthusiasm. Read this if you’re into the atmosphere and mood of a Gothic novel, or if you’re interested in the specific setting. But if you’re looking for a more traditional psychological suspense thriller, this might not be enough to satisfy.]]> 3.51 2020
author: C.J. Cooke
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/09/29
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, horror, mystery, paranormal, thriller-suspense, gothic
review:
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

The Nesting by C.J. Cooke definitely earns its label of Gothic suspense, though I have to say it’s a different and interesting take on the subgenre. To be sure, what I enjoyed most about the book was its atmosphere, thick and heavy with intrigue. When it comes to reader engagement and thrills though, the story might have stumbled a little due to lack of cogency and uneven pacing.

Much of this novel takes place in the Norwegian wildnerness, but it does begin in London, where our protagonist Lexi Ellis finds herself adrift after a failed suicide attempt leaves her without any support. Her boyfriend has left her, and she’s also lost her job and her home, but one day, an opportunity presents itself as she overhears a conversation between two strangers on the train. One of the women, named Sophie, had been offered a nanny position but tells her friend she that she is unlikely to take it. An aspiring writer, Lexi is immediately intrigued upon learning the job is in Norway, which just happens to be the setting of the novel she’s working on. Inspired and emboldened, she uses Sophie’s identity and credentials to track down the employer and applies to be their nanny.

With her new stolen identity, Lexi—now Sophie—is hired by Tom Faraday, a recently widowed architect who needs someone to help care for his two young daughters. The family is currently living in a remote part of Norway, where Tom is trying to finish building a high-concept, environmentally-friendly house in honor of his late wife, Aurelia. Initially terrified that she is going to get found out, Lexi finds herself adjusting surprisingly well to her new role thanks to the charming Faraday children, Gaia and Coco. Soon, however, strange things begin to happen—and Gaia tells Lexi about her chilling visions of a sad lady she sometimes sees around the house. And then, there is the diary. Mysteriously appearing in Lexi’s room one day, it appears to have belonged to Aurelia. Everyone knows that her death had been a suicide, but the more Lexi reads from the diary, the more she wonders what Aurelia had been up to in the weeks before her death, and whether she had really taken her own life.

What we have here is all the hallmarks of an effective Gothic tale, but on the flip side, I am quite sad to say I found it weak as a psychological mystery/thriller—and bear in mind, this was how the book was pitched. What this means is, if you enjoy claustrophobic settings or the creeping nature of doubt and paranoia, then I think you will enjoy The Nesting, but on the other hand, those hoping for a more impactful and engaging tale might find themselves disappointed.

We’ll begin with the aspects I thought were strong, and first and foremost was the atmosphere. Setting the story in the Norwegian hinterlands was a stroke of genius. There’s just something about this environment that makes it both amazing and terrifying in its beauty, in turn making the novel’s themes of humanity vs. Mother Nature all the more poignant. And then we have the characters, starting with Lexi, who is a shadow of her old self when we first meet her. Gradually, we see the Faraday girls draw out the stronger and more confident side of her personality as well as her protective instincts as she strives to make sense of the strange happenings around her. Next, we have Tom’s point-of-view interspersed with Aurelia’s told in flashback, helping readers better understand the profundity of their decision to construct a dream home by the banks of a pristine fjord. A paranormal element is also present, which is good news for readers who enjoy a touch of nature-based folklore and mythology.

As for criticisms though, I had some major problems with the plot and pacing. The coincidences at the beginning, for example, were so absurd that I had feared not being able to take the rest of the story seriously. Granted, it was a fascinating setup, but the circumstances behind the way Lexi lands her job were simply too outlandish to be convincing. Then there were the plodding sections in the middle where the pacing dragged, and when the author tried to alleviate this problem with the use of time skips, the awkward execution only served to make things worse. Coupled with frequent flashbacks, the entire timeline of the story’s events became rather fuzzy for me.

So, to conclude, there are some high points in The Nesting, including a few genuine moments of pure creepiness, but on the whole, the weaknesses in the storytelling dampened a lot of my enthusiasm. Read this if you’re into the atmosphere and mood of a Gothic novel, or if you’re interested in the specific setting. But if you’re looking for a more traditional psychological suspense thriller, this might not be enough to satisfy.
]]> 49991647
It has been some years since Jonathan and Mina Harker survived their ordeal in Transylvania and, vanquishing Count Dracula, returned to England to try and live ordinary lives. But shadows linger long in this world of blood feud and superstition - and, the older their son Quincy gets, the deeper the shadows that lengthen at the heart of the Harkers' marriage. Jonathan has turned back to drink; Mina finds herself isolated inside the confines of her own family; Quincy himself struggles to live up to a family of such high renown. And when a gathering of old friends leads to unexpected tragedy, the very particular wounds in the heart of the Harkers' marriage are about to be exposed...

There is darkness both within the marriage and without - for, while Jonathan and Mina wrestle with the right way to raise a child while still recovering from the trauma of their past lives, new evil is arising on the Continent. A naturalist is bringing a new species of bat back to London; two English gentlemen, on their separate tours of the continent, find a strange quixotic love for each other, and stumble into a calamity far worse than either has imagined; and the vestiges of something thought long-ago forgotten is, finally, beginning to stir...]]> 576 J.S. Barnes 1789093392 Mogsy 4
Many authors have endeavored to write a sequel to Dracula, but very few succeed in capturing the atmosphere of the classic as well as the hearts of readers. In the case of J.S. Barnes� Dracula’s Child, however, I was impressed. While adding to the original’s mythology, the book managed to remain a faithful homage to its style and spirit while keeping me completely enthralled.

After their harrowing ordeal in Transylvania, Jonathan and Mina Harker have returned to England and settled into a life of relative peace in the intervening years. They have a son named Quincy who is growing up to be a fine young man, carefully spared from any of the memories and trauma inflicted upon his parents who are doing all they can to give him the happy, loving childhood he deserves. To celebrate the boy’s birthday, the Harkers have thrown together a small gathering with their closest friends, which includes Professor Van Helsing, with whom they have remained in contact over the years.

But at the party, something awful happens. Van Helsing suddenly takes ill, collapsing to the floor, but not before delivering an ominous prophecy directed to Quincy, warning him to fight for his soul. Shaken, Mina decides to start a diary and write about the night, continuing her entries as Van Helsing’s condition worsens while being treated at the Harkers� estate. Doctors are baffled, including their friend Jack Seward, who is unable to find an explanation or cure for the professor’s mysterious ailment. Meanwhile, the incident has taken a toll on the family as Jonathan starts drinking more and more and Mina worries for their son. Deeply affected by what happened on his birthday, Quincy has become withdrawn and at times behaves like a completely different person.

While all this is happening, the narrative also follows a pair of companions traveling through the Carpathian Mountains who find something deeper in each other, but also more than they bargained for. Elsewhere, a seemingly innocuous newspaper clipping about a species of bat subsequently causes much distress. A former news writer is ready to end his life by hurling himself into the Thames, when he is suddenly stopped by a enigmatic figure who appears out of the gloom. At the Harker house, a young woman named Sarah is tasked to help care for the comatose Van Helsing, but the presence of her youthful beauty proves to be quite a distraction, to the chagrin of Mina, who is also busy providing moral support for Caroline, the emotionally fragile new wife of Arthur, now Lord Godalming.

As you can see, all the old gang is back, with a number of new characters to fill out the supporting cast besides. Mimicking Bram Stoker’s style, Dracula’s Child is written in the epistolary format with the same linguistic approach, unfolding via a collection of diary entries, letters, newspaper articles, notes and other forms of documentation. While not every single perspective or source was equally relevant to the overall story, they were each written with the careful attention of someone clearly well-versed in the source material. Ultimately, I liked how, as a whole, these interrelated pieces formed to create a full-flavored narrative which felt appropriately horror Gothic while still retaining all the delicious intrigue like a sponge.

As I alluded to before though, Dracula sequels are nothing new, even (or especially) those that imitate Stoker’s style. So, what makes Dracula’s Child special? Well, if you think you’ll enjoy a bold fresh take on the original characters, this might be well worth a look. While there are references aplenty to Dracula, this novel mainly features a unique continuation of the story filled with Barnes� own content. Dracula himself gets a host of new powers, not to mention hungrier ambitions as he sets his sights on expanding his influence by playing politics.

That said, some readers might find this particular plot thread taxing, especially when combined with synchronic language and epistolary format. The novel’s style and structure demand a fair bit of patience and focus, which could be frustrating. Dracula’s Child is a “mood read� if I ever saw one, and it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.

Still, any work based on Dracula, being such an influential character, will shine as long as it’s treated properly and in the right hands. At the end of the day, I thought J.S. Barnes did a great job with Dracula’s Child, considering the novel’s ambitious scope. It stands up decently to the original classic, delivering a satisfying story featuring the unsettling vibes and atmosphere that readers seeking a Dracula sequel will crave and expect.]]> 3.64 2020
author: J.S. Barnes
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/10/21
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: review-copy, horror, vampires, historical-fiction, paranormal, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

Many authors have endeavored to write a sequel to Dracula, but very few succeed in capturing the atmosphere of the classic as well as the hearts of readers. In the case of J.S. Barnes� Dracula’s Child, however, I was impressed. While adding to the original’s mythology, the book managed to remain a faithful homage to its style and spirit while keeping me completely enthralled.

After their harrowing ordeal in Transylvania, Jonathan and Mina Harker have returned to England and settled into a life of relative peace in the intervening years. They have a son named Quincy who is growing up to be a fine young man, carefully spared from any of the memories and trauma inflicted upon his parents who are doing all they can to give him the happy, loving childhood he deserves. To celebrate the boy’s birthday, the Harkers have thrown together a small gathering with their closest friends, which includes Professor Van Helsing, with whom they have remained in contact over the years.

But at the party, something awful happens. Van Helsing suddenly takes ill, collapsing to the floor, but not before delivering an ominous prophecy directed to Quincy, warning him to fight for his soul. Shaken, Mina decides to start a diary and write about the night, continuing her entries as Van Helsing’s condition worsens while being treated at the Harkers� estate. Doctors are baffled, including their friend Jack Seward, who is unable to find an explanation or cure for the professor’s mysterious ailment. Meanwhile, the incident has taken a toll on the family as Jonathan starts drinking more and more and Mina worries for their son. Deeply affected by what happened on his birthday, Quincy has become withdrawn and at times behaves like a completely different person.

While all this is happening, the narrative also follows a pair of companions traveling through the Carpathian Mountains who find something deeper in each other, but also more than they bargained for. Elsewhere, a seemingly innocuous newspaper clipping about a species of bat subsequently causes much distress. A former news writer is ready to end his life by hurling himself into the Thames, when he is suddenly stopped by a enigmatic figure who appears out of the gloom. At the Harker house, a young woman named Sarah is tasked to help care for the comatose Van Helsing, but the presence of her youthful beauty proves to be quite a distraction, to the chagrin of Mina, who is also busy providing moral support for Caroline, the emotionally fragile new wife of Arthur, now Lord Godalming.

As you can see, all the old gang is back, with a number of new characters to fill out the supporting cast besides. Mimicking Bram Stoker’s style, Dracula’s Child is written in the epistolary format with the same linguistic approach, unfolding via a collection of diary entries, letters, newspaper articles, notes and other forms of documentation. While not every single perspective or source was equally relevant to the overall story, they were each written with the careful attention of someone clearly well-versed in the source material. Ultimately, I liked how, as a whole, these interrelated pieces formed to create a full-flavored narrative which felt appropriately horror Gothic while still retaining all the delicious intrigue like a sponge.

As I alluded to before though, Dracula sequels are nothing new, even (or especially) those that imitate Stoker’s style. So, what makes Dracula’s Child special? Well, if you think you’ll enjoy a bold fresh take on the original characters, this might be well worth a look. While there are references aplenty to Dracula, this novel mainly features a unique continuation of the story filled with Barnes� own content. Dracula himself gets a host of new powers, not to mention hungrier ambitions as he sets his sights on expanding his influence by playing politics.

That said, some readers might find this particular plot thread taxing, especially when combined with synchronic language and epistolary format. The novel’s style and structure demand a fair bit of patience and focus, which could be frustrating. Dracula’s Child is a “mood read� if I ever saw one, and it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.

Still, any work based on Dracula, being such an influential character, will shine as long as it’s treated properly and in the right hands. At the end of the day, I thought J.S. Barnes did a great job with Dracula’s Child, considering the novel’s ambitious scope. It stands up decently to the original classic, delivering a satisfying story featuring the unsettling vibes and atmosphere that readers seeking a Dracula sequel will crave and expect.
]]> 18453119 Only five still guard the borders between the worlds.
Only five hold back what waits on the other side.

Once the Oversight, the secret society that policed the lines between the mundane and the magic, counted hundreds of brave souls among its members. Now their numbers can be counted on a single hand.

When a vagabond brings a screaming girl to the Oversight's London headquarters, it seems their hopes for a new recruit will be fulfilled - but the girl is a trap.

As the borders between this world and the next begin to break down, murders erupt across the city, the Oversight are torn viciously apart, and their enemies close in for the final blow.

This gothic fantasy from Charlie Fletcher (the Stoneheart trilogy) spins a tale of witch-hunters, supra-naturalists, mirror-walkers and magicians. Meet the Oversight, and remember: when they fall, so do we all.]]> 464 Charlie Fletcher 031627951X Mogsy 5
I love books that keep me guessing, books like The Oversight which had me hanging on every word. It had me wondering from the start: Just who or what is The Oversight? Are they the good guys or the bad guys? Who are their enemies, and their enemies' enemies for that matter, and why is it that every time I think I’ve got a bead on what’s happening the book decides to drop a bombshell on my head and look out, it's a trap!? It's all plot twists and hidden agendas galore with this one!

Accomplished children's/YA author Charlie Fletcher takes readers on a journey steeped in magic and mystery in his first adult novel, offering a wonderful and genuinely captivating tale which historical urban fantasy fans will surely adore. Headquartered in a Neo-Gothic Victorian-like version of London, the Oversight is a secret society that has since dwindled down to a mere five members after a tragedy devastated their numbers thirty years ago. But five, being a sacred number, is enough. Five is all The Oversight needs to keep things running, guarding the borders between the magical and the mundane and protecting the unsuspecting public from the nasty things that go bump in the night.

But creatures from the Otherworld aren’t the only threats. Danger comes in the form of more earthly foes as well, from sinister factions to witch-hunters who won’t rest until they see the last remnants of the Oversight destroyed. When a young girl with special abilities shows up at the Oversight safehouse, Sara Falk wants badly to believe she has found a fellow Glint and potential new recruit in Lucy Harker. However, it soon becomes clear that Lucy’s appearance is part of a more sinister and unsettling plot to strike at the Oversight. The question is…just whose plot is it?

Stick with this book, and sooner or later you will find out. Admittedly slower to start because this is the kind of story requiring plenty of time to build itself up, the setting will nonetheless pull you in straight away with its incredible atmosphere. I reveled in this dark, magical side of London. Anything can happen, so prepare to see some truly bizarre and uncanny sights. Fletcher’s prose will put a spell on you, wickedly leading you down twists and turns with his artful storytelling. He made me think I knew what was going on, only to surprise and humble me by showing me just how little I knew. I was very impressed with the way he revealed his secrets, meticulously setting up the stages of the plot so that one revelation always led to another, and things are never as they appear.

From the city streets to the countryside with a traveling circus, this book will also take you to all sorts of places and introduce you to a host of interesting people (and creatures). Even now, I can’t decide what I liked better, the characters or the setting. The world was what originally made me fall in love with the book, but I was also taken with the group of personalities making up the Oversight. Fletcher didn’t have to resort to any overloading of background information to convey the weight of the history and connections between the five members � Sarah, Cook, Mr. Sharp, Hodge and The Smith. Strange creatures from folklore also lend their nightmarish presence to this world, but even they were hard pressed to be less creepy than some of the truly disturbing human antagonists.

I haven’t enjoyed myself this much in a long time. I was also quite satisfied with the ending, which caught me unawares considering how dire and heartbreaking some of the events were. A major conflict was resolved but the path is paved for so much more, which is the way I like my series starters. Remember: “When they fall, so do we all�, and the future looks quite desperate for our characters. Fortunately, there’s also hope for this steadfast group of friends. With such high stakes, I just can’t wait to find out what happens next.]]> 3.71 2014
author: Charlie Fletcher
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/04/02
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, paranormal, fantasy, magic, historical-fiction, gothic
review:
5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

I love books that keep me guessing, books like The Oversight which had me hanging on every word. It had me wondering from the start: Just who or what is The Oversight? Are they the good guys or the bad guys? Who are their enemies, and their enemies' enemies for that matter, and why is it that every time I think I’ve got a bead on what’s happening the book decides to drop a bombshell on my head and look out, it's a trap!? It's all plot twists and hidden agendas galore with this one!

Accomplished children's/YA author Charlie Fletcher takes readers on a journey steeped in magic and mystery in his first adult novel, offering a wonderful and genuinely captivating tale which historical urban fantasy fans will surely adore. Headquartered in a Neo-Gothic Victorian-like version of London, the Oversight is a secret society that has since dwindled down to a mere five members after a tragedy devastated their numbers thirty years ago. But five, being a sacred number, is enough. Five is all The Oversight needs to keep things running, guarding the borders between the magical and the mundane and protecting the unsuspecting public from the nasty things that go bump in the night.

But creatures from the Otherworld aren’t the only threats. Danger comes in the form of more earthly foes as well, from sinister factions to witch-hunters who won’t rest until they see the last remnants of the Oversight destroyed. When a young girl with special abilities shows up at the Oversight safehouse, Sara Falk wants badly to believe she has found a fellow Glint and potential new recruit in Lucy Harker. However, it soon becomes clear that Lucy’s appearance is part of a more sinister and unsettling plot to strike at the Oversight. The question is…just whose plot is it?

Stick with this book, and sooner or later you will find out. Admittedly slower to start because this is the kind of story requiring plenty of time to build itself up, the setting will nonetheless pull you in straight away with its incredible atmosphere. I reveled in this dark, magical side of London. Anything can happen, so prepare to see some truly bizarre and uncanny sights. Fletcher’s prose will put a spell on you, wickedly leading you down twists and turns with his artful storytelling. He made me think I knew what was going on, only to surprise and humble me by showing me just how little I knew. I was very impressed with the way he revealed his secrets, meticulously setting up the stages of the plot so that one revelation always led to another, and things are never as they appear.

From the city streets to the countryside with a traveling circus, this book will also take you to all sorts of places and introduce you to a host of interesting people (and creatures). Even now, I can’t decide what I liked better, the characters or the setting. The world was what originally made me fall in love with the book, but I was also taken with the group of personalities making up the Oversight. Fletcher didn’t have to resort to any overloading of background information to convey the weight of the history and connections between the five members � Sarah, Cook, Mr. Sharp, Hodge and The Smith. Strange creatures from folklore also lend their nightmarish presence to this world, but even they were hard pressed to be less creepy than some of the truly disturbing human antagonists.

I haven’t enjoyed myself this much in a long time. I was also quite satisfied with the ending, which caught me unawares considering how dire and heartbreaking some of the events were. A major conflict was resolved but the path is paved for so much more, which is the way I like my series starters. Remember: “When they fall, so do we all�, and the future looks quite desperate for our characters. Fortunately, there’s also hope for this steadfast group of friends. With such high stakes, I just can’t wait to find out what happens next.
]]> 52591842 For readers of VE Schwab and The Witcher, science and magic clash in atmospheric gaslight-era Prague.

In the quiet streets of Prague all manner of otherworldly creatures lurk in the shadows. Unbeknownst to its citizens, their only hope against the tide of predators are the dauntless lamplighters - a secret elite of monster hunters whose light staves off the darkness each night. Domek Myska leads a life teeming with fraught encounters with the worst kind of evil: pijavice, bloodthirsty and soulless vampiric creatures. Despite this, Domek find solace in his moments spent in the company of his friend, the clever and beautiful Lady Ora Fischerová-- a widow with secrets of her own.

When Domek finds himself stalked by the spirit of the White Lady - a ghost who haunts the baroque halls of Prague castle - he stumbles across the sentient essence of a will-o'-the-wisp, a mischievous spirit known to lead lost travellers to their death, but who, once captured, are bound to serve the desires of their owners.

After discovering a conspiracy amongst the pijavice that could see them unleash terror on the daylight world, Domek finds himself in a race against those who aim to twist alchemical science for their own dangerous gain.]]> 413 Nicole Jarvis 1789093945 Mogsy 4
Set in 19th century Prague, Nicole Jarvis� historical fantasy debut opens on a world at the cusp of great change. Society has been introduced to countless wonderful new scientific technologies, paving the way for an era of cultural and artistic development. Residents of the city are enjoying a revolution of sorts, with everything around them changing quickly, becoming better and more modern. However, unbeknownst to its citizenry, Prague is still a dangerous place, hiding many secrets in its shadows. Thanks to men like Domek Myska and his fellow Lamplighters though, everyone can sleep a little more soundly. Our protagonist is part of a guild of monster hunters who patrol the streets at night, keeping the gas lamps burning, vanquishing any supernatural creature unfortunate enough to cross his path. As the story begins, Domek has just had a run-in with a particularly nasty pijavica, a vampire-like predator. After killing it, he discovers what the creature had been transporting—a mysterious container with a will-o�-the-wisp trapped inside. Curious about his find, Domek contemplates taking the wisp to the guild scientists, but winds up befriending it instead, learning that its name is Kája.

Along the way, he also becomes drawn to Lady Ora Fischevá, our other major POV character who is a wealthy widow with a reputation for being a little eccentric. What no one realizes though, is that the noblewoman actually cultivates that image to her advantage, in order to prevent people from looking too deeply into her affairs. The truth is, she is a pijavica, currently working on her own investigation into rumors about a possible cure for vampirism. Having survived for centuries, Ora has mostly turned away from the more violent and baser instincts of her kind, but for some, it won’t matter—she’ll always be a soulless monster. Unaware of Domek’s affiliation with the Lamplighters, she strikes up a relationship with the young man, while he also finds himself growing more attracted to her, completely clueless as to her true nature. As the bond between our two main characters deepens, so too does the urgency to expose those behind the conspiracy that has bought them together, but of course, it’s also only a matter of time before they find out the truth about each other.

Drenched in history and atmosphere, The Lights of Prague is an intelligent and moody work of fiction combining supernatural and urban fantasy elements. Nicole Jarvis has a way with words, bringing the setting to life with flowing, confident prose. Her world-building feels at once strange and wonderful, from the grand museums and lavish opera halls in which we find Lady Ora and the upper class circles she runs in, to the dank crypts and alleyways where Domek often hunts his prey. I loved that our two main characters come from different worlds, in more ways than one, as it allowed readers to experience so much more of the author’s version of Prague—both its fantastical side, as well as the mundane.

I was also fascinated by the characters, as individually they were each quite compelling, though I confess I was probably more impressed with how well the two clicked with they were together. Domek is a level-headed man of purpose and principles, but he’s not so rigid as to be unwilling to consider other ways of doing things. That makes him a pretty good match for Ora, who is charming and vivacious, for all that she is secretly a pijavica. I was a huge fan of her character, the way she flouted social norms and expectations, following her heart wherever it leads her. Despite her socialite ways, there’s also a depth to her that’s only revealed in her more private moments. Ora has something of a heartrending backstory, one that gives her current mission quite a bit more meaning and substance. It’s when she and Domek are in each other’s presence, however, that things get really interesting, as neither are aware they are on opposite sides of a primal conflict.

And when their investigative paths coincide, that’s when the story really heats up. Prior to that, the pacing was more of a slow burn, but the action ticks up noticeably after the halfway point, as does the intrigue in the overall mystery. For me, Kája was a highlight as well, and I enjoyed how such a seemingly minor side character came to occupy such a large place in my heart by the end of the book! Bottom line, there were so many moving parts to this book, I was quite amazed Jarvis was able to weave them all together while losing none of the gothic elements or atmospheric vibes.

All in all, I had a good time with The Lights of Prague, a historical fantasy I would recommend to readers looking for a more sophisticated kind of vampire and monster hunter story.]]> 3.65 2021
author: Nicole Jarvis
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/05/27
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: arcs-and-galleys, review-copy, historical-fiction, fantasy, vampires, paranormal, urban, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

Set in 19th century Prague, Nicole Jarvis� historical fantasy debut opens on a world at the cusp of great change. Society has been introduced to countless wonderful new scientific technologies, paving the way for an era of cultural and artistic development. Residents of the city are enjoying a revolution of sorts, with everything around them changing quickly, becoming better and more modern. However, unbeknownst to its citizenry, Prague is still a dangerous place, hiding many secrets in its shadows. Thanks to men like Domek Myska and his fellow Lamplighters though, everyone can sleep a little more soundly. Our protagonist is part of a guild of monster hunters who patrol the streets at night, keeping the gas lamps burning, vanquishing any supernatural creature unfortunate enough to cross his path. As the story begins, Domek has just had a run-in with a particularly nasty pijavica, a vampire-like predator. After killing it, he discovers what the creature had been transporting—a mysterious container with a will-o�-the-wisp trapped inside. Curious about his find, Domek contemplates taking the wisp to the guild scientists, but winds up befriending it instead, learning that its name is Kája.

Along the way, he also becomes drawn to Lady Ora Fischevá, our other major POV character who is a wealthy widow with a reputation for being a little eccentric. What no one realizes though, is that the noblewoman actually cultivates that image to her advantage, in order to prevent people from looking too deeply into her affairs. The truth is, she is a pijavica, currently working on her own investigation into rumors about a possible cure for vampirism. Having survived for centuries, Ora has mostly turned away from the more violent and baser instincts of her kind, but for some, it won’t matter—she’ll always be a soulless monster. Unaware of Domek’s affiliation with the Lamplighters, she strikes up a relationship with the young man, while he also finds himself growing more attracted to her, completely clueless as to her true nature. As the bond between our two main characters deepens, so too does the urgency to expose those behind the conspiracy that has bought them together, but of course, it’s also only a matter of time before they find out the truth about each other.

Drenched in history and atmosphere, The Lights of Prague is an intelligent and moody work of fiction combining supernatural and urban fantasy elements. Nicole Jarvis has a way with words, bringing the setting to life with flowing, confident prose. Her world-building feels at once strange and wonderful, from the grand museums and lavish opera halls in which we find Lady Ora and the upper class circles she runs in, to the dank crypts and alleyways where Domek often hunts his prey. I loved that our two main characters come from different worlds, in more ways than one, as it allowed readers to experience so much more of the author’s version of Prague—both its fantastical side, as well as the mundane.

I was also fascinated by the characters, as individually they were each quite compelling, though I confess I was probably more impressed with how well the two clicked with they were together. Domek is a level-headed man of purpose and principles, but he’s not so rigid as to be unwilling to consider other ways of doing things. That makes him a pretty good match for Ora, who is charming and vivacious, for all that she is secretly a pijavica. I was a huge fan of her character, the way she flouted social norms and expectations, following her heart wherever it leads her. Despite her socialite ways, there’s also a depth to her that’s only revealed in her more private moments. Ora has something of a heartrending backstory, one that gives her current mission quite a bit more meaning and substance. It’s when she and Domek are in each other’s presence, however, that things get really interesting, as neither are aware they are on opposite sides of a primal conflict.

And when their investigative paths coincide, that’s when the story really heats up. Prior to that, the pacing was more of a slow burn, but the action ticks up noticeably after the halfway point, as does the intrigue in the overall mystery. For me, Kája was a highlight as well, and I enjoyed how such a seemingly minor side character came to occupy such a large place in my heart by the end of the book! Bottom line, there were so many moving parts to this book, I was quite amazed Jarvis was able to weave them all together while losing none of the gothic elements or atmospheric vibes.

All in all, I had a good time with The Lights of Prague, a historical fantasy I would recommend to readers looking for a more sophisticated kind of vampire and monster hunter story.
]]> 56212587 From the acclaimed author of Spoonbenders comes the gripping tale of a family's mysterious religion, and the daughter who turns her back on their god.

In 1933, nine-year-old Stella is left in the care of her grandmother, Motty, in the backwoods of Tennessee. These remote hills of the Smoky Mountains are home to dangerous secrets, and soon after she arrives, Stella wanders into a dark cavern where she encounters the family's personal god, an entity known as the Ghostdaddy.

Years later, after a tragic incident that caused her to flee, Stella--now a professional bootlegger--returns for Motty's funeral, and to check on the mysterious ten-year-old girl named Sunny that Motty adopted. Sunny appears innocent enough, but she is more powerful than Stella could imagine--and she's a direct link to Stella's buried past and her family's destructive faith.

Haunting and wholly engrossing, summoning mesmerizing voices and giving shape to the dark, Revelator is a southern gothic tale for the ages.
]]> 337 Daryl Gregory 052565738X Mogsy 4 3.97 2021
author: Daryl Gregory
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/08/31
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, horror, paranormal, gothic
review:

]]> 53152636
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And NoemĂ­, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]> 320 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 0525620788 Mogsy 4
The word “Gothic� is like catnip for me these days, I just can’t resist. So is it any wonder that I was all over this new novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia? I mean, leaving aside the fact I’m also a huge fan of hers. All the books I’ve read by her have been so unique, wonderful and creative, I just couldn’t wait to see what new tale she’ll spin next.

In Mexican Gothic, readers follow young socialite NoemĂ­ Taboada as she lives it up in glamorous Mexico City in the 1950s. Everything is turned upside down, however, when our protagonist receives an ominous letter from her cousin Catalina. Recently married, Catalina used to be very close with NoemĂ­ until she moved away to live with her husband Virgil at High House, his family mansion. But according to the letter now, Catalina appears to be afflicted with a mysterious illness and her words are filled with worry and fear about living in her new home.

Concerned for her cousin, Noemí agrees to go check up on her and makes the journey to High House. Immediately upon her arrival though, she could sense something very wrong with the place. The mansion is old, dilapidated and unwelcoming. The servants within are listless and withdrawn. Virgil and his family members are cold and stern, obsessed with etiquette and following strict rules. In this stifling environment, Noemí can understand why Catalina would be unhappy, but one look at her cousin and it’s clear that something more happening here. The once vibrant young woman now seems confused, frightened, and not at all like herself. Refusing to believe it’s all due to illness, Noemí decides to do some digging around for herself, uncovering a disturbing history of madness and tragedy behind High House.

Needless to say, there’s a doozy of a mystery behind Mexican Gothic, and it’s one best left for prospective readers to find out for themselves. But just a heads up—this story goes nowhere fast, which is perhaps to be expected with the “Gothic� element in its equation. That being said, it doesn’t necessarily mean the plot itself feels slow, since the author uses that time to gradually and effectively to build up suspense and atmosphere.

Her descriptions of the setting, for example, are incredible. High House is written to feel like a bubble trapped in time, with its crumbling façade and residents restrained by antiquated rules and beliefs. Vivacious, larger-than-life Noemí, who comes from a life of glamor and glitz, feels like a flower transplanted into the wrong pot—which in fact is a metaphor used frequently in the book. Then there are the other people in the house: handsome and charming Virgil, who is clearly hiding something behind that perfect smile; his stony cousin Florence who keeps everyone in line; her son Francis, close in age to Noemí but is timid and sheltered to the extreme; and finally, the patriarch of High House himself, Howard Doyle, an aged man practically on his death bed. It’s all enough to give you the heebie-jeebies.

And if the atmosphere alone doesn’t set your heart a-pounding, then the things Noemí experiences certainly will. Whatever’s wrong with High House also plays tricks with the mind, making our protagonist doubt what she sees and hears. The reader is left wondering what’s real and what’s not, and that’s a mind trip that will surely make your skin crawl.

If you like rooting for a strong and capable heroine though, a clever protagonist who refuses to back down from adversity, then you’ll really enjoy this book. Without Noemí, this novel might have become too dreary and uncomfortable, but her personality is the spark this story needed to keep things sharp and entertaining.

Overall, I really enjoyed Mexican Gothic, and a job well done to Silvia Moreno-Garcia for writing another winner! She’s constantly amazing me with her talent and versatility, the way she seems to excel at whatever genre or style of story she’s telling. So whatever she writes next, you can count on me being there.]]> 3.66 2020
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/06/25
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: review-copy, netgalley, arcs-and-galleys, historical-fiction, horror, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

The word “Gothic� is like catnip for me these days, I just can’t resist. So is it any wonder that I was all over this new novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia? I mean, leaving aside the fact I’m also a huge fan of hers. All the books I’ve read by her have been so unique, wonderful and creative, I just couldn’t wait to see what new tale she’ll spin next.

In Mexican Gothic, readers follow young socialite NoemĂ­ Taboada as she lives it up in glamorous Mexico City in the 1950s. Everything is turned upside down, however, when our protagonist receives an ominous letter from her cousin Catalina. Recently married, Catalina used to be very close with NoemĂ­ until she moved away to live with her husband Virgil at High House, his family mansion. But according to the letter now, Catalina appears to be afflicted with a mysterious illness and her words are filled with worry and fear about living in her new home.

Concerned for her cousin, Noemí agrees to go check up on her and makes the journey to High House. Immediately upon her arrival though, she could sense something very wrong with the place. The mansion is old, dilapidated and unwelcoming. The servants within are listless and withdrawn. Virgil and his family members are cold and stern, obsessed with etiquette and following strict rules. In this stifling environment, Noemí can understand why Catalina would be unhappy, but one look at her cousin and it’s clear that something more happening here. The once vibrant young woman now seems confused, frightened, and not at all like herself. Refusing to believe it’s all due to illness, Noemí decides to do some digging around for herself, uncovering a disturbing history of madness and tragedy behind High House.

Needless to say, there’s a doozy of a mystery behind Mexican Gothic, and it’s one best left for prospective readers to find out for themselves. But just a heads up—this story goes nowhere fast, which is perhaps to be expected with the “Gothic� element in its equation. That being said, it doesn’t necessarily mean the plot itself feels slow, since the author uses that time to gradually and effectively to build up suspense and atmosphere.

Her descriptions of the setting, for example, are incredible. High House is written to feel like a bubble trapped in time, with its crumbling façade and residents restrained by antiquated rules and beliefs. Vivacious, larger-than-life Noemí, who comes from a life of glamor and glitz, feels like a flower transplanted into the wrong pot—which in fact is a metaphor used frequently in the book. Then there are the other people in the house: handsome and charming Virgil, who is clearly hiding something behind that perfect smile; his stony cousin Florence who keeps everyone in line; her son Francis, close in age to Noemí but is timid and sheltered to the extreme; and finally, the patriarch of High House himself, Howard Doyle, an aged man practically on his death bed. It’s all enough to give you the heebie-jeebies.

And if the atmosphere alone doesn’t set your heart a-pounding, then the things Noemí experiences certainly will. Whatever’s wrong with High House also plays tricks with the mind, making our protagonist doubt what she sees and hears. The reader is left wondering what’s real and what’s not, and that’s a mind trip that will surely make your skin crawl.

If you like rooting for a strong and capable heroine though, a clever protagonist who refuses to back down from adversity, then you’ll really enjoy this book. Without Noemí, this novel might have become too dreary and uncomfortable, but her personality is the spark this story needed to keep things sharp and entertaining.

Overall, I really enjoyed Mexican Gothic, and a job well done to Silvia Moreno-Garcia for writing another winner! She’s constantly amazing me with her talent and versatility, the way she seems to excel at whatever genre or style of story she’s telling. So whatever she writes next, you can count on me being there.
]]> 35458733 When newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge, what greets her is far from the life of wealth and privilege she was expecting . . .

When Elsie married handsome young heir Rupert Bainbridge, she believed she was destined for a life of luxury. But with her husband dead just weeks after their marriage, her new servants resentful, and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie has only her husband's awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. Inside her new home lies a locked door, beyond which is a painted wooden figure —a silent companion �-that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself. The residents of The Bridge are terrified of the figure, but Elsie tries to shrug this off as simple superstition--that is, until she notices the figure's eyes following her.

A Victorian ghost story that evokes a most unsettling kind of fear, this is a tale that creeps its way through the consciousness in ways you least expect--much like the silent companions themselves.]]> 305 Laura Purcell 014313163X Mogsy 4
For fans of atmospheric Gothic horror, it doesn’t get much better than this. The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell is the kind of book that sneaks up on you like a cold draft. Soon after snaking its chilly tendrils down your collar and sending shivers down your spine, it’ll send you scurrying under the covers and make you want to stay there until the sun is up and the house is bright and warm and safe again. This is most definitely a story you’ll want to read in the light of day, when there are no shadows in which the things that go bump in the night can hide.

Set in 1865, the novel follows protagonist Elsie Bainbridge, owner of a London-based match factory that she co-manages with her younger brother. While her engagement to the heir of the distinguished Bainbridge family did cause a mild stir among the members of the gentry who felt she was marrying above her station, Elsie didn’t care—she was happy, in love, and relieved to be saved from the fate of spinsterhood. Mere months after the wedding, however, her husband Rupert dies under mysterious circumstances while making preparations at The Bridge, his family’s deteriorating estate out in the country. It was where the couple had hoped to welcome their first child.

Now instead of looking forward to a new life with Rupert, Elsie arrives at The Bridge grieving and pregnant, accompanied by Sarah, her husband’s peculiar cousin. The village is unwelcoming, her servants are rude and untrained, and the place is practically falling apart. At night, a strange hissing sound comes from the garret behind a closed door that won’t unlock to any key, but one day it suddenly opens to Elsie, revealing Bainbridge relics that have sat hidden for generations. Among them are a couple diaries dated from the 1600s, as well as a painted wooden figure of a little girl that looks so disturbingly lifelike that at first glance she could have been mistaken for the real thing.

After finishing this book, I went and did some googling, finding out tons of interesting information about these flat wooden oil-painted trompe l’oeil figures, known as “silent companions� or “dummy boards�, which were all the rage among aristocrats from the 17th through to the 19th century. Their exact purpose is still unknown, though everything from decorative use to security application by making potential burglars think someone is home has been floated by historians. Whatever the case, I find the concept behind them creepy as hell and reading this novel has not helped one bit. My skin still crawls from the memory of the spookier moments, and why anyone would want these wooden figures in their house with their unsettling gazes staring back at you is beyond me.

Needless to say, The Silent Companions was an intensely eerie and atmospheric read. It’s a bit of a slow-burner to start, as the story establishes itself because it is told in two timelines—one follows Elsie in the present as she is convalescing at an asylum following a series of tragic events, while the other is presented as a written account to her doctor about what she remembers happening to her. Interspersed throughout both narratives is also a third voice, taken from the diaries found in the garret. As the story unfolds, secrets within all three perspectives are gradually revealed, completing the full picture. One quickly learns not to take anything at face value when it comes to this book, with my own experience involving several complete reevaluations of everything I thought I knew about the situation and characters—which was pretty much every time a new surprise or revelation came to light. What’s even more impressive is that despite all the twist and turns, every piece of the puzzle ended up coming together seamlessly—planned and executed to perfection.

Time to put The Silent Companions on your wishlists, folks, for this is one Victorian ghost story you won’t want to miss. It’s portentous and gloomy, written in a subtle way that makes the dread creep slowly into your mind. It’s the type of scary that makes you feel on edge and nervous for the characters, and yet it’s impossible to tear your eyes away even when things become too terrible and tragic to watch. If you love horror fiction, especially books about hauntings, I just can’t recommend this one enough.]]> 3.86 2017
author: Laura Purcell
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2018/03/27
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: review-copy, historical-fiction, horror, paranormal, gothic
review:
4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

For fans of atmospheric Gothic horror, it doesn’t get much better than this. The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell is the kind of book that sneaks up on you like a cold draft. Soon after snaking its chilly tendrils down your collar and sending shivers down your spine, it’ll send you scurrying under the covers and make you want to stay there until the sun is up and the house is bright and warm and safe again. This is most definitely a story you’ll want to read in the light of day, when there are no shadows in which the things that go bump in the night can hide.

Set in 1865, the novel follows protagonist Elsie Bainbridge, owner of a London-based match factory that she co-manages with her younger brother. While her engagement to the heir of the distinguished Bainbridge family did cause a mild stir among the members of the gentry who felt she was marrying above her station, Elsie didn’t care—she was happy, in love, and relieved to be saved from the fate of spinsterhood. Mere months after the wedding, however, her husband Rupert dies under mysterious circumstances while making preparations at The Bridge, his family’s deteriorating estate out in the country. It was where the couple had hoped to welcome their first child.

Now instead of looking forward to a new life with Rupert, Elsie arrives at The Bridge grieving and pregnant, accompanied by Sarah, her husband’s peculiar cousin. The village is unwelcoming, her servants are rude and untrained, and the place is practically falling apart. At night, a strange hissing sound comes from the garret behind a closed door that won’t unlock to any key, but one day it suddenly opens to Elsie, revealing Bainbridge relics that have sat hidden for generations. Among them are a couple diaries dated from the 1600s, as well as a painted wooden figure of a little girl that looks so disturbingly lifelike that at first glance she could have been mistaken for the real thing.

After finishing this book, I went and did some googling, finding out tons of interesting information about these flat wooden oil-painted trompe l’oeil figures, known as “silent companions� or “dummy boards�, which were all the rage among aristocrats from the 17th through to the 19th century. Their exact purpose is still unknown, though everything from decorative use to security application by making potential burglars think someone is home has been floated by historians. Whatever the case, I find the concept behind them creepy as hell and reading this novel has not helped one bit. My skin still crawls from the memory of the spookier moments, and why anyone would want these wooden figures in their house with their unsettling gazes staring back at you is beyond me.

Needless to say, The Silent Companions was an intensely eerie and atmospheric read. It’s a bit of a slow-burner to start, as the story establishes itself because it is told in two timelines—one follows Elsie in the present as she is convalescing at an asylum following a series of tragic events, while the other is presented as a written account to her doctor about what she remembers happening to her. Interspersed throughout both narratives is also a third voice, taken from the diaries found in the garret. As the story unfolds, secrets within all three perspectives are gradually revealed, completing the full picture. One quickly learns not to take anything at face value when it comes to this book, with my own experience involving several complete reevaluations of everything I thought I knew about the situation and characters—which was pretty much every time a new surprise or revelation came to light. What’s even more impressive is that despite all the twist and turns, every piece of the puzzle ended up coming together seamlessly—planned and executed to perfection.

Time to put The Silent Companions on your wishlists, folks, for this is one Victorian ghost story you won’t want to miss. It’s portentous and gloomy, written in a subtle way that makes the dread creep slowly into your mind. It’s the type of scary that makes you feel on edge and nervous for the characters, and yet it’s impossible to tear your eyes away even when things become too terrible and tragic to watch. If you love horror fiction, especially books about hauntings, I just can’t recommend this one enough.
]]> 42178610 A thrilling Victorian gothic horror tale about a young seamstress who claims her needle and thread have the power to kill

Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy, and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor, and awaiting trial for murder.

When Dorothea's charitable work brings her to Oakgate Prison, she is delighted by the chance to explore her fascination with phrenology and test her hypothesis that the shape of a person's skull can cast a light on their darkest crimes. But when she meets one of the prisoners, the teenaged seamstress Ruth, she is faced with another strange idea: that it is possible to kill with a needle and thread--because Ruth attributes her crimes to a supernatural power inherent in her stitches.

The story Ruth has to tell of her deadly creations--of bitterness and betrayal, of death and dresses--will shake Dorothea's belief in rationality, and the power of redemption. Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer? The Poison Thread is a spine-tingling, sinister read about the evil that lurks behind the facade of innocence.]]> 351 Laura Purcell 0143134051 Mogsy 5
One of my favorite reads last year was The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, a Gothic historical chiller whose innovative plot with its creepily delicious vibes and stunning reveals left me reeling for days. When I found out that her new book The Poison Thread (titled The Corset in the UK), you can bet I was excited and couldn’t wait to read it.

And holy crap, mind blown! What with the author’s previous novel setting such a high bar, I knew there was a good chance my expectations wouldn’t be met, but The Poison Thread ended up blasting them away and delivered a whole lot more besides. I loved this book, and in many ways, I thought it was even better than The Silent Companions. Told in a similar style and format which alternates between two central viewpoints, the story is set in the Victorian era and follows Dorothea Truelove, a wealthy young heiress who visits women in prisons as part of her charity work, as well as Ruth Butterham, a sixteen-year-old inmate awaiting trial for murder.

As you can imagine, the two women couldn’t be any more different. Raised in high society, Dorothea never wanted for anything growing up, but with her twenty-fifth birthday fast approaching, she is growing increasingly frustrated with her father’s demands for her to marry. For one thing, she is already in love with a handsome and well-regarded police constable, who nevertheless would be deemed socially unacceptable and beneath her station in her father’s eyes. Furthermore, she also doubts that any of the suitors picked for her would approve of her interests. Having long held a fascination for phrenology, Dorothea has been independently studying the relationship between head shape and morality, using her visits to the Oakgate Prison for women as research trips to gather measurement data and personal stories from the inmates. It is there that she meets Ruth, a young maid accused of callously murdering her mistress by deliberate and slow degrees. Through the interviews conducted by Dorothea, readers get to learn more about Ruth as she recounts her life during the years leading up to her arrest. Unlike Dorothea, Ruth grew up in poverty as the daughter of an alcoholic artist and an overworked seamstress. From her mother she learned the art of sewing, and as it turned out, she was extraordinarily gifted at it.

However, Ruth is convinced that her talent goes beyond mere skill, believing that she has the power to channel her thoughts and emotions into each and every stitch. Infused with tragedy, anger and pain, the garments she makes are cursed items that bring bad things and death to those who wear them, she tells Dorothea, who is baffled by the girl’s wild claims. Does Ruth truly believe in this supernatural nonsense, or is it just a cruel trick from a bona fide psychopath who wants to mess with Dorothea’s mind? Surely the things Ruth describes can’t be real?

This element of uncertainty was what made The Poison Thread so captivating, and I was completely bewitched by this book which kept me reading long into the night. The story frightened and disturbed me, though not exactly in the traditional sense, and that was just fine with me. After all, I’ve always found the best Gothic horror to be those that seek to create unease through atmosphere, generating an oppressive aura of mystery and intrigue around uncanny situations that can’t be explained. Of course, Laura Purcell did just that, and I recognized many of the same methods used in The Silent Companions which made that book such an eerie, compelling read. But in additional the feelings of dread and uncertainty surrounding Ruth’s story, the writing also evoked the more visceral and raw emotions related to earthly horrors like poverty, disease, class inequality, and human cruelty. Some of these sections were difficult to read, but they helped define Ruth while also presenting us with a lot more questions about her motivations.

Needless to say, this is an incredibly layered novel. Much like it was with The Silent Companions, there’s a lot hidden beneath the surface. One by one, these threads are gradually teased out as events unfold in both characters� lives. As a result, this story is a bit of a slow burner, but because there’s so much to pay attention to, things still feel like they move along at a good clip. Certainly, the characters help a lot. You’ll no doubt go through a roller coaster of emotions when it comes to both Dorothea and Ruth, changing your mind about them all the time as you find out more about their lives and how they’ve grown. And that, I think, is the beauty of Laura Purcell’s writing; she will constantly keep you guessing, throwing out new information and clues at every turn. I for one can’t say I expected that ending coming.

In my opinion, The Poison Thread was damn near perfect. Fans of Gothic horror, do yourselves a favor and check out the work of Laura Purcell, who has now solidified her status as one of my favorite writers in the genre. This book was simply astonishing. Her next one can’t come soon enough.]]> 4.09 2018
author: Laura Purcell
name: Mogsy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2019/05/15
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: review-copy, arcs-and-galleys, historical-fiction, horror, favorites, gothic
review:
5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

One of my favorite reads last year was The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, a Gothic historical chiller whose innovative plot with its creepily delicious vibes and stunning reveals left me reeling for days. When I found out that her new book The Poison Thread (titled The Corset in the UK), you can bet I was excited and couldn’t wait to read it.

And holy crap, mind blown! What with the author’s previous novel setting such a high bar, I knew there was a good chance my expectations wouldn’t be met, but The Poison Thread ended up blasting them away and delivered a whole lot more besides. I loved this book, and in many ways, I thought it was even better than The Silent Companions. Told in a similar style and format which alternates between two central viewpoints, the story is set in the Victorian era and follows Dorothea Truelove, a wealthy young heiress who visits women in prisons as part of her charity work, as well as Ruth Butterham, a sixteen-year-old inmate awaiting trial for murder.

As you can imagine, the two women couldn’t be any more different. Raised in high society, Dorothea never wanted for anything growing up, but with her twenty-fifth birthday fast approaching, she is growing increasingly frustrated with her father’s demands for her to marry. For one thing, she is already in love with a handsome and well-regarded police constable, who nevertheless would be deemed socially unacceptable and beneath her station in her father’s eyes. Furthermore, she also doubts that any of the suitors picked for her would approve of her interests. Having long held a fascination for phrenology, Dorothea has been independently studying the relationship between head shape and morality, using her visits to the Oakgate Prison for women as research trips to gather measurement data and personal stories from the inmates. It is there that she meets Ruth, a young maid accused of callously murdering her mistress by deliberate and slow degrees. Through the interviews conducted by Dorothea, readers get to learn more about Ruth as she recounts her life during the years leading up to her arrest. Unlike Dorothea, Ruth grew up in poverty as the daughter of an alcoholic artist and an overworked seamstress. From her mother she learned the art of sewing, and as it turned out, she was extraordinarily gifted at it.

However, Ruth is convinced that her talent goes beyond mere skill, believing that she has the power to channel her thoughts and emotions into each and every stitch. Infused with tragedy, anger and pain, the garments she makes are cursed items that bring bad things and death to those who wear them, she tells Dorothea, who is baffled by the girl’s wild claims. Does Ruth truly believe in this supernatural nonsense, or is it just a cruel trick from a bona fide psychopath who wants to mess with Dorothea’s mind? Surely the things Ruth describes can’t be real?

This element of uncertainty was what made The Poison Thread so captivating, and I was completely bewitched by this book which kept me reading long into the night. The story frightened and disturbed me, though not exactly in the traditional sense, and that was just fine with me. After all, I’ve always found the best Gothic horror to be those that seek to create unease through atmosphere, generating an oppressive aura of mystery and intrigue around uncanny situations that can’t be explained. Of course, Laura Purcell did just that, and I recognized many of the same methods used in The Silent Companions which made that book such an eerie, compelling read. But in additional the feelings of dread and uncertainty surrounding Ruth’s story, the writing also evoked the more visceral and raw emotions related to earthly horrors like poverty, disease, class inequality, and human cruelty. Some of these sections were difficult to read, but they helped define Ruth while also presenting us with a lot more questions about her motivations.

Needless to say, this is an incredibly layered novel. Much like it was with The Silent Companions, there’s a lot hidden beneath the surface. One by one, these threads are gradually teased out as events unfold in both characters� lives. As a result, this story is a bit of a slow burner, but because there’s so much to pay attention to, things still feel like they move along at a good clip. Certainly, the characters help a lot. You’ll no doubt go through a roller coaster of emotions when it comes to both Dorothea and Ruth, changing your mind about them all the time as you find out more about their lives and how they’ve grown. And that, I think, is the beauty of Laura Purcell’s writing; she will constantly keep you guessing, throwing out new information and clues at every turn. I for one can’t say I expected that ending coming.

In my opinion, The Poison Thread was damn near perfect. Fans of Gothic horror, do yourselves a favor and check out the work of Laura Purcell, who has now solidified her status as one of my favorite writers in the genre. This book was simply astonishing. Her next one can’t come soon enough.
]]> 48888564 A gothic tale set in a rambling house by the sea in which a maid cares for a mute old woman with a mysterious past, alongside her superstitious staff--from the author of The Silent Companions.

A perfect spooky read!

Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft's family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken. But Dr. Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the disease in the caves beneath his new Cornish home. While he devotes himself to his controversial medical trials, Louise finds herself increasingly discomfited by the strange tales her new maid tells of the fairies that hunt the land, searching for those they can steal away to their realm.

Forty years later, Hester arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralyzed and mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try to escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers her new home may be just as dangerous as her last.]]> 336 Laura Purcell 0143135538 Mogsy 4
Haunting Gothic horror with just the touch of the fae, The House of Whispers (also known as Bone China in the UK) is an evocative and atmospheric novel worthy of the Laura Purcell’s talent. Always reliable for a chilling and entertaining read, she’s fast becoming one of my favorite authors.

Set on the Cornish coast in an old mansion overlooking the sea-swept cliffs, the story follows Hester Why who has arrived to take up a position as a maid and nurse to ailing Miss Pinecroft, mistress of Morvoren House. While the work is not in the best location, there is a reason why Hester has taken a job in such a remote place far from the city. From the start, it is clear she is running away from something, and there are hints it might be related to an incident with her last employer. Now she’s a wanted woman, and the only clue as to why lies in the mysterious snuffbox she has hidden among her belongings, as well as a badly stained dress at the bottom of her trunk.

But Hester’s tale is not the only one in play here. Inserted into the narrative are interludes that flashback forty years ago, as a physician and researcher named Dr. Pinecroft travels to Morvoren House with his daughter, Louise. Having recently lost his wife and son to the consumption, Dr. Pinecroft has dedicated himself to finding a cure and believes that breathing in the fresh sea air of Cornwall might be the first step towards recovery for those afflicted. In the nearby caves, he has arranged to house a group of convicts with the disease—desperate men who have volunteered to be test subjects in exchange for freedom if their participation in the medical trials results in a breakthrough. Working as her father’s assistant, Louise helps look after his patients and also interacts with the household staff, a few of whom can be described as nothing else but strange. Filled with superstition, one of the maids is convinced of the existence of malicious faerie creatures that lurk in the wilds around Morvoren House, claiming they will make changelings of them all if they’re not careful.

The House of Whispers is the third novel I’ve read by Purcell, and it is another winner in my eyes. While its story might not be as terrifying as The Silent Companions or as tightly woven as The Poison Thread, I think fans of the author will find this one dripping with the same atmosphere of anxiety and dread as her other books, yet sufficiently different enough to feel new and fresh. With this novel she also cements her talents as a writer of fascinating female leads who are tragically flawed yet sympathetic heroines, and Hester Why is a fine example of how multi-faceted her lead characters are. Threaded through her chapters is a sad the tale of how she came to leave her last employer, landing her in the difficult situation she finds herself now. Obviously I won’t be revealing any of the details, but if your instincts are warning you to prepare for some awful, reprehensible things, I recommend you heed them. Readers do get a sense that Hester can’t fully be trusted, though one also recognizes her desire to help those in need as genuine and sincere. Like so many of Purcell’s other characters, Hester is a deep and complicated puzzle.

Then there’s Louise, whose storyline takes place at Morvoren House decades before Hester makes her arrival. Later, we are able to identify Louise as the elderly Miss Pinecroft whom Hester has been hired to care for, but the infirm old woman was actually quite formidable in her youth. Unfortunately though, I think her chapters came in a little too late, causing me to resent them a little for interrupting the flow of Hester’s story, especially when her past indiscretions were just starting to come to light. Eventually, Louise’s chapters became more engaging, and though I still never felt quite as connected to them as I did with Hester’s, I liked the paranoid superstitious and mythological angle they brought to the book. Speaking of which, one thing I’ve come to love about Purcell’s work is her ability to tease just the right amount of ambiguity to make you wonder at whether or not there are supernatural elements at work. Legends of the fae have persisted for generations at Morvoren House, but it is up to the reader to decide if there’s truth to them, or if they are merely figments of the imagination.

Overall, The House of Whispers was a great book. The last chapter may have been a bit rushed, perhaps, but the conclusion was appropriately dark and unnerving. As well, while it may lack the impact of some of Laura Purcell’s previous novels, this one still kept me up late at night thinking about the story’s questions and the ending’s repercussions. If you’re interested in trying the author’s work, I would recommend The Poison Thread (AKA The Corset), The Silent Companions, and The House of Whispers in that order, but to be honest, you really can’t go wrong with any of them, especially if you enjoy Gothic horror. I can’t wait to see what Purcell writes next.]]> 3.48 2020
author: Laura Purcell
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/06/05
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: edelweiss, review-copy, arcs-and-galleys, horror, fae, historical-fiction, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

Haunting Gothic horror with just the touch of the fae, The House of Whispers (also known as Bone China in the UK) is an evocative and atmospheric novel worthy of the Laura Purcell’s talent. Always reliable for a chilling and entertaining read, she’s fast becoming one of my favorite authors.

Set on the Cornish coast in an old mansion overlooking the sea-swept cliffs, the story follows Hester Why who has arrived to take up a position as a maid and nurse to ailing Miss Pinecroft, mistress of Morvoren House. While the work is not in the best location, there is a reason why Hester has taken a job in such a remote place far from the city. From the start, it is clear she is running away from something, and there are hints it might be related to an incident with her last employer. Now she’s a wanted woman, and the only clue as to why lies in the mysterious snuffbox she has hidden among her belongings, as well as a badly stained dress at the bottom of her trunk.

But Hester’s tale is not the only one in play here. Inserted into the narrative are interludes that flashback forty years ago, as a physician and researcher named Dr. Pinecroft travels to Morvoren House with his daughter, Louise. Having recently lost his wife and son to the consumption, Dr. Pinecroft has dedicated himself to finding a cure and believes that breathing in the fresh sea air of Cornwall might be the first step towards recovery for those afflicted. In the nearby caves, he has arranged to house a group of convicts with the disease—desperate men who have volunteered to be test subjects in exchange for freedom if their participation in the medical trials results in a breakthrough. Working as her father’s assistant, Louise helps look after his patients and also interacts with the household staff, a few of whom can be described as nothing else but strange. Filled with superstition, one of the maids is convinced of the existence of malicious faerie creatures that lurk in the wilds around Morvoren House, claiming they will make changelings of them all if they’re not careful.

The House of Whispers is the third novel I’ve read by Purcell, and it is another winner in my eyes. While its story might not be as terrifying as The Silent Companions or as tightly woven as The Poison Thread, I think fans of the author will find this one dripping with the same atmosphere of anxiety and dread as her other books, yet sufficiently different enough to feel new and fresh. With this novel she also cements her talents as a writer of fascinating female leads who are tragically flawed yet sympathetic heroines, and Hester Why is a fine example of how multi-faceted her lead characters are. Threaded through her chapters is a sad the tale of how she came to leave her last employer, landing her in the difficult situation she finds herself now. Obviously I won’t be revealing any of the details, but if your instincts are warning you to prepare for some awful, reprehensible things, I recommend you heed them. Readers do get a sense that Hester can’t fully be trusted, though one also recognizes her desire to help those in need as genuine and sincere. Like so many of Purcell’s other characters, Hester is a deep and complicated puzzle.

Then there’s Louise, whose storyline takes place at Morvoren House decades before Hester makes her arrival. Later, we are able to identify Louise as the elderly Miss Pinecroft whom Hester has been hired to care for, but the infirm old woman was actually quite formidable in her youth. Unfortunately though, I think her chapters came in a little too late, causing me to resent them a little for interrupting the flow of Hester’s story, especially when her past indiscretions were just starting to come to light. Eventually, Louise’s chapters became more engaging, and though I still never felt quite as connected to them as I did with Hester’s, I liked the paranoid superstitious and mythological angle they brought to the book. Speaking of which, one thing I’ve come to love about Purcell’s work is her ability to tease just the right amount of ambiguity to make you wonder at whether or not there are supernatural elements at work. Legends of the fae have persisted for generations at Morvoren House, but it is up to the reader to decide if there’s truth to them, or if they are merely figments of the imagination.

Overall, The House of Whispers was a great book. The last chapter may have been a bit rushed, perhaps, but the conclusion was appropriately dark and unnerving. As well, while it may lack the impact of some of Laura Purcell’s previous novels, this one still kept me up late at night thinking about the story’s questions and the ending’s repercussions. If you’re interested in trying the author’s work, I would recommend The Poison Thread (AKA The Corset), The Silent Companions, and The House of Whispers in that order, but to be honest, you really can’t go wrong with any of them, especially if you enjoy Gothic horror. I can’t wait to see what Purcell writes next.
]]> 55782298
Desperately seeking an answer, Agnes approaches Pearl, a child spirit medium lodging in Bath with her older half-sister and her ailing father, hoping that if Pearl can make contact with those who died, they might reveal who killed them. But Agnes and Pearl quickly discover that instead they may have opened the door to something they can never put back.]]> 302 Laura Purcell 0143135546 Mogsy 4
The latest from Laura Purcell, The Shape of Darkness is as dark and twisty as we’ve come to expect from the queen of gothic suspense. The setting is Victorian Bath, where an ailing silhouette artist struggles to keep her business afloat in a world moving towards camera photography. With each passing day, fewer and fewer people seem interested in Agnes Darken� craft, while at home she still has her elderly mother and 12-year-old nephew Cedric to care for. With work already hard to come by, Agnes is shaken when her latest client is found dead, his throat cut and his face smashed in, just before she can complete the final touches on his portrait. Now, not only will her finances remain strained, but she’s also beginning to think someone might be targeting her business by killing her customers, especially when mysterious deaths connected to her seem to keep happening.

After the third person to sit for her is found murdered, Agnes knows she must take matters into her own hands, given the police won’t take her suspicions seriously. Desperate to know why this might be happening to her, she decides to go against the advice of her doctor friend Simon by consulting a medium. Her search leads her to the doorstep of Myrtle West, who claims to be a mesmerist, and her half-sister Pearl Meers, an 11-year-old seer who recently came into her gift. It is Agnes’s hope that if Pearl can communicate with the spirits of her clients, they might be able to reveal who killed them and why. Still, pretty soon, they realize that meddling with the unseen might not be so wise, and that the ghosts of the dead may not be so forthcoming…or friendly.

As you probably know, in the last few years Laura Purcell has become a must-read author for me. This is my fourth novel by her, having previously read and loved The Silent Companions, The Poison Thread, and The House of Whispers, and now I’m excited to report that The Shape of Darkness is another winner, containing all the spine-tingling, creepy gothic goodness that I’ve come to love from her books. There’s often a strong element of mystery to her stories as well, not to mention a certain ambiguity surrounding the supernatural forces that might or might not be in play, and this was definitely no exception.

Another hallmark of the author’s books appears to be her tortured protagonists, who frequently bear the weight of their emotional and sometimes physical scars. This usually makes them highly unreliable narrators, and just when you think you understand how they tick, you will discover something surprising that completely changes everything. Following Agnes’s point-of-view was very much like that, as each chapter gradually reveals more of her backstory. Life for her has become a series of misfortunes ever since falling ill a few years ago, and she is still recovering from the effects. Her sister also died, which is why her son Cedric is being raised by our protagonist. Agnes wants to do right by the boy, but can hardly even afford to keep herself clothed and fed some days. Now her only source of income is also dwindling, as silhouettes fall out of popularity in favor of photographs. What’s clear is that Purcell’s deft handling of character development paints a sympathetic picture of Agnes, and readers can’t help but feel for her plight, especially since her passion for her art is so genuine and deep. For real, this book actually made me wish traditional silhouette portrait cutting was still in fashion.

And of course, we have the atmosphere. This is THE number one reason to read Purcell’s books, if you ask me. Even when the overall vibe of the story is bleak and heavy, she has a talent for always making her settings feel authentic and alive. Steeped with supernatural undertones, things feel even more haunted and unsettling, with Pearl’s chapters and the séance scenes being prime examples. However, I would still hesitate to categorize this novel as straight-up horror, as it’s way too subtle and nuanced. That said though, it would also be a mistake to underestimate the creep factor—you have been warned.

Bottom line, with The Shape of Darkness, Laura Purcell has written another deliciously dark gothic novel with more than a few mind-bending surprises. Granted, some of them might turn out to be more predictable than others, but overall I can’t deny I had a good time with this one. As always, I look forward to the author’s next project.

Audiobook Review: Superbly narrated, The Shape of Darkness audiobook was a great way to experience this novel, with Ell Potter’s rich accents and tones greatly enhancing the story’s atmosphere.]]> 3.68 2021
author: Laura Purcell
name: Mogsy
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/05/29
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: audiobook, review-copy, historical-fiction, mystery, horror, paranormal, gothic
review:
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum

The latest from Laura Purcell, The Shape of Darkness is as dark and twisty as we’ve come to expect from the queen of gothic suspense. The setting is Victorian Bath, where an ailing silhouette artist struggles to keep her business afloat in a world moving towards camera photography. With each passing day, fewer and fewer people seem interested in Agnes Darken� craft, while at home she still has her elderly mother and 12-year-old nephew Cedric to care for. With work already hard to come by, Agnes is shaken when her latest client is found dead, his throat cut and his face smashed in, just before she can complete the final touches on his portrait. Now, not only will her finances remain strained, but she’s also beginning to think someone might be targeting her business by killing her customers, especially when mysterious deaths connected to her seem to keep happening.

After the third person to sit for her is found murdered, Agnes knows she must take matters into her own hands, given the police won’t take her suspicions seriously. Desperate to know why this might be happening to her, she decides to go against the advice of her doctor friend Simon by consulting a medium. Her search leads her to the doorstep of Myrtle West, who claims to be a mesmerist, and her half-sister Pearl Meers, an 11-year-old seer who recently came into her gift. It is Agnes’s hope that if Pearl can communicate with the spirits of her clients, they might be able to reveal who killed them and why. Still, pretty soon, they realize that meddling with the unseen might not be so wise, and that the ghosts of the dead may not be so forthcoming…or friendly.

As you probably know, in the last few years Laura Purcell has become a must-read author for me. This is my fourth novel by her, having previously read and loved The Silent Companions, The Poison Thread, and The House of Whispers, and now I’m excited to report that The Shape of Darkness is another winner, containing all the spine-tingling, creepy gothic goodness that I’ve come to love from her books. There’s often a strong element of mystery to her stories as well, not to mention a certain ambiguity surrounding the supernatural forces that might or might not be in play, and this was definitely no exception.

Another hallmark of the author’s books appears to be her tortured protagonists, who frequently bear the weight of their emotional and sometimes physical scars. This usually makes them highly unreliable narrators, and just when you think you understand how they tick, you will discover something surprising that completely changes everything. Following Agnes’s point-of-view was very much like that, as each chapter gradually reveals more of her backstory. Life for her has become a series of misfortunes ever since falling ill a few years ago, and she is still recovering from the effects. Her sister also died, which is why her son Cedric is being raised by our protagonist. Agnes wants to do right by the boy, but can hardly even afford to keep herself clothed and fed some days. Now her only source of income is also dwindling, as silhouettes fall out of popularity in favor of photographs. What’s clear is that Purcell’s deft handling of character development paints a sympathetic picture of Agnes, and readers can’t help but feel for her plight, especially since her passion for her art is so genuine and deep. For real, this book actually made me wish traditional silhouette portrait cutting was still in fashion.

And of course, we have the atmosphere. This is THE number one reason to read Purcell’s books, if you ask me. Even when the overall vibe of the story is bleak and heavy, she has a talent for always making her settings feel authentic and alive. Steeped with supernatural undertones, things feel even more haunted and unsettling, with Pearl’s chapters and the séance scenes being prime examples. However, I would still hesitate to categorize this novel as straight-up horror, as it’s way too subtle and nuanced. That said though, it would also be a mistake to underestimate the creep factor—you have been warned.

Bottom line, with The Shape of Darkness, Laura Purcell has written another deliciously dark gothic novel with more than a few mind-bending surprises. Granted, some of them might turn out to be more predictable than others, but overall I can’t deny I had a good time with this one. As always, I look forward to the author’s next project.

Audiobook Review: Superbly narrated, The Shape of Darkness audiobook was a great way to experience this novel, with Ell Potter’s rich accents and tones greatly enhancing the story’s atmosphere.
]]>