Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Within These Wicked Walls

'Within These Wicked Walls' by Lauren Blackwood is an atmospheric reimagining of Jane Eyre that lent a little too much into the romance for my liking.
Andromeda is a debtera, an exorcist who crafts amulets to ward off spirits attached to the Evil Eye. For one of her assignments, she enters the employ of the charming Magnus Rochester. His house is home to some of the more disturbing manifestations that Andromeda has encountered and it will take her full background of knowledge to attempt to cleanse it. As she works to unravel the hold that the manifestations have, she is drawn closer and closer to Rochester.
'Within These Wicked Walls' has incredible atmosphere. Blackwood creates a truly disturbing house with arms extending out of walls and the impression of hundreds of rats at the end of the corridor. This was my favorite aspect as I was quickly immersed in the feeling of the house and understood Andromeda's quest to get rid of the manifestations. Andromeda is a compelling character that I came to care for quickly. Her determination paired with her magical abilities create an engaging heroine that is easy to root for. My one big sticking point with this story is the romance. It happens quickly and then for a third of the book it feels like Andromeda is thinking more about her feelings than the disturbing house she is living in. That felt unrealistic and the instant attraction between her and Rochester was aggravating. I think this story would have benefited from leaning more into the horror than the romance, especially halfway through. Blackwood's gift with atmosphere is exquisite though and does keep my interest in picking up another book of theirs in the future.

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halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

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I have a little over 3 hours left of the audio and am taking myself out of misery by throwing down the towel.

The beginning I felt had potential and it constantly nose dived.

Watching paint dry would be more exciting that this book. The only reason I listened so long was due to the narrator's British accent. I like her voice and it's very therapeutic to listen to. Until I realized that I was daydreaming and no longer really following the story.

I like the premise of Andromeda exercising spirits. But her character is DEEPLY dampening my soul.

The only moment the book captured my attention was during the scene where the room Magnus was sleeping in began to fill with blood.

Every character in this story is a tortured soul and all the characters are toxic. I...just... can't.... anymore!!!!

This book makes my soul tired😩

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chippyreads's review against another edition

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dark

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I have many feelings about this book and not many of them are nice. Firstly, the MCs relationships with both men in her life is grotty. Actually. That's my whole gripe about this book. I don't enjoy reading toxic relationships. So this book was a massive boooo for me.

The dude that raised her is abusive, both physically and mentally. The guy that hires her is the love interest. He is a flake. His only redeeming quality is that he can draw.

The love interest is cursed and people who live in his castle 'go missing' but apparently it's ok to just keep using them as servants? Apparently if they look into his eyes they're doomed, so he walks around with bells on in order to warn them to look away. If it was such an issues, why doesn't he cover his eyes or lock himself away? Stop prancing around your cold castle putting your staff in danger. He has a rule that demands people socialise with him after dinner. How about no. You're a danger to EVERYONE, stop forcing people into your company when your gaze kills them. Also the dude is her BOSS, she's literally starving when he hires her and he falls in love with her asap.

Dont get me started on the father figure. He saved her from being sold to a brothel as a child and in order to protect her, he abuses her...... Wot. Also he has this thing where his skin hurts if people touch him, so naturally he hates people. What is this shit? I woul have minded if at the end

Andy told him he was a horrible man and he deserves to die. But no, she calls him daddy and loves him.

Yuck. No thank you. No wonder she fell for the first man who was half way nice to her.....

The whole cleansing the cadtle/boss thing can't even save this story. If I wasn't listening to this book via audio book I would have DNFd it.

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Disclosure: I received an e-ARC of this book that was openly available to NetGalley users in exchange for an honest review.

This is a YA retelling of Jane Eyre, set in Ethiopia and involving actual supernatural evil forces! Andromeda has taken on the dubious job of cleansing the heavily-cursed estate of Magnus Rochester. She's a 'debtera' from the church who exorcises such manifestations of the Evil Eye by crafting holy amulets by intuition--or she would be, if her master, Jember, hadn't thrown her out before she could attain official licensing. Andromeda quickly finds she has a lot to learn about dealing with the ultimate manifestation of the evil eye, coming to terms with her hard upbringing, and the peculiar experience of falling for the rich young recluse who employs her.

I loved this premise, the setting, and the magic system. There was a fair bit of good creepiness, and as a YA read, it didn't go overboard on the gore or grimdark. The story moved at a fast pace that kept me interested, and likely will satisfy plot-driven readers. While I still enjoy plot-driven narratives, as someone who really loves character-driven reads, I found a few things wanting in this regard. I loved the idea of Andromeda, but her characterization was a little all over the place, to me. She had supposedly learned a lesson about the dangers of showing compassion for others from her life on the streets, but in practice she seemed to care quite a lot very easily. She was meant to be a pragmatic character, but made some odd decisions here and there. Her pragmatism also made for clunky chemistry with the eccentric and often immature Magnus.

To be fair, I am very picky about romance, and I hadn't noticed at first that this was also YA. And to its credit, the angst wasn't overdone, so this is still approachable for adult readers. Even with the ways it fell flat to me, I still found it enjoyable and feel it's a solid 3-stars.

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