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toffishay's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I loved the romance! Love Andromeda and love Magnus! Which is great because their romance is the biggest chunk of the plot, even more than the fantasy so if you don't buy into that then the rest of the book doesn't work. The fantasy elements were fine to me, they kind of fit that zone of generic YA fantasy. I like the haunted house aspect, which is a more interesting kind of story to me than other YA stories that would be more adventure based. It makes the story lean more Gothic, which makes sense because this is a Jane Eyre inspired story. The pacing is annoying and honestly, I didn't really care about the fantasy parts like all the fighting. I predicted some of the end, but that may be a reality of a retelling as well. The relationship between Jember and Andromeda was interesting too and <SPOILER> I liked that there were no easy answers with that one. <END SPOILER> The horror elements are well-done though, like I was really creeped out. Overall, a nice YA story that I could actually revisit again because I loved the romance!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Blood, Gore, Violence, Death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, and Body horror
Minor: Sexism, Racism, Trafficking, Infidelity, Gun violence, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Murder, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
madamenovelist's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Grief, and Confinement
Minor: Trafficking
There is a brief mention of a child being rescued from sex trafficking. The emotional/physical abuse, blood, gore, and violence are all very graphic. Not for the sensitive.erandle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Colonisation, Death of parent, Suicide, Addiction, and Bullying
haylzno's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I truly loved this story!! My only gripes is that sometimes the dialogue got a tad cringey and I wish we got to know Magnus and Andromeda a bit more. But other than that, I had a blast reading this.
The perfect October read (I mean, seriously. Haunted house? Super evil demonic forces? Say less)
I loved the pacing of this book, I was never bored and the banter between Andi and Magnus was just perfect.
This will absolutely be one I re-read over and over again!
The perfect October read (I mean, seriously. Haunted house? Super evil demonic forces? Say less)
I loved the pacing of this book, I was never bored and the banter between Andi and Magnus was just perfect.
This will absolutely be one I re-read over and over again!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Drug abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Panic attacks/disorders
rorikae's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
'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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Body horror, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
chronicacademia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Death
syllareads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
I wanted to love this book very badly, and I did - parts of it at least.
First of all, the reason this book caught my attention in the first place was because it's absolutely stunning. The cover is beautiful! I'm delighted Lauren Blackwood got to create such a visually stunning book, she deserves it - and I hope more people pick it up purely because the cover makes them curious enough to, and they actually fall in love with this.
I have not yet read Jane Eyre (this book definitely makes me want to remedy that, though) so I can't speak on how well Within these Wicked Walls works as a reimagining (or as a book that has at least drawn inspiration from Jane Eyre). I can say that Lauren Blackwood tries to capture the allusive nature of gothic novels and succeeds for the most part - a lot of her descriptions, as well as the desperate yearning between Andromeda, our MC, and Magnus, her Love Interest, were beautifully done.
However.
The book being YA.... really ruined it for me in the end. Many scenes in between beautiful, desperate moments of longing and despair read incredibly juvenile and pulled me out of the story almost by force. The characters smirk and grin at each other in between sentences of agony and loss and heartbreak. The dialogues go from impossibly tender to teenage ribbing in an instant. Every time I thought I was feeling it, I got forcefully pulled back out of it by some character being a teenaged ass again, and after a while this back and forth made it incredibly hard for me to care properly for any of the characters involved.
Overall: this is not a bad book, and I recommend people at least try. The setting is stunning! I'm so happy BIPOC authors get to retell stories however they wish, with whatever culture they belong to because yes, the canon is incredibly white and every book changing that is a good book for that alone. Personally, the "YA-ness" in between the gothic novel aspects really pulled me out of it and I couldn't get a lot of personal enjoyment out of the book, which makes me very upset :c
First of all, the reason this book caught my attention in the first place was because it's absolutely stunning. The cover is beautiful! I'm delighted Lauren Blackwood got to create such a visually stunning book, she deserves it - and I hope more people pick it up purely because the cover makes them curious enough to, and they actually fall in love with this.
I have not yet read Jane Eyre (this book definitely makes me want to remedy that, though) so I can't speak on how well Within these Wicked Walls works as a reimagining (or as a book that has at least drawn inspiration from Jane Eyre). I can say that Lauren Blackwood tries to capture the allusive nature of gothic novels and succeeds for the most part - a lot of her descriptions, as well as the desperate yearning between Andromeda, our MC, and Magnus, her Love Interest, were beautifully done.
However.
The book being YA.... really ruined it for me in the end. Many scenes in between beautiful, desperate moments of longing and despair read incredibly juvenile and pulled me out of the story almost by force. The characters smirk and grin at each other in between sentences of agony and loss and heartbreak. The dialogues go from impossibly tender to teenage ribbing in an instant. Every time I thought I was feeling it, I got forcefully pulled back out of it by some character being a teenaged ass again, and after a while this back and forth made it incredibly hard for me to care properly for any of the characters involved.
Overall: this is not a bad book, and I recommend people at least try. The setting is stunning! I'm so happy BIPOC authors get to retell stories however they wish, with whatever culture they belong to because yes, the canon is incredibly white and every book changing that is a good book for that alone. Personally, the "YA-ness" in between the gothic novel aspects really pulled me out of it and I couldn't get a lot of personal enjoyment out of the book, which makes me very upset :c
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Blood
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Trafficking
frantically's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
kinda weird but i still liked it well enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Chronic illness, Death, and Abandonment
Moderate: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Trafficking and Grief
her's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse
clhtdr's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Colonisation, Blood, Physical abuse, Gore, and Emotional abuse