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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoyed this quite a bit (and more than I expected to). It’s a good premise and a fun plot. Also love the queer representation.
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
What ever you are expecting with this book, I promise it is so much better, weirder and darker than you think
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-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
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Too slow for my taste but it had the feel of an old Hollywood, black and white werewolf movie. If you’re into that and why choose romance in the first person perspective, you might be into this book. Will Watt as the narrator is amazing as usual.
The Alchemy of Moonlight is a charming gay retelling of the Mysteries of Udolpho -- a piece of classic gothic romance (plus werewolves). It's different enough to stay refreshing, but similar enough to be a great nod to it. (I found it odd that the book's summary didn't identify itself as a retelling, but perhaps the references to Udolpho Castle and Count Montoni were expected to be enough!)
The gothic romance is on point in this, with Emile standing in as the perfect ingenue, just as a young runaway nobleman-hiding-as-a-manservant. That said, I found the actual romantic element to have too quick a pace for my tastes -- by 25% we've had confessions from both love interests, and Emile has been LONG torn between his attraction between them. Which is fine; I don't mind a bit of instant lust, but nevertheless the pacing felt odd given the slow drawing out of the central mystery.
I really like Emile as a character; he's delightfully earnest and yet foolish in a way that's important in a gothic romance -- this whole plan is idiocy, when you think about it; he's a nobleman, and he writes 'himself' a letter of character to take to another noble's home, as if they might not hear about the missing son or be familiar with his family, and then on top of that he's absolutely terrible on actually maintaining the cover, repeatedly showing that he doesn't know how to do common tasks that he was apparently recommended for, and even slipping up and giving his own actual last name! I enjoyed this; a flawed lead is a great thing to have in horror, because you can see things getting set up and feel real fear for how this may come back to bite them. I was surprised by the fact that the other characters didn't view Emile the way the reader did, however; Bram refers to him as the most down-to-earth man he's ever met, practical, and smart. None of these actually describe Emile, which either is a flaw in the writing or meant to tell us interesting things about Bram's own faulty sense of perception of someone he's developed feelings for. I'm not entirely sure which it was.
It took a long time for me to warm up to the love interests -- also both very flawed men, which tbh is vital for a gothic romance -- but I did by the end, and the resolution of their love triangle worked in a way I liked very much.
The writing was often quite on tone, but the dialogue tended to slip into modern diction. YMMV on if this bothers you. The pacing is slow at first (with, as mentioned, the romance part much faster than the gothic part) but as the gothic horrors increase in the back half, it becomes quite thrilling.
All in all, a charming piece, especially for a debut author. I look forward to reading more by him!
The gothic romance is on point in this, with Emile standing in as the perfect ingenue, just as a young runaway nobleman-hiding-as-a-manservant. That said, I found the actual romantic element to have too quick a pace for my tastes -- by 25% we've had confessions from both love interests, and Emile has been LONG torn between his attraction between them. Which is fine; I don't mind a bit of instant lust, but nevertheless the pacing felt odd given the slow drawing out of the central mystery.
I really like Emile as a character; he's delightfully earnest and yet foolish in a way that's important in a gothic romance -- this whole plan is idiocy, when you think about it; he's a nobleman, and he writes 'himself' a letter of character to take to another noble's home, as if they might not hear about the missing son or be familiar with his family, and then on top of that he's absolutely terrible on actually maintaining the cover, repeatedly showing that he doesn't know how to do common tasks that he was apparently recommended for, and even slipping up and giving his own actual last name! I enjoyed this; a flawed lead is a great thing to have in horror, because you can see things getting set up and feel real fear for how this may come back to bite them. I was surprised by the fact that the other characters didn't view Emile the way the reader did, however; Bram refers to him as the most down-to-earth man he's ever met, practical, and smart. None of these actually describe Emile, which either is a flaw in the writing or meant to tell us interesting things about Bram's own faulty sense of perception of someone he's developed feelings for. I'm not entirely sure which it was.
It took a long time for me to warm up to the love interests -- also both very flawed men, which tbh is vital for a gothic romance -- but I did by the end, and the resolution of their love triangle worked in a way I liked very much.
The writing was often quite on tone, but the dialogue tended to slip into modern diction. YMMV on if this bothers you. The pacing is slow at first (with, as mentioned, the romance part much faster than the gothic part) but as the gothic horrors increase in the back half, it becomes quite thrilling.
All in all, a charming piece, especially for a debut author. I look forward to reading more by him!
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
So. Many. Plot holes. I think they were meant as Easter eggs but they only made me irritated that they were never addressed by the end.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes