Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
With beautiful writing and a generous portion of Gothic horror, this retelling of the Mysteries of Udolpho was a delight. With strong action sequences, burgeoning romances and some pithy humor, this is sure to breathe life into the seminal Gothic classic, gaining it a new following with its more modern approach.
Great job David! We're looking forward to seeing what you have next!
Great job David! We're looking forward to seeing what you have next!
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars!
I listed to this on audiobook courtesy of Netgalley!
I have to give a shout-out to the narrator, Will Watt. He was lovely to listen to and he did a great job distinguishing between the characters.
I have to admit, the cover is what immediately drew me in. I absolutely love this artist’s style and the premise sounded interesting enough. The Gothic setting was amazing and I definitely felt immersed in that time period. I was prepared for more action than what was delivered, it was mostly slow moving and the plot didn’t really get churning until the 40-50% mark. I wish the romance was a bit more fleshed out, while the main character forgave the love interest’s actions I certainly felt strange about it, and I wish there had been more time to work through that. This book was reminiscent of Mexican Gothic or the Crimson Peak movie. I loved the haunting and dark aspects, I feel like the author could have leaned even more heavily into that! All around though this was a fairly fun novel. The ending had some exciting moments and the dialogue was witty. I would recommend for fans of slower-paced character heavy novels.
I listed to this on audiobook courtesy of Netgalley!
I have to give a shout-out to the narrator, Will Watt. He was lovely to listen to and he did a great job distinguishing between the characters.
I have to admit, the cover is what immediately drew me in. I absolutely love this artist’s style and the premise sounded interesting enough. The Gothic setting was amazing and I definitely felt immersed in that time period. I was prepared for more action than what was delivered, it was mostly slow moving and the plot didn’t really get churning until the 40-50% mark. I wish the romance was a bit more fleshed out, while the main character forgave the love interest’s actions I certainly felt strange about it, and I wish there had been more time to work through that. This book was reminiscent of Mexican Gothic or the Crimson Peak movie. I loved the haunting and dark aspects, I feel like the author could have leaned even more heavily into that! All around though this was a fairly fun novel. The ending had some exciting moments and the dialogue was witty. I would recommend for fans of slower-paced character heavy novels.
DNF @52%
It's 2024 so I'm officially dropping this 😭
I really just wasn't feeling the MC at all, and not much has happened yet. Also I wasn't feeling the love triangle, some of the MC's feelings and thoughts towards the love interests just don't make sense to me. I've kept this book for a long time in "current reads" for a long time since last year, but I think it's time to let go.
I truly appreciate Page Street YA for sending over an ARC my way.
It's 2024 so I'm officially dropping this 😭
I really just wasn't feeling the MC at all, and not much has happened yet. Also I wasn't feeling the love triangle, some of the MC's feelings and thoughts towards the love interests just don't make sense to me. I've kept this book for a long time in "current reads" for a long time since last year, but I think it's time to let go.
I truly appreciate Page Street YA for sending over an ARC my way.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Complicated
CW: Homophobia, gore
This was a fun book to read and I loved the Gothic vibes. That being said, I think I could've gotten the same effect and pleasure from reading fanfiction.
The plot was...okay. A big problem I have with queer romance books set in the past is that they all talk about how terrible and awful it would be if people found out they were queer because its dangerous but then they tell every single goddamn person they meet that they are gay. I do understand though that the author didn't want to get into the nuances of homophobia in the 1860s so I respect it, even though it was a little annoying.
Another problem I had was the build up to the whole werewolf reveal. I knew from the beginning, from the summary of the book, that this novel would have werewolves in it. However, they were revealed on page 285. Every page leading up to it was "Oh it's so crazy that once a month they have to be sedated and that they can't touch silver. I wonder what their secret is!" I just feel like the build up was excruciating and the reveal was not worth it. I know the author is okay at reveals because I was stunned when Bram came back to life after being fucking decapitated.
Also. I hate love triangles. I find them absolutely insufferable and I even talked to my friend saying that I hate them because they should just become a throuple. Well hurrah for me! Loved that ending to the love triangle, however I wish I didn't have to read the 300ish pages of him whining about who he was going to choose. Especially since Henri was an asshole that tried to force Emile to date him.
Well. I had fun and that's really all I could as for from a werewolf queer romance gothic book set in the 1800s.
This was a fun book to read and I loved the Gothic vibes. That being said, I think I could've gotten the same effect and pleasure from reading fanfiction.
The plot was...okay. A big problem I have with queer romance books set in the past is that they all talk about how terrible and awful it would be if people found out they were queer because its dangerous but then they tell every single goddamn person they meet that they are gay. I do understand though that the author didn't want to get into the nuances of homophobia in the 1860s so I respect it, even though it was a little annoying.
Another problem I had was the build up to the whole werewolf reveal. I knew from the beginning, from the summary of the book, that this novel would have werewolves in it. However, they were revealed on page 285. Every page leading up to it was "Oh it's so crazy that once a month they have to be sedated and that they can't touch silver. I wonder what their secret is!" I just feel like the build up was excruciating and the reveal was not worth it. I know the author is okay at reveals because I was stunned when Bram came back to life after being fucking decapitated.
Also. I hate love triangles. I find them absolutely insufferable and I even talked to my friend saying that I hate them because they should just become a throuple. Well hurrah for me! Loved that ending to the love triangle, however I wish I didn't have to read the 300ish pages of him whining about who he was going to choose. Especially since Henri was an asshole that tried to force Emile to date him.
Well. I had fun and that's really all I could as for from a werewolf queer romance gothic book set in the 1800s.
A gothic gay werewolf book should have been more fun than this.
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No