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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
wolfyreads's review against another edition
3.0
Rating - 2/2.5 stars.
Some loves are not meant to be. Or they are, but not in the way you think.
This is a difficult read for me to rate because this is a strange book that is about nothing and everything. It is heavily philosophical and the story is merely a vehicle for the theme, so much so that initially I was wondering if there would be a plot. The essence is life and fate, whether death is the end and most importantly for me, about moving on after loss. It is a very rare YA book that takes up this kind of thing, and even rarer for it to do it well. I think William's recovery and growth was decently charted, if abrupt.
But before anything else, since the summary is so vague, I have to mention what the book is actually about. Annaleigh, the protagonist of the story, who is inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's poem Annabel Lee, receives a proposal from her childhood friend-turned-love William. So they are engaged to be married and all is right with the world...or it seems. You see, Will's sister Mary is psychic and can see ghosts. She also has prophetic visions and dreams and the future is not looking bright for Anna. Since I don't really think I'm spoiling anything I will just go ahead and tell you that conveniently blond Anna dies on her wedding night. The rest of the story follows the three as they try to cope with the loss (Anna as a ghost) and move on.
Yes I know, it's tragic. Terrible. All those adjectives which one would apply to feeling sad, which I would have if I actually cared about the characters at that point. It took me a while to understand the point of the book.
Today I thought I'd review it in Kotaku.com style and use their headings. Extra note: This book is set in what I would say is mid to late 19th century America, judging by the simultaneous existence of corsets and photography.
The Good - The writing
The writing style is fluid, graceful and mostly effortless. It matches the era and the inspiration, though it notably falls short of Poe's atmospheric stories. I say mostly effortless because initially it seemed a bit forced, but it grows on you. I appreciate that there were interesting similes and there was no excessive detailing. That's right, my purple prose alarm didn't go off.
The Good - The main themes
Interesting themes, as mentioned before. Unusually heavy subject matter for the genre, which makes me wonder if this can really be classified as YA. I think anyone could read it as the age of the protagonist(s) doesn't really make a difference. Their thoughts have nothing to do with their age. To pick up where I left off, the strength of this book is that it deals with loss and effectively encourages everyone to move on. It acknowledges the pain, the heartbreak but then says (rather like a magical girl anime!) "You're not going to give up here, are you? I expected more of you."
The Mixed - The length of the book and the plot
I am not really sure how to feel about this. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a well written anecdote. Sometimes it was a long short story (it is only 174 pages...). Sometimes it was Chicken Soup for the Whatever Soul. It is not possible to treat it as a novel, given its length, plot development and the ending. I thought a lot more time could have been spent on William's later character development. His bouncing back from the depths of despair was only a couple of chapters at most, when it was the most interesting part. The beginning was too short for us to understand the characters and too long for anything of substance to happen later. In that case, why not spend more time on the core of the story? Or make the book longer as a whole.
The Mixed - The logic leaps
There are a bunch of odd things in the book that defy common sense, but it doesn't mar the experience too much. A couple of them did make me incredulous, but it's possible to shrug them off. Also beware of deus ex machina, especially toward the end as the author realised she was running out of pages/time. Mild spoiler warnings:
1. Annabel drowns in the lake next to the Calloway house, wearing an enormous white wedding dress. When her body is eventually found by the townsfolk, the friendly family doctor says that they saw her dress and investigated the lake.Ding! If the lake is deep enough to drown in and she drowned because of the weight of her dress (explicitly mentioned), how could they have possibly seen the dress? Anna mentions she and Will never found the bottom of the lake. The dress is wide and heavy, not long like a red carpet. Also, when everybody was gathering around the lake and heave ho-ing Anna's body, why did no one inform Will, the master of the house? It's his estate and his wife's body. Even if the body had been someone else's, they should have told him before trawling his lake, right?
2. Will, upon finding Anna is a spectre and is actually dead, throws the magic necklace of convenience into the woods, in despair. Mary, who knows already that Will cannot see Anna without the necklace, just sits back and watches him throw it. When he panics because he can't see Anna any more, Mary has an "Oh, crap, the necklace!" moment. Will runs off to retrieve it, to find that it is hanging from a suspiciously convenient tree branch. I may not be an expert on projectile motion, but I'm pretty sure if you throw something while seated on the ground, it would not be lying on an empty tree branch, glinting in the light for you to find it again.
3. Anna's supernatural abilities are inconsistent. At first she has difficulty catching hold of a book because it goes right through her fingers. But later, she narrowly manages to enter the house before the butler, who can't see her, closes the door. This should not be a problem if she were insubstantial. Much later, she can, despite fading at an increasing rate, pull blankets and unlock a door for Mary. Make up your mind already.
4. And why is it that the servants of the house never notice Anna's disappearance? Surely it looks strange when the master and his sister are talking into thin air.
5. Mary's letter to Will. This has to be read to be believed. Mary noticeably writes sections in bold and Anna immediately deduces there's a secret message. Will? He notices "the care she had taken with choosing her words." Way to go with the irony, dude.
The Bad - The mysterious, pointless mother
Why is Sara roaming the halls of Calloway Manor? What relevance does she have to the plot? As far as I could see, the story would have functioned perfectly well without her. I understand bringing up story to highlight Will's doubly tragic loss but don't see the need to reanimate her and set her off like a clockwork doll to stalk him. This also begs the question, why isn't she fading like Annabel? The protagonist who died less than a week ago is finding it harder and harder to hold on, but the mother who kicked the bucket five years ago is still hanging on like a refrigerator magnet? If this is due to sheer willpower, she could have lived. Let's face it, her only role here is to be a spiritual mentor to Anna after she dies, which Mary could have easily done.
The Bad - The super slow beginning and the characterisation
It is very, very hard to become attached to the characters in this book. Both they and the plot, are, as Loki famously said in the Avengers movie, burdened with glorious purpose i.e. the theme. The problem here is that the theme is intrinsically linked to the humanity of the characters, so if you fail to make believable people out of them, it becomes difficult to digest the plot. And that, unfortunately, is the biggest flaw of this book. I didn't care about these characters. I didn't blink when Annabel died, was only mildly interested in Mary and for most of the book, wanted to replace Will with Gerard Butler so I'd at least have something to look at.
We are told that Anna is a perfect, wispy blonde with a lively temperament and cheerful outlook. So is Barbie.
Mary has been seeing ghosts since childhood and hiding this fact from everyone. This seems to have no more effect on her than the colour of her hair.
Will comes off as a spoilt rich boy with parental neglect issues. Not grateful for a strong, loving sister and a girl who loves him deeply, he insists on being useless.
All this, combined with the sluggish start where absolutely nothing of import happens, meant that I was on the verge of ditching this book. The ending just about redeemed it, but not enough, in my opinion.
In the end, Madly, Deeply comes off like the ghosts it features: there, but not there. A strange mix of The Corpse Bride, The Sixth Sense and Byron's poetry, it doesn't really manage to do anything all that well but tries so hard all the same, that it cannot be called bad.
*Quotes and details taken from an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.*
Some loves are not meant to be. Or they are, but not in the way you think.
This is a difficult read for me to rate because this is a strange book that is about nothing and everything. It is heavily philosophical and the story is merely a vehicle for the theme, so much so that initially I was wondering if there would be a plot. The essence is life and fate, whether death is the end and most importantly for me, about moving on after loss. It is a very rare YA book that takes up this kind of thing, and even rarer for it to do it well. I think William's recovery and growth was decently charted, if abrupt.
But before anything else, since the summary is so vague, I have to mention what the book is actually about. Annaleigh, the protagonist of the story, who is inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's poem Annabel Lee, receives a proposal from her childhood friend-turned-love William. So they are engaged to be married and all is right with the world...or it seems. You see, Will's sister Mary is psychic and can see ghosts. She also has prophetic visions and dreams and the future is not looking bright for Anna. Since I don't really think I'm spoiling anything I will just go ahead and tell you that conveniently blond Anna dies on her wedding night. The rest of the story follows the three as they try to cope with the loss (Anna as a ghost) and move on.
Yes I know, it's tragic. Terrible. All those adjectives which one would apply to feeling sad, which I would have if I actually cared about the characters at that point. It took me a while to understand the point of the book.
Today I thought I'd review it in Kotaku.com style and use their headings. Extra note: This book is set in what I would say is mid to late 19th century America, judging by the simultaneous existence of corsets and photography.
The Good - The writing
The writing style is fluid, graceful and mostly effortless. It matches the era and the inspiration, though it notably falls short of Poe's atmospheric stories. I say mostly effortless because initially it seemed a bit forced, but it grows on you. I appreciate that there were interesting similes and there was no excessive detailing. That's right, my purple prose alarm didn't go off.
The Good - The main themes
Interesting themes, as mentioned before. Unusually heavy subject matter for the genre, which makes me wonder if this can really be classified as YA. I think anyone could read it as the age of the protagonist(s) doesn't really make a difference. Their thoughts have nothing to do with their age. To pick up where I left off, the strength of this book is that it deals with loss and effectively encourages everyone to move on. It acknowledges the pain, the heartbreak but then says (rather like a magical girl anime!) "You're not going to give up here, are you? I expected more of you."
The Mixed - The length of the book and the plot
I am not really sure how to feel about this. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a well written anecdote. Sometimes it was a long short story (it is only 174 pages...). Sometimes it was Chicken Soup for the Whatever Soul. It is not possible to treat it as a novel, given its length, plot development and the ending. I thought a lot more time could have been spent on William's later character development. His bouncing back from the depths of despair was only a couple of chapters at most, when it was the most interesting part. The beginning was too short for us to understand the characters and too long for anything of substance to happen later. In that case, why not spend more time on the core of the story? Or make the book longer as a whole.
The Mixed - The logic leaps
There are a bunch of odd things in the book that defy common sense, but it doesn't mar the experience too much. A couple of them did make me incredulous, but it's possible to shrug them off. Also beware of deus ex machina, especially toward the end as the author realised she was running out of pages/time. Mild spoiler warnings:
1. Annabel drowns in the lake next to the Calloway house, wearing an enormous white wedding dress. When her body is eventually found by the townsfolk, the friendly family doctor says that they saw her dress and investigated the lake.Ding! If the lake is deep enough to drown in and she drowned because of the weight of her dress (explicitly mentioned), how could they have possibly seen the dress? Anna mentions she and Will never found the bottom of the lake. The dress is wide and heavy, not long like a red carpet. Also, when everybody was gathering around the lake and heave ho-ing Anna's body, why did no one inform Will, the master of the house? It's his estate and his wife's body. Even if the body had been someone else's, they should have told him before trawling his lake, right?
2. Will, upon finding Anna is a spectre and is actually dead, throws the magic necklace of convenience into the woods, in despair. Mary, who knows already that Will cannot see Anna without the necklace, just sits back and watches him throw it. When he panics because he can't see Anna any more, Mary has an "Oh, crap, the necklace!" moment. Will runs off to retrieve it, to find that it is hanging from a suspiciously convenient tree branch. I may not be an expert on projectile motion, but I'm pretty sure if you throw something while seated on the ground, it would not be lying on an empty tree branch, glinting in the light for you to find it again.
3. Anna's supernatural abilities are inconsistent. At first she has difficulty catching hold of a book because it goes right through her fingers. But later, she narrowly manages to enter the house before the butler, who can't see her, closes the door. This should not be a problem if she were insubstantial. Much later, she can, despite fading at an increasing rate, pull blankets and unlock a door for Mary. Make up your mind already.
4. And why is it that the servants of the house never notice Anna's disappearance? Surely it looks strange when the master and his sister are talking into thin air.
5. Mary's letter to Will. This has to be read to be believed. Mary noticeably writes sections in bold and Anna immediately deduces there's a secret message. Will? He notices "the care she had taken with choosing her words." Way to go with the irony, dude.
The Bad - The mysterious, pointless mother
Why is Sara roaming the halls of Calloway Manor? What relevance does she have to the plot? As far as I could see, the story would have functioned perfectly well without her. I understand bringing up story to highlight Will's doubly tragic loss but don't see the need to reanimate her and set her off like a clockwork doll to stalk him. This also begs the question, why isn't she fading like Annabel? The protagonist who died less than a week ago is finding it harder and harder to hold on, but the mother who kicked the bucket five years ago is still hanging on like a refrigerator magnet? If this is due to sheer willpower, she could have lived. Let's face it, her only role here is to be a spiritual mentor to Anna after she dies, which Mary could have easily done.
The Bad - The super slow beginning and the characterisation
It is very, very hard to become attached to the characters in this book. Both they and the plot, are, as Loki famously said in the Avengers movie, burdened with glorious purpose i.e. the theme. The problem here is that the theme is intrinsically linked to the humanity of the characters, so if you fail to make believable people out of them, it becomes difficult to digest the plot. And that, unfortunately, is the biggest flaw of this book. I didn't care about these characters. I didn't blink when Annabel died, was only mildly interested in Mary and for most of the book, wanted to replace Will with Gerard Butler so I'd at least have something to look at.
We are told that Anna is a perfect, wispy blonde with a lively temperament and cheerful outlook. So is Barbie.
Mary has been seeing ghosts since childhood and hiding this fact from everyone. This seems to have no more effect on her than the colour of her hair.
Will comes off as a spoilt rich boy with parental neglect issues. Not grateful for a strong, loving sister and a girl who loves him deeply, he insists on being useless.
All this, combined with the sluggish start where absolutely nothing of import happens, meant that I was on the verge of ditching this book. The ending just about redeemed it, but not enough, in my opinion.
In the end, Madly, Deeply comes off like the ghosts it features: there, but not there. A strange mix of The Corpse Bride, The Sixth Sense and Byron's poetry, it doesn't really manage to do anything all that well but tries so hard all the same, that it cannot be called bad.
*Quotes and details taken from an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.*
jo_strader's review against another edition
4.0
This is a book about loss and grief. It is a beautifully written tribute to the power of love. William loses his other half on their wedding night. It really made me think about losing my husband, my better half, and I realize that even though we have been married for 21 years, it is not enough. William's grief touched me, made me cry, and made me appreciate that love should not be taken for granted. The book took Poe's poem of Annabel Lee and added aspects of the supernatural. It imagined the world perfectly with just the right touch of characters. It wasn't very long, but it was packed full of emotion. I would recommend to readers who don't mind a character driven novel who like a novel to make them feel emotions. It was truly well done, and I will definitely want to keep this one around for re-reads.
ladyblackmead's review against another edition
4.0
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley to review. All opinions below are completely mine.
Madly, Deeply is not your traditional love story.
Anna and Will are, well, madly, deeply in love with one another. Theirs is a love so perfect that it almost made me want to hurl. But not in a bad way, if that makes any kind of sense (it probably doesn't). And while their love for one another may be perfect, the other aspects of their lives are anything but. Both characters experience hardships in their lives that they must overcome.
The way that that Crouch writes makes for a very quick yet entertaining read, and once I actually allowed myself time to just sit and read, I made my way through this book very quickly. The plot flowed well and the characters were well developed.
Not being familiar with Poe's poem "Annabel Lee" I didn't know where the story was going. There were definitely many hints and clues sprinkled throughout the story, though I wouldn't go so far as to call it predictable. That being said, afterwards I looked up the poem, even though each stanza was given its own place at the beginning of each of the six sections of the book. Overall I thought this book was a fantastic reimagination of Poe's work.
Madly, Deeply is not your traditional love story.
Anna and Will are, well, madly, deeply in love with one another. Theirs is a love so perfect that it almost made me want to hurl. But not in a bad way, if that makes any kind of sense (it probably doesn't). And while their love for one another may be perfect, the other aspects of their lives are anything but. Both characters experience hardships in their lives that they must overcome.
The way that that Crouch writes makes for a very quick yet entertaining read, and once I actually allowed myself time to just sit and read, I made my way through this book very quickly. The plot flowed well and the characters were well developed.
Not being familiar with Poe's poem "Annabel Lee" I didn't know where the story was going. There were definitely many hints and clues sprinkled throughout the story, though I wouldn't go so far as to call it predictable. That being said, afterwards I looked up the poem, even though each stanza was given its own place at the beginning of each of the six sections of the book. Overall I thought this book was a fantastic reimagination of Poe's work.
caitdamp's review against another edition
3.0
This book is based of of the Edgar Allen Poe poem Annabelle Lee. I’m obsessed with Edgar Allen Poe and therefore grabbed this as fast as I could. I had high hopes for this book, but I went in knowing the poem and therefore knew that this wasn’t going to be a happy story. So if your looking for a sweet, happy, nothing bad happens story then go ahead and skip this one.
Now for the book itself, the first thing I want to talk about is the characters. The three main characters consist of Annaleigh, her beau William, and his sited Mary. Annaleigh and William have a very sweet relationship, almost a little too sweet. Their relationship seems perfect, which makes it unrealistic and kind of took me out the story, but it does lend to the fairytale aspect of it. Annaleigh was sweet and innocent while William was nice but also had a sad past that haunted him. Mary was my favorite because she was feisty and felt more real to me. She also has a paranormal talent that comes into play later.
As for the setting, I thought I was great. I felt like I was back in the 1800s. The author is very detailed so that the screens really poppa off the page for you. However, this brings me to the writing style which I didn’t like. It was too wordy and full of metaphors. I felt like every other sentence contains a metaphor and it was extremely distracting. I would have a preferred a more straightforward writing style.
The story alluded to the raven as well which I really enjoyed, Poe fans will have searching for these references.
As I was reading this book I kept thinking how cheesy it was and getting distracted by the metaphors, and I thought should I just go ahead and put this down? I didn’t and in the end I cried, hard. It was then that I realized that I has connected with characters and I truly did enjoy and like the story. This is the reason I’m giving it 3 stars.
I liked it, but I didn’t love it.
I would recommend this to anyone who is a big Poe fan and loves romance, and maybe a little paranormal as well.
Now for the book itself, the first thing I want to talk about is the characters. The three main characters consist of Annaleigh, her beau William, and his sited Mary. Annaleigh and William have a very sweet relationship, almost a little too sweet. Their relationship seems perfect, which makes it unrealistic and kind of took me out the story, but it does lend to the fairytale aspect of it. Annaleigh was sweet and innocent while William was nice but also had a sad past that haunted him. Mary was my favorite because she was feisty and felt more real to me. She also has a paranormal talent that comes into play later.
As for the setting, I thought I was great. I felt like I was back in the 1800s. The author is very detailed so that the screens really poppa off the page for you. However, this brings me to the writing style which I didn’t like. It was too wordy and full of metaphors. I felt like every other sentence contains a metaphor and it was extremely distracting. I would have a preferred a more straightforward writing style.
The story alluded to the raven as well which I really enjoyed, Poe fans will have searching for these references.
As I was reading this book I kept thinking how cheesy it was and getting distracted by the metaphors, and I thought should I just go ahead and put this down? I didn’t and in the end I cried, hard. It was then that I realized that I has connected with characters and I truly did enjoy and like the story. This is the reason I’m giving it 3 stars.
I liked it, but I didn’t love it.
I would recommend this to anyone who is a big Poe fan and loves romance, and maybe a little paranormal as well.
somarostam's review against another edition
4.0
Review here: http://insomnia-of-books.blogspot.com/2014/07/arc-review-madly-deeply-by-erica-crouch.html
When I received this book for review, I was really excited. I am a huge fan of Edgar Allan Poe and specially his poem, Annabel Lee. And this book is a retelling of the poem, so this was definitely a plus.
Annaleigh and William had a love that went beyond all reason. It was as if they couldn't be without each other, in life and in death. But fate had different plans for them and it all started on their wedding day.
This book is an eerie, dark read. I loved the author's writing style. It fit perfectly with the surrounding gloom and tragedy. Beautiful lyrical prose is what describes it. And Crouch's descriptions are a treat to the eyes. You can vividly imagine the beautiful surroundings.
Then, there are the characters. We don't have that many; there is Annaleigh. Whom is a brave, sweet and lovable girl. And William, who is everything a girl can ask for. Then, there is William's sister and I absolutely loved her. She added a lot to the book considering that she was just a secondary character.
The romance is the main subject of this book. it is always there, creeping up on you. And I found that I didn't really mind that this book was mainly focused on the romance and not much of the paranormal aspect of the story. I loved that the author used a different approach, when this book starts, Annaleigh and William are already in love and have been together for a long time. That was definitely refreshing to witness.
The ending was quite a surprise. I definitely didn't expect this book to go down that road. I wanted more of the paranormal aspect explained. But I didn't get that. And that was definitely the reason why I gave this book four stars instead of five. But all in all, this was a very enjoyable and quite short read that will appeal to fans of doomed romances and star-crossed lovers.
When I received this book for review, I was really excited. I am a huge fan of Edgar Allan Poe and specially his poem, Annabel Lee. And this book is a retelling of the poem, so this was definitely a plus.
Annaleigh and William had a love that went beyond all reason. It was as if they couldn't be without each other, in life and in death. But fate had different plans for them and it all started on their wedding day.
This book is an eerie, dark read. I loved the author's writing style. It fit perfectly with the surrounding gloom and tragedy. Beautiful lyrical prose is what describes it. And Crouch's descriptions are a treat to the eyes. You can vividly imagine the beautiful surroundings.
Then, there are the characters. We don't have that many; there is Annaleigh. Whom is a brave, sweet and lovable girl. And William, who is everything a girl can ask for. Then, there is William's sister and I absolutely loved her. She added a lot to the book considering that she was just a secondary character.
The romance is the main subject of this book. it is always there, creeping up on you. And I found that I didn't really mind that this book was mainly focused on the romance and not much of the paranormal aspect of the story. I loved that the author used a different approach, when this book starts, Annaleigh and William are already in love and have been together for a long time. That was definitely refreshing to witness.
The ending was quite a surprise. I definitely didn't expect this book to go down that road. I wanted more of the paranormal aspect explained. But I didn't get that. And that was definitely the reason why I gave this book four stars instead of five. But all in all, this was a very enjoyable and quite short read that will appeal to fans of doomed romances and star-crossed lovers.
liibookaddict's review against another edition
5.0
*Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for a honest review*
You can also find this review on my blog Lii's Adventures in Bookland
Once again Erica Crouch presents us with a truly magnificent piece of work. This book was so good that it got me thinking about it for days after I finished it.
When you get into this book you cannot help but falling in love with its characters especially with Annaleigh. She's a sweet and intelligent girl that could make any man fall in love with her. Her relationship with William is, what I supose, every girl's dream in a sense that they knew eachother since they were kids and could not keep their eyes off of eachother. They were madly in love.
'Madly, Deeply', is a heartbreaking story. I remember finishing it at 2am and having to immediately turn on the tv to keep myself from crying like a little baby because this is not how books are suposed to end.
Erica Crouch has such an amazing way to write since she puts down whatever she wants to say in a very accessible way, with a simple and to the point writing, without the need of big and complicated words.
Also when reading this or any of her other books you should keep in mind that she is in her early 20's. So I would say that she is pretty damn awesome.
You can also find this review on my blog Lii's Adventures in Bookland
Once again Erica Crouch presents us with a truly magnificent piece of work. This book was so good that it got me thinking about it for days after I finished it.
When you get into this book you cannot help but falling in love with its characters especially with Annaleigh. She's a sweet and intelligent girl that could make any man fall in love with her. Her relationship with William is, what I supose, every girl's dream in a sense that they knew eachother since they were kids and could not keep their eyes off of eachother. They were madly in love.
'Madly, Deeply', is a heartbreaking story. I remember finishing it at 2am and having to immediately turn on the tv to keep myself from crying like a little baby because this is not how books are suposed to end.
Erica Crouch has such an amazing way to write since she puts down whatever she wants to say in a very accessible way, with a simple and to the point writing, without the need of big and complicated words.
Also when reading this or any of her other books you should keep in mind that she is in her early 20's. So I would say that she is pretty damn awesome.
lumatere's review against another edition
3.0
This was actually better than expected. I feel like a lot was accomplished in a relatively short book, and the ending was definitely bold. A bit too emo and dark for my taste, and the writing was somewhat iffy at times, but an enjoyable read overall. Poe fans would love this romantic take on the poem it was based off of.
naruleth's review against another edition
4.0
This review can be found on A Reading Addiction! Honest YA book reviews :) Also on Netgalley.
*My copy was kindly provided by Patchwork Press via Netgalley in exchange for a review! (Thank you!)*
What first attracted me to Madly, Deeply is that it is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's poem Annabel Lee, a poem which I have always loved. It struck me as a really amazing idea to write a novel based on a such a vivid, dark poem and I couldn't wait to get stuck in and see how Erica Crouch would weave the themes of the poem into a novel.
Madly, Deeply centres around characters Annaleigh and William, who we meet at the very height of their relationship when they are deeply in love and desperate to get married. Of course, things do not quite work out as they had always planned. I loved all of their interactions as their dialogue always flowed well, and Crouch gave just enough backstory without dumping information on the reader. As we come into the story they are established as a couple, so I was glad that they knew each other so clearly that it was easier for me as a reader to get to know them both individually through each other's eyes.
Before reading I wasn't entirely sure what the main themes in the novel would be exactly even though I had a good idea about it due to Annabel Lee. I was swept along with the well-paced flow of the story and I loved Crouch's writing, which was imaginative and beautifully descriptive. Reading some parts in the dark seriously gave me goosebumps. I loved the descriptions of the setting, the huge house and the eerie lake, the extravagant gowns and the grounds of the house. A favourite quote of mine was a description of William's sister Mary – "She was always glowing, as if she had stolen the stars from the night sky and swallowed them whole, wanting to shine from within."
My only criticism of the book is not really a criticism but just how I felt reading the second half. The story is extremely sad and heart-wrenching and at times it felt like there was no moments of breathing space from that. As the characters were consumed with grief, so was the novel. As I said, it's not really a criticism because of course sometimes there is no freedom from grief and Crouch did portray the stages of grief very well, not romanticising loss but instead exploring ways for her characters to get through it – and the guilt that comes with getting through it. I especially loved this paragraph about grief:
"The anguish of grief, it turned out, did not lessen once acknowledged. It wasn't as easy as a scraped knee, where a good cry would distract from the pain until the weeping stopped and the cut was bandaged. Once you touched it, grief only grew. It took on more, swallowed you whole until that's all there was. Grief was an egotistical emotion, unsatisfied until it became the only thing a person knew, the only thing they could see."
I loved Madly, Deeply, especially the beautiful writing style and imagery, as well as the three main characters, Annaleigh, William, and Mary, who I liked individually for their own personalities. I also really enjoyed the supernatural elements and thought it brought an interesting next level for the grief suffered by the characters.
I would definitely recommend Madly, Deeply for anyone, but especially for fans of darker emotional romances such as Wuthering Heights, and of course fans of Edgar Allan Poe!
Have you read Madly, Deeply? What were your thoughts?
*My copy was kindly provided by Patchwork Press via Netgalley in exchange for a review! (Thank you!)*
What first attracted me to Madly, Deeply is that it is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's poem Annabel Lee, a poem which I have always loved. It struck me as a really amazing idea to write a novel based on a such a vivid, dark poem and I couldn't wait to get stuck in and see how Erica Crouch would weave the themes of the poem into a novel.
Madly, Deeply centres around characters Annaleigh and William, who we meet at the very height of their relationship when they are deeply in love and desperate to get married. Of course, things do not quite work out as they had always planned. I loved all of their interactions as their dialogue always flowed well, and Crouch gave just enough backstory without dumping information on the reader. As we come into the story they are established as a couple, so I was glad that they knew each other so clearly that it was easier for me as a reader to get to know them both individually through each other's eyes.
Before reading I wasn't entirely sure what the main themes in the novel would be exactly even though I had a good idea about it due to Annabel Lee. I was swept along with the well-paced flow of the story and I loved Crouch's writing, which was imaginative and beautifully descriptive. Reading some parts in the dark seriously gave me goosebumps. I loved the descriptions of the setting, the huge house and the eerie lake, the extravagant gowns and the grounds of the house. A favourite quote of mine was a description of William's sister Mary – "She was always glowing, as if she had stolen the stars from the night sky and swallowed them whole, wanting to shine from within."
My only criticism of the book is not really a criticism but just how I felt reading the second half. The story is extremely sad and heart-wrenching and at times it felt like there was no moments of breathing space from that. As the characters were consumed with grief, so was the novel. As I said, it's not really a criticism because of course sometimes there is no freedom from grief and Crouch did portray the stages of grief very well, not romanticising loss but instead exploring ways for her characters to get through it – and the guilt that comes with getting through it. I especially loved this paragraph about grief:
"The anguish of grief, it turned out, did not lessen once acknowledged. It wasn't as easy as a scraped knee, where a good cry would distract from the pain until the weeping stopped and the cut was bandaged. Once you touched it, grief only grew. It took on more, swallowed you whole until that's all there was. Grief was an egotistical emotion, unsatisfied until it became the only thing a person knew, the only thing they could see."
I loved Madly, Deeply, especially the beautiful writing style and imagery, as well as the three main characters, Annaleigh, William, and Mary, who I liked individually for their own personalities. I also really enjoyed the supernatural elements and thought it brought an interesting next level for the grief suffered by the characters.
I would definitely recommend Madly, Deeply for anyone, but especially for fans of darker emotional romances such as Wuthering Heights, and of course fans of Edgar Allan Poe!
Have you read Madly, Deeply? What were your thoughts?
readingwithana's review against another edition
1.0
(Review thanks to a free digital ARC from NetGalley)
Annaleigh and William have known each other since they have been kids and now, they are ready to get married. Everybody is very excited to finally see this pair get married and have a family together. However, it does not seem that fate is not on their side.
It was hard for me to come up with a good summary for this book. This book is all over the place that is hard to pinpoint what is worthy of being mentioned. At the beginning, I found it pretty interesting but as the story continued, I found it difficult to keep myself interested in the characters and the plot.
First, the characters are not very likable. Annaleigh and William seemed very bland and were not given much dimension. The only thing that was evident between the two was how much they loved each other but that got boring fairly quickly. There is also William's little sister, Mary, who is very bossy and became one of the most annoying characters in this book.
There are many inconsistencies that go on in the book that makes the book lose its credibility. For me, it made the book less interesting and confusing because I did not really understand what was going on. Also, there was the introduction of ghosts and dark themes of that sort but it continued to add with the confusion. A lot of the inconsistencies went along with these themes of the book and for logical reasons, did not make sense.
I honestly do not what else to say. This book is just very terrible.
Annaleigh and William have known each other since they have been kids and now, they are ready to get married. Everybody is very excited to finally see this pair get married and have a family together. However, it does not seem that fate is not on their side.
It was hard for me to come up with a good summary for this book. This book is all over the place that is hard to pinpoint what is worthy of being mentioned. At the beginning, I found it pretty interesting but as the story continued, I found it difficult to keep myself interested in the characters and the plot.
First, the characters are not very likable. Annaleigh and William seemed very bland and were not given much dimension. The only thing that was evident between the two was how much they loved each other but that got boring fairly quickly. There is also William's little sister, Mary, who is very bossy and became one of the most annoying characters in this book.
There are many inconsistencies that go on in the book that makes the book lose its credibility. For me, it made the book less interesting and confusing because I did not really understand what was going on. Also, there was the introduction of ghosts and dark themes of that sort but it continued to add with the confusion. A lot of the inconsistencies went along with these themes of the book and for logical reasons, did not make sense.
I honestly do not what else to say. This book is just very terrible.