Reviews

Discovering this entire novel was a wild fantasy about real life people was kind of a punch to the gut. I don't think I would have read the book actually if I knew that; I hate fanfiction about actual human beings. (There is also no speculative element if you're looking for something supernatural in your gothic.)

Content Warnings

paperpages's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

shinie's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

sandreline's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

"Remember you are safe. Your response is out of proportion to the facts. There is no danger except in your mind."

After the introduction, we meet Anna as a middle-aged woman. You quickly parse she is someone who has spent her life supporting the dreams of her husband, and man who, while perhaps good-intentioned, has a bumbling paternalism for his wife.

In Anna's point of view you hear all the excuses she makes for him. She is filled with a lifetime of guilt, shame, and inferiority, and that colors all her interactions with him.

This is where King Nyx excels. Exposing and subtly picking apart the relationships between it's characters. And that is the primary focus for the first half of the book.

After that is when it starts to fall apart. We fall into a mystery set up quite well in the beginning, but tied together a bit too cleanly at the end. Those meaty character interactions fall to the wayside for some gothic-mystery shenanigans.

The most disappointing aspect for me was that we didn't really get to see all that much growth from Anna. She is, ultimately, the same character we meet at the beginning.

Very strong start, but I wish this story had leaned more into its strengths instead of getting lost in its own mysteries.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

Content Warnings

bookworm4tea's review

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No

3.0

sevseverance's review

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3.5

It took me about 150 pages to really be invested in this book and the characters. Then I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it. Sometimes I felt the narrative was forced. She would see something and then it would allow the story to continue. It was not my favorite type of writing to read.

I liked the female characters and their feistiness. They didn’t give up and it reminded me how hard it was to be a woman at the beginning of the 20th century. It was also a little spooky and I didn’t see the twists or neat wrap up coming.

The juxtaposition of two types of institutions for women-the one like a prison and the one like a spa. The ending had some lines that I appreciated.

"Maybe the story would never be a purring, smooth-running thing, like the automobile that had carried Charlie and me when we'd first arrived on the island. Maybe real life never made that kind of sense. At least, not to imperfect human eyes. We were small and tangled in it all; we'd never get a view of the whole machine." (Kirsten Bakis, King Nyx; p.243)

This line was finding words to something I have felt, "Instead it was as if my emotions sensed that they couldn't be any help here and stepped aside, leaving me still and cold." (Kirsten Bakis, King Nyx; p.268)

"When everyone is telling you one thing, it can be hard to see something different, even if it's right in front of you. To do so means breaking with the people who make up your world, who keep you safe. It means walking outside the warm circle around the fire and into the dark unknown, the territory of the excluded" (Kirsten Bakis, King Nyx; p. 295)

jessielavoieak's review

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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