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speakinglatin's review
4.0
Originally posted at Beneath the Jacket
I'm kind of shocked that I haven't seen this book featured or reviewed on other blogs. Somehow it went under the radar and people seemed to have missed its release. Well, I think it's time to change that.
Death Watch is for fans of the horror genre. It's been a while since a book freaked me the heck out. Sure, Anna Dressed In Blood has its moments, but Death Watch takes it to a whole other level. This mainly comes from Berk's descriptions and prose. The whole book played exactly like a movie in my head and I saw every scary and sometime horrific detail in my mind. And Berk's characters? AMAZING and so well fleshed out. I felt like they were all straight out of a Dicken's novel. The whole book has a very classic feel to it even though it's set in modern times. It might be because the town of Lichport hasn't really changed since its founding in the 1600s. All of its inhabitants seem to be happily stuck in the past, though the outside world has changed around them.
This isn't a book for people looking for a quick read. It's a little over 500 pages which is mainly unheard of in the young adult category. Even I, the *Queen of Patience, struggled with it sometimes. Berk goes into GREAT detail about the architecture of Lichport and sometimes I found myself skimming those passages. Though if you like architecture, more power to you, and pick this book up. If you're more a fan of fast-moving books like Legend, as a most recent example, you may not like this one. Death Watch takes its time to get started, but when it gets there, it's full of fabulousness.
I can assume from the first book that The Undertaken Trilogy is going to epic. Unless the next two books are going to be, like, 300 pages, then not so much. I can't wait to see how Silas develops in the rest of the series!
*I am not the Queen of Patience, I lied to you. I am not even the Duchess of Patience. I am a person with no patience and always in need of instant gratification. But yet, I still enjoyed the book.
I'm kind of shocked that I haven't seen this book featured or reviewed on other blogs. Somehow it went under the radar and people seemed to have missed its release. Well, I think it's time to change that.
Death Watch is for fans of the horror genre. It's been a while since a book freaked me the heck out. Sure, Anna Dressed In Blood has its moments, but Death Watch takes it to a whole other level. This mainly comes from Berk's descriptions and prose. The whole book played exactly like a movie in my head and I saw every scary and sometime horrific detail in my mind. And Berk's characters? AMAZING and so well fleshed out. I felt like they were all straight out of a Dicken's novel. The whole book has a very classic feel to it even though it's set in modern times. It might be because the town of Lichport hasn't really changed since its founding in the 1600s. All of its inhabitants seem to be happily stuck in the past, though the outside world has changed around them.
This isn't a book for people looking for a quick read. It's a little over 500 pages which is mainly unheard of in the young adult category. Even I, the *Queen of Patience, struggled with it sometimes. Berk goes into GREAT detail about the architecture of Lichport and sometimes I found myself skimming those passages. Though if you like architecture, more power to you, and pick this book up. If you're more a fan of fast-moving books like Legend, as a most recent example, you may not like this one. Death Watch takes its time to get started, but when it gets there, it's full of fabulousness.
I can assume from the first book that The Undertaken Trilogy is going to epic. Unless the next two books are going to be, like, 300 pages, then not so much. I can't wait to see how Silas develops in the rest of the series!
*I am not the Queen of Patience, I lied to you. I am not even the Duchess of Patience. I am a person with no patience and always in need of instant gratification. But yet, I still enjoyed the book.
sami_keehl's review
4.0
Reminiscent of classic Poe-esque gothic horror, yet not beyond the scope of imagining this as a Stephen King brain-child; this book is one of the more weird and interesting reads that's fallen out of my bookshelf.
I was first thrown a little by the pace of this book. As promised, it is very slow going. Many times I was caught confused, not understanding a point; I felt I was being kept from pertinent information. Assuming things would unfold, I hung in and once I was familiar the pace quickened considerably. I can't say everything was explained to justify my earlier bewilderment, but I think I can live with that. This book appears to purposefully confuse a little. Litchport is a place of superstition and old customs. The story is foggy in some senses, like a weird dream you've just woke up from and are trying to remember the details of before they're gone. The spoken dialogue is very assuredly not modern, reminding me of the old south, perhaps even the islands around Maine, and is sometimes quite nearly so unrelatable that indeed it does seem very dream-like. Then again, isn't any good ghost story? There are a lot of things happening in this book that depend on the reader to just accept that yes, this is what's happening, just go with it, it'll make sense in time.
But I think that's what make this so interesting and different. It doesn't compare against anything I've seen written in the last 20 years in a way that I could pit one book against another as an example. It holds itself in its own little niche.
All that said, this book is not going to appeal to everyone. It has a bit of a target market in the lover of ghost stories, folklore, mythology, and dusty old books. This is not a fast read, nor an action filled teen drama. This is a bit of a jump in a time machine to a time when the mind was a little less skeptical and a little more open to the things that lurk in the night.
I was first thrown a little by the pace of this book. As promised, it is very slow going. Many times I was caught confused, not understanding a point; I felt I was being kept from pertinent information. Assuming things would unfold, I hung in and once I was familiar the pace quickened considerably. I can't say everything was explained to justify my earlier bewilderment, but I think I can live with that. This book appears to purposefully confuse a little. Litchport is a place of superstition and old customs. The story is foggy in some senses, like a weird dream you've just woke up from and are trying to remember the details of before they're gone. The spoken dialogue is very assuredly not modern, reminding me of the old south, perhaps even the islands around Maine, and is sometimes quite nearly so unrelatable that indeed it does seem very dream-like. Then again, isn't any good ghost story? There are a lot of things happening in this book that depend on the reader to just accept that yes, this is what's happening, just go with it, it'll make sense in time.
But I think that's what make this so interesting and different. It doesn't compare against anything I've seen written in the last 20 years in a way that I could pit one book against another as an example. It holds itself in its own little niche.
All that said, this book is not going to appeal to everyone. It has a bit of a target market in the lover of ghost stories, folklore, mythology, and dusty old books. This is not a fast read, nor an action filled teen drama. This is a bit of a jump in a time machine to a time when the mind was a little less skeptical and a little more open to the things that lurk in the night.
jessahn's review
4.0
This book’s writing is whimsically gothic, much how I view how Ari lectures. He was one of my favorite professors so I decided to pick up the trilogy. I took his mythology course and I saw so much of the topics and themes reflected in this book.
printedadventures's review
I tried. I really did... but obviously since I started this back in Nov and have yet to pick it back up....don't think I will ever again.
mackle13's review
I got somewhere between 30-35% through this book, and I just can't.
It has all the elements of a story I should like, but I can't get into it. The narrative drones, the dialogue is stilted and strangely archaic, though I'm fairly certain this is meant to be modern day, and the waxing philosophic doesn't really work when you sort of just talk in circles.
Mostly, though, I just have no emotional investment in the characters. I'm bored, and I don't particularly care what happens. I struggle to get through more than 10-25 pages in a reading, because it literally puts me to sleep.
Not even is enough to keep me interested in continuing. And the thought of a whole trilogy of this? Ye gods and little fishes...
Pity, because the prologue was strong and made me think this would be good... but several of the reviews I read suggest the ending is anti-climactic and not worth the slog to get there.
So, yeah... I'm out.
It has all the elements of a story I should like, but I can't get into it. The narrative drones, the dialogue is stilted and strangely archaic, though I'm fairly certain this is meant to be modern day, and the waxing philosophic doesn't really work when you sort of just talk in circles.
Mostly, though, I just have no emotional investment in the characters. I'm bored, and I don't particularly care what happens. I struggle to get through more than 10-25 pages in a reading, because it literally puts me to sleep.
Not even
Spoiler
half a town living as intelligent zombiesPity, because the prologue was strong and made me think this would be good... but several of the reviews I read suggest the ending is anti-climactic and not worth the slog to get there.
So, yeah... I'm out.
bronwynmb's review
5.0
I will start with the negative bits. My issues stemmed from over excessive description, confusion of time and place, and un-answered questions. While I like description, things just got bogged down with all the description; things took twice as long to get through as they ought to, and things were described multiple times as if we forgot it the first time. I also kept forgetting this book was supposed to take place now, or recently; everything felt very old and far away, and while I understand that was to set the place off from the rest of the world, it often just felt confusing. As for all the un-answered questions I have, I know it's the first in a trilogy and so we'll most likely get all the answers, but for such a large book, I felt like more could have been answered. I think I'm suffering from book series fatigue right now and just want a stand alone that tells a whole story, so that might have clouded things.
As for the good. Despite complaining about the over-descriptiveness of everything, I thought it was really well done in creating the places in the book. I felt like I was in this little town on the sea side and it was really lovely. Likewise, the people were all really well done. I felt I knew everyone and who they were and a lot of their motivations throughout. Some people I'm still not sure where they fit in, but I hope that will be addressed in the future. Mostly, I really liked the story. I did feel it was overly long and took too long for things to happen, but the whole concept was really excellent and I can't wait to see where it takes us.
So, yes, it's not five stars, but mainly for personal issues with the text, rather than the story itself.
ARC from the author.
Edited March 26: The more distance from having finished this the more I find myself still thinking about it, the characters, and what's going to happen next. A book that lingers like that has definitely made an impression and warrants being bumped up star-wise.
As for the good. Despite complaining about the over-descriptiveness of everything, I thought it was really well done in creating the places in the book. I felt like I was in this little town on the sea side and it was really lovely. Likewise, the people were all really well done. I felt I knew everyone and who they were and a lot of their motivations throughout. Some people I'm still not sure where they fit in, but I hope that will be addressed in the future. Mostly, I really liked the story. I did feel it was overly long and took too long for things to happen, but the whole concept was really excellent and I can't wait to see where it takes us.
So, yes, it's not five stars, but mainly for personal issues with the text, rather than the story itself.
ARC from the author.
Edited March 26: The more distance from having finished this the more I find myself still thinking about it, the characters, and what's going to happen next. A book that lingers like that has definitely made an impression and warrants being bumped up star-wise.
gnull's review
4.0
What a different book. Not exactly a quick read, but still compelling. A new, to me, angle on death.
lizdesole's review
3.0
WHy do I keep reading trilogies? I honestly think the publishing world is too enamored of them. This would have benefitted with some more editing and being a stand alone book. It was cute but a bit twee. It also had a bit too much of a tendency to wax philosophical ( and cute at the same time-quite a feat)
I guess the trilogy ploy does pay off though since I will likely also read the next in the series (double sigh)
I guess the trilogy ploy does pay off though since I will likely also read the next in the series (double sigh)
brookiekav's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
4.5
krysreads's review
4.0
Via Black 'n Write Review
My final thoughts:
Okay, OK… So this story had me confused at the beginning with all these names and no other tying storyline for me to make sense of things, alas after a few chapters I realized that the story – more or less – jumped between the two towns of Lichport (Silas’ birthplace) and Saltsbridge (the town which Dolores insisted on moving the family after Silas was born). So in this book we find out Amos Umber was a chronic liar, mostly in part because Dolores didn’t want her son anywhere near Amos’ “work”. Silas missed a lot of school after his dad disappeared but graduated much to his mother’s relief.
After Dolores receives a letter from Charles declaring that he must sell the house since his brother hadn’t made any mortgage payments in over a year and needed to sell the house for compensation, but he welcomed Dolores and Silas to move in with him in the (practically) deserted town of Lichport. Much to everybody’s knowledge Charles had other plans for his new-coming family, and they would not be pleasant.
- Krys
My final thoughts:
Okay, OK… So this story had me confused at the beginning with all these names and no other tying storyline for me to make sense of things, alas after a few chapters I realized that the story – more or less – jumped between the two towns of Lichport (Silas’ birthplace) and Saltsbridge (the town which Dolores insisted on moving the family after Silas was born). So in this book we find out Amos Umber was a chronic liar, mostly in part because Dolores didn’t want her son anywhere near Amos’ “work”. Silas missed a lot of school after his dad disappeared but graduated much to his mother’s relief.
After Dolores receives a letter from Charles declaring that he must sell the house since his brother hadn’t made any mortgage payments in over a year and needed to sell the house for compensation, but he welcomed Dolores and Silas to move in with him in the (practically) deserted town of Lichport. Much to everybody’s knowledge Charles had other plans for his new-coming family, and they would not be pleasant.
- Krys