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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
I think some of my dissapointment in this book may come from anticipation. I had previously read The Luminous Dead & adored it, so when I saw the same author wrote a gothic horror I was sold. Unfortunately this books drags in the middle. Whereas TLD felt tense & kept good pace.... I feel this did not. There were certainly areas I enjoyed Jane herself is an interesting character & narrator, plus the unfolding of the mystery was fun & I really enjoy medical historal horror.
So many wonderful concepts, but the writing did not pull them together in a truly cohesive way. The acknowledgements say this book was written over 5 years and has had many incarnations, which may explain the bloated & somewhat confused (at times) nature of the book. I still enjoyed it, but it was difficult to get through, whereas I was practically attached at the eyeballs to TLD.
So many wonderful concepts, but the writing did not pull them together in a truly cohesive way. The acknowledgements say this book was written over 5 years and has had many incarnations, which may explain the bloated & somewhat confused (at times) nature of the book. I still enjoyed it, but it was difficult to get through, whereas I was practically attached at the eyeballs to TLD.
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
well. that was traumatizing.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
Well this was absolutely a trippy thing to read while laying in bed sick lol. It certainly had a lot of things I love in it as well.
I mean gothic, ghosts, love, magic, and a slight mind fvck lol. Really, almost all of my buzzwords were captured in this.
The atmosphere is amazing and the writing is absolutely brilliant. The author did an amazing job capturing the essence of gothic lit. Very immersive.
Also, the touch of medical horror was just enough to satisfy you if you enjoy slightly gross stuff in your horror. Medical horror is hit or miss for me but I really liked the way it was done and the imagery in here. Could absolutely picture it like I was watching a movie (which I think it should be tbh).
The actual storyline was extremely romantic imo, even if it does seem instalovey (trust the process), and I thought it was good!
The problem is, this had a trope/plot device in it that I hate in both horror and fantasy. It’s in my top 3 least favorite twists/ tropes. So when I got the vibe it was happening, I kinda stopped enjoying it. When I got the confirmation it was happening, I got a little bummed.
I also think that while this hits a lot of my buzzwords, it was indeed trying to do too much. Like yes it was a mind trip because it was supposed to be, but also just because it was too busy.
THE LUMINOUS DEAD, was another book by this author I felt kinda similar about. It should have worked really well for me, but it lost the plot somewhere along the way.
I will probably keep reading from her though because I do like her ideas and I do think one of them could really work for me.
Delightfully enjoyable, had me kicking my legs while I read. This book really was written just for me -- surgery, occultism, mathematics -- I only wish there had been more of it.
I really liked the premise of this book and the characters, but it desperately needed to be longer. There were some pacing issues that left me baffled - the thing with the eggs went on for WAY too long. Jane was a great character, but sometimes it felt like the author was trying to make her look smarter, but done in a way that only made everyone else look incredibly stupid.
Overall a good book and I'll be watching for other books by this author, but it wasn't quite as good as I was hoping given the hype.
Overall a good book and I'll be watching for other books by this author, but it wasn't quite as good as I was hoping given the hype.