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jinxei's review against another edition
5.0
"You should be out by the orchard,
where violets secretly darken the earth"
If you have loved The Kingdom of the Wicked, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, or A Curse so Dark and Lonely, this one is for you.
Violeta Graceling and her brother, Arien, were found in the woods, orphaned after the horrific deaths of their parents. Raised by a once-soft-now-cruel woman, Violeta and Arien must hide a dark secret that threatens the lives of not just them but everyone else. But when their secret is discovered on the night of the tithe by the monstrous and dark Lord Rowan Sylvanan, the siblings are brought away to his haunted manor, Lakesedge. Not all is what it seems, though, and the secrets that Violeta and Rowan are harboring could be enough to drown them all.
A beautifully written Gothic Fantasy that was the perfect transition into the spooky season. The tension between the main characters as they worked together to overcome the blight that threatens to destroy them all was so well executed. The stakes felt real and the atmosphere bleak with real, calculated risks. Despite who is originally posed as the "villain" of the story, I felt myself drawn even more to the real dark character.
The first book is not even out and yet here I am hoping for the sequel.
Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group in partner with Netgalley for granting my wish to read this early in exchange for an honest review.
where violets secretly darken the earth"
If you have loved The Kingdom of the Wicked, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, or A Curse so Dark and Lonely, this one is for you.
Violeta Graceling and her brother, Arien, were found in the woods, orphaned after the horrific deaths of their parents. Raised by a once-soft-now-cruel woman, Violeta and Arien must hide a dark secret that threatens the lives of not just them but everyone else. But when their secret is discovered on the night of the tithe by the monstrous and dark Lord Rowan Sylvanan, the siblings are brought away to his haunted manor, Lakesedge. Not all is what it seems, though, and the secrets that Violeta and Rowan are harboring could be enough to drown them all.
A beautifully written Gothic Fantasy that was the perfect transition into the spooky season. The tension between the main characters as they worked together to overcome the blight that threatens to destroy them all was so well executed. The stakes felt real and the atmosphere bleak with real, calculated risks. Despite who is originally posed as the "villain" of the story, I felt myself drawn even more to the real dark character.
The first book is not even out and yet here I am hoping for the sequel.
Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group in partner with Netgalley for granting my wish to read this early in exchange for an honest review.
theswordandthesea's review against another edition
3.0
Part of my ongoing mission to read my giant backlog of physical books. This was an OwlCrate book that’s been sitting on my shelves for years. If I was a 15-year-old goth I’d be obsessed, but as an adult woman who only occasionally enjoys the macabre, this was alright. The vibes are great but it felt about 75 pages too long and leaving things somewhat on a cliffhanger was a bit of a letdown. I’m glad I finally read it but I won’t be going back for the sequel.
janagaton's review against another edition
4.0
the writing got pretty redundant & this author loves the word "crimson", but it had all the autumnal gothic vibes that I've been craving, so i had a pretty good time
lpcoolgirl's review against another edition
5.0
Loved reading this book, loved the world and these characters, and I can't wait to read the sequel!
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
I had almost forgotten I already had this book. Almost. Yesterday I was looking for a hardcover to read, to make room for the Fairyloot orders that came in this week, and then all of a sudden I rediscovered this one. I remember that I was quite curious about the story when I got the book, but I thought it would be fun to not read the blurb again before reading so I would be surprised with the kind of story I'd get!
And I was for sure surprised. I have to admit that the plot was a little chaotic and the mythology a little hard to follow. That's mostly because a lot of characters tell three or more incomplete or false versions of a tale before they start telling the truth or decide to just not say anything at all. Therefore the book also lacked a true arc leading somewhere. It somehow felt like the story didn't reach a real conclusion in the end. But hopefully that will change when the next book comes out!
However, I did really enjoy the writing style and the atmosphere, mostly because they were so beautifully in sync. Maybe it was hard to understand what was going on at times, but it was not hard to feel that something was happening and that it was dangerous or huge. The author clearly poured her emotions into every word and sentence and wrote from the heart and not so much from the mind. And that makes up for quite a lot!
Just like I really enjoyed the characters. Since a lot of them are twisting the truth or omitting a lot of information it's hard to feel like we've really gotten to know them, but now the air is cleared for the most part I think our characters will be able to grow more into themselves in the next book. After all, everything they feared happened, everything they were protecting either died or survived. They can now start healing and fixing.
I'm looking forward to it!
And I was for sure surprised. I have to admit that the plot was a little chaotic and the mythology a little hard to follow. That's mostly because a lot of characters tell three or more incomplete or false versions of a tale before they start telling the truth or decide to just not say anything at all. Therefore the book also lacked a true arc leading somewhere. It somehow felt like the story didn't reach a real conclusion in the end. But hopefully that will change when the next book comes out!
However, I did really enjoy the writing style and the atmosphere, mostly because they were so beautifully in sync. Maybe it was hard to understand what was going on at times, but it was not hard to feel that something was happening and that it was dangerous or huge. The author clearly poured her emotions into every word and sentence and wrote from the heart and not so much from the mind. And that makes up for quite a lot!
Just like I really enjoyed the characters. Since a lot of them are twisting the truth or omitting a lot of information it's hard to feel like we've really gotten to know them, but now the air is cleared for the most part I think our characters will be able to grow more into themselves in the next book. After all, everything they feared happened, everything they were protecting either died or survived. They can now start healing and fixing.
I'm looking forward to it!
swampbooks's review against another edition
2.0
This could have been a beautiful, eerie tale of a haunted estate, but it was not well-written and so fast-paced that you didn’t get a chance to really steep in the moody atmosphere.
The MC is just another Chosen One who is over-dramatic and cries over nothing yet is still determined to solve every problem on her own. Hobbies of hers include sticking her nose in places it doesn’t belong and making things worse to drive the plot. She also mentioned tasting things 52 times. Like literally 52 times.
There were an absurd amount of commas and clipped sentences, a writing style which gets a bit annoying to read. This really should have been a standalone but I guess the author wants to do a love triangle in book 2 because it was definitely going that way. Ugh. No thanks!
The MC is just another Chosen One who is over-dramatic and cries over nothing yet is still determined to solve every problem on her own. Hobbies of hers include sticking her nose in places it doesn’t belong and making things worse to drive the plot. She also mentioned tasting things 52 times. Like literally 52 times.
There were an absurd amount of commas and clipped sentences, a writing style which gets a bit annoying to read. This really should have been a standalone but I guess the author wants to do a love triangle in book 2 because it was definitely going that way. Ugh. No thanks!
cmdufresne's review against another edition
3.0
I really thought I'd love this book, and it was..... fine. The writing is good, there are some plot points that are interesting, and the characters are okay. But everything is just a little flat. The characters don't have a lot of depth, and the "Gothic atmosphere" is just a dusting over a pretty normal group of people. The last third is repetitive and long, and I found myself repeatedly saying out loud "...seriously?" And not in an "oh my gosh!" way, but in a "why would you make the story do that" way. Didn't realize till after it's because there is another book. Should have had a better ending and been a stand alone.
e_j_cook's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.0