Reviews

Have you watched Crimson Peak? Or any other Guillermo Del Toro film? I love those movies and this book has a very similar vibe. The atmospheric vibe of the Victorian-Gothic-Horror-Murder-Thriller with pity worthy monsters and humans as actual monsters. This kept up my interest until the end and I mostly enjoyed reading it. Rounding off 3.5 to 4 stars.

My favorite thing about this book was the period appropriate language. The dialogue felt like it was actually being spoken for the time. The plot was fast-paced and characters were mysterious as the plot requires them to be. I did not see a lot of the plot twists coming towards the end (expect maybe the one villain reveal in the last chapter). If you are looking for a fast-paced, winter holiday read I’d recommend this one to you.

My major qualm with this book is the Summary behind the book. It gives away almost 40% of the book’s story. So, I was 200 pages into this waiting for something to happen that I don’t already know of. Yes, the author cleverly establishes character and backstories during this time, but still, I would have preferred if most of the plot wasn’t given away in the summary.

Also, the ending felt like the author couldn’t choose which of the better storylines to go with. As I was reading, I guessed a few endings (killers/villains if you will) and almost all of those ended up being true. That shady character you thought was shady throughout the book? Yup, that shady character ended up being the villain. And so did the other shady character. It did not ruin the ending, but I wish it was tied together better towards the end.

Overall, I am once again glad I picked up a book randomly from the bookstore because I happen to have liked the gorgeous cover design. Sue me.

androniki's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

annabelws23's review

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4.0

I’m so glad I enjoyed this. After loving both The Silent Companions and The Corset, I found Bone China... disappointing. Purcell is back on her A game though. I think in part this is because the magical-realist conceit of The Shape of Darkness is sharper than its predecessor, and Purcell’s ability to create such captivating gothic stories is because she comes up with such tight premises with these sorts of conceits- the companions, the deathly(?) sewing etc.