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knitswithbeer's review
5.0
Interesting little tale. Can imagine it potentially being expanded or continued.
New writer to watch methinks
New writer to watch methinks
arachnichemist's review
4.0
This was a creepy and delightful bite sized read. The story starts off rather disjointed, but begins to clear up and make sense by the end. I really can't say much without a major spoilers but I did enjoy the reveal at the end. A creepy, disturbing, but ultimately a delightful read. I look forward to more of this author's writing in the future.
kitvaria_sarene's review
5.0
I quite enjoyed that little novelette!
It was darker than expected, though not scary. It had quite some good unpredictable twists and kept the reader in the dark about what was going on for quite a while!
I especially enjoyed the mix of what felt like a bit of Poe, with a young childs POV, a dash of bloody murder, a bit of deceit and some lore to spice it up!
Definitely worth a look for a quick "story snack" between the big books! I'll definitely keep an eye out for more works of Laura Hughes!
It was darker than expected, though not scary. It had quite some good unpredictable twists and kept the reader in the dark about what was going on for quite a while!
I especially enjoyed the mix of what felt like a bit of Poe, with a young childs POV, a dash of bloody murder, a bit of deceit and some lore to spice it up!
Definitely worth a look for a quick "story snack" between the big books! I'll definitely keep an eye out for more works of Laura Hughes!
liisp_cvr2cvr's review
4.0
What is the novelette about? Blue is a 10 year old girl who visits the graveyard every day as her twin, older sister and mother have been laid to rest there. During one of the visits, there is a very ragged looking man standing on her sister’s grave. He offers Blue a deal to redeem the sins of her dead family members or their souls will forever be stuck in between Heaven and Hell.
“And let us not forget: to sin against your fellow man is to sin against Heaven, against seraphim such as myself. It is because of malefactors like you that we are reduced to this-” he straightened and gestured at his scorched clothes, “- and so it is your duty to make things right.”
To save her families souls, Blue must commit 10 acts for the man, one for each of her years. And so the countdown from 10 will begin… I really enjoyed the addition of Snail and Crow who appeared every time Blue was committing one of those acts. They were like the yin and yang of Blue’s subconscious, the angel and devil sitting on her shoulders.
She knows vaguely that this is right; that there should be fire to hold back the darkness, to warm the innocent, to burn the evil.
To give you an idea of the themes in this short read, Laura M Hughes addresses the very human weakness that is blind faith. Not by any means am I saying I don’t understand why Blue accepted the deal. I do. Everyone would do everything to save their loved ones. Also, we are dealing with a child’s mind here… and, personally, I believe that brainwashing kids with religion from early age should be banned. I digress… Back to the book…
The story is truly dark… there’s death, bloody consequences, murder and gruesome scenes. There is a subtle religious theme around sins and Ten Commandments. Is Blue avenging the innocents, is she wreaking revenge? Is she getting involved with something that little girls should never be involved with? Is Blue the victim or a hero?
You will find out everything there is to know about the why’s and the how’s and who’s… There will be no question, reasoning, logic lost in between the 56 Kindle pages of a story. Buckle up and be prepared for an hour of Hell on Earth!
This is all I can say about the story without ruining it for you with spoilers. ‘Memories are deadlier than monsters‘ is a very accurate summary for Danse Macabre. The overall writing truly created and set the scene in which Blue seems to ‘operate’. The only confusion I felt was around the time the story was happening- 19th century, 20th? There, thereabouts anyway. Also, I had trouble immediately getting into what was a memory and what was present- probably just my own lack of attention, however, memory bits formatted in Italics would have been awesome. Lastly, to those who have read the book and understand what I’m trying to say- I was a bit unhappy with the ending. I can see why one of the ‘items’ didn’t work on the man but that the second item did, seemed a bit far-fetched. It’s unique but unbelievable. And yet, they’re all tiny grievances. The never-ending fight in between good and evil, the questions of morals and wrong and right were brilliantly executed by Hughes in Danse Macabre and I really enjoyed this read. 4 stars.
I found out about this intriguing little story when Drew reviewed it on The Tattooed Book Geek and I immediately went to download my copy. This book truly is death dancing!
Blue always preferred numbers to words. Words have power. Words hold painful truths and delicious lies. Just one word can stir up a hundred memories and a thousand feelings so that you can be hurt by a word or killed by a sentence.
“And let us not forget: to sin against your fellow man is to sin against Heaven, against seraphim such as myself. It is because of malefactors like you that we are reduced to this-” he straightened and gestured at his scorched clothes, “- and so it is your duty to make things right.”
To save her families souls, Blue must commit 10 acts for the man, one for each of her years. And so the countdown from 10 will begin… I really enjoyed the addition of Snail and Crow who appeared every time Blue was committing one of those acts. They were like the yin and yang of Blue’s subconscious, the angel and devil sitting on her shoulders.
She knows vaguely that this is right; that there should be fire to hold back the darkness, to warm the innocent, to burn the evil.
To give you an idea of the themes in this short read, Laura M Hughes addresses the very human weakness that is blind faith. Not by any means am I saying I don’t understand why Blue accepted the deal. I do. Everyone would do everything to save their loved ones. Also, we are dealing with a child’s mind here… and, personally, I believe that brainwashing kids with religion from early age should be banned. I digress… Back to the book…
The story is truly dark… there’s death, bloody consequences, murder and gruesome scenes. There is a subtle religious theme around sins and Ten Commandments. Is Blue avenging the innocents, is she wreaking revenge? Is she getting involved with something that little girls should never be involved with? Is Blue the victim or a hero?
You will find out everything there is to know about the why’s and the how’s and who’s… There will be no question, reasoning, logic lost in between the 56 Kindle pages of a story. Buckle up and be prepared for an hour of Hell on Earth!
This is all I can say about the story without ruining it for you with spoilers. ‘Memories are deadlier than monsters‘ is a very accurate summary for Danse Macabre. The overall writing truly created and set the scene in which Blue seems to ‘operate’. The only confusion I felt was around the time the story was happening- 19th century, 20th? There, thereabouts anyway. Also, I had trouble immediately getting into what was a memory and what was present- probably just my own lack of attention, however, memory bits formatted in Italics would have been awesome. Lastly, to those who have read the book and understand what I’m trying to say- I was a bit unhappy with the ending. I can see why one of the ‘items’ didn’t work on the man but that the second item did, seemed a bit far-fetched. It’s unique but unbelievable. And yet, they’re all tiny grievances. The never-ending fight in between good and evil, the questions of morals and wrong and right were brilliantly executed by Hughes in Danse Macabre and I really enjoyed this read. 4 stars.
I found out about this intriguing little story when Drew reviewed it on The Tattooed Book Geek and I immediately went to download my copy. This book truly is death dancing!
Blue always preferred numbers to words. Words have power. Words hold painful truths and delicious lies. Just one word can stir up a hundred memories and a thousand feelings so that you can be hurt by a word or killed by a sentence.
queenterribletimy's review
4.0
Actual rating: 3.5
The review was originally posted on my blog with a choosen song!
Ten lives in exchange of three. Will you take the bargain? 10 years old Blue lost everyone she loved and when a black creature tells her their souls can’t rest in peace because of past sins she has to bear the burden of putting things right. A task too much for a little girl. Even so, Blue sets out to complete her part of the bargain. But she is not one for following rules, so as she makes progress and decides to make her own decisions, she slowly realizes that the creature in the graveyard has a a rather dark personality and starts to dread these regular visits.
We follow the events past and present through Blue’s eyes, written in third person. At times I found the tense switch confusing especially when it happened within a chapter. As the story progresses we get even more glimpses into Blue’s miserable life and we get to know her through her memories and past experiences, as well as her decisions during the time she tries to hold her end of the bargain. In such a short book as this, Hughes addresses quite a lot of topics from child abuse through thieving and adultery to murder. You might have guessed already that this is not a happy, heartwarming kind of story. Despite her circumstances Blue is not entirely alone. She has two constant companion: Crow and Snail, both encouraging her on their own way. Hughes works with really vivid pictures and descriptions, one can feel themselves right in the middle of the scene, though I could do with a fewer comparisons like this:
“She turns into a hallway where the walls are decorated with rainbows and handprints and splotches of colour, as though an enormous spider once danced in a paint palette then sprinted up the wall.”
Not because they are bad, on the contrary, they are really imaginative and cool, just found it a bit too much in such a short book. I would have liked simpler, shorter sentences to go better with the mood. On the other hand I loved some of the thoughts she put into it, such as this one:
“Follow your own path, girl. Listen to those as give you advice, but never trust in appearances, and never follow blindly. Make your own decisions, follow your own path, and you’ll not go wrong.”
That’s one hell of an advice everyone should follow. Danse Macabre is the perfect read for a cold, foggy autumn/winter afternoon which you spend curled up with a hot drink to chase away the chill of the weather and the story both. Blue and her journey will keep you glued to the pages, clench your heart and leave you utterly broken. It’s not hard to imagine a world so cold and cruel as the one Blue lived in after all.
The review was originally posted on my blog with a choosen song!
Ten lives in exchange of three. Will you take the bargain? 10 years old Blue lost everyone she loved and when a black creature tells her their souls can’t rest in peace because of past sins she has to bear the burden of putting things right. A task too much for a little girl. Even so, Blue sets out to complete her part of the bargain. But she is not one for following rules, so as she makes progress and decides to make her own decisions, she slowly realizes that the creature in the graveyard has a a rather dark personality and starts to dread these regular visits.
We follow the events past and present through Blue’s eyes, written in third person. At times I found the tense switch confusing especially when it happened within a chapter. As the story progresses we get even more glimpses into Blue’s miserable life and we get to know her through her memories and past experiences, as well as her decisions during the time she tries to hold her end of the bargain. In such a short book as this, Hughes addresses quite a lot of topics from child abuse through thieving and adultery to murder. You might have guessed already that this is not a happy, heartwarming kind of story. Despite her circumstances Blue is not entirely alone. She has two constant companion: Crow and Snail, both encouraging her on their own way. Hughes works with really vivid pictures and descriptions, one can feel themselves right in the middle of the scene, though I could do with a fewer comparisons like this:
“She turns into a hallway where the walls are decorated with rainbows and handprints and splotches of colour, as though an enormous spider once danced in a paint palette then sprinted up the wall.”
Not because they are bad, on the contrary, they are really imaginative and cool, just found it a bit too much in such a short book. I would have liked simpler, shorter sentences to go better with the mood. On the other hand I loved some of the thoughts she put into it, such as this one:
“Follow your own path, girl. Listen to those as give you advice, but never trust in appearances, and never follow blindly. Make your own decisions, follow your own path, and you’ll not go wrong.”
That’s one hell of an advice everyone should follow. Danse Macabre is the perfect read for a cold, foggy autumn/winter afternoon which you spend curled up with a hot drink to chase away the chill of the weather and the story both. Blue and her journey will keep you glued to the pages, clench your heart and leave you utterly broken. It’s not hard to imagine a world so cold and cruel as the one Blue lived in after all.
tfrohock's review
4.0
This dark little gem of a novelette is Hughes's debut and well worth your time. A little girl named Blue, a crow, and a snail set off upon the grim task of pleasing an angel, but angels are fickle and wicked and not always what they seem. Then again, neither is Blue.
Hughes shows a promising command of what makes a story dark. She never steps over the edge into needless gore, but combines mood and imagery to render a spooky tale most suitable for a dark and stormy night. I enjoyed it and finished it in a day. You will too.
Hughes shows a promising command of what makes a story dark. She never steps over the edge into needless gore, but combines mood and imagery to render a spooky tale most suitable for a dark and stormy night. I enjoyed it and finished it in a day. You will too.
agathag's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
grmatthews's review
5.0
A short, dark story of redemption and fall. Some beautiful imagery and a delicate touch with emotions. The story is carries you along in the mind of a small girl, lost amongst sorrow and loneliness.
taniabotes's review
3.0
Blue always preferred numbers to words. Words have power. Words hold painful truths and delicious lies. Just one word can stir up a hundred memories and a thousand feelings so that you can be hurt by a word or killed by a sentence.
3.5 stars. At only 56 pages this novella definitely had a bigger impact on me that most short stories I read. The language was beautiful and the story reminded me a bit of Neil Gaiman. If you are a fan of his, then try this.