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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
medium-paced
This was a book that I had seen a couple of times around and decided to give it a try. I am so glad that I did because I loved it! Told from different characters perspectives it follows English teacher Clare whose close friend is murdered. There is a spooky vibe that follows the entire book. I will admit that I had my suspicious proven correct at the end of the book but that did not take away from how much I liked it.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was an enjoyable spooky gothic read. I would recommend it for a Halloween read with candles !!
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As a basic introduction to this book, it is difficult to see how a book about an investigation into a 'Gothic horror' story and author and their links to a modern day murder all wrapped in a crime novel could be anything else other than gripping. Feel free to read that last sentence with or without irony… if Gothic horror and police procedurals are your thing (as they are mine), this book will grip from the first page on. However, if you find prose constructed and contained within a novel as if written by a fictional author a bit much, well, you are in the wrong place!
Other than the Gothic elements of this book, it is very contemporary in terms of style and references and feels very much like a modern novel in its composition but it is still unlike virtually anything else I have read. Other authors have certainly written prose as if previously written by another author and there have unquestionably been many books where links have been drawn between past and present ‘happenings’. But this is the first time I have experienced that style of writing in the crime genre.
The prose is fairly concise and the plot moves at a surprisingly good rate being propelled by a number of protagonists’ voices and diary entries. There are very few dull spots or unnecessary parts in this novel and indeed there are some genuinely chilling and possibly disturbing portions where the reader is left feeling unsettled, but in a good way! In addition, and in the tradition of a Gothic horror novel, the potential of a supernatural explanation to the events of the story hangs over this novel to the end – does everything that happens have a purely rational explanation or is there a supernatural element directing the narrative? Well I’m not going to answer that!
This is, if not truly a unique book it is certainly quite unusual and I have to say I enjoyed every minute I spent reading it.
Other than the Gothic elements of this book, it is very contemporary in terms of style and references and feels very much like a modern novel in its composition but it is still unlike virtually anything else I have read. Other authors have certainly written prose as if previously written by another author and there have unquestionably been many books where links have been drawn between past and present ‘happenings’. But this is the first time I have experienced that style of writing in the crime genre.
The prose is fairly concise and the plot moves at a surprisingly good rate being propelled by a number of protagonists’ voices and diary entries. There are very few dull spots or unnecessary parts in this novel and indeed there are some genuinely chilling and possibly disturbing portions where the reader is left feeling unsettled, but in a good way! In addition, and in the tradition of a Gothic horror novel, the potential of a supernatural explanation to the events of the story hangs over this novel to the end – does everything that happens have a purely rational explanation or is there a supernatural element directing the narrative? Well I’m not going to answer that!
This is, if not truly a unique book it is certainly quite unusual and I have to say I enjoyed every minute I spent reading it.
mysterious
medium-paced