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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Catriona Ward’s The Girl from Rawblood almost defies description as it crosses generations, characters, and locations. It is part haunted house/ghost story, part social commentary, part family tragedy. It is all of those things and somehow none of those things. There is plenty to disturb and plenty to sadden. There is even more to make you question your sanity and wonder what is happening. The general sense of unease crystallizes into a sense of horror as the pieces fall into place, leaving you to marvel at what Ms. Ward accomplishes.
Iris Villarca is only one of the characters at the heart of this tragic and compelling story. The story starts and ends with her, but along the way we touch on the lives of her ancestors and how they are each affected by the family curse. Just what the curse is remains nebulous, as are the reasons why the family is cursed, but that does not stop the terror from filling you when “she” makes an appearance. Much as one builds a lasagna, each member of the Villarca family adds another layer of understanding to the mystery of the curse and to Iris’ predicament. Theirs is not a happy story by any means, but there are snippets of brightness and love that ease some of the tension and reminds you that to give up on love means to give up on life.
The Girl from Rawblood is not a horror story in the Stephen King sense of the word. There exists violence and danger throughout the story; there is gore as well. Yet, it is not as assertive as King’s novels. With few exceptions, the violence is subtle, mostly off-screen and referenced in passing. The gore is less subtle, and there are some scenes involving medical testing that will turn your stomach. However, the sense of overriding fear that some of King’s novels cause remains lacking in Ms. Ward’s. One can still consider the novel horrifying but not for the reasons one expects when considering a horror novel.
Given all of that, and for many more reasons, it is no wonder that The Girl from Rawblood won the 2016 prize for Best Horror Novel at the British Fantasy Awards last year. Ms. Ward takes the traditional ghost story and turns it on its head with her cross-generational family curse. She also infuses the story with more concrete examples of horror – the kind humans can instill on each other. Combined together it is a novel that entices and horrifies readers, all the while allowing them to marvel at the genius twist on the genre Ms. Ward uses to create a novel that is similar to so many other novels but in the end so completely different from them all.
Iris Villarca is only one of the characters at the heart of this tragic and compelling story. The story starts and ends with her, but along the way we touch on the lives of her ancestors and how they are each affected by the family curse. Just what the curse is remains nebulous, as are the reasons why the family is cursed, but that does not stop the terror from filling you when “she” makes an appearance. Much as one builds a lasagna, each member of the Villarca family adds another layer of understanding to the mystery of the curse and to Iris’ predicament. Theirs is not a happy story by any means, but there are snippets of brightness and love that ease some of the tension and reminds you that to give up on love means to give up on life.
The Girl from Rawblood is not a horror story in the Stephen King sense of the word. There exists violence and danger throughout the story; there is gore as well. Yet, it is not as assertive as King’s novels. With few exceptions, the violence is subtle, mostly off-screen and referenced in passing. The gore is less subtle, and there are some scenes involving medical testing that will turn your stomach. However, the sense of overriding fear that some of King’s novels cause remains lacking in Ms. Ward’s. One can still consider the novel horrifying but not for the reasons one expects when considering a horror novel.
Given all of that, and for many more reasons, it is no wonder that The Girl from Rawblood won the 2016 prize for Best Horror Novel at the British Fantasy Awards last year. Ms. Ward takes the traditional ghost story and turns it on its head with her cross-generational family curse. She also infuses the story with more concrete examples of horror – the kind humans can instill on each other. Combined together it is a novel that entices and horrifies readers, all the while allowing them to marvel at the genius twist on the genre Ms. Ward uses to create a novel that is similar to so many other novels but in the end so completely different from them all.
Excuse me while I change my shorts....THAT WAS TERRIFYING!
Full disclosure, I'm kind of a woos, but this book was gothic and scary, sad and beautiful.
This is not for the faint of heart, in every way.
The story is about a girl names Iris, a beautiful girl with a sharp intellect and a horrible family affliction. They cannot love...if they do...they will die. And that is the beginning, for strangely that is the piece that starts everything and yet becomes so much more than that.
This story will leave you with feelings of...."if only". As the entire rest of the night, sleep was not a possibility and when I did sleep, I dreamed of the book.
Great October read!
Full disclosure, I'm kind of a woos, but this book was gothic and scary, sad and beautiful.
This is not for the faint of heart, in every way.
The story is about a girl names Iris, a beautiful girl with a sharp intellect and a horrible family affliction. They cannot love...if they do...they will die. And that is the beginning, for strangely that is the piece that starts everything and yet becomes so much more than that.
This story will leave you with feelings of...."if only". As the entire rest of the night, sleep was not a possibility and when I did sleep, I dreamed of the book.
Great October read!
This novel can be a bit confusing because it is not a linear story. Each chapter is written by a different person who has been affected by "her". In order to read this novel, you need to pay careful attention or else you will find yourself utterly lost. That being said, I found the story to be highly engrossing. I enjoyed putting the pieces together and seeing how the Villarca curse has affected those in the Villarca family line, as well as those who aren't directly a part of this family. I liked the fact that the story didn't flow smoothly; I enjoyed the jarring effect of being caught up in one story just to be yanked out and put into another. It made the reading of this novel so much fun! I also quite liked the way the author resolved the issue of the curse and how she ended everything. This novel definitely gave me chills here and there but it made me think more than anything. Overall, a really interesting ghost story that I enjoyed very much!
I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews, visit: www.veereading.wordpress.com
I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews, visit: www.veereading.wordpress.com
I'm giving this 4 stars for excellence, but only 3 stars for enjoyment: this is brilliant craft, but I took little joy in it. Ward deftly evokes a Gothic atmosphere, but delivered too few characters I cared about to keep me engaged. So we'll call it 3.5 overall.
Full review.
Full review.
As an author, it's very hard to not to read with a critical eye. You think "I would have done that differently" or "An editor should have caught that." Reading often feels like an exercise in critique.
From the very first page of RAWBLOOD, I knew that I was out of my depth.
The scent and vividness of Ward's prose takes hold from the off and clings tight until the fading of the last. She writes like a master impressionist painter, simultaneously colouring the Devon moors with subtlety, intricacy and emotion. From the moment I began reading, I felt as though my brain were floating somewhere else, slightly out of reach, lost on clouds of words so cleverly etched that they belonged in the sky. Ward's prose are scintillating; effervescent; ephemeral; the casting of dreams in words as light as cobwebs.
It takes quite a lot to frighten me in text. Ward accomplished it with incredible simplicity. Brief, fleeting clutches of daunting, blackest terror left me wondering whether I really could bear to turn out the light. Or whether *she* would be waiting for me in the darkness.
The storytelling of Rawblood is complex, deep, and spans numerous character viewpoints, each of whom tells their sad tale with a unique voice. It is a lesson for budding writers on creating character through perspective, but it is a story that requires thought, introspective consideration, patience and an ability to retain details over the length of the narrative. The payoff, when it arrives, shows just how finely woven every thread has been.
Rawblood is my book of the year for 2018. It came out before then, but that's when I read it, so yah.
From the very first page of RAWBLOOD, I knew that I was out of my depth.
The scent and vividness of Ward's prose takes hold from the off and clings tight until the fading of the last. She writes like a master impressionist painter, simultaneously colouring the Devon moors with subtlety, intricacy and emotion. From the moment I began reading, I felt as though my brain were floating somewhere else, slightly out of reach, lost on clouds of words so cleverly etched that they belonged in the sky. Ward's prose are scintillating; effervescent; ephemeral; the casting of dreams in words as light as cobwebs.
It takes quite a lot to frighten me in text. Ward accomplished it with incredible simplicity. Brief, fleeting clutches of daunting, blackest terror left me wondering whether I really could bear to turn out the light. Or whether *she* would be waiting for me in the darkness.
The storytelling of Rawblood is complex, deep, and spans numerous character viewpoints, each of whom tells their sad tale with a unique voice. It is a lesson for budding writers on creating character through perspective, but it is a story that requires thought, introspective consideration, patience and an ability to retain details over the length of the narrative. The payoff, when it arrives, shows just how finely woven every thread has been.
Rawblood is my book of the year for 2018. It came out before then, but that's when I read it, so yah.
I really enjoyed so much of this book like the gothic elements, and the medical sections but the last 5% really confused me. I'll do a more in-depth review later.