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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Absolutely haunting tale.
Doesn’t get a 5 because I do think it dragged on quite a bit, especially in the second half.
Doesn’t get a 5 because I do think it dragged on quite a bit, especially in the second half.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Now this is a book that has me completely at odds with myself (the debate has been raging all night!). On one hand there is something excellently chilling about this book that embraces the older style of telling scary stories where there is a tinge of sadness and grief along with the horror and revulsion. But on the other hand, there are fairly long sections of this that are overly detailed and don't seem to fit with the overall story, not helped by the jumping around through various times and places or the array of characters (I'm sure they're related somehow but I got a little lost between them all at times). The latter was particularly problematic as I was reading it and I found I had to push myself to keep going. But as it built to the finale these threads seemed to start coming together and while they may not have been clarified completely I have a sense that they added to the overall feel of things. On finishing I did have a chill creeping along my spine as well as a sense of loss in my heart and various shadows looked somewhat more sinister than they had done previously so it can't have been all bad.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
This is, I believe, Catriona Ward's first book. I recently read The Last House on Needless Street and it blew me away. I struggled with this one, though, and I think I understand why, especially after reading a few other reviews of the book.
I didn't dislike this book, but, for me, it was terribly difficult to follow. It has lots of elements that I enjoy. It is gothic horror, and it is a ghost story. And, I suppose, there is a love story buried in there, as well.
The tale is set between the late eighteen-hundreds and early nineteen-hundreds. We are introduced to our main character (I think?), Iris, at the beginning. She is eleven years old. And it begins by her stating, "This is how I come to kill my father." That's a heck of an opening line, right? Iris lives at a place that is called "Rawblood," a huge house in England. There's a curse involved, or so Iris's father would have her believe. He believes that it the curse is in the blood of the Villarca family, but maybe it's in the house, itself. At any rate, Iris is not ever supposed to leave the grounds, and she most certainly not supposed to interact with other people. Such as the boy, Tom, with whom she already has a friendship, at the beginning of the book.
Regarding the curse, "It makes you very ill. It makes you hot with fever, and visions come to you of terrible things. You slip into a dream, where monsters roam. In the end, you lose your mind, so that you no longer know the places that you love or the faces of your family. Sometimes, it causes you to harm others."
The curse is spoken of as "the disease," which is then named "horror autotoxicus."
The time line jumps around quite a bit, which served to be confusing, from time to time. I frequently found myself having to thumb back to the beginning of a chapter to remember whose perspective I was reading. And the chapters, for the most part, are lengthy, only headed by a person's name, and not numbered. After Iris's initial chapter, beginning in 1910 (which then jumps back to 1908, and ahead to 1912), we are taken back to 1881, and a person named Charles Danforth. His chapter is presented in the form of a diary, beginning on October 3. Charles has a good friend named Alonso, who lives at Rawblood. Together, they work on some kind of dark experiment.
Ms. Ward's writing style in this book is, in many ways, exquisite. As the tale takes place at the turn of the twentieth century, it is written in that style. I saw some reviewers compare it to the likes of Bronte, Henry James, Daphne du Maurier, and Wilkie Collins. It was also noted that this is remarkable, this being her first novel.
There is a ghostly presence that runs throughout this book, through all of the various timelines, who is known only as "she" or "her." We get a glimpse or two of this entity, but are never even given a hint as to who it might be. When that is revealed it is mind-bending, and that's all I'm going to say about, because to say more would be a spoiler.
I might also say that one needs to be in a prime mental state of being when reading this book. If there are any distractions at all, it will certainly detract from your enjoyment, because one really must be paying close attention. It might be necessary to lock one's self in a soundproof room and leave one's phone outside the door. It is that intricate.
I would, in spite of my own struggles, recommend this book to lovers of gothic horror fiction and ghost stories. Just be aware that you have to really pay attention. It's not a "light" read at all.
I didn't dislike this book, but, for me, it was terribly difficult to follow. It has lots of elements that I enjoy. It is gothic horror, and it is a ghost story. And, I suppose, there is a love story buried in there, as well.
The tale is set between the late eighteen-hundreds and early nineteen-hundreds. We are introduced to our main character (I think?), Iris, at the beginning. She is eleven years old. And it begins by her stating, "This is how I come to kill my father." That's a heck of an opening line, right? Iris lives at a place that is called "Rawblood," a huge house in England. There's a curse involved, or so Iris's father would have her believe. He believes that it the curse is in the blood of the Villarca family, but maybe it's in the house, itself. At any rate, Iris is not ever supposed to leave the grounds, and she most certainly not supposed to interact with other people. Such as the boy, Tom, with whom she already has a friendship, at the beginning of the book.
Regarding the curse, "It makes you very ill. It makes you hot with fever, and visions come to you of terrible things. You slip into a dream, where monsters roam. In the end, you lose your mind, so that you no longer know the places that you love or the faces of your family. Sometimes, it causes you to harm others."
The curse is spoken of as "the disease," which is then named "horror autotoxicus."
The time line jumps around quite a bit, which served to be confusing, from time to time. I frequently found myself having to thumb back to the beginning of a chapter to remember whose perspective I was reading. And the chapters, for the most part, are lengthy, only headed by a person's name, and not numbered. After Iris's initial chapter, beginning in 1910 (which then jumps back to 1908, and ahead to 1912), we are taken back to 1881, and a person named Charles Danforth. His chapter is presented in the form of a diary, beginning on October 3. Charles has a good friend named Alonso, who lives at Rawblood. Together, they work on some kind of dark experiment.
Ms. Ward's writing style in this book is, in many ways, exquisite. As the tale takes place at the turn of the twentieth century, it is written in that style. I saw some reviewers compare it to the likes of Bronte, Henry James, Daphne du Maurier, and Wilkie Collins. It was also noted that this is remarkable, this being her first novel.
There is a ghostly presence that runs throughout this book, through all of the various timelines, who is known only as "she" or "her." We get a glimpse or two of this entity, but are never even given a hint as to who it might be. When that is revealed it is mind-bending, and that's all I'm going to say about, because to say more would be a spoiler.
I might also say that one needs to be in a prime mental state of being when reading this book. If there are any distractions at all, it will certainly detract from your enjoyment, because one really must be paying close attention. It might be necessary to lock one's self in a soundproof room and leave one's phone outside the door. It is that intricate.
I would, in spite of my own struggles, recommend this book to lovers of gothic horror fiction and ghost stories. Just be aware that you have to really pay attention. It's not a "light" read at all.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated