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mgmulu 's review for:
Reluctant Immortals
by Gwendolyn Kiste
(rating: 2.75) So, on paper, this book is very interesting to me-- I like the idea of a revisionist (or I guess a more accurate, depending on how you look at it) storytelling of Dracula and Mr. Rochester. I also like Lucy and Bertha as main characters here (Lucy tho is the narrator/pov) because I've always been interested in Lucy across different iterations of Dracula and in the original and honestly, Bertha doesn't really get much characterization in the original Jane Eyre if I remember correctly. So, coming across this book, I was excited to read it. But honestly, most things felt flat in this book.
The writing was lovely, but Lucy and Bee felt lackluster and didn't really exhibit any core personality outside of their responses to the events in the book. Dracula and Mr. Rochester felt really 2 dimensionally evil, if that makes sense, which I would give a pass if they weren't recurring characters/antagonists in last chunk of the book. It gets kind of old after a while. The plot felt repetitive at times, but not annoyingly so. I don't think it'd be an issue at all, if the characters felt more alive (no pun intended). I really like that it's set during the summer of love/late 60s, it adds a really interesting backdrop to the themes brought up in the book. All in all, if you're fans of Dracula or Jane Eyre, your personal interest might be enough for you to finish the book and enjoy the story; if not, I wouldn't recommend it.
The writing was lovely, but Lucy and Bee felt lackluster and didn't really exhibit any core personality outside of their responses to the events in the book. Dracula and Mr. Rochester felt really 2 dimensionally evil, if that makes sense, which I would give a pass if they weren't recurring characters/antagonists in last chunk of the book. It gets kind of old after a while. The plot felt repetitive at times, but not annoyingly so. I don't think it'd be an issue at all, if the characters felt more alive (no pun intended). I really like that it's set during the summer of love/late 60s, it adds a really interesting backdrop to the themes brought up in the book. All in all, if you're fans of Dracula or Jane Eyre, your personal interest might be enough for you to finish the book and enjoy the story; if not, I wouldn't recommend it.