A review by koalaautumn
Doomed Romances: Strange Tales of Uncanny Love by Joanne Ella Parsons

Did not finish book. Stopped at 54%.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one against my will. My e-book copy was an ARC, and my license expired before I could finish reading it. I'm very sad that I couldn't finish it. I enjoyed what I was able to read.

I read three short stories and was progressing on a fourth when I lost access. 

• I loved the introduction.

• The Invisible Girl (1833) by Mary Shelley: 3.25⭐️ - This was a surprisingly pleasant start to the collection, complete with a happy ending (for now) for the lovers. There were some really beautiful lines in this short story, but the writing style was, at times, hard to read due to sentence structure and comma use.

• Carmilla (1872) by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: 5⭐️ - All truths be told, I requested this book on NetGalley solely for its inclusion of this novella, which I've been dying to read. It exceeded my expectations. I found the sapphic undertones and bleak, gothic atmosphere enchanting and compelling. The writing was very accessible for a classic. Out of all the tales, the writing in this was my favorite.

• Mr. Captain and the Nymph (1876) by Wilkie Collins: 3.5⭐️ - I interpreted this as a cautionary tale against colonialism. There were strong "man versus nature" tones in this one. Sir, get off their island. Some really beautiful lines in this one, too.

• I was reading The Little Woman in Black (1885) by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, and it was just getting interesting when I lost access. Drats. I think I'm doing my Adobe Digital Editions downloads wrong.

Overall, from what I was able to read, this was shaping up to be quite a pleasant collection of gothic romance tales. Apart from Carmilla, I had never heard of the other titles. (I'd heard of the authors, of course, but only by way of their most popular works.) I appreciate the goal of these anthologies to bring classic tales back into fashion. The recent popularity of Robert Eggers's Nosferatu film indicates to me that gothic romance is just as popular and desirable as it's ever been, and all the tales in this anthology match those vibes perfectly. (I mean, these tales paved the way for our gothic romance tales of today. Without Carmilla, there likely would be no Nosferatu.) If I ever see this anthology at a store for a good price, I'll certainly pick it up to finish reading. (And publisher, if you want to send me a physical copy so I can leave a review that gives this full justice, I'd certainly appreciate that, too. 🖤)

Thank you to Independent Publishers Group for kindly providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.