Scan barcode
A review by lezreadalot
Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling
4.0
Nobody mistook her for a delicate, damaged flower, but few doubted that such horrid grief could leave a woman untouched. Her veil was armor. Her veil was indispensable.
This is wonderful; creeping, unsettling, very lush horror, very brilliantly done. The story of a rich, grief-ridden shipping magnate, and how her world starts to crumble when a strange plague comes to her already dying city.
Really beautiful, atmospheric prose can make or break a novel like this one, one that relies so heavily on words to build up the specific kind of setting that the story needs. And Starling's writing made this novel; it really was lovely to read, even while being creepy in a lot of ways. It's horror, but it straddles a nice line in that it doesn't seek to be outright scary (which some books try and fail at) but it is quite unsettling and extremely human somehow. I adore reading about complicated women, selfish and somewhat amoral women, women who are perhaps unwisely loyal to one another, and I got varying doses of all of that, and it was so satisfying. I loved Evelyn's character, and all those slow reveals that let us know about her past. Also all of the imagery that this book evokes is so so good, so so vivid.
Some nitpicks:
- I always feel weird saying 'I wish this were longer' about a novella because, I mean, the author chose to write a novella because they thought that's what would work best for the story! But I really do feel like with some more detail and depth would have only benefited the story and plot here. There are some side characters especially that I think we could have spent more time with, and some of the reveals were dropped so very quickly, in an abrupt way that didn't 100% work for me. And also just... the writing was really good! I wanted more of it!
- Relatedly, I do wish we'd gotten some more moments between Evelyn and Violetta, some more backstory to their time working together, maybe a couple flashbacks. It would have made the events in the latter half of the story even more impactful and striking and emotionally dense.
- I'm very glad that there was no huge info-dumping to give us the information on this city and its history and politics but also... I remain pretty confused about what exactly was going on lol. This could just be me; I just don't have a head for politics in books, especially fantasy politics. But I would have appreciated a little more explanation/clarity.
Very minor complaints though. This was thoroughly enjoyable. A departure from my normal reads, but I'm very very glad I made the detour. Wonderful writing and a great, unique story. 4.5 stars.
☆ Review copy provided via NetGalley.
This is wonderful; creeping, unsettling, very lush horror, very brilliantly done. The story of a rich, grief-ridden shipping magnate, and how her world starts to crumble when a strange plague comes to her already dying city.
Really beautiful, atmospheric prose can make or break a novel like this one, one that relies so heavily on words to build up the specific kind of setting that the story needs. And Starling's writing made this novel; it really was lovely to read, even while being creepy in a lot of ways. It's horror, but it straddles a nice line in that it doesn't seek to be outright scary (which some books try and fail at) but it is quite unsettling and extremely human somehow. I adore reading about complicated women, selfish and somewhat amoral women, women who are perhaps unwisely loyal to one another, and I got varying doses of all of that, and it was so satisfying. I loved Evelyn's character, and all those slow reveals that let us know about her past. Also all of the imagery that this book evokes is so so good, so so vivid.
Some nitpicks:
- I always feel weird saying 'I wish this were longer' about a novella because, I mean, the author chose to write a novella because they thought that's what would work best for the story! But I really do feel like with some more detail and depth would have only benefited the story and plot here. There are some side characters especially that I think we could have spent more time with, and some of the reveals were dropped so very quickly, in an abrupt way that didn't 100% work for me. And also just... the writing was really good! I wanted more of it!
- Relatedly, I do wish we'd gotten some more moments between Evelyn and Violetta, some more backstory to their time working together, maybe a couple flashbacks. It would have made the events in the latter half of the story even more impactful and striking and emotionally dense.
- I'm very glad that there was no huge info-dumping to give us the information on this city and its history and politics but also... I remain pretty confused about what exactly was going on lol. This could just be me; I just don't have a head for politics in books, especially fantasy politics. But I would have appreciated a little more explanation/clarity.
Very minor complaints though. This was thoroughly enjoyable. A departure from my normal reads, but I'm very very glad I made the detour. Wonderful writing and a great, unique story. 4.5 stars.
☆ Review copy provided via NetGalley.