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A review by geekinthejeep
The Alchemy of Moonlight by David Ferraro
3.0
Thank you to Page Street Kids and Edelweiss for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
Y'all, I was so hyped for this book. It seemed made for me: a cover illustrated by C.J. Merwild, a queer gothic werewolf story, a retelling of The Mysteries of Udolpho. And, to be clear, this book does have all of those things! It's just a solidly middling book for a number of reasons, which is truly a real shame.
After being told that his options are either to marry a woman or be committed to an asylum and lose his inheritance after the death of his parents, Emile flees his overbearing aunt and finds himself in disguise as a servant in the mansion of Count Montoni. But his life isn't easy; not only does he have to stay in hiding until his eighteenth birthday, but weird happenings keep occurring around the mansion. First, he finds a severed hand on the property, which draws the ire of the head of the household. Then, Emile gains the attentions of both Bram, the local physician's son, and Henri, Montoni's nephew - whom he is tasked with helping through a strange sickness every full moon. Things go from bad to worse when Emile finds a body on the property as his aunt comes to collect him; Count Montoni forces them all to flee to the isolated Udolpho Castle, where they are all trapped with the curse that haunts the family.
I struggled with how to rate this book. The plot itself is actually a genuinely interesting one that keeps you guessing from the beginning. I think, with a more deft hand, it could have been a great story. The setting is atmospheric and haunting and truly does deliver on the promise of a creepy gothic mystery. In particular, the descriptions of Udolpho Castle are pulse-poundingly eerie, especially after the relative calm of the first half of the book. Even the reveal of the werewolves and their surrounding mythology is unique and well done. I've read a lot of werewolf books, and this brought new and interesting pieces to the lore, from their original curse to their extreme healing capabilities. Count Montoni made for a good villain; he was evil in a very realistic way, succeeding in humanizing all of the other characters around him without seeming like an over the top-type bad guy. The secondary characters - Blanche, Annette, and Ludovico - are all fun and interesting, too! It's a shame we don't get to hear more about them throughout the course of the story. The pieces were all there to make this a solidly good book.
On the other hand, where this story fell short was in the writing of the other characters, sadly. While Emile as a lead was interesting and tenacious and likeable, the author seemed to resort to a lot of tell-don't-show when it came to Emile's feelings, especially when it came to his interests in Bram and Henri. I was never able to buy into the idea that he really cared for either of these men because the description wasn't there. It all felt very... mechanical and simplistic. Henri never quite redeems himself as a character or a love interest, partially because of that simplistic writing of feelings and partially because he's just so damn set on making himself unlikable and then being sad about his being unlikable. Bram is more interesting, but gets removed from the plot for a solid 50% of the story only to be shoehorned back in at the end for a twist that comes out of nowhere (and makes zero sense for the characters).
Also, there was so much weird filler, especially at the beginning. So many descriptions of spiders, for no reason. So many spiders. Why so many spiders? Put some of the spiders back.
So, overall, a very middle of the road book that had the potential for more. I think Ferraro has the potential for great growth here and I look forward to seeing what he does next.
Y'all, I was so hyped for this book. It seemed made for me: a cover illustrated by C.J. Merwild, a queer gothic werewolf story, a retelling of The Mysteries of Udolpho. And, to be clear, this book does have all of those things! It's just a solidly middling book for a number of reasons, which is truly a real shame.
After being told that his options are either to marry a woman or be committed to an asylum and lose his inheritance after the death of his parents, Emile flees his overbearing aunt and finds himself in disguise as a servant in the mansion of Count Montoni. But his life isn't easy; not only does he have to stay in hiding until his eighteenth birthday, but weird happenings keep occurring around the mansion. First, he finds a severed hand on the property, which draws the ire of the head of the household. Then, Emile gains the attentions of both Bram, the local physician's son, and Henri, Montoni's nephew - whom he is tasked with helping through a strange sickness every full moon. Things go from bad to worse when Emile finds a body on the property as his aunt comes to collect him; Count Montoni forces them all to flee to the isolated Udolpho Castle, where they are all trapped with the curse that haunts the family.
I struggled with how to rate this book. The plot itself is actually a genuinely interesting one that keeps you guessing from the beginning. I think, with a more deft hand, it could have been a great story. The setting is atmospheric and haunting and truly does deliver on the promise of a creepy gothic mystery. In particular, the descriptions of Udolpho Castle are pulse-poundingly eerie, especially after the relative calm of the first half of the book. Even the reveal of the werewolves and their surrounding mythology is unique and well done. I've read a lot of werewolf books, and this brought new and interesting pieces to the lore, from their original curse to their extreme healing capabilities. Count Montoni made for a good villain; he was evil in a very realistic way, succeeding in humanizing all of the other characters around him without seeming like an over the top-type bad guy. The secondary characters - Blanche, Annette, and Ludovico - are all fun and interesting, too! It's a shame we don't get to hear more about them throughout the course of the story. The pieces were all there to make this a solidly good book.
On the other hand, where this story fell short was in the writing of the other characters, sadly. While Emile as a lead was interesting and tenacious and likeable, the author seemed to resort to a lot of tell-don't-show when it came to Emile's feelings, especially when it came to his interests in Bram and Henri. I was never able to buy into the idea that he really cared for either of these men because the description wasn't there. It all felt very... mechanical and simplistic. Henri never quite redeems himself as a character or a love interest, partially because of that simplistic writing of feelings and partially because he's just so damn set on making himself unlikable and then being sad about his being unlikable. Bram is more interesting, but gets removed from the plot for a solid 50% of the story only to be shoehorned back in at the end for a twist that comes out of nowhere (and makes zero sense for the characters).
Also, there was so much weird filler, especially at the beginning. So many descriptions of spiders, for no reason. So many spiders. Why so many spiders? Put some of the spiders back.
So, overall, a very middle of the road book that had the potential for more. I think Ferraro has the potential for great growth here and I look forward to seeing what he does next.