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A review by booksare42
The Haunting Scent of Poppies by Victoria Williamson
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
Thank you to The Write Reads for organizing this blog tour and to the publisher, Silver Thistle Press, for providing me with a copy of this novella. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Haunting Scent of Poppies is a haunting novella that takes place in the days leading up to the first Christmas after World War One. This novella follows Charlie, a petty criminal on the run, whose most recent theft might be more than it seems.
In this novella, Charlie steals a rare book that should set him up for life. Unfortunately for Charlie, this book is haunting him and it causes him to experience the horrors of war that it’s previous owner experienced. Suddenly he’s surrounded by the stench of mustard gas and the haunting scent of poppies is following him everywhere he goes.
The Haunting Scent of Poppies does an excellent job weaving the flashbacks of the horrors of trenches with the post-war setting that the story takes place in. The reader is seamlessly transported from a quiet English town to the front lines and back again, in a way that makes them feel unsettled and looking over their shoulder. The novella also left me wondering what was real and what was just a hallucination, which added another haunting layer to the story.
While I didn’t like Charlie, I did appreciate how complex of a character he was. It’s difficult to figure out who Charlie is because he’s constantly changing his story to blend in and take advantage of the person he’s talking to. His sins are catching up with him and I was on the edge of my seat wondering if he’d be able to get away from them.
Overall, The Haunting Scent of Poppies is a very haunting and mysterious read. It’s the perfect story to reach for if you’re looking for something spooky to read on a long winter night.
The Haunting Scent of Poppies is a haunting novella that takes place in the days leading up to the first Christmas after World War One. This novella follows Charlie, a petty criminal on the run, whose most recent theft might be more than it seems.
In this novella, Charlie steals a rare book that should set him up for life. Unfortunately for Charlie, this book is haunting him and it causes him to experience the horrors of war that it’s previous owner experienced. Suddenly he’s surrounded by the stench of mustard gas and the haunting scent of poppies is following him everywhere he goes.
The Haunting Scent of Poppies does an excellent job weaving the flashbacks of the horrors of trenches with the post-war setting that the story takes place in. The reader is seamlessly transported from a quiet English town to the front lines and back again, in a way that makes them feel unsettled and looking over their shoulder. The novella also left me wondering what was real and what was just a hallucination, which added another haunting layer to the story.
While I didn’t like Charlie, I did appreciate how complex of a character he was. It’s difficult to figure out who Charlie is because he’s constantly changing his story to blend in and take advantage of the person he’s talking to. His sins are catching up with him and I was on the edge of my seat wondering if he’d be able to get away from them.
Overall, The Haunting Scent of Poppies is a very haunting and mysterious read. It’s the perfect story to reach for if you’re looking for something spooky to read on a long winter night.