So there’s this thing, the Classics Circuit. They organize blog tours. You pick a book in keeping with the theme of the tour, read it, and post a review on an assigned date. I thought it would be easy. I was wrong.
It’s my own fault, mostly. I started by choosing Jane Talbot, by Charles Brockden Brown, from the list of Gothic novels provided by the Classics Circuit. I ended up reading a little over half of it before realizing that nothing you’d expect to find in a Gothic novel had shown up yet, and, with less than half the book left, nothing was likely to. So I did a bit of googling and found that, while Brown did write four Gothic novels, Jane Talbot has never been considered one of them.
I’ll be coming back to Jane Talbot at some point, because it’s a really interesting book, but it didn’t seem appropriate to read something that clearly wasn’t a Gothic novel for the Gothic Lit Tour. So I decided to read The Recess, by Sophia Lee. It’s one of the early proto-Gothic novels, and it’s about two daughters of Mary, Queen of Scots, being raised in an underground apartment and eventually (I’m guessing) finding their way to the surface, falling in love with inappropriate people, and having lots of terrible things happen to them. But, as you can see, The Recess is not the book listed at the top of this post. I’d still kind of like to read it, despite the fact that the beginning creeped me out a little, but only if I find a hard copy or it shows up as a proper etext somewhere. The only place I could find it was Google Books (in three separate volumes, no less) and I just didn’t have the patience.
At that point I figured I might as well just give up on finding something new and go read some Ann Radcliffe. I know I’m capable of dealing with Radcliffe. I mean, I like The Mysteries of Udolpho enough to have read it multiple times (and by multiple I mean two and a half). The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne was Radcliffe’s first novel, and the only one of her books that fit in a single volume, both of which seemed like positive things at the time.
I was wrong about that, too.
I mean, it wasn’t terrible. Or, rather, it was, but not in a bad way. My main frustrations with it were a) the lack of the (moderate) awesomess of The Mysteries of Udolpho, b) the total lack of character development, and c) the fact that Radcliffe apparently needed more than one volume to do justice to her crazy, crazy plot. For the record, though, I’m pretty sure that even if Radcliffe had been given two extra volumes to fill up, there still wouldn’t have been any character development.
Anyway, there are these castles. Athlin belongs to the good guys: nineteen year old Osbert is the earl, seventeen year old Mary is his sister, and mopey Matilda is their mother. She has been moping about her dead husband for twelve years when the book opens.
Dunbayne is the HQ of Malcolm, murderer of the previous Earl of Athlin. He’s your typical Gothic villain in that he’s kind of mean, but mostly just incapable of resisting his selfish impulses.
Soon after we meet the characters, Osbert goes for a walk and gets lost, which, considering that Athlin is built on top of a really big rock, is pretty impressive. He’s rescued by a cute peasant named Alleyn, and even if you haven’t read a Gothic novel befor
Frankenstein. Mary Shelley. 1818. Oxford World's Classics. 250 pages.
I am happy today to be reviewing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for October's
Classic Circuit Tour on
Gothic Lit. Frankenstein just happens to be one of my favorite novels--though that hasn't always been the case. If you want to
read a long ramble about how this short little novel became a favorite of mind, you may read my first review published in 2007. My second review of the
novel was in 2009. If you want to read
my thoughts on the graphic novel, I reviewed it just last year.
I'll be honest. If you have NOT read Frankenstein, then this discussion probably isn't for you. I don't know how to talk about Frankenstein without talking spoilers.
Before I read Frankenstein (this time), I happened to read two young adult novels:
Mister Creecher by Chris Priestly and
This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel. Both novels challenged me to rethink the original novel. Mister Creecher urged me to examine excuses. And This Dark Endeavour showed me just how much we don't know about some of the characters. Specifically, how much we DON'T know about Henry (Clerval) and Elizabeth. I wouldn't say reading these two books exactly guided me in this rereading. I, of course, noticed a few things on my own.
Frankenstein is a great little novel. Readers meet two fully developed characters in Victor Frankenstein and the creature (or monster, if you must see him in that way). I've always been so caught up in their story--the dual narration--that I've never really noticed how undeveloped other characters are. What do we know of Elizabeth? She's sweet. She's beautiful. She's pure. What do we know of Henry? He's Frankenstein's best friend. The man who shows up when Frankenstein is in great need. But does he have much of a personality? Do we ever get a glimpse of who he is apart from the faithful friend? Elizabeth and Henry are the two people nearest and dearest to Victor. Because he's close to these two, the creature is able to use them to get to Victor. Then there is Robert Walton. His letters provide the framework for the novel. Walton himself is experiencing some loneliness and anxiety. He WANTS to be successful as an explorer. He wants to be the one to discover the Northwest Passage. It's a dream that is all risk. If he's successful, of course, it would all be worth it. But if he's not, well, at best that means disappointment and frustration, at worst, death. He LISTENS to the story--this incredible story. He's found Victor Frankenstein on the ice, he's sick and mad. He's not exactly a picture of mental health. And physically, he's in terrible shape. As Walton spends time--a LOT of time with Frankenstein, he records his story. Readers do get to know a little about Walton. We know he's determined, ambitious, curious. We know he's got some stubbornness to him. Some pride. Some desire
There was a curse. There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.
I never even saw it coming. Ethan Wate is haunted by nightmares of a beautiful girl who slips through his fingers every time -- but even in his wildest imaginings, he never thought his dream girl was real. Until she moved to town, that is. Lena Duchannes is the troubled niece of Gatlin's very own hermit, and as a result she's instantly shunned by the entire town. Except for Ethan. Ethan is determined to learn the truth about the centuries-old secret that bound his fate to Lena and her tangled family tree. Unfortunately, the path to answers ends in a single grave.
Beautiful Creatures is a haunting Gothic tale of secrets and blood bargains, set in a Southern town too small to contain it. The town of Gatlin is its own character in the story, an insular, small-minded community full of DAR debutantes and legendary shut-ins. Though it was rather over-the-top, this intense characterization provides a vivid backdrop for a timeless tale of star-crossed love. The creepy nightmares and eerie melodies that open the novel suck readers in, piquing their interest with a foreboding air.
Unfortunately, I had a hard time connecting with Ethan and Lena. Ethan prides himself on his dreams of leaving the boondocks, his college brochures and map of faraway places -- yet he never actually stands apart from the small town crowd until Lena comes along. Suddenly, Ethan is ready to cast off the clique into which he's been assimilated, risking it all for a girl he doesn't even know. Likewise, Lena was hard to get a handle on. Though she is the powerful one in this relationship, she still comes across as weak -- in need of her white knight to comfort her and chase the demons away. The two teens instantly fall in love, for no apparent reason. Though I expected a supernatural explanation at some point in the story, one never came.
Nonetheless, the secondary characters were a treat.
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl give special attention to the creation of Gatlin's quirkier inhabitants. First, there's Amma, Ethan's voodoo psychic housekeeper and stand-in mother. Amma is an admirably strong woman who taught Ethan to stand up for what he believes in, a combination cookie-baking grandma and military general. Then there are the Sisters, Ethan's older-than-dirt, borderline insane aunts. They will keep readers laughing with their off-the-wall and lightning-fast banter, and strangely reminded me of the Fates. Finally, there's Macon Ravenwood, the town's resident recluse who is actually more Rhett Butler than Boo Radley. Macon is a mystery, cloaked in shadow and secrets. He is fierce in his family loyalty, as well as in his devotion to his niece Lena -- but you wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alleyway.
Beautiful Creatures is a dark and stormy (quite literally) tale that will keep readers guessing until the very end, as past and present collide in unnerving visions of doomed lovers more than a century before. This first installment only hints at the vast world of monsters and magic hidden beneath the human veneer of Gatlin. This is a world in which anything is possible, and Garcia and Stohl take that to the extreme -- weaving together ghosts and the gothic, curses and visions in a spell-binding tale readers will hate to see end.
Rating: 
17 Comments on
Review: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl & Giveaway, last added: 8/15/2011
Silla Kennicott's life hasn't been the same since that night -- the night her parents died, and she found them lying in a pool of their own blood. The local police blame the murder-suicide on her father, but everything in Silla's blood rebels against the damning accusation. Unfortunately, the truth may be even more horrific than the lies. When an ancient book arrives on her doorstep, calling for blood and magic, she's got nothing to lose -- but when the spells actually work, Silla quickly finds herself tangled in a web of obsession, murder and blood that spans a century.
In
Blood Magic,
Tessa Gratton weaves together fantasy and sorcery to create an utterly original story -- a mythology of magic and sacrifice, betrayal and death. One of the most bewitching aspects of the novel was its lore, the history and the mysteries of blood magic, the double-edged sword of sacrifice and the seduction and destruction of power. Just when readers think they've got it all figured out, Gratton sweeps them away on a tide of uncertainty. The world Gratton creates isn't black or white, the magic neither good nor evil. There's darkness inside them all -- be it sadness or madness -- and the intoxicating allure of the magic has the potential to go horribly awry, but ultimately it's all about choice. There's a beautiful symmetry to this world, a terrible price for power.
Silla is an unusual heroine, a faded, bereaved version of someone once bursting with life. In the wake of the terrible tragedy that cost both her parents' lives, Silla lives behind masks and roles, slipping into another skin on stage to escape her own tattered life. It's a relief to see a heroine with a passion (theatre), and more to her life than a boyfriend. Silla doesn't obsess over Nick when he's gone -- in fact, he seems to be the more enamored one.
Unlike many orphaned heroines, Silla's pain feels raw and authentic, coloring her whole world. Fortunately, she has family to lean on. Her brother Reese seems solid even on paper, stoic in the face of pain. It is clear that he loves his sister, even if he takes the big brother attitude a little too far at times. Their sibling bond is portrayed with strength and subtlety, an anchoring presence at the heart of the novel. Then there's fluttering Aunt Judy, who took on two troubled teens in their time of need. Though she flits in and out of the house like a social butterfly, she's an important fountain of advice for her niece, who's still trying to find her way back from the brink.
The only character who isn't entirely winning is Nick. From the outside he seems self-satisfied and entitled, almost a melodrama hero with all his slick suavity. He is more sympathetic once the reader gets inside his head, revealing the scars that made him who he is. His snarkiness is even amusing when he's not cruelly lashing out. Yet, his hypocrisy makes him rather unsavory at times -- I was outraged when he attacked Silla for behavior identical to his own. Nick has a lot of maturing to do, but his chemistry with Silla is undeniable. Their attraction is sexy and sweet, if lightning fast. Gratton knows how to write a kiss -- instead of seeming like hormone-driven lust, their unabashed awe of one another strikes a romantic chord.
The alternating perspectives, both past and present, give this novel a rich, layered texture. Gratton carefully controls the flow of information, tantalizing the reader without giving the game away. The author slips effortlessly between the widely diverse narrative voices, from Silla and Nick to Josep
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Harlequin Teen, May 24, 2011
4 Comments on The Girl in the Steel Corset, Kady Cross, last added: 4/8/2011
The always entertaining Cleolinda has just begun a serialized recap of the 1840s serialized vampire novel Varney the Vampire, and it is hilarious. For example:
And now we proceed to one of the key features of Rymer/Prest’s writing, which is: real time dialogue, for idiots, by idiots. Did you hear a scream? I don’t know, did you? I’m pretty sure I did or I wouldn’t be asking? Yes, I think I heard a scream! Do you know where you heard the scream? It was so sudden that I cannot say! You guys, I think it came from FLORA’S ROOM! FLORA’S ROOM? YOU MEAN THE ROOM OF OUR SISTER? WHY YES I DO THINK SO! GET UP! I AM UP! DID YOU HEAR IT TOO? I SAY OLD CHAP I DO BELIEVE I DID! I am not even kidding. It’s still going, in fact. DO YOU HEAR THE SCREAMS? THE SCREAMS, THEY SCREAM AGAIN! WHY YES I DO! CAN YOU DOUBT THEY ARE FLORA’S NOW? WHY I DO NOT BELIEVE I CAN! WE MUST SEARCH THE HOUSE! WHY, DO YOU NOT KNOW WHERE YOUR SISTER’S ROOM IS? WELL I’M JUST SAYING THAT MAYBE WE NEED TO BE THOROUGH ABOUT THIS! BUT I THOUGHT WE AGREED IT’S FLORA (WHO IS YOUR SISTER) WHO IS SCREAMING? So finally we get to Flora’s room, but it is locked!! I will spare you the next umpteen pages of three grown men trying to conquer this one door, except to say that Marchdale runs off and gets his crowbar (what, you don’t keep a crowbar in your room?), and we start to make progress. Kind of.
Anyway: mediocre Victorian novel, snarky recap, etc. I though it was kind of relevant.
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By:
Lizzy Burns,
on 2/4/2010
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The Splendor Falls
by Rosemary Clement-Moore. Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House. 2009. Review copy from publisher.
The Plot: Sylvie Davis's dreams of a ballet career ended when she broke her leg during a performance. While her mother is away on her honeymoon, Sylvie gets sent to stay with Aunt Paula, a relative she's never met, to stay at the family home in Alabama, a place she's never been.
Sylvie Davis discovers that the Davis family has roots in Alabama. An old, large home. A history going back generations. People who think they know her because she is a Davis. There are even stories of ghosts: a running girl, a Confederate Colonel. Sylvie thinks they are just stories, until strange things start happening to her and around her.
Who is she? Who can she trust? What is going on? Is she going mad, or is magic real?
The Good: You know all those Barbara Michaels
books you go looking for? Young girl, old family home, dueling love interests, with the three s's: setting, suspense, supernatural? And when they're done, you wonder what to read next?
The Splendor Falls. Pick it up and enjoy every delicious page. A worthy heir to traditional Gothic Supernatural Suspense tales.
Sylvie's father's home town is fictitious, but it is by a real ghost town that is used in the story, Old Cahawba, Alabama. Another place I've read about in a book that I now want to visit!
I love the whole discovering family storyline. Sylvie's father, now dead, left home and never looked back. While there are various reasons given for his move to Manhattan, Sylvie considers that one reason may be the dense family history, including the legacy of slavery. Sylvie, because of the distance of growing up in Manhattan, is ignorant of her family history so does not feel overly romantic towards it. Which is why her semi-visions, the cold spots in the hallway, the unexpected smell of lilacs seems so strange.
There is a love triangle, between Sylvie, Shawn Maddox (the Maddoxes and Davises are the two oldest families in town) and Rhys Griffith, a Welsh student staying at her Aunt Paula's almost-open Bed & Breakfast. Sylvie feels drawn to both Shawn and Rhys. Love triangles in romance books (especially Gothic romances) are standard, expected, welcomed. Who is the real nice guy? Who has a secret agenda? Why does Sylvie feel drawn to both Shawn and Rhys?
Also good? Sylvie's lost dreams. A person who pursues one dream
By:
Lizzy Burns,
on 1/14/2010
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The Museum of Mary Child
by Cassandra Golds. Kane/Miller. 2009. Review copy from publisher. Ages: middle grade and up.
The Plot: Once upon a time. There was a girl. There was a doll. There was a city. There was a prisoner. There was a museum. There was a madhouse. And there were birds.
Heloise is raised by her godmother and a housekeeper. Her memories of how she arrived at the Cottage are sketchy. The rules of her godmother are odd. Both love and imagination are forbidden. All Heloise wants is what she cannot have -- a doll. When she finds one hidden in the floorboards of her room, the doll whispers "you may call me Maria."
The dark secrets that haunt and govern the lives of Heloise and her godmother are about to be revealed.
The Good: This was one crazy book; both terrifying and reassuring, full of hate and love and the impossible.
The reader has to believe -- believe in the Secret Society of Caged Birds who assist and comfort prisoners. Believe in a Museum full of dolls....all the same doll, over and over, half hidden in walls and floors and chairs and gardens, all with their faces hidden behind a mask of stitches. Believe that a girl can run away and birds can guide her to a safe haven where for once she finds love, acceptance, music and colorful clothes. Believe in magic.
What happens in The Museum of Mary Child is unexpected and full of twists, of nightmares and dreams come to life. It is horror and miracle. It's not the twists of a "gotcha" mystery; rather, it is a stunningly original story that dares to ask what is a miracle? What is faith? What is love? What is life?
Who is the reader for this book? It's fairy tale-ish, yet also scary. On one level, it will work for younger readers looking for a spooky tale. Dolls that talk? Birds that guide people to safety? A museum that haunts ones dreams? This delivers on the horror front.
The Museum of Mary Child also has a distinct literary style, with metaphors and allegories that will appeal to those readers who want something more from a book; who want the caviar, not just the chocolate. It's Margo Lanagan for tweens. Actually, because of the uneasy questions asked and not answered, teens will appreciate this book, also. It may be a harder sell -- Heloise, the main character, is a child for most of the book -- but if they trust you to read the first twenty or so pages, they'll be hooked.
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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
The Museum of Mary Child by Cassandra Golds
Heloise lives a lonely, subdued and severe life with her godmother. She is not allowed to have toys, not allowed to play, and must spend her time being constructive. Heloise yearns most of all for a doll and then she discovers a secret niche under a floorboard where a doll is hidden. She succeeds for some time in hiding the doll from her godmother, but when her godmother discovers the doll, she flies into a rage. Next door to their house is the Museum of Mary Child, a place where visitors come but Heloise has never been allowed to enter. Her grandmother drags her there. Stunned by the revelations of the museum, Heloise flees her godmother’s home with her doll in tow. Ending up in the city, Heloise is taken in by a choir of orphans, where she begins to learn about what life is about and to feel like a real little girl. But she cannot escape the mystery of her own upbringing for long.
This gothic tale owes a lot to folk tales with birds who guide humans, and a prince in prison. These elements weave themselves into Heloise’s tale, offering glimpses of magic and wonder against the darkness of madness and solitude. Just as Heloise is a unique child, so this book is unique and fascinating. It doesn’t fit into a genre niche neatly, offering so many different but well-worked elements. Because of this, it is a very fun read. Readers will be unable to figure out how the novel will end because they won’t be sure if they are reading fantasy, gothic, horror or fairy tale – perhaps it is all of them at once.
Heloise is a great character with her fierceness and inquisitiveness. She carries this book forward, gradually learning along with the reader what her story is. It is a delicately balanced story, never moving too far into horror, never too far from its fairy tale elements. The setting is such a large part of the tale from the museum to the city itself and its madhouse and prison. Golds does a great job creating and sustaining a mood though the entire book along with a tension that makes it difficult to put down and impossible not to puzzle about even when not reading.
Recommended for tweens who are a little too young for Twilight, this book has quality writing and an intriguing premise. Children as young as ten who are looking for a little horror and creepiness will find a great read here. Appropriate for ages 10-14.
Reviewed from copy provided by publisher.
Prophecy of the Sisters
by Michelle Zink. Little, Brown. August 2009. Reviewed from ARC; ARC supplied by publisher. Publisher website for book. Author's MySpace (with theme music).
The Plot:
November, 1890. Lia Milthorpe has just buried her father. Her mother died years ago. They may have a big house and family money, but sixteen year old Lia, her twin sister, Alice, and their ten year old brother, Henry, are alone except for their mother's sister, Aunt Virginia.
Lia think she knows all about her family. She's about to discover secrets, deadly secrets, that go back generations. It begins with a strange marking that appears on her wrist...
The Good:
A book about the supernatural without fairies spelled in weird ways. Yay!
And is this an awesome cover? Zink must have cast a spell or two to be so lucky.
Lia discovers that she and her twin sister, Alice, are part of a Prophecy; as were her mother and Aunt Virginia; and their mother and aunt; and so on, and so on. "One the Guardian, One the Gate/ One keeper of peace/ The other bartering sorcery for devotion."
Lia and Alice have never been exactly close. Lia's discovery of the Prophecy -- of one twin good, one twin bad -- explains much of Alice's recent behavior, especially after she discovers Alice late at night, alone in a room, murmuring, conducting a strange ceremony.
But things aren't what they appear to be. There is more to the Prophecy, much more. And more to the life Lia knows; she discovers friends and foes and asks questions that, for the first time, have no answers. And she learns that no matter what a Prophecy says, or the role Fate says one must play in a Prophecy, there is still choice. A person always has a choice.
Zink is skillful at building suspense, slowly revealing things to Lia and the reader. Lia begins in a rational world, and just as Lia slowly becomes convinced of the Prophecy, lost souls, and Otherworlds, so, to, is the reader convinced.
I'd forgotten how much I love a good Gothic novel. I began reading with the oddest of questions (why is this set in 1890?)* and the answer is easy -- because Zink uses and plays with so many Gothic motifs, including the Victorian era. Orphaned girls in old houses, white nightgowns, a love interest, books and libraries, faithful servants, seances, old-world myths, etc. If I were to bet (or to start looking for author interviews), I'd say that Zink did some extensive reading and research into the Gothic genre before writing this book. And I'd further bet that the things that don't appear in this book will appear in others in the series.
While Gothic novels don't have to be set in Victorian times, it adds to the creepy, vaguely disturbing feel of the book. Picturing Lia and Alice in Victorian garb makes this so much more mysterious; I'm not sure I would have been quite so concerned about Lia if she were running around in jeans and a hoodie.
Sisters of the Prophecy is clearly the first book in a series, which means that I have many, many unanswered questions. But my curiosity is not important for this book; what is important is does Zink answer the questions necessary for this book? Does this book have closure for it's primary story? Yes to both; the unanswered questions are reasons I look forward to the next book. And there is nothing more annoying than the reader who demands a book that explain everything all at once, all at up front.
My Twitter Review.
*One of my odd reading quirks is questioning WHY an author sets a book in the past, whether it's 1991 or 1891.
© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
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Okay so, before I go any further, I must officially introduce you all to my "snevil" (Thanks Joni) alter-ego, whom I call TYPOGIRL.
Funny thing about Typogirl, she tends to come out at the most inappropriate moments in my life, and she's even worked her way into my mouth, using me like a puppet in her red-cheek-inducing game of "Let's embarass Cindy...YAY YAY!"
Needless to say, it's not a game I enjoy, simply because she frustrates me to bloody hell! But last night, I must admit, Typogirl was at her finest. It was her shining moment in the proverbial sun. And for that I will try not to condemn her to hell as much or as often. She did after all, provide me with an historic moment in my publishing career.
So there I am last night, going about my Myspace business. You know, checking emails, comments, and blogs posted by my dear and cherished friends:)
So I click over to the SHADOW OF PARADOX blog to read Ravenn's post about TRIAD PUBLISHING GROUP'S one year anniversary, which was May 1.
You see, Ravenn posted a blog aptly titled: Happy Anniversary to TRIAD Publishing!
It was such a touching blog post. Really summoned up the warm and fuzzies. Now, realize, other people had already commented on the blog. So, naturally, I had to comment on this too, because, well, you DO know me, right?
Now, here's what I wrote: "And Ravenn:) Oh god, come on, it's RAVENN!!!!!!!! She's another VERN....Vern in a black gothic dress...:)"
At least that's what I thought I had written. And then I moved on to my business as usual....
So, later I find I have comments when I log back onto my page here, and what do I see? None other than Ravenn commenting back to me on my comment to her blog:
Her comment to me was, and I quote, and if you don't believe me, check my comments on my page and you'll see for yourself:
"ROFL!!! OMG, my friend, you have NEVER made me laugh so hard! I almost spit out my coffee! "And Ravenn:) Oh god, come on, it's RAVENN!!!!!!!! She's another VERN....Vern is a black gothic dress... :) I had no idea Vern was a piece of clothing!"
….
My initial reaction was
"WHAT??????? NO! I DID NOT CALL HIM A BLACK GOTHIC DRESS! NO! NO! NO! OMG! OMG! HAHAHAHAHA OMG! OMG! breathe, breathe, desperately gasping for air, OMG! OMG! OMG! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OMG!
And when I finally caught my breath, I went back to her page and checked for myself, thinking surely Ravenn had read it wrong because I, who vehemently try to beat Typogirl to the punch, tend to go the extra mile to make sure I don't make mistakes in my blogs.
And sure enough….THERE IT WAS…THE COMMENT TO END ALL COMMENTS.
Yes, folks, I had made the most hilarious mistake in publishing history.
I did in fact called my publisher a Black Gothic Dress!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clearly, what I MEANT to say was that "Ravenn was another Vern…Vern IN a black gothic dress." But Typogirl, it turns out, had been lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce. And fortunately she won this round.
yeah, yeah, applause, applause…whoohoo (insert minor finger twirl here and a roll of the eyes)….bla bla bla…
Now some of you may say, "Hm, funny," and go on with your day. But, come on really try to put yourselves in my shoes for a minute or two and picture YOUR publisher. And try to imagine calling YOUR publisher a black gothic dress in an open forum for all the blogging world to see, when what you're actually doing is praising them.
Think long and hard about it and I think you might find the humor in this situation.
Needless to say, when I spoke with Vern today, he and I laughed so hard. And he went on to tell me that when Ravenn called him and asked him if he'd seen the comment I left, they cracked up to hell too!
So in honor of my near-fatal fashion Faupax, I leave you with this...
"DON'T ALWAYS WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT TYPOS....BECAUSE SOMETIMES THEY CAN BE FUNNIER THAN ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE STRUGGLED TO PUT OUT FOR THE SAKE OF MAKING OTHERS RACE TO THE NEAREST TOILET!" --C. L. Freire
VERNSorry Vern. But I had to do it. It was a moral imperative!
fingers crossed that you again laugh...and not growl at this blog....
HUGS, Black Gothic Dresses, and Bravos to Typogirls everywhere:)
Cindy
The Poison Diaries
Author: Colin Stimpson, Duchess of Northumberland, Jane
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
ISBN-10: 0810993147
ISBN-13: 978-0810993143
The Poison Diaries is one of those books that you can’t help gazing at again and again. Story aside, the book is gorgeous. Rich, pastel like drawings that cover every inch of the page make it captivatingly sumptuous with all the style of an old-fashioned, Victorian herbal.
Each plant is lovingly drawn in great depth and detail and the book appears to be a kind of field guide to the plants in a garden as you first flip through it. Then you start to notice that the plants have almost human characteristics that they appear to be not only alive, but also malevolent. My first reaction was to stop flipping through it and start back at the beginning.
The story unfolds as darkly gothic as something from out of Lovecraft. The story is of an orphaned boy named Weed who works in his cruel master’s poison garden tending to the plants. He discovers that he can hear the plants talking and they him.
The plants are evil creatures who adore telling tales of the manner in which they kill. They goad Weed and try and encourage him to kill his master, glorifying murder and offering justification. He refuses to go along with them until one day he finds that his only friend and true love Marigold has experimented with one of the poisons and dies. With Marigold’s death, Weed unravels, sinking into a madness that the plants feast on and use to control him into doing what they want which is to kill.
I was completely caught up in the story even though I tend to shy away from very violent books and this is violent make no mistake about this. It is violent and graphically so. Still, the story is a good one, riveting though chilling. I have a feeling there will be more stories about Weed and his plants in the future or at least there should be given that the book left me wanting more.
I’m fascinated by the fact that the author was once a Disney animator. I could completely see this story animated although certainly not for children. It would make a very dark, very interesting film I think. The Poison Diaries comes highly recommended.
Book Description from the publisher:
This truly gothic tale—a “facsimile” of Weed’s journal found at Alnwick Castle, in England—is not only a story of the battle between good and evil, but an educational parable of the curative and lethal properties of plants.
Weed—an orphan boy who apprentices with an evil old apothecary—is both used and abused. His journal is part botanical workbook and part diary of his own relationship with poisonous plants.
Weed discovers that he is one of the few people whom the plants talk to, and they try to persuade him that, with their help, his master can easily be disposed of. Although he refuses at first, after Weed’s first love, Marigold, experiments with the poisons and dies, he is pushed over the edge and plots to kill his master with a taste of his own evil medicine.
Each chapter of the story begins with Weed’s botanical notes: a plant’s appearance and properties, where it is found, how it should be cared for, the most poisonous parts, and how poison is extracted and administered. Accompanied by Weed’s sketches of the plants in their natural form, his diary also reveals the “real” personalities of the plants.
About the Author
Jane, Duchess of Northumberland has long researched poison gardens. She is responsible for creating the Poison Garden at Alnwick Gardens in England, which opened in 2004 to worldwide acclaim. The Poison Garden is the culmination of her life’s goal to teach children and adults alike the curative and lethal properties of poisonous plants. Colin Stimpson worked as an animator at Steven Spielberg’s Amblimation studio in London and then at Disney Feature Animation in California.
Tantalize
Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN-10: 0763627917
ISBN-13: 978-0763627911
Tantalize is a very delicious and thrilling dark fantasy. It was a page turner that kept me glued to the book till the very unexpected ending.
Quince Morris is a 17 year girl with a lot on her plate. Her parents have died, she’s living with her uncle, managing a restaurant and trying to keep it going all the while trying to get the guy she loves to see her as more than just a friend. Oh yeah and the boyfriend Kieran happens to be half werewolf.
Adding to the things she has to deal with, Quince’s boyish uncle is remodeling the restaurant to have a vampire flare and flavor – they’ve renamed it Sanguini’s – A Very Rare Restaurant. He also has a very weird girlfriend that is drives Quince crazy.
After the mysterious death of the chef and Kieran is a suspect, a new chef steps in and boy is he is creepy with his red contacts and always plying Quince with wine. His menu item – baby squirrels with honey sauce totally creeped me out. Yech!
There’s good stuff here and it’s all very original and different. Quince made a great narrator and character. The other characters in the book were different, multi-dimensional and interesting. My only disappointment was that it ended. I smell sequel!
Set in Stone
Author: Linda Newbery
Publisher: David Fickling Books
ISBN-10: 0385751028
ISBN-13: 978-0385751025
Recommended for grades 8- up
Set in Stone is a very mysterious, very creepy and very thrilling modern day take on the Victorian Gothic novel. Set in a beautiful mansion in very rural England, the story begins with a young artist arriving late, walking through a lonely wood and getting to his destination only to find a young girl running out in the dark hysterically ranting about the North wind. Exciting, yes?
The artist is Samuel Godwin, hired by the owner of the mansion called Four Winds to teach his daughters Juliana and the wild Marianne. It was the beauteous Marianne whom he found the night of his arrival.
Samuel quickly becomes entrenched in the family. He feels nothing but the highest admiration for Ernest Farrow, his employer who’s appreciation for the most beautiful art appeals to Samuel’s own artistic nature. He grows fond of the girls and their plain governess Charlotte but soon becomes quite obsessed with Marianne.
He finds out soon enough that everything is not what it seems and that the house has its share of dark secrets of the nastiest sort.
The book is narrated alternately by both Charlotte and Samuel and is done in such as way as to build the mystery while providing more and more clues. The story gets darker and darker, revealing a web of deceit, lies, suicide, incest, cover ups, a secret baby and murder.
Set in Stone is a thrilling and unconventional story that is completely gripping. I couldn’t put it down.
By:
Lizzy Burns,
on 2/17/2007
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The ten "original dark tales" in Gothic! Ten Original Dark Tales
(which is edited by Deborah Noyes) are as follows:
"Lungewater" – Joan Aiken
"Morgan Roehmar's Boys" – Vivian Vande Velde
"Watch and Wake" - M T Anderson
"Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slave in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire" – Neil Gaiman
"The Dead and the Moonstruck" – Caitlin R Kiernan
"Have No Fear, Crumpot is Here!" – Barry Yourgrau
"Stone Tower" – Janni Lee Simner
"The Prank" – Gregory Maguire
"Writing on the Wall" – Celia Rees
"Endings" – Garth Nix
I read Neil Gaiman's and Garth Nix's first since they were the only two authors with whose works I'm familiar. Gaiman's "Forbidden..." is a tale about a flamboyant young novelist who's in search of a subject more compelling than his own eerie existence - and contains a typically Gaimanesque twist to the tale.
Garth Nix's "Endings" is a quite moving tale of sorrow and joy with alternate endings.
Gregory Maguire's very contemporary offering, "The Prank" is about a female teenage delinquent who is forced to spend a weekend with an elderly aunt who looks as mild as milk but has a sinister secret locked in the attic.
M T Anderson's "Watch and Wake", is very chilling from the moment that young Jim arrives in town, there's a feeling that something is not quite right and it's a feeling that doesn't go away even after the dreadful twist at the end.
Celia Rees' "Writing on the Wall" is about a house that holds within its peeling walls a grotesque secret. It reminded me strongly of E E Richardson's The Intruders (which I reviewed here, which is probably just the result of them both being about a haunted house - and I've so far read very little supernatural/horror fiction, so that Richardson's book has stuck in my mind like a burr !
There's also an excellent introduction by Deborah Noyes that explains the differences and similarities between Horror and Gothic tales.
In any case, I LOVE the idea and am honored to be part of it!
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Great IMM this week, New Girl looks really good!
http://lovesbooksreviews.blogspot.com/2011/11/in-my-mailbox-21.html
I've seen New Girl on a few IMMs this week and am intrigued. I had never heard of it before! Sounds awesome!
My IMM
Awesome books this week! New Girl and Life is But a Dream look awesome! I haven't read XVI yet, but I hope that you enjoy Truth!
You can check out my IMM HERE!
Claire :)
New Girl looks like it is going to be a great read! I hope you enjoy it! I have not read XVI bu5 I have heard great things about it. Thanks for sharing!
My Mailbox
Truth was really good! I liked it even more than XVI! I got New Girl recently, too, and Life is But a Dream is definitely on my wishlist! Great books :0)
My IMM
Cool books this week! I'm kinda iffy about picking up the XVI sequel, but I look forward to your review on that. :)
Happy reading!
-Amelia
The Authoress
The New Girl does look good. I hadn't heard of it before now, I enjoyed Harbison's debut Here Likes Bridget. I hope you enjoy!
I got New Girl too! I can't wait to read it. It sounds amazing. Happy reading!!