Author: Jess Armstrong
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Review:
Interesting, but not enough to keep me interested in one go. On the contrary, it actually made me pause, go back a few pages and then make sure that I understood what I just read before I can move on.
Seriously! I liked these things in a book: fates, trying to commune what isn’t really there, people who can talk to those other side of the veil. Also set in a Gothic mansion filled with rare books and rich people that don’t really know what to do with their money? Come on! Sign me up! Have I mentioned that this is a murder mystery? Absolutely love it!
But I found that midway, that they lost sight of most of those elements and veered far from the gist of the book – or at least what has been advertised. This removes much of the intrigue that was necessary for the book.
Nonetheless, it was still interesting.
Here comes the rant:
Characters –
The characters were very much alive. Jess Armstrong was able to properly portray the accents and the mannerisms and the way that each social class speaks was prominent in the prose. Every movement feels so alive and the actions were so well written that it feels like you are watching a movie. A really good movie!
Atmosphere –
Oh! This was also good; done very well! It was like a map was being drawn or a painting being done as she described the scene. I can smell the moist air, get lost in the fog, feel the dampness of the bog; I even think that my foot was going to get stuck in the mud.
Plus points that the exposition of that setting didn’t feel like it was making the story drag – or feel longer than it should be.
Writing style –
There isn’t much to say about this. There wasn’t anything extraordinary in the writing style. It was simple, yet very effective!
Why fix what isn’t broken?
Plot/Intrigue/Logic –
Ok, this is where it can be controversial. I was intrigued by the plot through the synopsis, but I don’t think it pulled through. It didn’t meet expectations, at all.
It had all the proper elements to create the best set-up for a Gothic murder mystery HOWEVER I don’t think it was able to properly draw out these elements to create the mystery and tensions; it fell short. It somehow feels as if a ghost thought of scaring this new comer to the house and then just stopped without rhyme or reason and then just moved on. It felt like the scary tension – which was advertised in the synopsis – barely appeared through out the book. So, it became confusing; and its not the intriguing kind.
The falling short of what was promised and advertised made the intrigue a little bit dull. However, the action scenes were still remarkably well written.
Enjoyment –
Look, the writing was good and so was the set-up BUT the plot wavered. So, at some points of the enjoyment plummeted because the intrigue seems too stretched out that logic wavers. It distracts from the plot.
Maybe, I am nitpicking but I do think that the pace can be a lot quicker.