Review: The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Title: The House at Riverton
Author: Kate Morton
Genre: historical, gothic, mystery
Series: N/A
Pages: 483
Published: 2006
Source: purchased
Rating: 4.5/5

Grace Bradley was just a girl when she began working as a servant at Riverton House. For years, her life was inextricably tied with the glamorous and eccentric Hartford family's daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. At a glittering society party in the summer of 1924, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline. Only they - and Grace - know the dark truth.

Many years later, when Grace is living in a nursing home, she receives a visit from a young director making a film about the events of that summer. The director takes Grace to Riverton House and reawakens memories of the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege, of the vibrant twenties, and of a stunning secret Grace kept all her life.

A vivid, page-turning tale of suspense and passion, "The House At Riverton" is marked by indelible characters and a breathtaking ending that readers won't soon forget.

Morton's debut is impressive; a near-flawless introduction to the complex convolutions of her plots and intertwined character histories that soon become her hallmark as an author. The House at Riverton is an atmospheric and gothic favorite, covering various themes such as the shifting nature of history, the upstairs/downstairs dichotomy of English service during Edwardian times, how the past informs the present, how secrets can and will surface, as well as the unreliable nature of memory. Morton ably ties all the loose threads and various themes of her story into a comprehensive, clever dual-timeline narrative whose picture becomes ever-clearer as Grace dictates key events.

It's a book that's defined as much by its locations as its people; the setting of the Hartford ancestral manor at Riverton is as much a character as any person and is also a central component of both timelines that make up the narrative. Using her evocative backdrop to literally loom over Grace, Hannah, Emme and Robbie from the first time they meet, Morton subtly weaves a backstory of tragedy leading up to the mysterious events of 1924.

The plot that unfolds slowly and perfectly at the heart of the The House at Riverton centers on two sisters; their rivalries, their secrets, their often tested familial bond. Both Hannah and Emme are fully three-dimensional beings; each with a past that informs their future and sets themselves at cross-purposes to one another in one chapter and and aligns them as allies in the next. Their relationship is pivotal and ever-evolving as the secrets and half-truths that make up their lives are uncovered. The way the finale crescendos into an inevitable, but still clever and unexpected, finale makes this another Morton masterpiece. 

A master storyteller from the first, and one with a considerable talent for crafting real, complex, misguided characters, Kate Morton's first novel is haunting and unforgettable. The emotions it creates and the characters it gave voice linger long after the last page is read.

 

Review: The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Title: The Distant Hours
Author: Kate Morton
Genre: gothic
Series: N/A
Pages: 565
Published: 2010
Source: purchased
Rating: 5/5

A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WWII. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours’ of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling.

Haunting, evocative, and gothic are just a few of the words that could describe Kate Morton's masterpiece The Distant Hours. Set in the countryside of Kent at differing times in the 19th century for a wide array of connected characters, it's an impressive effort from a seasoned writer. Morton has proved time and time before she can write adeptly, that she can intertwine and obfuscate plotlines until the grand reveal is one of both surprise and sense. The Distant Hours is her best novel yet, the best example of her many gifts as a storyteller; it pulls no punches and ignores no plotline. There's not a page or a word that is wasted; the stage is perfectly set and Kate Morton directs her cast into a virutoso performance with ease.

Without veering into hyperbole I can attest that this is the ultimate in modern gothic storytelling; the hidden stories of Milderhurst castle, from the early 1900s to the early 1990s are shown to be one finely-tuned plot, hinted and hidden behind a superb sleight of hand and shared between the most unlikely of people. The well-rendered characters, from the King Lear-ish figure in Raymond Blythe to his Havisham-esque trio of daughters, are laden with secrets in their moldering castle. The slow reveal of the Blythe family helped one another and hid things for and from each other is an anticipatory delight. The first four hundred pages are a painstaking build of tension and atmosphere; the last one hundred and fifty are increasingly fraught with realization and crucially timed plot points. It all coalesces without missing a step; the ending is perfect in its undeniability and yet how it still manages to subvert expectation.

Though each of her novels are framed similarly and can follow familiar themes, no two are alike in anything from voice to character and they are each impossible to predict. Morton has a firm handle on reader expectation and how to subvert it. Her stories are authentic and easy to immerse within but they are complicated and demand reader attention. The investment of time and energy is worth it because the end of her novels tend to shock, and wow, while engendering real emotion. The Distant Hours does all of that; even on a third rereead it's impossible to not feel empathy and community with not only the Sisters Blythe but also intrepid Edie, shy Meredith, or loquacious Mrs. Bird. The Distant Hours is a gothic novel but it feels present and real, and that is in no little thanks to life in its multifaceted characters.

 

Two Minute Review: The Book Jumper by Mechthild Gläser

Title: The Book Jumper
Author: Mechthild Gläser
Genre: supernatural
Series: N/A
Pages: 384
Published: January 3 2017
Source: ARC via publishers
Rating: 2/5

Amy Lennox doesn't know quite what to expect when she and her mother pick up and leave Germany for Scotland, heading to her mother's childhood home of Lennox House on the island of Stormsay.

Amy's grandmother, Lady Mairead, insists that Amy must read while she resides at Lennox House—but not in the usual way. It turns out that Amy is a book jumper, able to leap into a story and interact with the world inside. As thrilling as Amy's new power is, it also brings danger—someone is stealing from the books she visits, and that person may be after her life. Teaming up with fellow book jumper Will, Amy vows to get to the bottom of the thefts—at whatever the cost.

The Book Jumper has a gorgeous cover, a great synopsis, and an interesting premise -- but even with all of that, it's not enough to raise this young adult novel to more than a two out of five star rating. The basic elements of the story -- both character-wise and narrative-wise -- are familiar and have been done before so many times in the young adult age group. The Book Jumper feels more like a retread of other stories rather than a new novel possessing its own plot or arc.

Despite the less than original attempts at characterization and plotting, I did enjoy the gothic atmosphere that The Book Jumper carried. Amy's fights and struggles, both in print and not, make good use of the moody atmosphere that envelops her story. Towards the end of the narrative Gläser finds a rhythm for Amy and Will's race to uncover the mystery and the plotline grows more unique and far less easily predicted. It's a little too late to salvage the tropes and stereotypes that take up the bulk of the writing, but the ending is a strong and solid one.

Not as good as it could have been, but also not as bad as it would seem, The Book Jumper is a flawed, forgettable but mostly fun-in-the-moment read.

 

Two Minute Review: The Gilded Cage by Lucinda Gray

Title: The Gilded Cage
Author: Lucinda Gray
Genre: historical fiction, gothic
Series: N/A
Pages: 245
Published: August 2 2016
Source: ARC from publisher
Rating: 2/5

After growing up on a farm in Virginia, Walthingham Hall in England seems like another world to sixteen-year-old Katherine Randolph. Her new life, filled with the splendor of upper-class England in the 1820s, is shattered when her brother mysteriously drowns. Katherine is expected to observe the mourning customs and get on with her life, but she can't accept that her brother's death was an accident.

A bitter poacher prowls the estate, and strange visitors threaten the occupants of the house. There's a rumor, too, that a wild animal stalks the woods of Walthingham. Can Katherine retain her sanity long enough to find out the truth? Or will her brother's killer claim her life, too?

The Gilded Cage is a YA novel with a fairly gothic premise and an interesting beginning, but in the end, it's chiefly hampered by its lack of length at less than 250 pages and also from the lack of dimension given to the characters.  Short on characterization, short on original premise, and just kind of a lackluster effort all around. The feel of the story is the best aspect by far -- from Virginia to England, Gray knows how to nail the atmosphere. The rest of the novel leaves a lot to be desired.

The story follows main character and narrator Kate through a serendipitous turn of luck that soon turns out rather ill for the sixteen year old. An unknown relative dies, leaving Kate and her brother a sudden inheritance, and then death and danger follow in close suit. Even from just reading the premise and synopsis, this is a book that is easy to predict. Gray falls victim to the genre tropes of gothic stories, instead of using them in new or creative ways. 

Series Review: Beware the Wild by Natalie C. Parker

Titles: 
Beware the Wild (#1)
Behold the Bones (#2)
Author: Natalie C. Parker
Genre: gothic, magical realism 
Series: Beware the Wild #1 - #2
Pages: 
BtW: 327
BtB: 368
Published:
BtW: October 2014
BtB: February 2016
Source: publishers via edelweiss
Rating:
BtW: 4/5
BtB: 4.25/5

It's an oppressively hot and sticky morning in June when Sterling and her brother, Phin, have an argument that compels him to run into the town swamp—the one that strikes fear in all the residents of Sticks, Louisiana. Phin doesn't return. Instead, a girl named Lenora May climbs out, and now Sterling is the only person in Sticks who remembers her brother ever existed.

Sterling needs to figure out what the swamp's done with her beloved brother and how Lenora May is connected to his disappearance—and loner boy Heath Durham might be the only one who can help her.

This debut novel is full of atmosphere, twists and turns, and a swoon-worthy romance.

I had never wanted to visit a swamp until I read Chime by Franny Billingsley. Even then, I was pretty sure that was a one-time urge, because swamps sound like the opposite of where I want to be... until Natalie C. Parker's stories about a magical swamp in Louisiana were filled with such atmosphere that it felt real, like the kind of place that magic would appear. This author's talent for atmosphere and setting are showcased extraordinarily well between the two books she's written in the series. Book one, Beware the Wild was good -- engaging, fresh, filled with defined characters, and excellent writing. Book two, Behold the Bones, has all that its predecessor does, but builds on that lore and incorporates new characters and plots for an even better read.

There's a lot to love about both books, but besides the evocative atmosphere in the writing, the characterization and interaction of the teens and adults in the stories are also top-notch and deftly handled. First with Sterling and later with Candace as the main characters, Parker builds very authentic and real-seeming kids with problems that may be uniquely supernatural, yet still manage to feel sympathetic and relateable with a more mundane existence. The romance in Beware the Wild was a bigger focus and thus carried my feels more than the ship(s) that were introduced for Candace over the course of book #2. I did like the author's inclusion when it came to the characters -- not everyone is straight, or white, or interested in being a parent.

I greatly enjoyed Beware the Wild, but found Behold the Bones to be an even better followup to Parker's impressive debut. I rated it around 4.25ish but the new novel was pretty much all that I wanted and was scared to hope for in a sequel to Beware the Wild. It was gothic, eerie, atmospheric, the supernatural elements tied in naturally, the characters were diverse and inclusive, and the plot was tied to the first novel's but was not dependent upon it for understanding or advancement of this second story. Parker's writing is also even stronger here; the introspective nature of Candace's thoughts are mature and interesting ("the things I lack don't define me; I define them.") and show a slow, careful, very authetnic evolution of the character.

Southern gothic magical realism novels may be a niche genre, but gems like Natalie C. Parker's duology might make a fan of me yet. Her plots are detailed, rich and memorable and her characters are the same. The pacing in both novels felt a bit off for me, especially in the beginning for each, but these are two novels that build into something rather special once the main plots are engaged and moving forward. Evocative, original, and detailed, these are definitely two books that I will remember long after I have finished. Everything in Sticks seems like it's fairly wrapped up and the stories ended by the final page, so I appreciate the resolution offered. I would, however, be open to more stories with new POVs, set in this place.

Backlist Discussion Review: The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Title: The Monstrumologist
Author: Rick Yancey
Genre: young adult, horror, historical fiction
Series: The Monstrumologist #1
Pages: 454
Published: 2009
Source: purchased

These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me.

So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthorpe, a man with a most unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. In his time with the doctor, Will has met many a mysterious late-night visitor, and seen things he never imagined were real. But when a grave robber comes calling in the middle of the night with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet.

A gothic tour de force that explores the darkest heart of man and monster and asks the question: When does man become the very thing he hunts?

Today, I am talking about this horror novel with Lyn and Pixie from Great Imaginations for their Forgotten Fridays feature. This does veer a tad bit spoilery as we discuss, so be warned if you've not yet read the novel. 

Lyn: Okay I will start yah! What made you pick this book?

Pixie: I wanted something that would get me in the Halloween spirit and I’ve heard good things about it.

Jessie: I really liked Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave and I honestly loved the first cover for this book. It caught my eye and made me curious.

Lyn: Was it the cover with the jar?

Jessie: YES! It looked so creepy and odd and like it was going to be fun in a gruesome way.

Pixie: That’s the cover I wanted, but I have a used copy with the original.

Jessie: Same here. The cover lured me in, but the synopsis sold me. How did you guys feel about the book itself, though? Did it live up to that first cover for you?

Lyn: Fun fact – I bought the Kindle and the hardcover so that I could get that jar cover. Because I am an addict. I was a bit hesitant because The 5th Wave had some issues and I had my doubts, but this novel is far superior to his dystopian series. I told my mom ( who read it with me) that it spooked me. She thought it was because of the monsters. But I told her it was the people who frightened me, because those are the real living monsters.

Pixie: I haven’t read The 5th Wave, but I think I’m really curious about it now. It may have just climbed up my reading list because of this book. Which, btw, I loved because oddly enough, I like creepy weird books like this.

Jessie: I’m am of mixed emotions about The Monstrumologist. I liked it, but not as much as the The 5th Wave. The writing didn’t work as well for me and I had some serious issues with key elements of the plot and characterization for William Henry and Pellinore Warthrop. I don’t do well in general with novels that use the whole “sins of the father rebound on the son” theme. It bores me; it leaves completely uninterested in vast parts of both these two characters and their backgrounds.

Lyn: Pixie, totally read The 5th Wave! As for that plot device of sins passing down, I get it, Jessie. It is a trope I don’t care for. I really started to enjoy myself when Kearns shows up. I love the whole “ who is the monster and who is the man” debate. Because Kearns was a freaking psychopathic madman.

Pixie: I get that. That device was one of the few things I disliked about the book, but I don’t think I’ve really read too many books with that kind of element so it didn’t annoy me too terribly much to pull me away from the story.

Jessie: You brought up the one think about this that I unequivocally loved about the book — Kearns. I loved it for the same reasons you did, Lyn. And I looooved the ongoing joke about his name(s). I was really entertained by the various sides of personality he could ape, and then when he would drop the mask? Ooooh, that definitely counted as one of the novel’s creepy bits.

Lyn: At the end, it was so enthrall in how, after everything he did in the name of science and survival, he did a whole repentance by continuing to chase down monsters. It left me wondering if he tries to even the score or if he just loves the thrill of the hunt. Kearns is a character that I want to see come back. The complexity, the absence of humanity, and then the odd vigilantism in the name of justice still had me wondering about him to the end. Seriously, he better come back in the rest of the books.

Jessie: I have read book two and he is not in that (sadly), but I’ve heard he is in the third! And I am glad for that — he is directly responsible for my favorite parts.

Lyn: Is the second as gory as this one? Warning: not a lunchtime read.

Pixie: I don’t really have too much to add to what you and Lyn have said. I’m definitely going to continue with this series so I can see when Kearns comes back (if) and hopefully enjoy the rest as much as I had with this one. I really liked how the start of it was prefaced with quotes and real history– it made the book feel much more real. Creepy, like I said before, but damn good. It was nice enjoying a book for the fun of it, after such a slump the past couple of months.

Jessie: The gore was a bit more than I had anticipated. I mean, I know I went for the book with the specimen-in-a-jar cover but…. damn, Yancey! He.. um… gets very descriptive? He likes to really bring home all the senses of a scene, you know? It was easy to envision his scenes… and yes, definitely not a lunchtime read. And I 100% agree with you, Pix — loved the introduction, quotes, the whole ~feeeeel of the novel was really well done and creepy.

Lyn: Right? I never thought that I could easily envision a freaking toddler torn to pieces. I agree, I was completely unprepared for the graphic scenery. But it is important to not mollify violence – go big or go home. Get right to the absolute horrors of how gruesome the events were in the novel. It helps tie in some real emotions, which were high in this book.

Jessie: How did you guys like Will Henry or Pellinore? I thought it was interesting that Yancey went in a different direction than a lot of mentor/student relationships. Pellinore is not an easy man, but he is a well-rounded and fully dimensional one. He’s very unlikeable, even though he’s not always a bad person? I know I expected a closer bond between him and Will Henry and it’s interesting to watch them interact in the roles they’ve set up.

Pixie: I think I expected more from the two of them, myself. I did like Will Henry though, and I do agree with Jessie about Pellinore. I can see that Yancey’s intention might’ve been to make Pellinore unlikeable for the reader, but more so on purpose to bring out the curiosity of his character. No, wasn’t always bad though he definitely was not likeable for me. I also agree about having expected a closer bond, perhaps, but they were interesting nonetheless.

Lyn: Oh Pellinore. I felt a lot of pity for him. The complete lack of social skills and the reflection of neglectful parenting really gave his character a lot of depth. This was a man who just had no idea how to be kind, because he was never able to see an example of paternal affection, and it broke my heart to watch him struggle with his demons. He was less loveable than monsters – how can a child have a healthy emotional balance with that upbringing?? Will Henry was surprisingly a bit distant. I never could really pinpoint his personality.

Ratings?

Pixie: I give it a 4!

Jessie: For me it was a 3 out of 5. I liked it but I never fell in love with it (and without Kearns it would be 2 out of 5).

Lyn: 4!

Pixie: Jessie is the odd one. :p

Jessie: when am I not the odd one?! ^___^

Lyn: spoiler: never.

Book Tour Review: The Lake House by Kate Morton

Title: The Lake House
Author: Kate Morton
Genre: general fiction, historical fiction
Series: N/A
Pages: 400
Published: October 20 2015
Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for review
Rating: 4/5

Living on her family’s idyllic lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented sixteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure…

One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest child, eleven-month-old Theo, has vanished without a trace. What follows is a tragedy that tears the family apart in ways they never imagined.

Decades later, Alice is living in London, having enjoyed a long successful career as an author. Theo’s case has never been solved, though Alice still harbors a suspicion as to the culprit. Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather’s house in Cornwall. While out walking one day, she stumbles upon the old estate—now crumbling and covered with vines, clearly abandoned long ago. Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together and reveal shocking truths about a past long gone...yet more present than ever.

A lush, atmospheric tale of intertwined destinies, this latest novel from a masterful storyteller is an enthralling, thoroughly satisfying read.

Kate Morton is one of my favorite authors (and has been for several years) for many simple reasons. Her novels are intricately plotted, creatively written, and masterfully executed. She is an author that uses many pieces across a sprawling, detailed story and does so with skill and aplomb every single time. The careful layout of the mystery at the heart of The Lake House, with the small hints and clues that emerge, and the all-too-believable red herrings, add up to crafting a mostly unpredictable, wholly memorable tale of family and secrets.

The dual timeline with alternating  narratives is again used here, like in Morton's previous novels. Despite this being her fifth novel featuring the same narrative frame - that of two women with somehow interconnecting lives across decades - it doesn't feel old or reminiscent of anything that she has written before.  The Lake House's main duo of Alice and Sadie aren't my personal favorites of Morton's female-dominated cast, but they shine with dimension and personality. Sadie's personal story didn't seem to fit, or dovetail in as neatly with Alice's as had previous counterparts in Morton's novels. That dissonance which was my one of my very few issues with the story.

Morton has always been an author with strengths across the board. It's not hard to find some side of yourself in at least one of her characters (hello, Meredith from The Distant Hours!) but she's also adept at facilitating a real sense of both time and place. This time, it's both Londonand  and Cornwall at several different time periods. However,  the small details and descriptions found in The Lake House make up an easily-envisioned setting no matter what character is the current focus. 

I was surprised that some of the plot resolution in The Lake House was more obvious than expected. This was the first novel of hers that I had called more than one element of the mystery correctly. The way the ending unfolded was neat and well-executed; I just knew more of it than I'd have liked. It's possible with all the time frames and perspectives, plots and subplots Morton's authorial sleight of hand (and timing) was just a bit off with her fifth offering.

There are few authors I would call an authomatic "auto-buy" - as in would buy the hardback without needing any more information than the author's name. For me, Kate Morton is one fo those authors. Her books are examples of why I love reading: they're inventive and smart. They're executed with precision and vision. They take me to new times and places and new perspectives. As soon as I finished this I began the countdown until Morton's sixth novel. The Lake House is another beautifully written tale that is going to gain Kate Morton new fans and remind older ones why she is the best at her genre.

Kate Morton grew up in the mountains of south-east Queensland and lives now with her husband and young sons in Brisbane. She has degrees in dramatic art and English literature, specializing in nineteenth-century tragedy and contemporary Gothic novels.
Kate Morton has sold over 7.5 million copies in 26 languages, across 38 countries. Her novels include The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours, and The Secret Keeper.
You can find more information about Kate Morton and her books at www.katemorton.com or www.facebook.com/KateMortonAuthor

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, October 5
Review at Just One More Chapter

Tuesday, October 6
Spotlight at Passages to the Past

Thursday, October 15
Review at The Eclectic Reader
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective

Monday, October 19
Review at The Baking Bookworm

Tuesday, October 20
Review at Unshelfish
Review at Luxury Reading

Wednesday, October 21
Review at Book Drunkard
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Monday, October 26
Review at Beth’s Book Nook

Tuesday, October 27
Review at Peeking Between the Pages

Wednesday, October 28
Review at The Maiden’s Court

Thursday, October 29

Review at Book Nerd

Friday, October 30

Review at A Chick Who Reads

Sunday, November 1
Review at One Book Shy of a Full Shelf

Monday, November 2
Review at A Book Geek
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Tuesday, November 3
Review at Bookish
Review at Bookramblings
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Wednesday, November 4
Review at Broken Teepee
Review at Words and Peace

Thursday, November 5
Review at The Lit Bitch
Review at Kinx’s Book Nook

Friday, November 6
Review at A Literary Vacation
Review at Curling Up By the Fire

Book Tour Review: Mist of Midnight by Sandra Byrd

Title: Mist of Midnight
Author: Sandra Byrd
Genre: historical, gothic, mystery
Series: Daughters of Hampshire #1
Pages: 384
Published: March 10 2015
Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for review
Rating: 4/5

Intriguing secondary characters and lush scenery contribute to the often sinister, even creepy, moments readers will come to anticipate. Infusing her story with mystery, tension, and emotion, Byrd strikes a fine balance between the darkness of a Gothic mystery and the sweetness of a captivating love story. Byrd—and Brontë—fans will enjoy.
Publisher's Weekly

In the first of a brand new series set in Victorian England, a young woman returns home from India after the death of her family to discover her identity and inheritance are challenged by the man who holds her future in his hands.

Rebecca Ravenshaw, daughter of missionaries, spent most of her life in India. Following the death of her family in the Indian Mutiny, Rebecca returns to claim her family estate in Hampshire, England. Upon her return, people are surprised to see her… and highly suspicious. Less than a year earlier, an imposter had arrived with an Indian servant and assumed not only Rebecca’s name, but her home and incomes.

That pretender died within months of her arrival; the servant fled to London as the young woman was hastily buried at midnight. The locals believe that perhaps she, Rebecca, is the real imposter. Her home and her father’s investments reverted to a distant relative, the darkly charming Captain Luke Whitfield, who quickly took over. Against her best intentions, Rebecca begins to fall in love with Luke, but she is forced to question his motives–does he love her or does he just want Headbourne House? If Luke is simply after the property, as everyone suspects, would she suffer a similar fate as the first “Rebecca”?

A captivating Gothic love story set against a backdrop of intrigue and danger, Mist of Midnight will leave you breathless.

Sandra Byrd has quickly become an auto-buy author for me; it took less than four novels before I knew I had found a new favorite. I was a big, enthusiastic fan of her Tudor-era historical series from a few years ago and her newest foray into historical gothic mysteries is unexpected but just as detailed, rich, and compelling as her other novels. Mist of Midnight is eerie, intriguing, and full of atmosphere. It's half gothic mystery and half romance, but Byrd brings it all together so well. The characters jump from the page, are well-rounded and rendered and further make reading the first Daughters of Hampshire novel even better.

 Rebecca, the main character, is interesting, proactive, clever, and more. It's easy to invest in and care about her as she struggles to find her footing and prove who she is. She keeps from becoming a trope through her good heartedness, humor, and humanity. The mystery she unravels took a little too long for her to figure out completely, but then she was distracted by her counterpart and love interest, the dashing and mysterious Captain Luke Whitfield. The romance seems to be the driving focus for a large part of the novel, but it's so well developed into the novel that I didn't mind. The two complement and challenge each other exceedingly well for love interests.

When the mystery/gothic edge does start to emerge more in Mists of Midnight -- laudanum dosing, vague and creepy warnings, mysterious sightings, unsolved murder, the imposter's origins -- it plays well into the established story and the characters. There are certain roles to be played but Byrd takes the expected tropes and twists them into new forms. It never feels like another novel. There are homages and more to the genre, but the book is entirely Rebecca Ravenshaw's and no one else's. The atmosphere is also relentless and enveloping -- Sandra Byrd really knows how to make her fiction feel like reality.

 I am far from a religious person, but though Byrd writes Christian fiction, it feels natural for the story, the characters, and the narration. Mist of Midnight never preaches or makes the faith element seem too much. Faith is a known and expected part for these people in this time, and it never overwhelms or crosses into the "too much" territory. 

Another promising and well-written start to a historical new series, Sandra Byrd shows exactly why I rush out to buy her books with Mist of Midnight. Creative, engaging, romantic, and gothic, it's a book that does so many things so well. The characters are unpredictable and three dimensional, the writing is taut and atmospheric, and the mystery is twisty and  not too immediately solved. A good balance was struck and I can't wait to see how the series next novels compare.

Book Tour Review: Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran by Marion Grace Woolley

Title: Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran
Author: Marion Grace Woolley
Genre: historical fiction, retellings
Series: N/A
Pages: 288
Source: TLC Book Tours for review
Rating: 3/5

A young woman confronts her own dark desires, and finds her match in a masked conjurer turned assassin.

Inspired by Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera, Marion Grace Woolley takes us on forbidden adventures through a time that has been written out of history books.

"Those days are buried beneath the mists of time. I was the first, you see. The very first daughter. There would be many like me to come. Svelte little figures, each with saffron skin and wide, dark eyes. Every one possessing a voice like honey, able to twist the santur strings of our father’s heart."

It begins with a rumour, an exciting whisper. Anything to break the tedium of the harem for the Shah’s eldest daughter. People speak of a man with a face so vile it would make a hangman faint, but a voice as sweet as an angel’s kiss. A master of illusion and stealth. A masked performer, known only as Vachon.

For once, the truth will outshine the tales.

On her birthday the Shah gifts his eldest daughter Afsar a circus. With it comes a man who will change everything.

A dark, odd little book Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran is attention-grabbing from early on. The story of Afsar, a daugther of the Shah set in the 1850s in Iran, there's a lot to love about the novel. It's certainly atmospheric, creative, and distinct. The writing itself is lush and full of visuals and unique imagery. The courts at Sari and in Tehran pop from the page, as does Afsar and her counterpart, Le Comte de Mort Rouge. It's a darkly fascinating journey with two damaged people and Marion Grace Woolley is a skilled storyteller.

A retelling/reinterpretation of the famous Phantom of the Opera in a new locale is refreshing and fully allows Marion Grace Woolley put her own stamp on the famous and often-told tale. Vachon is recognizable from his earlier incarnations, but the author definitely molds him in a distinct manner. Afsar, who says she has "been written out of the history books" is the main character and narrator (I did some googling and am unsure if this would be the correct historical corollary for her character if not her characterization). She is a difficult character to both like or relate to. She's interesting, though, and her arrogance is both frustrating and a key plot point to her own downfall.

The writing itself is the highlight of reading the novel. The issues I had stemmed from the pace and the lack of any real plot to propel events toward anything meaningful. Throughout the book Afsar and Eirik give into their baser urges and desires, if not the in way anticipated, and compete as often as they cooperate. However, there's no overarching plot to guide their actions. They do as they want just because they want. And while they aren't the best of people (ask Sheyda or Ludovico) I needed more than "baser instincts" as a reason for the story.

An intrigui9ng mix of retelling and historical fiction, Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran is disquieting but impossible to looka way from. As Afsar and Eirik encourage each other to new and more dangerous heights and depths, Mario Grace Woolley's story emerges as a adept and engaging novel. Fans of the original, or of darker historical fiction will find a lot to enjoy in this easily read and imaginative story.

Review: Suspicion by Alexandra Monir

Title: Suspicion
Author: Alexandra Monir
Genre: young adult, retellings, mystery, gothic
Series: N/A
Pages: 368
Published: expected December 9 2014
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 1/5

Mysterious. Magnificent. Creepy. Welcome to Rockford Manor.

"There's something hidden in the Maze." Seventeen-year-old Imogen has never forgotten the last words her father said to her seven years ago, before the blazing fire that consumed him, her mother, and the gardens of her family's English country manor.

Haunted by her parents' deaths, Imogen moves to New York City with her new guardians. But when a letter arrives with the news of her cousin's untimely death, revealing that Imogen is now the only heir left to run the estate, she returns to England and warily accepts her role as duchess.

All is not as it seems at Rockford, and Imogen quickly learns that dark secrets lurk behind the mansion's aristocratic exterior, hinting that the spate of deaths in her family were no accident. And at the center of the mystery is Imogen herself--and Sebastian, the childhood friend she has secretly loved for years. Just what has Imogen walked into?

Combining a fresh twist on the classic Rebecca with a spine-tingling mystery and powerful romance, Suspicion is an action-packed thrill ride.

I had a sneaking suspicion that Suspicion and I would have a rocky road when the poor, poor main character was described as being "forced to live as an American commoner!" and then again when the "keep secrets from the main character FOR HER OWN GOOD" trope came into play not 25% into the novel. Still, I had to give that cover and a YA retelling of the gothic classic Rebecca at least a second or third chance. And while I did manage to read all 368 pages, I have to say it was not a good use of time or effort. 

The thing is, Suspicion is pretty readable (if way off the claims in the summary. This is not half as fun or entertaining as the Princess Diaries or a third as creepy as Rebecca.) Even if a lot of the story is hard to believe or just ill-conceived, it makes for an easy read. But as you continue to read, you realize how flimsy a lot of the novel is. Not only is the mystery picked up and abandoned at will for a lackluster romance, but the stakes never feel real for poor Imogen-the-American-commoner. The gothic vibe the author tries to cultivate is also weak and makes for little atmosphere despite all the "mysteries" surrounding Imogen and her poor dead Duchess cousin.

The romance is... tepid. Weak. Ridiculous. It's pretty much the opposite of ship-able. It's unbelievable in all regards -- in that they love each other, or that he has loved her as long as he claims, or even that this really is love. Monir totally attempts to retcon half the story by the book's final page and tries to turn her characters' instalove into something more like soulmates. Not only does that not work with these two chemistry-less individuals but that's not even the worst part about how the story in Suspicion concludes. 

I just cannot with that ending, with the total ridiculousness that it was. Nope. No sir. No way, no how. This was never going to be higher than a 2 or a 2.5 for me but that ending served only to wreck any good there was to be had in Suspicion. Unfortunately, this is another cause of cover fraud because I finished this disappointed and less than impressed.

DNF Review: Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

Title: Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story
Author: Diane Setterfield
Genre: paranormal, gothic
Series: N/A
Pages: 328
Published: November 5 2013
Source: publishes via NetGalley
Rating: 2/5 -- DNF

Bellman & Black is a heart-thumpingly perfect ghost story, beautifully and irresistibly written, its ratcheting tension exquisitely calibrated line by line. Its hero is William Bellman, who, as a boy of 11, killed a shiny black rook with a catapult, and who grew up to be someone, his neighbours think, who "could go to the good or the bad." And indeed, although William Bellman's life at first seems blessed—he has a happy marriage to a beautiful woman, becomes father to a brood of bright, strong children, and thrives in business—one by one, people around him die. And at each funeral, he is startled to see a strange man in black, smiling at him. 

At first, the dead are distant relatives, but eventually his own children die, and then his wife, leaving behind only one child, his favourite, Dora. Unhinged by grief, William gets drunk and stumbles to his wife's fresh grave—and who should be there waiting, but the smiling stranger in black. The stranger has a proposition for William—a mysterious business called "Bellman & Black" . . 

  
To say that I was looking forward to Diane Setterfield's second novel is an understatement. Her debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale, was the first Gothic story I'd ever really loved and I'd been anticipating a follow-up from this talented author for yeeaaars. So when news of Bellman & Black came out, I was more than excited and grateful to receive an ARC. And once I began reading, I knew lightning was not going to strike twice for me and Ms. Setterfield. 

My issues became apparent early on and can be broken down easily:

• the POV is too distant
• the first portion too focused on dry and uninteresting material
• the characters are too remote in their presentation
• nothing really happens for significant tracts of time

It's all relayed to the reader and shown in pretty prose, but still this was still a drag to read. The story never clicked the way The Thirteenth Tale managed to from the first chapter. The characters were a big part of that issue, but the story suffers when the author chooses to focus so closely on mills and William Bellman's years of work there.

A lot of readers and critics and reviewers seem to love this, so my opinion is certainly not universal. If you enjoyed Diane Setterfield's previous novel, it's at least worth a try. Just go into the story with lowered expectations and have a lot of patience for a veeery slow-building plot. Certainly, you'll need more time and patience than I had --- I could only make it 30% before I had to admit defeat.

In the end, I was:

I was:

• bored
• confused
• unconnected
• disinterested