A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience was a short and cozy historical fantasy set in an alternate version of 19th century England. Stephanie Burgis creatA Marriage of Undead Inconvenience was a short and cozy historical fantasy set in an alternate version of 19th century England. Stephanie Burgis created a world where paranormal creatures such a vampires and werewolves live amongst the human population.
A short novella it may have been but that doesn't mean the characters or plot weren't great to read about, on the contrary even! I really liked both Margaret Dunhaven, a scholar, as well as Lord Riven, a vampire. Somehow they both find themselves to be hurriedly married to each other and when they realize they were both forced into this marriage, they decide to work together to find out who is actually behind all of this and how the Rose of Normandy, a mysterious heirloom with incredible power.
This really was a fun novella and with 62 pages it can easily be read in one sitting. For such a quick read it still had enough world and character building to make it a very enjoyable story. Initially Margaret and Lord Riven didn't get along very well but as they worked together and got to know each other more and went up against the villain of the story they realized they might not hate being married to each other after all.
I loved the humor, the lightheartedness of the story and most of all the two main characters. I would actually love a full novel or series set in this world. I, for sure, would love to read more about Margaret and Lord Riven!...more
Kelly Creagh has been a favorite author of mine for almost ten years so I'm always jumping on her latest novel. And as per usual I'm definitely not leKelly Creagh has been a favorite author of mine for almost ten years so I'm always jumping on her latest novel. And as per usual I'm definitely not left disappointed. Strange Unearthly Things is a retelling of Jane Eyre and it actually creeped me out from the first chapter onwards and didn't stop until the very end. Which is why it makes for a perfect spooky season read and why I saved it until October to read it. No regrets whatsoever!
The story is about Jane Reye (obviously an anagram of Jane Eyre) who is a psychic artist. Basically she draws ghosts and other supernatural beings. When she receives an invitation to take part in a study at Fairfax Hall in England, something that would require her psychic artist expertise, she doesn't hesitate because she has nowhere left to turn. Once there she meets Giovanni, who's a medium and Ingrid who uses tarot cards. Together they're supposed to rid Fairfax Hall of its ominous demonic presence. She also meets Elias Thornfield, the owner of the estate. Although wearing an eyepatch, he's very handsome and talks in a mysterious old-timey way. Jane quickly realizes it's not Fairfax Hall that's haunted but it's Elias himself that the demon is attached to.
I really enjoyed reading about all the characters featured in the book, Jane especially. Although Elias could kind of get on my nerve occassionally because of his rather emo demeanor. But I did love Elias' old-timey speech because it made for an interesting mix between him and the other characters who were very much modern and would often use pop cultural references. The ending was rather bittersweet which I'm not a super big fan of in general so that's why I rated it with one star less but I must admit it was a clever ending.
Strange Unearthly Things by Kelly Creagh is a modern and unique reimagining of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. If you like gothic, mysterious, spooky reads with a sprinkling of romance, then I would highly recommend it. ...more
What Moves the Dead is a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, which just happens to be my favorite story written by Poe and What Moves the Dead is a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, which just happens to be my favorite story written by Poe and that's why I decided to read this book. It's also my very first book by T. Kingfisher but I know it most definitely won't be my last. I highly enjoyed this creepy story and I want more!
If you're familiar with The Fall of the House of Usher you can clearly tell this book is a retelling of it because of the characters, the gothic and macabre feeling of the story but the author also added a lot of other intriguing things and went deeper into the story and what more it could've been. Also, you don't have to have read the original story to enjoy this one. It stands on its own pretty well!
I really loved what T. Kingfisher did to the story to make it her own little creation. One of my favorite things for example was that the character of Lieutenant Alex Easton used nonbinary pronouns which is the custom when you join the Gallacian army. Even after retiring from work Alex decided to keep using those pronouns. The whole backstory of that particular tradition was really amazing to read about.
Needless to say Alex was a favorite character of mine. Another character I loved, and I'm sure she'll be a fan favorite, was Eugenia Potter. She was an illustrator and amateur mycologist (someone who studies fungi). If you read this book you'll see that fungi play a big part of the story and that's where the brilliance of Eugenia came in. I loved every scene she was in.
Another thing I was really impressed by was T. Kingfisher's writing. The way she wrote certain descriptions were both beautiful and gross at the same time. And that's something you just have to have a knack for, I think. It was also a very creepy story and I just loved the way that the creepiness kind of sneaks up on you. And also, let me just say that hares will never be the same for me again. There's a hare on the cover for a reason. Be warned!...more
Stephanie (Bookfever)
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Books:
gothic
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