Review: The Fall by Bethany Griffin

The Fall by Bethany Griffin

Release Date: October 7^th 2014
Publisher:  Greenwillow Books
Format: eArc
Pages: 400
Genre: Young Adult – Horror, Historical fiction
Source: Edelweiss
Author: Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The BookDepository
Add it: Goodreads

Madeline Usher is doomed.

She has spent her life fighting fate, and she thought she was succeeding. Until she woke up in a coffin.

Ushers die young. Ushers are cursed. Ushers can never leave their house, a house that haunts and is haunted, a house that almost seems to have a mind of its own. Madeline’s life—revealed through short bursts of memory—has hinged around her desperate plan to escape, to save herself and her brother. Her only chance lies in destroying the house.

In the end, can Madeline keep her own sanity and bring the house down? The Fall is a literary psychological thriller, reimagining Edgar Allan Poe’s classic The Fall of the House of Usher.

*This book was provided by Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Madeline Usher and her twin brother are cursed. They live in a house that is cursed. Only people who have Usher blood are drawn to the house all the way down to the servants and cooks. The house is falling apart and everyday something new is breaking, fraying, or covered in dust. The house chooses a new person to pass the curse onto. Madeline has always been close with the house. She feels what the house feels. She would fly high on the swing without her legs moving. Her father was slowly slipping into madness, her mother was an evil woman with a love for her brother, and her brother was afraid of the dark but never believed in the house. Her brother is sent off to a boarding school to protect him leaving Madaline with the relentless doctors that poke and proud her. All the while she is slowly slipping into the sickness.

The Fall is a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and it was wonderfully written. As for accuracy compared to Poe’s story, I don’t know because I haven’t read it but the settings were eerie (especially the attic) and I was totally pulled in by the prologue.  The chapters of the book jump time frames from when Madeline was a young girl to pages in a diary she found and then to her present day. This continues until about half way through the book and then it just stays in the present time. Since there is so much time jumping this results in a ton of short chapters. I am all for short chapters because I feel like I am reading really fast, which was good because I felt sort of just blah throughout the book. Now don’t get me wrong, it was a good book, but for some reason I just wasn’t feeling it as much as I had hoped I would. There were definitely some good parts but it wasn’t everything I thought it would be. I did read Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin and I had really enjoyed that one so I’m not sure what it was about this.

I recommend picking this one up If you enjoy Poe retellings, historical fiction, or if you have read Griffin’s books before. It was a quick read, even for the length. Now this is classified as horror but I wouldn’t put it quite that far. I was never scared while reading this book so don’t let that put you off. Even though this wasn't my favorite book I still plan on picking up whatever else Bethany Griffin writes next.

Review: Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday

Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday

Release Date: September 9th 2014
Publisher:  EgmontUSA
Format: eArc
Pages: 288
Genre: Young Adult – Historical Fiction, Horror, Retelling
Source: Edelweiss
Author: Website | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author.

Summoned to her father's home in 1820's Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which he might be implicated. She is torn romantically between her father's assistants-one kind and proper, one mysterious and brooding-who share a dark secret and may have more to do with the violent events than they're letting on.

*This book was provided by Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Annabel Lee has just traveled half way across the world to Philadelphia, PA to live with her father, whom she has never met. Her mother has passed away and she is an only child so she is doing this all on her own. While walking to the carriage that will take her to her new home something happens and she is rescued from drowning by her father’s assistant Allan Poe. There is instant attraction between the two of them. She soon finds out that there is a murderer loose in Philadelphia but everyone insists that she has nothing to worry about as long as she stays by her house and doesn’t go out at night. There are many secrets floating around the large old house that she is now living in.

I did think the writing in this book flowed nicely, which is probably what kept me from DNFing it but nothing really happened for about 70% of the book. I would say more than half the book was character development. The plot is very slow and when I hit about 80% I was thinking to myself that there wasn’t much left in the book and I was wondering if or when anything was going to happen. I was waiting for the shocker. However, there isn’t really a shocker moment in this book. I pretty much figured out what was going on right away and I’m sure everyone else will be able to also. Oh and not to mention this book is part of a series, at least I hope that wasn’t how it was going to end. There is no indication, at least on Goodreads, that this was going to be a series.  

I really don’t have too much else to say on the book but not too much happened. Anything really worth talking about would only lead to a spoiler, which I try my hardest to avoid while writing reviews. Also, I am not completely familiar with Poe, I need to work on that, but I really thought there was going to be more. The names are obviously connected and some of his work is thrown in but that was really all I got out of it. This was more of a story of how Annabel Lee and Poe met and not a “retelling” of anything. I am not sure if I will be picking up the next book, if it is indeed a series. 

On a separate note, Jessica Verday's website is pretty neat.

(Closer to a 2.5)

Review: The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd (28 Days of Reviews #7)

The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Series: The Madman’s Daughter, #1
Release Date: January 29^th 2013
Publisher:  Balzer + Bray
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 420
Genre: Young Adult – Historical Fiction, Thriller
Source: My Collection
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.

The Madman’s Daughter is a story told from Juliet Moreau, the daughter of a very well-known London Doctor. Her father was run out of town when it was discovered that he was doing some very gruesome experiments. It was presumed that he was dead but nothing was ever confirmed. After her father left, it was just Juliet and her mom. They were forced to sell everything and move into a small apartment. Her mother was reduced to selling herself to keep them alive. Soon her mother passed away and all her things were sold and Juliet was left to find for herself. The daughter of a once very rich father was no reduced to a cleaning maid. She lost all her friends, except one who she actually wasn’t supposed to talk to, and had no family to turn to.

Juliet is invited to a party with her good friend Lucy but she doesn’t feel like she belongs with that crowed anymore. Soon she is talked into going to the university where she works to prove a point. They stumble upon a group of students doing a live dissection of a rabbit and it turns out they have something that once belonged to her father. From there on she is determined that her father is alive and does everything she can to find out. She ends up on a ship to an island located near Australia with a man, only a couple years older than herself who used to be a servant in her house when she was young. She has always admired him and now she feels even more connected. Then in comes a very mysterious castaway, who seems to be very interested in Juliet. When Juliet arrives at the island she learns quite a bit about her father and discovers some very disturbing things.

This is a retelling of H.G. Wells book The Island of Dr. Moreau. I have never read that story so I have no idea if it is a descent retelling or not. The book has a very creepy, dark mood to it and it does a very good job of maintaining that mood throughout. Even the happy parts still have a dark feel to them. This book was described as having some gross scenes and I would totally agree with that. They talk about vivisection (live dissection) of animals and even people and the details are rather gross. I don’t have a problem reading this but I could see how some people would. Most of the disturbing scenes involve animals but there are a couple scenes that involve people. Juliet’s father is definitely a madman and rightly earns that title. He is a horrible father or person in general.

I really enjoyed the writing, the characters, and everything about this book. The ending was so intense! Definitely the best part of the book. This is obviously a good thing because I couldn’t wait to pick up the second book! If you are into gothic thrillers then I highly recommend this. Just be prepared for the gross parts. I also sort of want to pick up the H.G. Wells book now!

My Rating:

Wishlist Wednesday #71

Wishlist Wednesday is a book blog hop hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper Blog where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wish-list for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wish-list and onto our wonderful shelves.

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Series: Dorothy Must Die, #1
Release Date: April 1st 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 432
Author:  Twitter | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened?

Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission:

Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.

Steal the Scarecrow's brain.

Take the Lion's courage.

Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

 

Laura must have this book! This just sounds so fantastic. I have extremely high expectations for this book and I really hope it doesn’t let me down. I will definitely be getting this the day it comes out. Unless someone wants to send me an arc…….. :-)

 

What’s on your wish list?

Review: Beauty and the Beast: The Graphic Novel retold by Michael Dahl

Beauty and the Beast: The Graphic Novel retold by Michael Dahl
Illustrated by Luke Feldman
Hardcover, 33 pages
Published September 1st 2008 by Stone Arch Books
Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

In a dark forest, a merchant picks a rose for his daughter Beauty. It belongs to a terrible beast. To save his life, the merchant promises that his daughter will visit the creature. When she does, Beauty grows to like the beast. But can she ever love him?

My Review:

Well I have to say I was a little disappointed with this graphic novel. This is such a great story from my childhood and I don’t think there is one person that doesn’t know this story. Whether it’s because they know the original or they have seen the Disney movie. The Disney movie is great but the original is a little bit darker than that, obviously.

This however was very short and I feel it let a lot out. One minute she is going to the Beasts house then the next she is in love and then he is dying. I felt if they made this even a little bit longer it could have been better. The graphics weren’t anything special either. I feel they lacked detail and just could have been better also. This story just didn’t add anything new or unique.

It does have some discussion questions and other tidbits of info at the end of the book which is neat for younger children or classrooms.

My Rating:

 

Review: Thumbelina: The Graphic Novel retold by Martin Powell

Thumbelina: The Graphic Novel retold by Martin Powell
Illustrated by Sarah Horne
Hardcover, 33 pages
Published September 1st 2009 by Stone Arch Books
Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

After seeking the help of a strange old woman, Gerta is amazed to see a tiny girl emerge from the blooming petals of a magical flower! Gerta has always wanted a child of her own, so she adopts the tiny maiden and names her Thumbelina. While Gerta sleeps, a strange creature creeps forth from the darkness and steals Thumbelina into the night. Lost and alone in a forest, Thumbelina must seek the aid of the forest creatures if she is to ever see Gerta again.

 

My Review:

I would just like to start out saying that I love reading graphic novels and fairytale retellings. So when you stumble upon a combination of both then that’s just awesome. This one covers the story of Thumbelina. Now I know the basic story of Thumbelina but have never read the actual story so this one was less known to me. This usually makes me uncomfortable when reviewing a retelling because I can’t really compare the two.

The beginning of these books usually have a cast of characters that has everyone drawn out so you can see who is who. They are also usually based off of a more original version of the fairytale. This one has interesting illustrations and layout. Instead of the random frames like most graphic novels, this one has just three panels on most of the pages and there are a few pages that have just one large illustration. The style of drawings in this book are made to look not perfect, i.e. not straight lines or perfect circles. I actually really like this.

I am really liking Martin Powell’s retellings and after looking at Goodreads and seeing how many he has done, I hope to read many more.

My Rating: