Release Date: October 7, 2014
Publisher: Broadway Books
Pages: 384
Source: copy from publisher via Blogging for Books (thank you!!)
Pages: 384
Source: copy from publisher via Blogging for Books (thank you!!)
ISBN-10:
0804140685
Rating: 3 Hearts
Book Description
"In modern day England, Professor Felix Guichard is called in to identify occult symbols found on the corpse of a young girl. His investigation brings him in contact with a mysterious woman, Jackdaw Hammond, who guards a monumental secret--She's Dead. Or she would be, were it not for magic which has artificially extended her life. But someone else knows her secret. Someone very old and very powerful, who won't rest until they've taken the magic that keeps her alive....
In Krakow in 1585, Dr John Dee, the Elizabethan Alchemist and Occultist, and his assistant Edward Kelley have been summoned by the King of Poland to save the life of his niece, the infamous Countess Elisabeth Bathory. But they soon realize that the only thing worse than the Countess' malady, is the magic that might be able to save her...
As Jackdaw and Felix race to uncover the truth about the person hunting her, it becomes clear that the answers they seek can only be found in the ancient diary of John Dee's assistant, Edward Kelley. Together they must solve a mystery centuries in the making, or die trying."
Review
Short and Sweet:
While I can see a lot of people really enjoying the dark and twisty story in this, it just wasn't for me.
To Elaborate...
Opening with a dead girl discovered with weird cult-like markings found on her body, the reader is thrown head first into a world of secrets, science, and sacrifice. The story is super intriguing, and it carries a Frankenstein/Dracula dark kind of tone to it all the way through.
While I'm all for a dark story, I just never connected with this one. One of the main characters, a woman named Jack, is really interesting,and I love her tough attitude. There is just a touch of romance between her and another character that I liked, and they have to face quite a bit of a challenge if they want to be together.
I thought the twist with the science/magic markings was awesome. The story alternates between present day and the late 1500s, and the parallel going on between the two was well done. Even so, something just never clicked with me for this story. I liked the characters well enough, and I liked the story. I guess I just wasn't wow-ed.
Overall, I would still highly recommend this to adult fiction readers who like a dark and mysterious story to keep them flipping through in the late hours of the night. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I can easily see it being a good fit for others. I still want to keep an eye on other books from this author because I think it just may have been this particular book that didn't work for me.
3 Hearts!
While I'm all for a dark story, I just never connected with this one. One of the main characters, a woman named Jack, is really interesting,and I love her tough attitude. There is just a touch of romance between her and another character that I liked, and they have to face quite a bit of a challenge if they want to be together.
I thought the twist with the science/magic markings was awesome. The story alternates between present day and the late 1500s, and the parallel going on between the two was well done. Even so, something just never clicked with me for this story. I liked the characters well enough, and I liked the story. I guess I just wasn't wow-ed.
Overall, I would still highly recommend this to adult fiction readers who like a dark and mysterious story to keep them flipping through in the late hours of the night. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I can easily see it being a good fit for others. I still want to keep an eye on other books from this author because I think it just may have been this particular book that didn't work for me.
3 Hearts!
This definitely sounds interesting, I tend to like dark and twisty books although they can either be amazingly good or terribly bad in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteSounds like this could have a lot of potential with the dark feel of it as well as with the two timelines, maybe I'll give it a try and hope it'll click better with me!
ReplyDeleteGreat review Samantha!
I"ve read mostly YA dark and twisty books, so it was really interesting to see an example of it in adult fiction.
ReplyDeleteI hope it does too if you try it! It's always so hard reviewing books that are written well but just don't click with me. I always worry that I'll turn people off from reading it when it might be a new favorite for them.
ReplyDeleteI can sometimes enjoy darker stories and this one sounds intriguing. I totally get the thing about not connecting even if you can't put your finger on why that is.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy dark stories every once in a while. I haven't heard of this one, but it sounds interesting. Maybe I'll check it out, thanks for your thoughts!
ReplyDelete