Book Reviews & Crosswords – Read First Chapter.com

Category: Book Reviews & Crosswords

Book Review and Crossword – The Indian Fan by Victoria Holt

DESCRIPTION FROM AMAZON.com:

The-Indian-Fan-by-Victoria-Holt-CoverA gothic thriller full of romance, murder, and mayhem. It begins with a priceless heirloom that turns into a horrible curse…

A parson’s daughter, Druscilla Delaney is enthralled by her wealthy, glamorous neighbors—the Framlings—and their handsome son, Fabian. They gift her a priceless heirloom, a beautiful fan, but what happens when this fan turns into a curse? Everything changes.

Beautiful as its peacock feathers may be, the fan hidden deep in the Framling mansion has a legacy of death and destruction. Druscilla has no idea she’s been marked by it. Her life is in danger.

Will the fan’s dark past prove less of a danger than Fabian Framling himself though? Dark, brooding, and dominating, could he be the one to save her from the fan’s cruel fate or do the opposite: cause her death?

Including elements of historical romance and romantic suspense, The India Fan is a spellbinding tale from the Queen of Gothic Romance. Fast paced and gripping for fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, and Daphne Du Maurier.

“A mesmerizing story of blackmail, romance, and deception.”—Associated Press

REVIEW AS A READER:

cartoon-cat-reading-chillinI purchased this book based on reading another of Victoria Holt’s books.  I wasn’t instantly in love with this book but the author’s writing style is so beautiful, that alone kept me going.  However, I slowly fell in love with the characters — but not because they were great people, most of them were flawed in one way or another.  I fell in love with the story itself and how it all unfolded to the main character, Drusilla.

Although this was not a classic gothic story, it was a story about aristocrats and the working class, the differences between them, and how it affects everyone involved in the story.  So it had a gothic feel to it because there was a mystery or two that laced all the way through the story.

The story contained a few historical elements but only in a general way.  The drama took place at a time when the British ruled India and the Indians had enough of it.  There was tension in the air and this added to the suspense of the book.   Without too much dry historical information, the conflict between the two sides played out in the drama among and  between all of the characters.  It’s a story wasn’t political at all.  It explained only in a cursory way both sides of the conflict.    Ms. Holt presented the story from characters on both sides of the conflict.

This was a family saga.  The narrative  took place over half a lifetime, and the characters grew and changed within the changing drama.   There were two love interests on Drusilla’s mind and it wasn’t revealed which way she would go until the last few pages.  I was guessing the entire way through.

This is the third book I’ve read by Victoria Hold.  The book was as beautifully written as the other two.  The story is filled with interesting characters right out of Hollywood.  The narrative was gripping, suspenseful, mysterious and hauntingly sad at certain times.  I absolutely loved this book and I would give it 5 stars and will read it again I’m sure.



MY REVIEW AS AN AUTHOR:

I learned quite a bit as an author from this novel.  I didn’t realize it would be a saga when I picked it up but the story was so riveting that it went fast.  It wasn’t until about three-quarters of the way through the book that I realized the story had covered decades of time.

It was interesting and enlightening to see how Ms. Holt handled the passage of time.  She cleverly and sometimes casually mentioned the passage of a few years here and there, and the story continued its natural flow.

The story was also broken into sections that made it easier for the reader to remember where the drama was taking place.  There was a section called India; and then another section titled England when they returned.  Even if a reader put the book down, it would have been easy to figure out where everyone was with a flip of a few pages.

Ms. Holt had a way of adding just enough historical information to enrich the story and yet, not enough to call this a historical fiction.  This was a big eye opener.  I’m so used to reading these big research dumps in fiction that I was surprised but pleased by Victoria Holt’s brevity.  She used no real dates or formal event names.  There was only a passing mention of what was in the air around them and how it was affecting everyone.  As an author, I stood in awe of her ability to write with this type of know-how and flair.

HOW I KEEP TRACK AS AN AUTHOR:

I wanted to pass on my technique in case this blog post is being read by other authors.  I would love to hear other authors’ reviews of books as a reader and author.

I read on the Kindle app on a 10 inch tablet.  I use the yellow highlighter to underscore any character names, story-changing action and anything else I want to remember.  Then I use my blue highlighter as a author to highlight my favorite turn of phrases, which I will post below.  I use blue to also keep track of any words or historical terms I want to note in a large file I’ve been nursing lately.

Reading in the kindle app allows you to look up any word that comes up that’s unfamiliar.  I love this technology and I highlight in blue if I want to make sure I put this on my list of words to learn and yellow if I manage to add a note with the definition if it’s only a word or two.

Occasionally, I will use my orange highlighter to point out something that is unusual about the book or a section I want to make a note about or revisit after I finish the book.  This allows me to go back and take the time to see what captured my attention during the read and take another look after I finish the story.

ANOTHER EXERCISE I THINK IS HELPFUL:

I plan to write a bit more gothic romance myself when I’m done with my present book – the fifth and final book in my Newport Vampire Series.  As I read through gothic books at this time, I’m keeping a running list of architectural terms, castle-part terms, gothic atmospheric terms, anything that I may want to reference as I enter into this new area of writing.

I would love to know if anyone else does this!

I’ve already rated the book five stars as a reader and I would also rate this book as a five star as an author read.  It is a great book to see how an author adds history to enrich the story, how to handle the passage of time, character development, how to present a decade’s long family saga and more.  So if you’re just breaking into the gothic romance area or you want to see the difference between adding a little history verses writing an actual historical novel, this is  great choice.

book-review-turn-of-phrasesMY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

  • She was spoken of in hushed whispers as though those who mentioned her feared they might be taking her name in vain; in my youthful mind she ranked with the Queen and was second only to God.
  • I looked fearfully at the portraits. They seemed like real people regarding me severely for having trespassed into their domain. This shows the author giving the pictures a personality while passing over background information.
  • There was a lump in my throat. I did not cry. Crying for me was for lighter emotions. Something within me was deeply hurt and I believed that the wound would be with me forever.
  • She did not mention Him because he was dead, and when people died, I realized, their sins were washed away by the all-important respect.
  • It was what is referred to as the cockney spirit; and it certainly seemed to be a product of the streets of London.
  • She had small hands and feet and sailed rather than walked, her voluminous skirt making a gentle swishing noise as she moved.
  • I thought of a sharp retort, but I spoke gently, for there is something more than ordinarily pathetic about the arrogant when they are brought low. I was looking at a very frightened girl, as well she might be.
  • It was a bitter blow to my pride rather than to my deep emotions.
  • He looked at me rather conspiratorially . . .
  • . . . poor old man who seemed nothing but rags and bones.
  • Often great beauty will disguise emptiness and sometimes evil.
  • Then there was a shattering explosion. [spoiler removal] threw up his hands. I heard the knife fall to the ground; he reeled drunkenly before he collapsed in a heap at my feet.The fact that we were women and children and elderly people would not save us. This was a war against a race, not against individual people.



CROSSWORD BASED ON THE INDIA FAN BY VICTORIA HOLT

Crossword-Indian-Fan-Victoria-HoltClick here to do the crossword puzzle online

Click here to download the crossword, the clues and the answers as a pdf from Google Drive

Book Review – Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dracula-book-coverDESCRIPTION FROM AMAZON.com:

During a business visit to Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, a young English solicitor finds himself at the center of a series of horrifying incidents. Jonathan Harker is attacked by three phantom women, observes the Count’s transformation from human to bat form, and discovers puncture wounds on his own neck that seem to have been made by teeth.

Harker returns home upon his escape from Dracula’s grim fortress, but a friend’s strange malady — involving sleepwalking, inexplicable blood loss, and mysterious throat wounds — initiates a frantic vampire hunt. The popularity of Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror romance is as deathless as any vampire. Its supernatural appeal has spawned a host of film and stage adaptations, and more than a century after its initial publication, it continues to hold readers spellbound.

REVIEW AS AN AUTHOR:

Cat-as-book-reviewerI usually start with my review as a reader but today I have to start with my review as an author.  I have read this book at least twice, maybe even more, and find the story wonderful — but only because I’ve seen movies that stuck very closely to the storyline.

I found the technique of telling the story through a series of letters VERY CONFUSING.  Extremely confusing.  Reading through the letters as a reader, it is enjoyable and they do add to the element of suspense and a low-grade horror that continues through the book.  However, after reading the book several times, I would never have been able to give an account of who everyone was and where they all went in the story.  That was all too elusive with going back and forth between the letters from different people and then back to the narrative itself.



SPOILER ALERT – QUICK SYNOPSIS OF THE PLOTLINE

spoiler-alertSo for anyone who wants to see the action laid out quickly, read below.  There are spoilers, so don’t read this part if you don’t want to spoil the book plot for yourself.  I personally don’t care about spoilers as sometimes I enjoy books or movies better when I know ahead of time what to watch for!

That being said, here is a quick synopsis of what happens with the actual itinerary:

  • Harker goes to Dracula’s castle in the Carpathian Mountains.  Dracula is weird and there are women there that attack him.  He winds up sick and unconscious in a hospital in Budapest.
  • Dracula takes a ship called the Demeter to England where he has purchased an estate house.  He brings several boxes of earth from his homeland, Transylvania.
  • The captain of the Demeter leaves a log behind which narrates how all the crew disappear or end up dead one at a time.  At some point, he is alone, he binds himself to the ship/mast, and he arrives in port in England dead too.
  • Lucy Westenra and Mina Murray are best friends.  Lucy writes to Mina telling her she has been proposed to by three men:  Dr. John Seward, Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood.  She chooses Holmwood but they all remain friends.
  • Lucy invites Mina on vacation with her.  Since Jonathan has gone to deliver real estate papers to Dracula, she joins Lucy on holiday in Whitby, which is where Dracula’s ship lands.
  • Mina then receives a letter about her fiancé’s illness (Jonathan Harker) and she travels to Budapest to nurse him.
  • While she’s gone, Lucy begins sleepwalking while still away in Whitby. Dracula stalks Lucy. Lucy becomes very ill but no one knows why.
  • Professor Abraham Van Helsing comes to diagnose Lucy but he refuses to disclose the real reason for her illness.  Instead, he diagnoses her with  acute blood-loss.  Van Helsing places garlic flowers around Lucy’s sick room and makes her a necklace of them. Her mother, who has no idea they are to ward off vampires, innocently removes them from Lucy and from the room.
  • A wolf then shows up and terrifies Lucy and her mother.  Mrs. Westenra dies of a heart attack.  Then Lucy dies shortly thereafter.
  • After Lucy’s burial, newspaper reports children being stalked in the night by a beautiful woman and Dr. Van Helsing deduces it is Lucy who has now arisen as a vampiress.  He decides he has to do something.
  • The four men (Van Helsing, Arthur Holmwood, Dr. John Seward, and Quincey Morris) go to Lucy’s tomb and see that she is now a vampire. They stake her heart, behead her, and fill her mouth with garlic. Lucy as a vampiress is now taken care of.  The men now decide to go after Dracula too.
  • Jonathan Harker and his now-wife Mina have returned to England and they join the campaign against Dracula.
  • As they go off to hunt Dracula, they stay at Dr. Seward’s asylum.  Van Helsing finally reveals to them that vampires can only rest on earth from their homeland.
  • Dracula communicates with Sewart’s patient, Mr. Renfield, an insane man who eats flies, vermin, and birds to absorb their life force. He learns of the men’s plot against him and he uses Renfield to enter the asylum.
  • He attacks Mina three times, drinking her blood and forcing her to drink his blood on the final visit. She is now cursed to become a vampire after her death unless Dracula is killed.
  • After a search, the men find Dracula’s properties and they find many boxes of dirt (Transylvania earth) within.   They open each box of earth and seal pieces of consecrated Catholic Hosts, sacramental bread, inside each box, now rendering them useless to Dracula.
  • They try to trap the Count in his Piccadilly house but he escapes. They learn he is fleeing back to his castle in Transylvania with his last box of dirt.
  • Van Helsing, knowing Mina still has at least a psychic connection to Dracula, hypnotizes her to track Dracula’s whereabouts on his escape route.
  • In Galatz Romania, the group splits up.  Dr. Van Helsing and Mina go to Dracula’s castle where the professor destroys the vampiresses.
  • Jonathan Harker and Arthur Holmwood go off to find Dracula’s boat on the river, while Quincey Morris and John Seward parallel them on the land on the river bank.
  • They find the box and once Dracula’s coffin is loaded onto a wagon by Romani men, the hunters converge and attack it.  There is a big fight with the Romani men and Quincy is wounded.
  • After catching up with the others, Harker decapitates Dracula as Quincy stakes him in the heart.  Dracula crumbles to dust, freeing Mina from her vampiric curse.
  • Quincy is mortally wounded in the fight against the Romani. He dies at peace knowing that Mina will be okay.
  • Seven years later, there is a note indicating that the Harkers now have a son named Quincey.

WHAT WAS GREAT ABOUT THE BOOK:

Now that I got my negative review about telling a story with letters out of the way, I’ll go into what is great about the book.  First of all, the story was so original.  Even today, the story maintains its originality in it’s prose, it’s atmosphere and the storyline itself.  It has lost nothing over the years.  It reads as a historical novel, but it does not read as dated one bit.

As an author, I read in awe of Bram Stoker.  There was no vampire genre at the time.  There were similar horror-like creatures written about before Bram Stoken wrote this story, but in my humble opinion, 95% of his story is unique and pulled entirely from his imagination.  This is why although there may have been one or two books written before his, Dracula is the one that kickstarted the entire vampire genre.

On top of the horror story about Dracula, the mini story about the mental patient Renfield could have been a follow-up book.  It too was so original, fascinating, a classic horror tale.

Although I didn’t like the narrative device of using letters, the story itself was five stars.  It was and still is a classic gothic vampire story.  It contains all of the scary, errie, weird, unsettling, suspenseful and horrific elements, none of which are dated or have lost one bit of their effect.   I have listed below some of my favorite turn of phrases and I hope you enjoy them.

IF I HAD TO READ THIS AGAIN:

If I had to or chose to read this book again, which I will, I would read through the narrative I pieced together above — from my own book notes and the help of Wikipedia for proper names — before starting out.  This is another instance where I think a list of characters in the beginning of the novel would be helpful to the reader.

If the reader removes the job of trying to keep whose letters one is reading and what is happening before or simultaneously, it would make the story much more enjoyable.

book-review-turn-of-phrasesMY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

  • The road was rugged, but still we seemed to fly over it with a feverish haste.
  • The dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road — a long, agonized wailing, as if from fear.
  • At the first howl, the horses began to strain and rear, but the driver spoke to them soothingly, and they quieted down, but shivered and sweated as though after a runaway from sudden fright.
  • Then, far off in the distance, from the mountains on each side of us began a louder and a sharper howling — that of wolves — which affected both the horses and myself in the same way — for I was minded to jump from the caleche and run, whilst they reared again and plunged madly, so that the driver had to use all his great strength to keep them from bolting.
  • Blazed with a demonic fury . . .
  • Made a grab at my throat
  • This describes the last seaman who was found on the ship:  The searchlight followed her (the ship), and a shudder ran through all who saw her, for lashed to the helm was a corpse, with drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro at each motion of the ship.



CROSSWORD BASED ON DRACULA BY BRAM STOKER:

crossword puzzle based on dracular by bram stoker

Book Review – Pride and the Peacock by Victoria Holt

book-review-pride-and-the-peacockAmazon Description of the Book:

A young woman uncovers her family’s dark secrets in this mystery and her connection to a famously cursed gemstone in this Victorian gothic thriller from an internationally bestselling author

To secure her inheritance, Jessica Clavering agrees to a marriage of convenience, but will her handsome new husband’s desire for her ever surpass his obsession with a famously cursed opal?

Raised in the shadow of her family’s financial ruin, Jessica has never felt as though she fit in. When her only friend, an elderly neighbor, offers her the chance at a new life, she’s eager to take it. His only condition: she must marry her son, Joss.

The newlyweds inherit a fabled opal mine in Australia. It’s only once they arrive on the faraway continent that Jessica starts to uncover her family’s dark past and her connection to the Green Flash, an exquisite and spellbinding opal. The stone arouses a dangerous desire in anyone who sees it—even her husband.

Blending historical romance with elements of the paranormal, The Pride of the Peacock is an exhilarating tale from the Queen of Gothic Romance. Fans of Susanna Kearsley, Daphne Du Maurier, and Kate Morton will be spellbound by classic story of an overseas voyage, a cursed opal, and forbidden desire.

MY REIVEW AS AN AUTHOR:

This was the second Victoria Holt Gothic book I read.  I loved this one as well. I can see that the her style is formulaic — but in a good way.  She includes all of the elements of a great gothic story:  A large house, a story weaving around the wealthy vs. a lower caste in society, a family secret, a mysterious question arises that weaves all the way through the story.  As an author, I could see the formula, but it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the story, not one bit.

This story included a journey into the world of opal minors and it gave the reader a historical view and close up view of the life of an opal minor.  This was the educational part of the plot, and it was very enjoyable.  I would never have chosen to read a magazine article about mining for opals, but the way Ms. Holt weaved it into the story added a depth to the story and gave the reader the experience of entering a different world.

Her writing style was just as beautiful as the first novel.  I found myself watching what verbs she chose to use, and how she described her scenes.  I learned a lot about weaving descriptions into the storyline.  Below I have a few of my favorite ‘turn of phrases’.

I don’t want to go into the storyline too deeply, but it was a story of a young woman who saved the life of a neighbor, who is intricately involved in her family in ways she has no idea of in the first half of the story.  She learns about this connection one secret at a time, and her fate is also taken up by the man she saved.

I went through my notes after reading the book and put together a crossword puzzle for anyone who also read the book and wants to try their hand at it.  I used mostly the words I either had never heard before or had to look up!  Below, I will speak to the gothic issues that we are all interested in.

SUSPENSE:  For suspense, I give this a nine out of ten.  This story twisted and turned in a few different directions, enough to keep me reading chapter after chapter, long after I planned to put the book down.

PLOTTING:  I give this book a perfect 10 too.  The story and relationships were well planned.  The clues were dropped into the storyline in a way that kept the reader — and the main character — guessing.  Just when you thought you had figured out where the story was going, there was a plot twist.

GOTHIC ELEMENTS:  I give the story an 7 out of 10, not because it was lacking anything.  This is more of a rating based on how gothic the story was in it’s setting and timeframe.  Dracula would get a 10 in gothic elements, but this story was less than that level of dark or scary.  I would say it was more of a gothic intrigue.  I would give it a 10 in gothic intrigue.

CLARITY OF WRITING:  I give this book a perfect 10 just like the last one.  There was never a time when I had to re-read the story to figure out who was talking or what was going on.  The story was quite intricate, but Victoria Holt’s writing style is so crisp and clear, the reader is never abandoned on the page.   It was easy to read and clearly written.  The editing and grammar were perfect.

PROSE:  I give this book a perfect 10 again because she is a master at writing prose.  I read a bit about the author’s story and she wrote for many years and wrote I think well over a hundred books or more, so she rose to the top in my opinion.  I enjoyed every page of this book, just as I did the last book.

I have even chosen another Victoria Holt book to read next.  I may have found my favorite author!



BELOW ARE MY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

❖ He was an actor of a kind, for when he talked of people his voice and his expression would change.

❖ Hers was an evil sort of beauty. She was what was known as a siren, the sort who would lure men to destruction.

❖ Little eddies of dust swirled just above the ground, and I thought: The wind is certainly rising.

THE CROSSWORD:

CROSSWORD – Click on the graphic below to get he google drive file to download.  It has the puzzle, the clues as well as the answers (on page 3)
Do the crossword online here.

Crossword-pride-of-the-peacock



 

 

 

Book Review – Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt

Book-review-mistress-of-mellyn

Amazon Description of the Book:   Mount Mellyn stood as proud and magnificent as she had envisioned…But what about its master–Connan TreMellyn?  Was Martha Leigh’s new employer as romantic as his name sounded?  As she approached the sprawling mansion towering above the cliffs of Cornwall, an odd chill of apprehension overcame her.

TreMellyn’s young daugher, Alvean, proved as spoiled and difficult as the three governesses before Martha had discovered.  But it was the girl’s father whose cool, arrogant demeanor unleashed unfamiliar sensations and turmoil–even as whispers of past tragedy and present danger begin to insinuate themselves into Martha’s life.

Powerless against her growing desire for the enigmatic Connan, she is drawn deeper into family secrets–as passion overpowers reason, sending her head and heart spinning. But though evil lurks in the shadows, so does love–and the freedom to find a golden promise forever…

Cat-as-book-reviewer

I loved this book and everything about it.  There was a mystery at the core of the story, but at the same time, this was a family drama that played out among several interesting characters.  It was a love story, but it was also a gothic story.  It had all the elements of a gothic novel, and took me away as a reader to another time and place.

Although it was a classic gothic novel and had all the elements — spooky house, odd suspicious characters at every turn — there was also a mystery that the main character was trying to solve the entire story.  This made the story all the more enjoyable.



MY REIVEW AS AN AUTHOR:

I got so much out of this book being an author myself.  It was intricately plotted and executed with mastery.  I was in awe of the author’s talent as a writer.  It held my interest the whole way through.

Part of the story was a bit educational about the historical times and I personally love when an author adds this level to the book — but also knows where to stop.  Victoria Holt had the perfect mix.

Her writing style is beautiful.  I was in awe of it the entire way through.  There was another almost poetic turn of phrase on each page.

I don’t want to go into the storyline itself other than to say it was the story of a young woman who is chosen to be a governess at a time and place when being a governess was considered a ‘lower class’.

I went through my notes after reading the book and put together a crossword puzzle for anyone who also read the book and wants to try their hand at it.  I used mostly the words I either had never heard before or had to look up!

SUSPENSE:  For suspense, I give this an eight out of ten.  It was very suspenseful, but I wouldn’t call it a suspense book.  It had a ribbon of suspense throughout the book which added very much to the gothic novel.

PLOTTING:  I give this book a perfect 10.  The story was well planned.  There was enough foreshadowing where it didn’t feel like anything was pulled out of a hat at the last minute.  The story was complex enough to remain interesting the entire way through, but not over complex where I had to keep notes.  This balance and mix made the book completely enjoyable.

GOTHIC ELEMENTS:  I give the story an 8 out of 10, not because it was lacking anything.  This is more of a rating based on how gothic the story was in it’s setting and timeframe.  Dracula would get a 10, but this story was less than that level of gothic.  It was the perfect amount for the story that was told.

CLARITY OF WRITING:  I give this book a perfect 10.  There was never a time when I had to re-read to try to figure out who was talking or where everyone was.  It was easy to read and clearly written.  The editing and grammar were perfect.

PROSE:  I give this book a perfect 10 here too because I love Victoria Holt’s style of writing and her style of storytelling.  I literally enjoyed every page of the book.

BELOW ARE MY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

❖  We climbed to the plateau and a pair of intricately wrought-iron gates confronted us.

❖  This was a phrase I never heard before and I was not even able to find a definition on the internet.  If anyone knows what this means, please let me know!  there was a whatnot in . . .

❖  I deliberately bearded you in your carriage . . .

❖  dangerously demure

❖  tomb of a place

CROSSWORD – Click on the graphic below to get he google drive file to download.  It has the puzzle, the clues as well as the answers (on page 3)

Do the crossword online here.




 

 

 

Book Review – My Swordhand is Singing

Book Title:  My Swordhand is Singing
Author:  Marcus Sedgwick

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
WHEN TOMAS AND HIS SON, Peter, settle in Chust as woodcutters, Tomas digs a channel of fast-flowing waters around their hut, so they have their own little island kingdom. Peter doesn't understand why his father has done this, nor why his father carries a long, battered box, whose mysterious contents he is forbidden to know.But Tomas is a man with a past: a past that is tracking him with deadly intent, and when the dead of Chust begin to rise from their graves, both father and son must face a soulless enemy and a terrifying destiny.

WHY I CHOSE THIS BOOK:  I'm always interested in why book reviewers choose the books they do, so I'll reveal the reason behind my own choice.  This book came up in a "Best Vampire Books" video I watched.  I expected a "classic vampire book" as I started the book, but it wasn't that at all.



reader-review-bar

MY REVIEW AS A READER:  The story unfolded as more of a old-lore fairytale, a moral tale, that had a twist of vampire-like happenings in it.  Vampires were barely mentioned by name.  I like books that are written in a fairytale style so I kept reading.  I especially like books that have some kind of moral ribbon running through it or at least a reference to a spiritual dimension.  This book had all of the above.

I enjoyed the book and it was a fairly easy read.  There was an unexplained box that was referenced and this held my interest and kept me reading.  I won't give anything away about the box, but it served as the ribbon of suspense that did run through the entire book.

It's hard for me to comment on the writing as I'm still studying "fairytale writing" itself.  The prose held the storybook style the entire way through so I give the author an A+ for that.

author-review-bar

REVIEW AS AN AUTHOR:  As I read, I paid particular attention to see how this fairytale style is done but I can't yet put my finger on it.  I did notice that the characters were only two-dimensional.  They had their role to play in the plotline plus one thin layer of history that conjured up sympathy, compassion or empathy.  I did notice that.   There was distance between the reader and the soul of the character.  I would love to discuss this with other authors, so if anyone else is interested in this style of writing, email me and let's discuss it!

The author did a great job in recreating the lifestyle of woodcutters in the ancient world.  The scenes were vivid and had a bit of a Charles Dickens feel to them.  As an author, I think this is hard to do and I do take my hat off to Marcus Sedgwick for his writing style.

There was a band of gypsies in the story and their caravan and scenes were written very well.  This too kept with the fairytale genre without seeming stereotypical.  I can tell as an author that there was research done regarding "gypsies during ancient times".

I plan to look through the book again and reanalyze some of the writing style to see what else I can learn about writing in the fairytale style.



THE BAD REVIEWS:

I always like to check author's bad reviews after any book I read.  I like to see if there there is any legitimate criticism.  I find most bad reviews are just snotty comments made by readers in bad moods.  But occasionally, I will find one with at least some critical value.  The only 3-star review with a comment was that the reader was expecting a classic vampire story.  I did have the same unmet expectation in this book.  However, I was able to shift into this fairytale for what it had to offer.

I've also learned the hard way as an author myself that it's important to let the readers know ahead of time what the book will be like because not everyone is okay to go into a book with one set of expectations and be able to shift into enjoying the book anyway.  This 3-star review confirmed it.  It seemed that the only reason for the lackluster review was this disappointment.

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SOME TURN OF PHRASES I NOTED:

  • "She had eyebrows like a man's that seemed fixed perpetually in a scowl."
  • "Do not trespass on my patience."
  • "She was still dressed in mourning weeds."
  • "The trunk where he's been chopping gave a deafening crack, as if lightening had struck nearby."

 

Book Review – Frankenstein

Book Title: Frankenstein
Author:  Mary Shelly
Description from Amazon.com:

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a novel written by the British author Mary Shelley. The title of the novel refers to a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who learns how to create life and creates a being in the likeness of man, but larger than average and more powerful. In popular culture, people have tended to refer to the Creature as "Frankenstein", despite this being the name of the scientist. Frankenstein is a novel infused with some elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. It was also a warning against the "over-reaching" of modern man and the Industrial Revolution, alluded to in the novel's subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. The story has had an influence across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories and films. It is arguably considered the first fully realized science fiction novel.

 



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REVIEW AS A READER:

It was hard to separate the reader and the author in this read because I chose this book to do a gothic study.  I saw a video by Tristan and the Classics from YouTube where he suggested reading the top 5 to 10 books in the gothic genre to get a sense of not only what the genre contains, but also how one book led to the other historically.  I did just that and Frankenstein was one of the suggested books.

Like many people, I assumed the book was about a monster named Frankenstein.  Not so.  The scientist's name is Frankenstein and the monster is his creation.

Knowing that Mary Shelly was only 18 or 20 years old when she wrote this story was shocking to me because the book deals with a deep subject for the times in which she lived.  Science had been delving into the issue of where does medicine stop and meddling in God's handiwork begin.  There is always a certain amount of fear associated with new scientific discovery.  In our day there are those who fear that AI will take over the world.  This book was written in the face of some scientific fear that was prevalent in her day.

The book opens with a series of letters that anchor the reader into the time and place this story will  unfold.  Dr. Frankenstein is fascinated by all things scientific.  His family sees that he has talent in this area and they insist he get extended education and experience, which he does.

At first Dr. Frankenstein is motivated by the ability to help people, to affect a positive change in the world.  But slowly, this motivate gets twisted into a hunger for the fame and acclaim he will get for being able to rid humanity of illness.  In this state of mind, he meats another scientist of his day, who shows him the ropes, so to speak, about doing scientific exploration.  It sounded from the book that this type of cutting edge scientific exploration was done in the proverbial "garage labs" -- sort of like where Bill Gates and Steve Jobs started out.

I won't give away any of the details of what happens from this point forward because this is the story.  Everyone knows, of course, that he creates this monster that is known world wide by the name of Frankenstein.  But there is much more to the story than that.

As a reader, I had the usual struggle of reading "British" idioms and colloquialisms.  I get the feeling that I'm missing something at times when I'm reading English writers.  There was also the tiny struggle associated with reading a book that was written so long ago.  The language changes and it's easy to miss things.  I kept with it.  With my Kindle highlighter, I kept track of all the characters and the plot points.

I would say this was a moral gothic tale about mankind overstepping our bounds scientifically.  It was also a moral story about how the absence of virtue and living a life based on revenge can destroy people.

I enjoyed the book and did learn a lot about the gothic genre from it.   Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was one of the first gothic books, one of the books that launched the gothic genre.



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REVIEW BY AUTHOR:

Structurally, the book opened with a series of letters back and forth between I believe Dr. Frankenstein and his sister.  I say "I believe" because I find myself not always "sure" of things when it's a British writer.  I don't know if I'm alone in this, but in any event, the series of letters was a vehicle of dropping information about the backdrop of the story.

I have seen this method used many, many times in books today and always notice what the purpose of the letter-structure is.  It added a bit of interest and intrigue into layout out the backdrop of the drama that was about to unfold.

The next part of the book reveals Dr. Frankenstein as quite a young man.  He is filled with excitement and an unquenchable thirst for scientific knowledge.  As stated earlier, he had all the best intentions in the beginning, but somewhere during his "forming" as a scientist, his ego took over and he stepped over the line.  He develops the ability to give life to the lifeless and decides to create a man -- I mean, why not?   Well, it doesn't go exactly as expected.

The main story is about how this experiment affected the creature as well as Dr. Frankenstein.  The doctor's knowledge stopped at how to create a creature, but he didn't know how to care for and love a creature.

From a Christian perspective, his ego led him down the path of arrogance.  He is overconfident and this blinds him to the fact that he has now crossed the line into "God's domain", the creation of life.  As just stated, although he was able to give life to this creature, he wasn't able to care for him or provide a world where anyone could care for him.  It shows the limitations of mankind and the disaster that occurs when arrogant men play God.

The story is about what happens to Dr. Frankenstein, his family and the creature.  It is also a statement, although very subtle, of how the absence of virtue mixed with an obsession for vengeance can destroy a person's life, even their family's lives.

Again, as an author, I couldn't help but be so impressed with what young Mary Shelly was capable of not only understanding but her ability to craft a story around some very difficult issues.

It is a must read for anyone interested in the gothic genre.  I would highly recommend it.

SOME MEMORABLE QUOTES:

  • ". . . but it is the custom of the Irish to hate villains"
  • "I pursued him, and for many months this has been my task. Guided by a slight clue, I followed the windings of the Rhone, but vainly . . ."
  • "She was a hired nurse, the wife of one of the turnkeys, and her countenance expressed all those bad qualities which often characterize that class."


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MY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

  • She perished on the scaffold as a murderess.
  • . . . sudden turn of a promontory, flourishing vineyards with green sloping banks and a meandering river and populous towns occupy the scene.
  • The soil was barren scarcely affording pasture for a few miserable cows and oatmeal for its inhabitants, which consisted of five persons, whose gaunt and scaggy limbs gave tokens of their miserable fare.
  • . . . hardly conscious of its extreme profundity until my ear was arrested by the paddling of oars near the shore . . .
  • A few fishing vessels alone specked the water
  • the gentle breeze wafted the sound of voices as the fisherman called to one another.
  • . . . astonishment was exhibited in my countenance,
  • . . . languishing in death, the dark orbs nearly covered by the lids and the long black lashes that fringed them;
  • He wished me to seek amusement in society. I abhorred the face of man.
  • The murderous mark of the fiend's grasp was on her neck . . .
  • wandering ministers of vengeance
  • I now related my history briefly but with firmness and precision, marking the dates with accuracy and never deviating into invective or exclamation.
  • Everything was silent except the leaves of the trees, which were gently agitated by the wind; the night was nearly dark, and the scene would have been solemn and affecting even to an uninterested observer.
  • He had heard my story with that half kind of belief that is given to a tale of spirits and supernatural events.



Book Review – The Patient

Book Title: The Patient
Author:  Jasper DeWitt
Description from Amazon.com:

The Silent Patient by way of Stephen King: Parker, a young, overconfident psychiatrist new to his job at a mental asylum miscalculates catastrophically when he undertakes curing a mysterious and profoundly dangerous patient. 

In a series of online posts, Parker H., a young psychiatrist, chronicles the harrowing account of his time working at a dreary mental hospital in New England. Through this internet message board, Parker hopes to communicate with the world his effort to cure one bewildering patient.We learn, as Parker did on his first day at the hospital, of the facility’s most difficult, profoundly dangerous case—a forty-year-old man who was originally admitted to the hospital at age six. This patient has no known diagnosis. His symptoms seem to evolve over time. Every person who has attempted to treat him has been driven to madness or suicide.

Desperate and fearful, the hospital’s directors keep him strictly confined and allow minimal contact with staff for their own safety, convinced that releasing him would unleash catastrophe upon the outside world. Parker, brilliant and overconfident, takes it upon himself to discover what ails this patient and finally cure him. But from his first encounter with the mysterious patient, things spiral out of control and, facing a possibility beyond his wildest imaginings, Parker is forced to question everything he thought he knew.

Fans of Sarah Pinborough’s Behind Her Eyes and Paul Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World will be riveted by Jasper DeWitt’s astonishing debut.

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REVIEW AS A READER:

I researched "best psychological thrillers" on Bard.google.com and this book, The Patient, came up as number one.  I read through the Amazon description, but I chose it based on Bard's recommendation.

The psychological mystery and drama started from the first page.  The mystery was subtle at first, but it was definitely there.  I was hooked and wanted to know more from the first page.  The story unfolded slowly but it was never boring.

Reading the book was like driving on long winding roads, not knowing the ultimate destination, and also not being sure what lay right around the bend.  The drama moved along without stop.  The story never sagged or drove off onto some boring side road.  The mystery and suspense were constant.

There was an intimacy in the story as some of it was written in first person.  Other parts were written in third person where the story took on more of a bird's eye view and a bit of narration.  It all worked and added to the mystique of the book.

I did feel that at the end of the book, the ending veered off into a bit of unexpected sci-fi or fantasy I was not expecting, but it was still an enjoyable book from start to finish.



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REVIEW BY AUTHOR:

The book was written well, and I highlighted several phrases that were memorable.  I have them listed below.  I learned a lot about presenting a psychological drama for the reader and how to subtly suggest that there was something "off" about people, places and/or things.

I learned about weaving the psychological plotline into the mystery itself as I did notice that there needed to be a timeline that coincided with someone's hospitalization.  I always thought of psychological suspense stories as one kind of book, but I learned from reading The Patient that a crime/mystery timeline supported the story and the psychological elements weaved all throughout this spinal timeline.  I found this very helpful as an author myself.

I also learned about how "withholding information from the reader" worked in a psychological mystery.  I always feel obligated to reveal everything to the reader, but this is not necessary.  Withholding some parts of the truth add to the ultimate surprise and satisfaction of the reader.  It's not dishonesty, but rather more of a slight of hand for the benefit of the story.

This story was very original.  It didn't read like a remake of some other popular novel  -- at least I didn't see anything like that.  The originality of the storyline, as well as the unwrapping of the greater mystery, held my interest the entire way, to the last page.

I would recommend this book to any reader of psychological mysteries.  I would even recommend this to medical mystery readers.

SOME MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM THE PATIENT:

  • ". . . her voice carrying a faint lilt that I recognized as Irish,"
  • "So forcing my frustration down to a simmer, I gave him the most deferential nod I could manage.  It seemed to appease him."
  • "This was the sort of place where pain of any kind was either flushed out with medication and trips to boutique psychiatrists or kept at a respectable distance with copious expenditures.  It was, in short, a place where anything unpleasant, let alone a supernatural horror, had been ruthlessly gentrified out of sight and out of mind."
  • "He spun around with military precision . . ."
  • "She had a kindness to her, but it was girded with such naturally aristocratic steel that I imagined she's been born ringing a bell to summon servants."

 



Book Review – Sparkling Cyanide

Name:  Sparkling Cyanide
Author:  Agatha Christie
Description from Amazon:



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REVIEW AS AN AUTHOR:

Instead of calling this section a review by an author, it should be more properly renamed "what I learned by reading Agatha Christie" because I learned a lot in this book.

The first lesson was the different story structure that was chosen for this novel.  The book started with a hint of a crime that took place and a dinner that was to take place one year later.  Then the book divided into chapters named after the characters.  These chapters fleshed out the character and what relationship they had with Rosemary.  I had never seen this type of format before but noticed that it worked in setting up the dinner scene.

I would never have dreamed of laying out a novel with this structure but it worked.  I would say it went beyond working well.  It allowed each of the characters to be flushed out, but there were fully-fleshed out subplots that occurred in this part of the book.

Often times,  as a reader, if there are more than three or four characters, I can't remember who everyone is as they are mentioned once or twice every so often.  However, this structure made remembering everyone much easier as each section was devoted to one or two characters and how they were connected to Rosemary and what the subplot with them was.   This format also allowed the history of the relationships to be referenced and it enhanced the depth of the story.

About 3/4 of the way through the book, the mystery dinner takes place and there is a surprising plot twist.  A deeper mystery ensues and suddenly, all the little subtle foreshadowings dropped early on in the book come into play.

I won't spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read the book, but I would highly recommend this book to mystery  and whodunit lovers.  I would also recommend this book to new authors who are looking to learn as they read.  This novel has a lot to learn about novel developmental formatting, subtle foreshadowing and plot twists.  There's also lots to learn from Agatha Christie in terms of writing prose as well as characterizations.    This novel is a treasure trove for new authors who like to learn as they read.

All in all, I really liked this book and will pick up another Agatha Christie soon!

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GREAT PHRASES FROM SPARKLING CYANIDE:

  • "Glimpses of the past came back -- brief flashes -- short scenes."
  • "Something in the easy feline grace with which he danced lent substance to the nickname 'Leopard'."
  • " . . . well masked behind an agreeable devilry."
  • "He looked at her, laughing.  She ought, she felt, to have been revolted.  But the strength of V. Drake was the strength of the devil.  He could make evil seem amusing.  He was looking at her now with that uncanny penetration."
  • "He liked putting ideas into people's heads.  Or, as in this case, showing them the ideas that were already there . . ."
  • "He looked at her with eyes from which the last traces of scales had fallen."
  • "He was her life her existence.  Love burned in her with a medieval force."
  • "Housekeeping for her father, she had stiffened into a pronounced spinsterhood."
  • "He was the cat's-paw of wicked men who exploited his innocence."
  • "Neighbors are so important in the country.  One has either to be rude or friendly; one can't, as in London, just keep people as amiable acquaintances."

Above is only about 1/3 of the phrases I had highlighted in this book!  Like I said earlier, it's a must read!

Book Review – The Last Sceance

Name:  The Last Séance
Author:  Agatha Christie
Short Story:  33 pages

Description from Amazon:  Raoul Daubreuil insists his fiancée give up her activities as a talented and successful medium when they marry. However, he agrees to attend what is to be her last séance—with Madame Exe. But even Raoul can't foresee the tragedy ahead.

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Review as a Reader:

This was a short story and a quick read.  I'm not usually a reader of short stories but I chose to read one by Agatha Christie before taking on another novel.  The last Christie novel I started to read was a Hercule Poirot novel.  He's not my favorite character and part of the problem is he's too British.  I find myself not understanding a lot of what Hercule says and it was a struggle because of the differences in idioms, etc.  I gave up reading the Hercule novel because I felt like I was losing the plot too often.

But The Last Séance was a quick and easy read.  It allowed me to clean my reading palate after the Poirot experience.   Although this short story was enjoyable, it didn't have any profound message and none of the characters lingered after finishing the novel.

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Review as an Author:

Going into the book, I was looking for tips on writing short stories in general.  What I learned after finishing the book was that this short story circled one event and only one event.  The characters in this book were one dimensional.  I'm assuming creating more complex characters may be hard due to the short story format, but I believe a two-dimensional character would be possible.  I'm wondering if short stories in general are more "plot-driven" and this one-event format is how it works.

I have read a few gothic short stories previous to this one and I sense that genre allows for a bit more characterization, especially if there is a psychological plotline.

So all in all, it's my opinion that The Last Séance was written very well, like all of the Christie books.  I learned a bit about the shorter plotline used in short stories and the book was enjoyable.  I would recommend this book to someone who is going on a trip and needs something quick and easy to read where there may be a lot of distractions.   It wasn't hard to follow.  The plotline is simple but enjoyable.  I would also recommend this to any caretakers who are waiting in a doctor's office, etc. as this can be read in one sitting.



Word-Find-last-seance

Time for a relaxing break?

Who doesn't love Word Find Puzzles.
These words are words surrounding the subject matter in the short story
entitled "The Last Seance" by Agatha Christie.
Click to the left to download the Word Find puzzle pdf.

Book Review – The CoWorker

BookReview-TheCoworkerName:  The CoWorker
Author:  Freida McFadden
Description from Amazon: "Don't start a Freida McFadden book late at night. You won't be able to put it down!"― Natalie Barelli, bestselling author of Unforgivable.

Two women. An office filled with secrets. One terrible crime that can't be taken back.

Dawn Schiff is strange.  At least, everyone thinks so at Vixed, the nutritional supplement company where Dawn works as an accountant. She never says the right thing. She has no friends. And she is always at her desk at precisely 8:45 a.m.

So when Dawn doesn't show up to the office one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell―beautiful, popular, top sales rep five years running―is surprised. Then she receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything...

It turns out Dawn wasn't just an awkward outsider―she was being targeted by someone close. And now Natalie is irrevocably tied to Dawn as she finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves her wondering: who's the real victim?

But one thing is incredibly clear: somebody hated Dawn Schiff.

Enough to kill.

The Coworker is a tense, unputdownable thriller from New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden that explores the dark ways the past can echo through the present―with deadly consequences.

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REVIEW AS A READER:  This book was very enjoyable.  The suspense and mystery started from the beginning and kept up the entire way through.  There was a twist or two throughout the story, enough to keep me guessing the entire way through.

The writing was great.  The pacing was consistent and the story moved the entire way through.  With over 39,000 reviews, and a 4.1 rating, the book deserves every 5-star review it received.

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REVIEW AS AN AUTHOR:  Before I read this book, I looked through the reviews as I'm always curious what the 1-star people have to say.  The only 1-star I remember is someone who got annoyed that the turtles were mentioned too much.  That rater missed the whole point.   I didn't feel that way at all.  I loved the character with the turtles and the mentioning of the turtles was crucial regarding the autism of the character.  The author did a great job in capturing and showing this autism, which is not easy.

The narrative and descriptions were very good.  I never lost track of who was talking, which means there were plenty of dialogue tags where needed.  As a fellow author, I was watching for foreshadowing and it was very, very subtle in this book.  I always feel like the foreshadowing needs to be a big flapping red flag, but I learned reading this book that subtle foreshadowing is okay.  It works.

There was a twist in the end that I was not expecting.  I had a feeling that one of my favorite characters wasn't going to have a good ending, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The best lesson and take away as an author was the psychological aspect of the suspense as well as how well the autism was handled in a narrative as well as the dialogue.  There was a lot to learn from the book pacing as well.   I would highly recommend this book for anyone who likes a psychological mystery suspense.