Gothic/Noir

Nov 22

Review of North Woods by Daniel Mason

Mason's novel isn't simply a historical fiction story linked through timelines. The book builds to be an often-sinister, Gothic-feeling...

Oct 25

Review of Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Starling House is another wonderful, dark, twisty story from Alix E. Harrow, with imperfect characters, a noble, messy quest, layers of...

Sep 19

Review of A Dangerous Collaboration (Veronica Speedwell #4) by Deanna Raybourn

In this installment of Veronica and Stoker's Victorian England mystery-solving, they enter a sinister, gothic scene--and despite spending...

Sep 6

Review of Only Pretty Damned by Niall Howard

Niall Howard's debut is a noir story about the underbelly of life in a post-World-War-II circus, with a disgruntled clown, formerly a...

Jul 6

Review of Maddalena and the Dark by Julia Fine

Julia Fine's Maddalena and the Dark is a gothic story set in 1700s Venice in which two young women's lives and destinies become...

Feb 23

Review of All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

I was hooked on Willingham's past and present storylines and by her unreliable narrator Isabelle, who is desperate to find her missing...

Jan 5

Review of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

The past timeline explores creativity, love, betrayal, and unexpected loops of consequence--which are echoed hauntingly in the present...

Oct 21, 2022

Six Spooky, Gothic Tales

The Gothic Undercurrents It's the perfect time of year to read some spooky, dark, gothic tales. Desolate settings, mysterious deaths,...

Jun 15, 2022

Review of The Change by Kristen Miller

The Change explores the power of menopausal women and the poignant strength of friendship; supplies satisfying revenge fantasies and...

Feb 17, 2022

Review of One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash

ICYMI: North Carolina author Rash offers a fascinating, Appalachian-set mystery told from various points of view with a Southern gothic...

Oct 21, 2021

Review of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Jackson's gothic horror tale is made all the more frightening by its reliance on terror, shadows, and mystery. This was a wonderfully...

Sep 2, 2021

Review of Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

I was intrigued by the wolves, and I was interested in McConaghy's exploration of the tensions between wilderness and civilization, but I...

Aug 24, 2021

Review of The Manningtree Witches by A.K. Blakemore

Blakemore's book--which is based upon witch hunts during the seventeenth-century English Civil War--is smart, shadowy and gothic, often...

Jul 21, 2021

Review of Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

I adored the romantic setup and seemingly ill-fated attraction in Saft's young adult fantasy-mystery, but I was dissatisfied with the...

Apr 22, 2021

Review of Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

In this gothic Victorian tale, Waters offers a slow build to heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant attempts at love, and,...

Apr 20, 2021

Three Books I'm Reading Now, 4/20/21 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to Sarah J. Maas's popular young adult fantasy about the collision of faeries and humans, the...

Apr 12, 2021

Review of The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

The dark, seemingly bottomless water is the standout, creepy element here: a source of relentless, hungry power that straddles the worlds...

Mar 29, 2021

Three Books I'm Reading Now, 3/29/21 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading three books that are about to be published: Cory Anderson's debut, a dark young adult novel about...

Mar 3, 2021

Three Books I'm Reading Now, 3/3/21 Edition

What I'm Reading Now Here's what I've got going at the moment: a dark, intriguing story of interconnectedness between unusual characters;...

Mar 2, 2021

Review of We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

Whitaker's story builds into a tale of heartbreak and desperate hopes for redemption that folds back upon itself with unexpected turns...

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