Over the summer, I read several books in the psychological suspense/thriller/unreliable female narrators genre. (Not sure what the actual term for the genre is!) I was trolling through my library’s Overdrive looking for books, and this one piqued my interest initially because I liked the cover art–I’m a big fan of the sort of artistically stylized covers, and also of creepy houses. The blurb also seemed like something I’d like to read: a historical fiction take on the thriller genre. The premise is that new […]
New England Gothic done right
I seem to be on a roll the past few years with my first read of the year being top notch. This year, I read We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson. It had cropped up a few times in my periphery, on book blogs and the like, and my interest was piqued. My goal for this year is to read more from my library instead of spending a fortune on books (finishing the PhD and only working part time means I’m poor […]
It was a dark and gloomy moor
This is the third book in the Lady Julia Grey series, and I found myself a little disappointed with some aspects of it. To begin with, Julia is convinced that Nicholas Brisbane is in love with her – she just has to get him to admit it. In the first two books, they have had an on again, off again sort of courtship, if you can even call it that. He helped to solve the mystery of her first husband’s death, and they worked together […]
Watch out boy she’ll chew you up!
Junko Mizuno is a Japanese artist whose style is usually described as “Gothic kawaii”. Her illustrations are cute and childish but also erotic and grotesque. After Cinderalla and Hansel and Gretel, Princess Mermaid is her third and darkest retelling of a classic fairytale, and the one that differs the most from the original version (I’m referring to the Hans Christian Andersen story, not the sanitized Disney version). Princess Mermaid tells the story of three mermaid sisters who have sworn to avenge the death of their […]