Review: A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis
384 pages
Genre: YA Gothic Historical Thriller
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: The library.
Purchase: Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon
My Rating:

Goodreads Summary: Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

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My Review

A Madness So Discreet is creepy, but not in the way that you probably think that it would be. This book is just more proof that Mindy McGinnis has a special talent for writing unique and dark young adult novels. She deserves an award, a hug, or a big thumbs up.

Grace has been dealt a horrible hand in life. Even though she has done nothing wrong herself she is forced to stay in an insane asylum until her pregnancy is over. She does the best she can to survive, but the living conditions are beyond harsh and it is no way for a young woman, or any man or woman for that matter, to live. Luckily, she comes across a rather unique character when she is sent to the dark damp cellars after a slight altercation she had with the jerk that runs the institution, and this stranger turns out to be her savior.

While reading A Madness So Discreet I felt dirty, creeped out, disgusted, happy, pained, and thankful. This is one dark novel, one that you don't want to miss out on. The writing is brilliant. The setting and characters will snag your heart. You will want to scream and beg for Grace to get some sort of closure/freedom from her horrible past. This book is going to make you feel for every character. None are to be taken lightly.

A Madness So Discreet is like no other young adult novel I have read before. There is so much more to this story than the synopsis even begins to give away. It's not only a historical fiction novel focusing on trying to define what it means to be sane, but it has a mystery at its core. Grab a copy and brace yourself for one creepy, yet still amazing read.

Review: Heroes Are My Weakness by: Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Heroes Are My Weakness by: Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Aug. 2014)

384 pages

Genre: Adult/Fiction/Romance

Publisher: Harper Collins

Source: The library.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips is back with a delightful novel of a killer love that is filled with her sassy wit and dazzling charm.

The dead of winter.
An isolated island off the coast of Maine.
A man.
A woman.
A sinister house looming over the sea . . .

He's a reclusive writer whose macabre imagination creates chilling horror novels. She's a down-on-her-luck actress reduced to staging kids' puppet shows. He knows a dozen ways to kill with his bare hands. She knows a dozen ways to kill with laughs.

But she's not laughing now. When she was a teenager, he terrified her. Now they're trapped together on a snowy island off the coast of Maine. Is he the villain she remembers or has he changed? Her head says no. Her heart says yes. It's going to be a long, hot winter.

My Review

Heroes Are My Weakness wasn’t what I was expecting, but then again I really don’t know what I was expecting to begin with. In the end, the story inside the pages of Heroes Are My Weakness captivated me for whatever reason.

What I Liked

• The secrets. I love a book full of secrets.

• The gothic elements. This book had many shout outs to Jane Eyre among other gothic novels, and well… I love gothic novels. This one definitely had its creepy moments. It also reminded me of Beauty and the Beast.

• There was actually some surprises that I didn’t see coming.

• The characters are complex. Did I always relate to them? Nope. But I kind of loved that they all seemed a little crazy, making for some funny moments.

• The romance was pretty decent, although also pretty run of the mill.

• It managed to grab my attention and keep hold.

What I Didn’t Like

• The MC, Annie, can be a little bit dumb at times and a little too harsh on herself.

• The puppets were not my friends. I’m not a fan of puppets to begin with (they are kind of creepy), but Annie tends to talk to herself in her puppets' voices. It was just a little too weird for me. It just wasn’t working for me, and it happens during most of the novel. I understand that Annie is using the voices like a conscious to reason through certain actions she is making but it is still a little weird that it comes from the voices of her puppets.

Bottom Line: I honestly don’t know who I would recommend this one to. I guess if you are already a fan of this author you may as well give it a shot. I haven’t really read anything by her previously. Either way, I did enjoy reading Heroes Are My Weakness. It was different, spooky, and steamy.

Review: Bellman & Black by: Diane Setterfield

Bellman & Black by: Diane Setterfield (Nov. 5, 2013)

328 pages

Genre: Fiction/Gothic

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Source: I received a free ARC of the book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Bellman & Black is a heart-thumpingly perfect ghost story, beautifully and
irresistibly written, its ratcheting tension exquisitely calibrated line by line. Its hero is William Bellman, who, as a boy of 11, killed a shiny black rook with a catapult, and who grew up to be someone, his neighbours think, who "could go to the good or the bad." And indeed, although William Bellman's life at first seems blessed—he has a happy marriage to a beautiful woman, becomes father to a brood of bright, strong children, and thrives in business—one by one, people around him die. And at each funeral, he is startled to see a strange man in black, smiling at him. At first, the dead are distant relatives, but eventually his own children die, and then his wife, leaving behind only one child, his favourite, Dora. Unhinged by grief, William gets drunk and stumbles to his wife's fresh grave—and who should be there waiting, but the smiling stranger in black. The stranger has a proposition for William—a mysterious business called "Bellman & Black" . . .

My Review

Bellman & Black is essentially a story about life and death. William Bellman lives an amazing life, has a job he loves and is good at it, has a beautiful family, and a lot of money. That is until a sickness takes over many in his town and his wife and two of his children succumb to death. Then everything changes when he finally meets the man in black, the one that he has seen at countless funerals over the years.

There is one thing I can say with certainty about Bellman & Black, Setterfield knows how to tell a story. She writes beautifully and has the ability to write descriptions of images that will take a while to leave your mind. It's a beautiful yet very dark story and at times very creepy, but one worth reading.

William Bellman is a man I love and a man I hate. To put it simply, he is a great character. He is obsessed with work and numbers. If you don't like a lot of business talk then this book could perhaps get a little boring or frustrating for you. It didn't bother me at all because I found it all so interesting. His daughter Dora is also a great character, from a fun loving child to a darker personality and yet always kind. There are a lot of characters that you will get to meet if you read Bellman & Black and all are significant no matter how small of a role they play, and each will make you feel some sort of emotion.

So after all of this praise why did I only give Bellman & Black 3.5 stars? It's complicated. I think part of the reason is because it wasn't as good as her other book, The Thirteenth Tale, (I know this shouldn't be a factor but whatever) the other part just has to do with a feeling I had when reading, that something was missing. Overall, the big meeting between Black and Bellman just didn't live up to my expectations and that is the main reason for its star rating.

If you are willing to read something a little dark, at times creepy, but full of vivid descriptions and wonderful writing, then Bellman & Black shouldn't be passed up. 

MY RATING: 3.5/5 stars

ARC Review: Rapunzel Untangled by: Cindy C. Bennett

Rapunzel Untangled by: Cindy C. Bennett (Feb. 12, 2013)

Publisher: Cedar Fort

304 pages

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Fairy Tale/Gothic

*I received this free ARC for review from Netgalley, it in no way impacted my honest review, and I received no compensation. Thanks to Cedar Fort publishing for this awesome book!

Goodreads Summary: For one thing, she has a serious illness that keeps her inside the mysterious Gothel Mansion. And for another, her hair is 15 feet long. Not to mention that she’s also the key to ultimately saving the world from certain destruction. But then she meets a boy named Fane, who changes all she has ever known, and she decides to risk everything familiar to find out who she really is.

My Review

I tip my hat to you Cindy Bennett, for giving me the chance to climb into a fairy tale retelling as unique and loveable as they come. I couldn’t put this book down once I started.

This is no ordinary story of Rapunzel. This Rapunzel lives in the 21^st century locked in a tower in an old creepy mansion with Facebook being her only connection to the outside world. I loved the moderness this old fairy tale was given. Not only do I love the modern twist but this story is dark, and reminded me of a gothic novel more than anything. The fact that Bennett has no problem showing how dark these fairy tales can be makes it that much more enjoyable. I was getting kind of tired of the cute little fairy tale stories I’ve run into as of late and this one is anything but.

I loved the characters. Rapunzel was interesting and humorous, just wanting a chance to leave her tower with the ever looming prophecy hanging over her head. Fane is a cute and charming young guy, a perfect prince. I instantly liked him. This book has all kinds of funny dialogue between these two characters with one liners you won't soon forget. You can’t do anything but love them. I even enjoyed Gothel, the evil mother, and the slow revealing of the woman who locks Rapunzel in a tower. This was the most complex and interesting fairy tale retelling I have ever read. Full of mystery, cuteness, and terror, this one is original.

I recommend this novel to anyway and everyone, especially those that love a good fairy tale. Take a chance and read it. You will be surprised at what you find lurking in the pages.

Rating: 5/5   BUY Rapunzel Untangled