 5 stars
Dark, diverse, feminist, eerie, memorable, and twisted—welcome to the new generation of Edgar Allan Poe. It’s a lot of fun in here. In His Hideous Heart, editor Dahlia Adler has compiled a truly impressive shortlist of some of Poe’s most famous tales, reimagined for a 2019 audience. I couldn’t believe how nuanced and imaginative these retellings were, and how eerily similar they felt to their original inspirations. Having the original Poe tales in the back of the collection was such a good call—I actually read each tale in tandem, from new reimagining to old inspiration to compare and contrast each entry. To keep this review shorter than its original anthology, here are my quick thoughts and ratings on each of the 13 tales: She Rode a Horse of Fire (Metzengerstein) by Kendare Blake Rating: ★★★★★ The perfect opener to this anthology, this historically-minded tale about a manor house experiencing the entrancement and death of its lord was the PERFECT amount of spooky. It’s Carnival! (The Cask of Amontillado) by Tiffany D. Jackson Rating: ★★★★ A tale twisted to a diverse feminist revenge story, this entry watches the narrator as she exacts a clinical end to the man who mocked her and her family for not being Jamacian enough with deadly results in modern-day New Orleans. Night-Tide (Annabelle Lee) by Tessa Gratton Rating ★★★★★ Tied as my favorite, this prose retelling of the poem follows the summer seaside hypnotic reality of the narrator as she questions whether her illicit love for Annabelle Lee was the cause of Annabelle’s death in this historic New England tale perfect for fans of f/f star-crossed lovers. The Glittering Death (The Pit and the Pendulum) by Caleb Roehrig Rating: ★★★★ A modern tale of a serial killer who targets women, and the girl who finds herself a live captive in need of escape—extremely gritty, and another parable on modern-day feminism. A Drop of Stolen Ink (The Purloined Letter) by Emily Lloyd-Jones Rating: ★★★★ 1/2 Edgar Allan Poe meets the future in a world where information is coded in biometric tattoos and one girl is sent to uncover a CEO’s treachery in the high-stakes world of the tattoo-data black market. Happy Days, Sweetheart (The Tell-Tale Heart) by Stephanie Kuehn Rating: ★★★★★ A high-achieving diverse female student always comes in second to the mediocrity of her white male competitor at their private school--so she decides to balance the scales of justice and eliminate him in this gruesome tale of cold revenge. The Raven (Remix) by Amanda Lovelace Rating: ★★★ The poem The Raven, blacked out to create a new narrative, remained cool in concept by struggled to shine in between such impressive prose entries. Changeling (Hop-Frog) by Marieke Nijkamp Rating: ★★★★ Set in 1832, this tale of the Fae is reimagined as a vigilante group of former disabled and neglected abused children who receive a glorious second chance at a happy life or a vengeful one in a dark tale of one girl questing to retrieve those who deserve more than what the mortal world can give them by transporting them to the kingdom of the Fae and punishing their perpetrators. The Oval Filter (The Oval Portrait) by Lamar Giles Rating: ★★★★★ A college football star’s dead girlfriend shows up in his Instagram feed trapped in an oval filter that appears to be suffocating her behind the screen—can Tariq solve the mystery behind her appearance before it drives him mad? Red (The Masque of the Red Death) by Hillary Monahan Rating: ★★ My least favorite in the collection, this tale should be read for the aesthetic and not for the narrative as it is essentially a color-coded picture show with a dark conclusion. Lygia (Ligeia) by Dahlia Adler Rating: ★★★ 1/2 A f/f tale of loss and mourning gone too far, the narrator mourns her dead girlfriend, Lygia, and tries to remake her presence in her new girlfriend with dark results. The Fall of the Bank of Usher (The Fall of the House of Usher) by Fran Wilde Rating: ★★★★★ Tied as my favorite, this masterful blend of futuristic nanotech with old-school English manor joins the heist trope in this tale of (potentially) gender-fluid twins who take the job of hacking the unhackable Bank of Usher in an old manor house guarded by semi-sentient computerized mold. (I hear you saying “wtf”—just read it. It’s amazing.) The Murders in Rue Apartelle, Boracay (The Murders in the Rue Morgue) by Rin Chupeco Rating: ★★★ Confusing and at times overly complicated given its length, this tale was a modern blend of magical realism in the Philippines told by the female narrator as she recounts the tale of her mysterious rich boyfriend who may or may not be too knowledgeable about a murder case. ***** Original notes: Ahhhh! So thrilled to be a part of the blog tour for His Hideous Heart. Stay tuned for my review on September 5! This is one of my most anticipated releases for 2019 so I am HYPED. Thank you so much to Flatiron Books for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
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 4 stars
Come for the concept, stay for the drama. This was a near-perfect blend of Gossip Girl, modern day royalty, and drama. Concept: ★★★★★ Drama: ★★★★ 1/2 Pacing: ★★★ Romance:★★★★ What would have happened if George Washington had accepted the offer to become America's king? As our history books state, he said no, and the Presidency was created. But what if... American Royals follows the modern-day lives of America's royal family—the House of Washington. A perfect mishmash of British royalty with a distinctly American twist, American Royals was SO MUCH FUN. Beatrice Washington is the first born, and the first woman chosen as next in line for the throne. An 18-year-old with her life planned out down to the man she's supposed to marry, she secretly dreams of being allowed the freedom of choice in the land of the free. But what's a princess to do when the whole world is watching? Samantha Washington is one part of two—her twin brother, Jefferson Washington, is America's heartthrob—and Sam's the mess up. Known as the spare, Sam realizes that the only way to carve her mark into history is to be the loudest, the worst, the most—anything and everything that Beatrice isn't. What's a spare to do when all she wants is to make an impact? Nina Gonzalez is Sam's best friend and the daughter of the royal court's Chamberlain. She's grown up in the halls of the palace all her life, and Sam and Jeff are her closest friends. It's not her intention to fall in love with the prince, but when one night crosses the line, will she take the plunge and risk the wrath of the American people to be with her knight in shining armor? Daphne Deighton was born to be a princess. Scraping her way to the top with a smile on her face and steel in her eyes, she was Jeff's perfect porcelain girlfriend until it all came crashing down and Nina stole his heart. What's a girl to do but take things into her own hands? Following the POVs of these four women entangled in the palace, American Royals was something else. I couldn't get enough of the clever world-building, the hate-to-love-it cliched drama, and the scheming. Nina's window as a Hispanic woman attempting to following her own path was my favorite part of this story, seconded by Beatrice's stoic exterior/mad mess interior dynamic. This series is going to make a splash, and I can't WAIT for the next book. Thank you very much to Penguin Random House for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. |
Amy Imogene ReadsJust someone looking for her own door into Wonderland. Categories
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All reviews posted are my own and do not reflect the opinions of any other individual or entity. When applicable, reviewed titles sent to me by the publisher are noted at the bottom of each review.
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