Oh my god I don’t even know where to begin. This is single-handedly the best gothic book I have ever read, and one of my favorites of this year (2023). It had everything I could ever want for gothic—murder, intrigue, romance, eerie settings, supernatural forces, and then MORE. Like, this is one of those books where things (concepts, plot, characters) get better and better as each page passes. Like seriously. I can’t praise it highly enough.

The writing style is pretty approachable for a classic, it’s very similar to “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” I think it was perfectly paced—not too fast, not too slow. I had so many mixed feelings: on one hand, I wanted to DEVOUR it, but on the other hand, I wanted to savor each word. This was one of the rare books that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. I haven’t felt like this since May when I read “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith.

There was a lot of parallelism in here, mostly related to religion. The themes/messages of it was basically “don’t judge a person based solely on their appearance/portrayed image” & “just because someone is religious, it doesn’t mean that their heart is full of goodness & holiness.” It also explores the themes of abuse of power in terms of religion and gender and sexual violence. We have Ambrosio, the esteemed monk, whose descent into madness and complete sin (like witchcraft) began with pride. To outsiders, he appears holy and righteous and separate from the rest of mankind. But that’s the image that he portrays. Really, he’s just a deplorable man with sin in his heart that is waiting for an opportunity to be released. We have Matilda, his lover/confidant, who appears as this holy & devout woman, but reality is COMPLETELY FAR from the truth. And then on the opposite side, there are Antonia and Agnes, who appear innocent & ARE innocent. I won’t spoil this here, but it’s so interesting to compare Ambrosio & Matilda’s endings to Antonia and Agnes’s.

I love how Lewis was very sensitive in this subject. He didn’t bash religion, he made a point to highlight the fact that it’s the people who tend to ruin things—while still acknowledging the effects of their hypocrisy. Very masterfully done in my opinion. And he made sure to punish the wicked in a great way. Satan is evil but he ate that. Chef's kiss.

Gosh, I really loved this book. I had so many emotions reading it. I laughed, I cried, I almost threw my book across the room. It completely consumed me. I don’t have anything negative to say about it. I wish it were much longer, which is crazy for me to say. Thank you, Shay, for recommending this book to me!!!!

I think it has everything you could want in a book: romance, unhingedness, ghosts, mystery/intrigue, & magic. 10/10 recommend.

Read if you liked:
* The Picture of Dorian Gray
* Lapvona
* Dracula
* Macbeth

Read for Gothics class. 

Very very dark content, just not my vibe.

At least the end gives the Monk exactly the ending he's earned."