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A review by incipientdreamer
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
<b>2 stars</b>
*taps book* this bad boy can hold so many cliches in it! None of the good ones though sadly.
Maybe it's my fault for reading gothic spooky novels in 40-degree weather, but I feel like some of the fault lies with the shitty book as well. <i>The Last Heir to Blackwood Library</i> has the premise for a great gothic novel: a character mysteriously inherits an ancient abbey, a spooky library with spooky books, mysterious brooding men, the Yorkshire moors etc. However, the book takes all those staple elements of the genre and uses them in the laziest most cliche manner. There is no originality or input from the author, it's as if they took a glance at the Gothic Mystery Starter Pack TM and copied it exactly.
I've read many spooky horror gothic novels, and even when the plot is predictable and the characters are disappointing, one thing I can always count on is the atmosphere of the story. That feeling of being watched (All Hail Ceaseless Watcher), and that niggling feeling of wrongness blends in with the setting (yup I'm a slave to The Eye fs) to give the feeling of esoteric and paranormal activity. But <i>Blackwood Library</i> has no atmosphere at all. The book seems to rely on rain and wind and "Yorkshire" to carry the atmosphere and that simply isn't enough! It might have worked for Emily Bronte, but does not work for Hester Fox.
*taps book* this bad boy can hold so many cliches in it! None of the good ones though sadly.
Maybe it's my fault for reading gothic spooky novels in 40-degree weather, but I feel like some of the fault lies with the shitty book as well. <i>The Last Heir to Blackwood Library</i> has the premise for a great gothic novel: a character mysteriously inherits an ancient abbey, a spooky library with spooky books, mysterious brooding men, the Yorkshire moors etc. However, the book takes all those staple elements of the genre and uses them in the laziest most cliche manner. There is no originality or input from the author, it's as if they took a glance at the Gothic Mystery Starter Pack TM and copied it exactly.
I've read many spooky horror gothic novels, and even when the plot is predictable and the characters are disappointing, one thing I can always count on is the atmosphere of the story. That feeling of being watched (All Hail Ceaseless Watcher), and that niggling feeling of wrongness blends in with the setting (yup I'm a slave to The Eye fs) to give the feeling of esoteric and paranormal activity. But <i>Blackwood Library</i> has no atmosphere at all. The book seems to rely on rain and wind and "Yorkshire" to carry the atmosphere and that simply isn't enough! It might have worked for Emily Bronte, but does not work for Hester Fox.