GIFTED / I really enjoy retellings so I always look forward to discover new ones, especially if the retelling is witten in genre different then the original story, like it was the case with Within These Wicked Walls, where the author managed to make horror out of the love story (but if you ask me, Jane Eyre is kind of horror-ish).
This book will be published tomorrow, on October 19th and it has 336 pages. I received a copy via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review. I want to say Thank You to St. Martin Press, Wednesday Books.
About the book:
FROM GOODREADS / What the heart desires, the house destroys…
Kiersten White meets Tomi Adeyemi in this Ethiopian-inspired debut fantasy retelling of Jane Eyre.
Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, Andromeda quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, but leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option. Evil may roam the castle’s halls, but so does a burning desire.
Review:
Action packed from the very beginning, and I love it!
I picked Within These Wicked Walls by accident, misplacing it for another ya horror that was coming out this year.
However, I am not sorry because I was in a mood for horror, and horror I got.
I like how the story opened with an action and I was pulled into it so very easily.
I don’t know if this book is in ya category as the main character Andri is 19 years old, but to me it definitely read as ya horror.
The setting was little hard for me to understand, and I am honestly considering rereading this whole novel to understand it better, plus I do believe that I would appreciate the story more if I give it another go.
What also confused me was how this read as fantasy but then book classics would be mentioned and at times I had feeling I was reading historical fiction with fantasy/horror elements…
This supposed to be Jane Eyre retelling, and although I can see little similarity in setting (big castle) and ghost who maybe was it’s version of captured wife from the Jane Eyre, I can’t agree that this is retelling.
I personally saw more similarities with Beauty and the Beast.
I loved characters and the main plot, including all the horror elements and action scenes, but I didn’t like the love story.
I didn’t feel the chemistry between Andri and Magnus, and it all felt all of a sudden. To be honest, I’d prefer if the story was without it.
All in all, good, fast paced story, perfect choice to read in October.
Book Dust Magic 
This was a fantastic read – felt like I was walking those halls along with Andri!
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