5 Gothic Bloody Stars | Received a complementary copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Winterly is darkly atmospheric, poetic gothic beauty. Jeanine Croft writes with a lyrical pen that drips with atmosphere, a melody that eerily invades the senses and refuses to relinquish you from its vampiric romantic depths.
Emma and Markus, be still my beating bookish heart. These two are swoon worthy together. Emma, dear Emma, as she attempts to evade every deliciously decadent encounter with the dark and mysterious Markus Winterly, I couldn’t help but fall under the same thralling spell that was woven around Emma’s heart.
And Markus, dastardly charming Markus Winterly, from the first word out of his mysterious mouth, I, like Emma, knew that I was in the presence of my newest bookish boyfriend. He’s so guarded and mysterious that when I finally learned more about him, I was all in and left with wanting more, more and more.
The characters of this charming dark novel are well written and the added depth of getting bits and pieces from several of the characters, not just Miss Emma Rose, rounded the depths of this tome into a piece that Croft should be mightily proud of creating. The world building drops you into the midst of Victorian England. The vernacular, the mannerisms, it screams of the period and added an element to the story that elevated this from just a vampiric tale, to a loaded gun of poetry, magic, love, mystery and lyrical literary goodness.
While Emma does make some decisions that made me want to physically step into the book and shake her silly, it did not detract from my love for the story or the character for that matter. Winterly is long, decadently rich in atmosphere and personally one of my favorite novels of the year. I was giddy whenever I spoke to those in my household about the depths of this novel and when I mentioned the talent and depth of the writing. I adored Winterly and can not wait to read the next book, there are characters that I need to know more about and relationships to swoon over.
“Some things are best done in the dark, Miss Rose.”
Synopsis:
Penny Dreadful meets Northanger Abbey with a dark peppering of twilight in this sultry odyssey of gaslit underworlds seething with masquerades, mystery, and romance.
Something dark is prowling the gaslit streets of London—a monster with a taste for the blood of young women. When her beloved sister is attacked by an unearthly creature, Emma Rose finds herself in a contract of exchange for her life that defies all laws of heaven. A contract with a vampire.
Her world is torn apart and the reality she had known and believed in is revealed to be a facade, just like the masks of a midnight vampire ball; a mask worn by Markus Winterly, the inimitable viscount and master of Winterthurse. Whether demon, vampire, or monster, Emma discovers that these names are just facets to an ancient being who defies mortal comprehension. Spanning centuries, lifetimes, and the rise and fall of ancient civilizations, Winterly takes her on a journey of self-discovery where Emma awakens to the truth of her identity at last, and she comes to learn that the line separating light and dark is as tenuous as her humanity.
When she surrenders to the call of her blood, she finds where she belonged all along. And it was never in London, or even heaven, but in the arms of the devil himself.od, she finds where she belonged all along. And it was never in London, or even heaven, but in the arms of the devil himself.
