Author: T. Kingfisher
Genre: Horror of a Gothic bent and a squint to see it fantasy bend. Also a retelling of a classic (The Fall of the House of Usher)
Series: yes, a duology which I literally just found out when setting out to write this review.
Age Rating: YA? There's talk of war, there's some freaky autopsy-type stuff and weird animal behavior, but not a lot of graphic detail. If the person is below 12-13, I would recommend looking over it before giving it to them, but I think if you can read all of Harry Potter, you're fine to read this.
Synopsis (Copied from Amazon)
Review: For starters, I'll say 4 stars. I feel like the ending ended up a touch rushed and Alex's suspicious period was not quite long enough for me. It's like just when we got to the meat of the story, we were pretty much over, but it was a great read and I will be looking to get the second one from the library soon.When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.
What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.
Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
So essentially, it is a retelling and expansion on the Poe Classic, The Fall of the House Usher, with our main character being Alex Easton who's rushed home to see their friend. In this retelling, there are some real-life things being brought in (The British mycologist is a relative of the Beatrix Potter), but also a fantasy bent. Alex and the Usher siblings are from a fantasy country, which is interestingly described, with a pronoun development that actually ends up playing into the mystery of what's ailing Madeline. Also, for those concerned, I will spoil the plot slightly, the posession is not demonic. Let's just say the horror here takes a more...natural bent. (Also, "The Last of Us' fans, you might be interested..just saying.)
However, it's not a super action-driven plot, which it's a gothic horror, but I felt like we lingered so long on developing the mystery and the dread, that when the 'monster' was revealed, we were already hurtlingly towards the end result. And frankly, I think things ended up almost too tied up. As I said, I was surprised to hear there was a sequel, as I didn't really feel like there was a set up for one. That being said, I did feel compelled to read it once I got past the opening chapter, so I'm curious if the second one will be able to move on past some of the cultural development and get more into the mystery.
I think this would be a great book if you wanted to start a horror read for Halloween, but it wouldn't be a good finale book. The whole thing was like an appetizer, great but I wanted a little more.
