Summary from GoodReads: Karen Essex turns on the heat in this transporting and darkly haunting new tale of love and possession that puts forth the question: What if everything you knew about Dracula . . . was wrong?
From the shadowy banks of the River Thames to the wild and windswept coast of Yorkshire, the quintessential Victorian virgin Mina Murray vividly recounts in the pages of her private diary the intimate details of what transpired between her and Count Dracula—the joys and terrors of a pas sionate affair and her rebellion against a force of evil that has pursued her through time.
Mina’s version of this timeless gothic vampire tale is a visceral journey into the dimly lit bedrooms, mist-filled cemeteries, and locked asylum chambers where she led a secret life, far from the chaste and polite lifestyle the defenders of her purity, and even her fiancé, Jonathan Harker, expected of her.
Bram Stoker’s classic novel was only one side of the story. Now, for the first time, Dracula’s eternal muse reveals all. What she has to say is more sensual, more devious, and more enthralling than ever imagined. The result is a scintillating gothic novel that reinvents the tragic heroine Mina as a modern woman tor tured by desire.
My Review: Everyone's read the original Dracula right? In this book the author gives us a very different take on the classic original. While this book does have a good pull to grab those who into vampires or those who would prefer a romance or still those that prefer more of a historical read, to me, it's just missing something. Perhaps it's the pull of Mina being more than a simple mortal and the parts of fantasy that are also within this book.
It's clear {and I love this} that Essex has done her homework. The asylum parts were incredible. She wanted them so accurate that she actually researched and used notes from physicians from the 19th century. Be warned, these scenes are well presented.
Her characters are also wonderful. Not in that you like them, but she portrays them so well that you are easily finding yourself loathing them or loving them.
With well done research and well mapped characters. I'm still not certain of my issue with this book. Perhaps it's because the men and women are portrayed so differently than they were in the original Dracula. The men are mostly pompous jerks.
Essex also keeps you reading as your favorite vampire doesn't make an actual physical appearance until well into the book.
While a decent read, I wasn't pulled in and page turning as I had hoped that I would be with this book. However, I did {ducks} find that I disliked Mina's character.
So, here I am, I've read the book and couldn't wait to and couldn't wait to do the giveaway. After I typed this up, I went and read some of the other reviews on this book. I am now prepared for all types of hate mail. I didn't get the 15 on a scale of 1 to 10 that this book seems to get from everyone else. I truly apologize for this. I REALLY wanted to like this book and I REALLY tried to. Sometimes giving an honest review really stinks. Karen has a wonderful writing style and just because of this and the wonderful way she develops the characters, I'd say it's worth the read.
It's clear {and I love this} that Essex has done her homework. The asylum parts were incredible. She wanted them so accurate that she actually researched and used notes from physicians from the 19th century. Be warned, these scenes are well presented.
Her characters are also wonderful. Not in that you like them, but she portrays them so well that you are easily finding yourself loathing them or loving them.
With well done research and well mapped characters. I'm still not certain of my issue with this book. Perhaps it's because the men and women are portrayed so differently than they were in the original Dracula. The men are mostly pompous jerks.
Essex also keeps you reading as your favorite vampire doesn't make an actual physical appearance until well into the book.
While a decent read, I wasn't pulled in and page turning as I had hoped that I would be with this book. However, I did {ducks} find that I disliked Mina's character.
So, here I am, I've read the book and couldn't wait to and couldn't wait to do the giveaway. After I typed this up, I went and read some of the other reviews on this book. I am now prepared for all types of hate mail. I didn't get the 15 on a scale of 1 to 10 that this book seems to get from everyone else. I truly apologize for this. I REALLY wanted to like this book and I REALLY tried to. Sometimes giving an honest review really stinks. Karen has a wonderful writing style and just because of this and the wonderful way she develops the characters, I'd say it's worth the read.
RATING: ♥♥
Pages: 400
Hardcover
Review copy of this book provided by the author/publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. In no way did the provision of the book affect the outcome of my review.
I am dying to read this book
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