Sunday, October 30, 2011

Nathalia’s Guest ARC Review: Darker Still {Magic Most Foul #1} by Leanna Renee Hieber

4 comments


Darker Still (Magic Most Foul, #1)

 

 

 

The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.

From Goodreads.

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  • Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire 
  • Release Date: November 8th, 2011   
  • My Copy: ARC received at AAD.
  • Pages: 320 
  • Series: Magic Most Foul 
  • Genre: Paranormal Historical YA  
  • Author's Website
  • Pre-Order the Book:
Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul

*NO Spoilers

While I'm not a fan of this cover, the concept of Darker Still makes it impossible to let this book pass by. As the blurb says, this novel is "the Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."- no, you don't need to read them in order to enjoy this book, it has a shine of its own.

We accompany the story through Natalie Steart's diary entries, police reports, letters and newspaper articles. I didn't feel like there was missing since the narrative is very strong and solid. I had never read anything by Leanna Renee Hieber and I must say I'm impressed! She has the talent of mixing love, mystery and a very gothic atmosphere to this novel and including a hint of faerie tale to it. It's enchanted, believable and brings a lot of questions about society, religion and disability.

I love how the author grabbed pieces of information from so many cultures and created such a unique novel. The perfect mix of historical fiction and fantasy. An impressive book that makes me wonder what will happen next…

And yes, you will want to read all those other novels if you haven't already!

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4 Responses so far.

  1. Stephanie says:

    Austen meets Wilde?! What a fabulous-sounding read. I'll have to give this one a try!

  2. I hadn't even heard of this book before but it looks really good. Great post :)

  3. @Stephanie

    I cant wait to read it too! =D

    @Christina

    Hope you get to read it and enjoy it! =D

  4. I loved reviewing it, I had lots of fun =D

    @Christina, I'm glad you liked it!

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