Oči temnoty

by K.V. Turley, Fiorella De Maria, Ina Nguyenová (Translator)

V zákulisí strieborného plátna sa sny menia na nočné mory...

Hollywood 1956

Mladá novinárka Evangeline Kilhooleyová sa prepadá do beznádeje po smrti svojho manžela, obete vojny v Kórei. Od šéfredaktora novín dostáva úlohu napísať seriál o starnúcom hercovi Belovi Lugosim, ktorého preslávila filmová a divadelná úloha grófa Draculu. Excentrický herec s východoeurópskymi koreňmi postupne odhaľuje, ako sa tiene starého sveta menili na súmrak hororových filmov. A ako pýcha a svojvôľa pozvoľna vábia na spriahnutie sa s okultnými silami. Evi ­začína chápať, prečo Lugosi ako predstaviteľ zla nemal v­ hollywoodskych filmoch obdobu.

Aby si jej články zachovali objektivitu, chodí na konzultácie k Hugovi, obchodníkovi s filmovými zberateľskými raritami. Ako sa spoznávajú, Evi­ začína tušiť, že Hugo vie o nej viac, než sa dá dozvedieť počas spoločne strávených popoludní pri čaji. Zároveň potrebuje čo najskôr dokončiť sériu článkov, pretože sa okolo nej sťahujú mračná niečoho temnejšieho, než je len smutný príbeh filmovej legendy.

Genres: Fiction, Horror, Historical Fiction, Thriller

216 pages

First published August 16, 2021

Reviews

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prior to reading this volume I had read all of Fiorella’s fiction and one of her non-fiction works. I had also read the only other volume I believe that K.V. Turley has published. I eagerly anticipated this book from the moment I heard about it. I would pick up anything De Maria published, and was impressed by the previous volume from Turley I had read. This volume marks the twelfth time I have read a volume from de Maria, and I wish there were more available. But this story is unlike anything else either has previously published. The description of the volume is:

“Hollywood, 1956. Journalist and war widow Evangeline Kilhooley is assigned to write a "star profile" of the fading actor Bela Lugosi, made famous by his role as Count Dracula. During a series of interviews, Lugosi draws Evi into his curious Eastern European background, gradually revealing the link between Old World shadows and the twilight realm of modern horror films.

Along the way, Evi meets another English expatriate, Hugo Radelle, a movie buff who offers to help with her research. As their relationship deepens, Evi begins to suspect that he knows more about her and her soldier husband than he is letting on. Meanwhile, a menacing Darkness stalks all three characters as their histories and destinies mysteriously begin to intertwine.”

In some ways it reads as historical fiction. There is a touch of romance. A good dose of horror or even a hint of thriller. And the scenes in the POW camps are powerful. This story is haunting in many way. And the haunting begins with the cover. I could not look at the cover and but feel a bit of dread. The cover reminds me of the classic horror or monster movies I would watch on Saturday afternoons when young, with commentary and interjections by Elvira. Reading the book is both disturbing and haunting. All that both Evi and Hugo have been through. Their growing connection as he assists her with her pieces. They whole mystery around the famous or infamous Bela Lugosi, his powerful presence, his stories and the implications of what he says and leaves unsaid. And finally the intervention of a Catholic Priest, and an Exorcist at that.

Just wow. It is a dark story powerfully told. I cannot help but wonder how the duo wrote the story. If they alternated sections from the different perspectives? Worked on it together, or some other format. But no matter how the work was completed it has made for a mesmerizing tale. Normally I read a novel in a day. I spread this one out over a few days. I had to stop and think and reflect upon the story at a couple of key junctures. To figure out if I was interpreting the events in the story as intended, or if my own personal lenses were skewing the intent.

This story is masterfully written. And though it is unlike anything either has published it is executed to perfection. The pacing, the characters, the interwoven narratives all come together perfectly. It was a perfect book to read as summer turned to autumn. And it is a book I am certain will entertain. I would have no concerns picking up another book if the two collaborate again, and can easily recommend this to fans of the genre.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan!

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I need to take a moment to step back and think this one over. Was it a good book? Absolutely! Was it was I was expecting? Absolutely not! After having read Eleanor Bourg Nicholson's A Bloody Habit, I was expecting a fast-paced and terrifying ride. What I got instead was a slow burn that creeps up on you, sits with you, and scares the crap out of you when you least expect it!

Not content to hide the darkness from readers, Turley and De Maria paint a chilling, raw, and subtly suspenseful story that kept me glued to the page. While some passages are hard to read (including a very graphic depiction of a man's death in a POW camp), and some of the impact might not resonate with all readers, I found myself deeply touched by this powerful story.

I'm a big fan of classic horror films (and Bela Lugosi!) so I found some of the "accusations" a bit shocking. But, the story itself was a juicy piece of fiction and it fit in well with the character that Lugosi had created for himself. Coincidentally, if you want to learn more about the "real" Lugosi and what he was like as a person, you might enjoy Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula, an excellent graphic novel biography that really delved into the troubled life of this horror icon.

I would definitely recommend to fans of classic Hollywood and especially of classic horror. And to all the good Catholic boys and girls who want something scary--this one's for you!

[John Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing and engrossing read. I can highly recommend it.

[Fonch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ladies and gentlemen with the permission of my family, friends, and followers in this case our pattern of behavior when writing reviews will be altered. As no doubt the people who still support me will know :-) I usually post my criticisms on my social networks both on Facebook and Instagram. Which usually serve as a sketch or sketch to later post my definitive review on Goodreads however, in this case the circumstances require me to act in the opposite way in this case. Due to its length, this review has been divided into two parts: an introductory annex talking about @fiorellademaria @fiorellanash and the publishing house @IgnatiusPress and the criticism itself.
Regarding "This thing of Darkness", there have been the same difficulties that they had with "Poor banished children", Poor Banished Children: A Novel that is, reading the book in the original version in which it was written for a person like me who is not particularly good at languages is a great difficulty. But Fiorella de Maria's novel co-written with K.V. Turley, who also advised her on the film part, has reminded me enormously of other books by great writers (which, far from being a review, is a great compliment). The novel begins narrated in the first person by its protagonist Evangeline Kilhooley, an Englishwoman, an expatriate widow, who barely survives in California and who has lost her husband in the Korean War (the forgotten conflict of the twentieth century and which serves as an announcement of later conflicts such as the Vietnam War that overshadowed it. In this war Father Kapaun carried out his apostolate The Miracle of Father Kapaun: Priest, Soldier, and Korean War Hero ) and, to which an unscrupulous editor with very few scruples and a lesser heart named Goldberg asks him to interview the actor of horror films Bela Lugosi so this novel could be subtitled interviewing Bela Lugosi. I said in the discussion of The Catholic Book Club about "Poor banished children" that I do not believe in coincidences at all. I don't think it's a coincidence that I read this novel the same year in which the remake of Nosferatu is going to be shot (whose filming as well as that of other films is described in this novel) directed in this case by Robert Eggers and, starring Bill Skarsgard, Willem Dafoe (who already appeared in the shadow of the vampire playing the actor Schreck with John Malkovich playing Murnau and, in which the filming of the original Nosferatu was recreated, which did not have the rights to Bram Stoker's original work, the names were changed and, the setting was changed to Germany (I think to Bremen), Lily Rose Deep and, Nicholas Hoult. I must confess to my readers that I am a lover of the vampire genre, my friend Eleanor Bourg Nicholson who wrote "A Bloody Habit" A Bloody Habit included me in the Catholic Vampiires group and, I am friends with writers such as Ellen C. Maze Ellen C. Maze and, especially, my friend Krisi Keley Krisi Keley with whom I passionately debated the nature of vampires. It's true that I'm not a big fan of Bram Stoker's novel, but it can be said that without me being Abraham van Helsing I've followed the trail of the undead in literature with gems like Goethe's "The Bride of Corinth", The Bride Of Corinth And Other Poems Tieck's "Don't Wake the Dead", Wake Not the Dead Polidori's "The Vampire" Vampyre & Other Tales of the Macabre (97) by Polidori, John Paperback (2008) (which I didn't like. Already enough vampire is his Chief Lord Byron Lord Byron who inspired the homonymous character of this novel), "Varney the vampire" by James Malcolm Rymer Varney the Vampire; or, The Feast of Blood , "Carmilla" by Sheridan Le Fanu Carmilla , "The Family of the Vurdalak" by Aleksey Kostantinovich Tolstoy El Vampiro. La familia del vurdalak (relative of Lev Tolstoy Leo Tolstoy ) (I love this one, by the way), "Blood is life" by Francis Marion Crawford For The Blood Is The Life: An Uncanny Gothic Vampire Tale (perhaps of all the stories mentioned this is my favorite. For me, Francis Marion Crawford is a very underrated writer). I recommend two gems "The Vampire City" and "The Vampire Bride" by Paul Feval La Ville-VampireLa Vampire (which you have already heard me talk about or, rather, which has already been written about countless times). I liked reinterpretations or, reasonable similarities of Dracula such as "The Carpathian Castle" by Jules Verne Le Château des Carpathes and gems such as "The Bloody Doll" by Gaston Leroux La poupée sanglante . I confess without blushing that I have seen all the films of the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer and that I read "The Historian" by Elisabeth Kostova The Historian . I also like more rogue versions like "Anno Dracula" by Kim Newman Anno Dracula and, the saga around Dracula written by one of my favorite writers Fred Saberhagen Fred Saberhagen (more than Bram Stoker's novel I like pastiches and what the popular genius has done with his creation) and, by the way, it's edited in @homolegens take a look at "A bloody habit" by Eleanor Bourg Nicholson (especially the final third for those who like dungeons, the dungeon, the sword and sorcery and, movies like vampires by John Carpenter will love this book and I also recommend the other books by Eleanor Bourg Nicholson published in @Chrismpress by the interesting Rhonda OrtizRhonda Ortiz ). (on this subject we should talk about Strahd von Zarovich character created by Tracy Hickman and novelized by P.N. Elrod I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a VampireHouse of Strahd: Ravenloft Official Game Adventure).
Having made this great digression about the nature of vampires and their history in the world of literature (we would have to see the cases of that Hispanic vampire hunter the Count of Cabrera or, the books of Augustin Calmet Augustin Calmet , that French Carmelite and cases such as the story of the lamia of Apollonius of Tyana Apollonius of Tyana). The novel begins in a similar tone to Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire," Interview with the Vampire or Fred Saberhagen's "Dracula Tape." The Dracula Tape Like Evangeline (a poetic name reminiscent of the heroine of Longfellow's poem about a young Acadian woman who wants to marry her fiancé, but cannot do so because England took over that territory and deported the Akkadians Evangeline). From the lego, the couple of Fiorella de Maria and K.V. Turley proved to be great storytellers. Goldberg, the ruthless publisher who is only interested in money, has to use all the ways there are to extort the poor widow Evangeline Kilhooley (yes, it seems that for this task he will have the invaluable help of another English expatriate, Hugo Radelle, who seems to be a great connoisseur of golden Hollywood. Apart from being another Korean fighter just like Evi's husband was. We are facing a cinephile like Bolinx, the iconic character created by Walker Percy in his novel "Movigoer" The Moviegoer . You just have to see how he decorates his establishment). Although the narrator tells the story in the 70s. This takes place in the year 1956, which is the last year of Bela Lugosi's life. An exhausted, eccentric man and crushed by excesses, in this case alcohol and drugs. The presence of Bela Lugosi has a very positive thing and that is that it is an attraction for the audience and for the fans of the horror genre of that time who are legion and also for cinephiles. The problem, and this may be the Achilles' heel of this novel, is that it does not allow you to invent everything that is told, it has to be close to reality and, the only thing that does not convince me is that Bela Lugosi is presented as a servant of evil and someone who has been able to sign a Faustian pact with the forces of darkness. That the devil can use cinema to disseminate or promote their ideas his ideas. We are already seeing it, you only have to look at the films that have won the big awards in recent years and, the roots of wokism in the Hollywood industry in addition to the political opinions of most of the members of the interpretation, and the number of scandals in which they have been involved and their lives unstructured. All of them are tinged with openly anti-Christian ideologies. For example, look at the list of winners at the Venice Film Festival where a film in favour of euthanasia (that of our Almodovar) has won, another on the dangers of the extreme right when I believe that the problem is the opposite and another on sexual liberation. In addition to watching a cinema that is already exhausted today, which lives on sequels, prequels, remakes and useless rehashes used by the plutocratic elites to promote abortion, euthanasia, promote LGBTISM and racial tensions and confront men and women whose social and economic conditions are being preyed upon by them without shame without scruples. Neither Fiorella nor K.V. Turley are wrong in that in their story. Now, I wish the darkness or, the patas as Juanma Cotelo calls it, tried to subjugate souls through this kind of films of the 20s and 30s (at least they would be more entertaining than the current ones and more innocuous). What I do agree with Fiorella and K.V. Turley is that this type of films that fomented fear and darkness paved the way for the triumph of National Socialism (be careful, it was not long before communism triumphed in the Weimar Republic). I still remember the classes I had in the third year of my degree with Professor José Ramón Díez Espinosa whose book "The German Labyrinth" I highly recommend LABERINTO ALEMÁN, EL. DEMOCRACIAS Y DICTADURAS. An image of the Weimar Republic stuck with me as that of a girl who is raped by a group of soldiers and who ends up succumbing Which soldier killed her, only the last, or all at once? The Weimar Republic was trampled equally on the right as it was on the left. The second tried it in Bavaria and, we must take into account the revolt of the Spartacists of Liebcneckt and Rosa Luxemburg. On the right we have Kapp and parties nostalgic for the Second Reich that did not respect the new government. The terrifying economic situation with high inflation, people going hungry, the United States that did not want to get involved, the revanchism of France that still demanded the collection of the debt and, the disastrous role of the SPD that preferred to save itself than the new regime were the cause of the disaster, as well as the crash, the diktat of Versailles and, the bad luck of the death of the most skilled politicians and most favorable to reach peace Stressman of the German zentrum and Aristides Briand in France. Adenauer was marginalized for being Alsatian and, until the post-war period, he would not be able to demonstrate his ability. This was what allowed the triumph of Nazism. I think that this climate was wonderfully captured in his novel "The World Between Scripts" written by Jesús Trillo-Figueroa El mundo entre guiones than "Postcard from volcano" by Lucy Beckett A Postcard from the Volcano: A Novel of Pre-War Germany , which despite its great quality you can tell that it is written by an Englishwoman fascinated by Germany, but unlike Jesús Trillo-Figueroa she does not know what Germany is like in that period.
Before finishing this part of my critique, I don't need to be told who was going to win the Second World War, it was not won by having more men, better industry, raw materials and armaments, but by what drove some. German cinema during Nazism, contrary to the clichés, was not bad, but it was morally inferior. Lennie Riefenstal is a great director, Karl Janing is a great actor, and Hippler is a ballplayer, but they are inferior to what Frank Capra, John Ford, Leo Macarey, King Vidor, Cecil B. De Mille, William Wyler, Henry Hathaway to whom we must join the filmmakers who fled from National Socialism Billy Wilder, Otto Premminger, Robert Siodmark, Lubitch, Fritz Lang, Von Stroheim who under the beneficent presence of the Catholic Church and the Hays Code knew how to instill beneficial and positive values that filled people with hope. If people are willing to fight for the words of Henry Wilcoxon's sermon in "Mrs. Miniver" they are not interested in being told about the Jewish danger, about Aryan superiority and that they are the best. Even the evil and demonic Stalin to win had to put ideology aside and appeal to mother Russia and its past as shown in the films of Ivan the Terrible and Alexander Nevsky for socialism people were not going to fight for their homeland, for their family, for their freedoms and for their God. We fight, as Samwise would say in the movie "The Two Towers", so that good triumphs in this world The Two Towers . Both Fiorella de Maria and K.V. Turley have captured this beautifully.

[Mina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the main character's experience of coping with loss to be the most compelling thing about this story. However, having the plot revolve somewhat around a real person brings up some interesting questions. How much of what Mr. Lugosi expresses in the book is based on actual interviews or biographies of him. And if great artistic license has been taken with his personal life, that would make for interesting conversation with others about whether we ought to play fast and loose with individual histories.

[Pani Tau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kniha Oči temnoty nás zavedie do roku 1956 a života novinárky Evangeline, ktorá sa nevie vyrovnať so stratou manžela padlého vo vojne v Kórei. Jej každodennosť je poznačená smútkom a prázdnotou a vtedy dostane od svojho redaktora úlohu – napísať sériu článkov o kedysi slávnom hercovi Belovi Lugosim, ktorého svet pozná najmä ako legendárneho Draculu.

Na prvý pohľad by sa mohlo zdať, že pôjde len o obyčajný novinársky projekt, no vychádza najavo, že Bela je nielen nespoľahlivý rozprávač, ale aj muž, ktorého prenasledujú temné tiene. Evi sa preto obracia na filmového odborníka Huga, aby jej pomohol oddeliť fakty od Lugosiho okázalých výmyslov. Netuší, že spolu s príbehom slávneho herca začína rozpletať aj temnotu, čo ju môže pohltiť.

Ako je hneď vidieť, kniha je rozbitá na tri témy: Evi, snažiacu sa vyrovnať so stratou manžela, spomienky Belu Lugosiho na jeho život a kariéru, ktoré sprevádza tajomné zlo a aj na postupne sa rodiaci vzťah medzi Hugom a Evi. Priznám sa, že na začiatku bolo citeľné, že je to kniha dvoch autorov – každý sa sústredil na niečo iné, a celé to pôsobilo miestami nesústredene.

Evi mi dlho nebola sympatická. Áno, trošku som sa na ňu napojila pred koncom, ale v podstate musím aj tak hodnotiť, že bola protivná, večne argumentovala nezmyslami a vyhýbala sa tak skutočným problémom. Prišla o manžela, trápilo ju to a v dôsledku toho pila, čo je pochopiteľné a mala môj súcit, no aj tak na nej bolo niečo rušivé a otravné, kvôli čomu som jej tak celkom nedokázala držať prsty a jej repliky či správanie ma neraz vyhodili z plynulosti deja.

Na druhej strane, Bela a jeho rozprávanie o živote - detstve strávenom v putovnom cirkuse, vzostupe filmu, vrchole a páde jeho kariéry - bolo neskutočne pútavé. Jeho príbeh bol podfarbený hororovými prvkami a už od začiatku naznačoval, že jeho život sprevádza akási temnota. Spočiatku sa zdá, že ide len o metaforu, no neskôr čitateľ zisťuje, že to myslel celkom doslovne a práve vtedy príbeh naberá zlovestný, mysteriózny spád.

Tiež som ocenila, ako sa na konci všetky dejové línie, ktoré sa spočiatku zdali byť rozhádzané, krásne spojili do jedného celku. Ukázalo sa, že všetko bolo prepojené. Záverečné kapitoly boli skvelo napísané, prekvapivé, štýlové a uspokojivé. No mám výhrady voči epilógu. Pokúša sa opäť navodiť temný, hrozivý tón Belovho rozprávania, ktorý však v podaní Evi podľa mňa už len pôsobí ako lacný ťah a v porovnaní s dobre vystavaným záverom stráca účinok.

Napriek tomu musím povedať, že Oči temnoty sú výbornou knihou s originálnym nápadom. Je to niečo svieže, čo sa len tak nevidí a úplne ma to vytiahlo z čitateľskej krízy, keď som začínala mať pocit, že väčšina príbehov je na jedno kopyto.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

"This Thing of Darkness" was one of our 2024 bookclub picks. I'm glad we were able to pick up copies of this one on sale because it was not a favorite and am disappointed to say it did not earn a lasting spot in my home library, despite the praise of Joseph Pearce and Michael D. O'Brien on the back cover.

We had concerns about the way K.V. Turley and Fiorella de Maria fictionalized the life of Bela Lugosi. I read a graphic novel that my library has available in their digital catalog: "Bela Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula" by Korean Shadmi and I can't say his character came across much better in that book (which had an extensive bibliography, unlike this novel). However, I still had a hard time with this story as I was concerned about how far off from the truth the authors were getting in this "work of imagination" regarding Bela Lugosi. When you make a real person into a villain who has given himself over to the Darkness, how is that not calumny?

While most of the book is about Evangeline interviewing Bela Lugosi about his life and then getting the story "right" from film buff, Hugo, it's not what this story end up being about. While it didn't take that long to read, the first 2/3 seemed interminably long. The ending, however was rushed, especially with the surfical treatment of what happened in the last chapter. The priest exorcist in particular was extremely ambiguous and I was left unsatisfied.

I thought this was a quote worth noting: "People sometimes imagine that hardship brings out the best in men, but anyone who has been through a war knows that is simply not true. A selfish man will not be less selfish in a prison camp, a criminal will still be a criminal...It is not always the case; some no doubt go through that trial and come out purer. I'm too hardened by experience to believe that this is a common event, though."

Finally, I realized I need to learn more about the "forgotten war" as I was having a difficult time placing what was happening in this book historically with the scant knowledge I have about the Korean War.

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ficitionalized tale about horror movie star, Bela Lugosi manages to balance truth with fantasy. When freelance reporter, Evangeline Kilhooley, an English woman who survived the horrors of the German bombs on Coventry is assigned by Mr. Goldberg, a LA newspaper editor to interview Lugosi, she is pulled into the fantasy world of the aged actor from Hungary. Unfamiliar with his career and cultural significanc ein the 1930s, she soon finds out that Lugosi's sole desire in life was to entertain people who otherwise lived a doldrum or predictable lives. He was drawn to acting which became his life to the point that he could no longer differentiate between fantasy and fact. Lugosi also speaks of the 'darkness' that pursues him and later speaks of being targeted by it. As he relays his destiny that was realized when he was cast as Count Dracula in the classic horror film, 'Dracula,' his countenance seems to change. As the interview sessions continue, Lugosi's tales deepen in morbidity and he issues a warning to Evangeline. The freelance reporter soons experiences morossness and has nightmares about "Christy' (Christopher), her dead husband. She begins to get visions of his death. Her relationship with a fellow Englishman and film afficionado, Hugo Radell is also affected. It seems that Hugo was intimately connected to Evangeline's husband demise durign the war. It seems that Hugo, also a war is one of the keys to this tale. By the end of the novel, it is apparent that Evangeline is in search of solace and peace but a 'darkness' has settled over her, driving her to losing all touch with reality. A tragedy and truth is revealed which pushes her over the edge. The only hope is her faith and the help of Hugo whose lacks faith but feels for the afflicted woman. What follows is a fight for her soul and the intervention of a Catholic priest. The ending is quite satisfying and raises questions of the 'curtain' that separates this world from the afterlife.

Honestly, this novel was a huge surprise for me. It is both therapeutic and a journey into the darker side of reality. Lugosi and Evangeline represent those who saw and survived all types of battles and obstacles. One is overcome while another nearly falls. The question which one did and did not. This is a twistign and staisfying novel. Bravo!

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t really know what to write. At First I wasn’t really into the book and it took me quite a while to pick it up again. Then I got into the story and have to say that the book is Well written. What seems to be my problem with book reviews as of lately is that I don’t like the main characters. It was the same with Evangeline. I just couldn’t understand the way she was thinking and acting. The conclusion wasn’t really to my liking either. I think the book would be much more satisfying had the religious fantasy not been in it. It just felt like the easy way out of all the questions. But I have to admit that I enjoyed reading this story so it’s 3/5 from me.

[Peter Epp]

As a smartly conceived meta-horror, this book is fun. Though not the first (think “The Ring”, etc.), it might be the most complete take on the premise: What if fictional horror was the cause of real-world evil? Unfortunately, though, if you read the nonfiction of one of the authors, you realize he really does see nearly every film not made by Mel Gibson as pretty much just that. So, you know, there’s also that real-world horror crouching in the shadows here.

https://theimaginativeconservative.or...

[Guillermo Perez-Santalla · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been a while since I read a book so quickly. I don’t usually read novels but egg I needed a change of pace. This book delved into the weakness and coldness of man. It showed you the worst part of selfishness and greed. But along with the tale it took you through a gamut of emotions and images that kept your interest. The way it used historical characters and events to paint the many parts of the story was to me both creative and instructive.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read with building tension. Fascinating idea that Lugosi was somehow taken in and conquered by the Darkness. Will we see more of Hugo and Evi?

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it took me at least 4 months to read this book. The last 1/4 was the best. I’m surprised I’m giving a book 4 stars when it took me so long to read - but there was one chapter beyond moving.

[Arathalion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly compelling story, couldn't put it down