What do you think?
Rate this book
The Reverse
One snowy night long ago a young man accepts an invitation to stay in a remote castle, where he falls in love with his lovely hostess. But every morning he awakes to find the seasons have changed, and too late he realises that his beloved may be the reverse of what she seems to be.
An old man tells a tale of his youth, when one snowy night he accepted an invitation to stay in a remote castle. His lovely hostess is so charming that he forgets his broken heart and falls in love with her. But what is the uncanny secret of this ancient castle and its ancient family? Why do the seasons seem to change every morning when he awakes? And is his beloved really what she seems to be... or just the reverse? Part of the collection The Green Man and Other Stories.
An old man tells a tale of his youth, when one snowy night he accepted an invitation to stay in a remote castle. His lovely hostess is so charming that he forgets his broken heart and falls in love with her. But what is the uncanny secret of this ancient castle and its ancient family? Why do the seasons seem to change every morning when he awakes? And is his beloved really what she seems to be... or just the reverse? Part of the collection The Green Man and Other Stories.
18 pages, ebook
Published January 9, 2023
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 2, 2025
Winter isn’t the best time for traveling.
There was some interesting lore here that required me to think about it carefully to put it together. I especially enjoyed the reactions of the townsfolk in one of the early scenes when they were asked for directions to find Belvay castle. Characters in general would be well served by slowing down and asking the opinions of locals before gallivanting off to find, in this case, a mysterious castle, but if they were sensible enough to do that we wouldn’t have half as many stories to read about what happens when one throws caution to the wind. I know I’m talking circles around the lore here, but I really do want everyone to discover it without any assumptions about what they’re about to read. Just know that it’s worth the time and effort in my opinion.
While the narrator had recently finished grieving a few tragic events in his life and was not in the right state of mind to be making big decisions about what he wanted to do next, I still found myself wishing he had gone into more detail about what was going on at Belvay castle. My impression of this piece was that it was a whirlwind of scenes that didn’t leave the reader much time for contemplation. There were good reasons for it to be written that way that I will allow others to discover for themselves, but this reader would have benefited from as little as one additional scene that provided more context for why things unfurled the way that they did.
The romantic themes in this tale were heavily tinged with grief, anxiety, and an impending sense of doom. This is something I’m mentioning in my review because I want to attract readers who are interested in such things and warn those of you who prefer every ending to be a happy one that this may not be what you’re expecting. With that being said, this is the sort of romance I prefer to read if I’m going to dip my toes into that genre. Sometimes a situation feels odd for excellent reasons, and I enjoyed seeing how the unnamed old man responded to what should have been a happy moment in his life.
The Reverse was a wild ride.
There was some interesting lore here that required me to think about it carefully to put it together. I especially enjoyed the reactions of the townsfolk in one of the early scenes when they were asked for directions to find Belvay castle. Characters in general would be well served by slowing down and asking the opinions of locals before gallivanting off to find, in this case, a mysterious castle, but if they were sensible enough to do that we wouldn’t have half as many stories to read about what happens when one throws caution to the wind. I know I’m talking circles around the lore here, but I really do want everyone to discover it without any assumptions about what they’re about to read. Just know that it’s worth the time and effort in my opinion.
While the narrator had recently finished grieving a few tragic events in his life and was not in the right state of mind to be making big decisions about what he wanted to do next, I still found myself wishing he had gone into more detail about what was going on at Belvay castle. My impression of this piece was that it was a whirlwind of scenes that didn’t leave the reader much time for contemplation. There were good reasons for it to be written that way that I will allow others to discover for themselves, but this reader would have benefited from as little as one additional scene that provided more context for why things unfurled the way that they did.
The romantic themes in this tale were heavily tinged with grief, anxiety, and an impending sense of doom. This is something I’m mentioning in my review because I want to attract readers who are interested in such things and warn those of you who prefer every ending to be a happy one that this may not be what you’re expecting. With that being said, this is the sort of romance I prefer to read if I’m going to dip my toes into that genre. Sometimes a situation feels odd for excellent reasons, and I enjoyed seeing how the unnamed old man responded to what should have been a happy moment in his life.
The Reverse was a wild ride.
Displaying 1 of 1 review