Worlds of Ink and Shadow

by Lena Coakley

Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. The Brontë siblings have always been close. After all, nothing can unite four siblings quite like life in an isolated parsonage on the moors. Their vivid imaginations lend them escape from their strict, spartan upbringing, actually transporting them into their created worlds: the glittering Verdopolis and the romantic and melancholy Gondal. But at what price? As Branwell begins to slip into madness and the sisters feel their real lives slipping away, they must weigh the cost of their powerful imaginations, even as their characters—the brooding Rogue and dashing Duke of Zamorna—refuse to let them go.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical, Fiction, Paranormal, Historical Fantasy

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2016

About the author

Lena Coakley is the Toronto Star and Globe & Mail bestselling author of Worlds of Ink and Shadow, a YA portal fantasy about the young Brontë siblings and the imaginary countries they wrote about in childhood. It made both the CBC and Quill & Quire’s Best Books of the Year lists.

Her previous novel, Witchlanders, was called “one stunning teen debut” by Kirkus Reviews, won the SCBWI Crystal Kite award and was a White Pine Award honouree.

Her first middle grade novel, Wicked Nix, will come out in October of this year from Abrams and Harper Collins Canada. She lives in Toronto.

Reviews

[Hailey (Hailey in Bookland) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started off really strong but in the end, it definitely just kind of petered out. I liked the characters and watching the sibling relationship, but I wasn't entirely captured by the characters. More thoughts will be included in my mini review/wrap up!

[Emily May · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge Bronte fan. I generally consider Wuthering Heights to be my favourite book of all time, and I grew up not far from the little village of Haworth, where the Brontes lived. I've visited their house several times and walked the same streets they once walked. I have an interest in them that goes beyond their books and their characters.

How did these three young women write some of the best novels of all time between them? Especially in a time where women were not encouraged to write. What about that isolated little place in the Yorkshire moors inspired such a deviance from the norm? I've always wondered. So, naturally, a book imagining the Brontes' childhood called to me right away.

There are two major problems with this book, though one of them might not be such an issue if you know very little about the Bronte siblings. But let's start with the other one.

Most of the book is happening inside their heads. The book takes us deep inside the imaginations of all four Bronte siblings - Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell - trying to recreate the thought processes that led them towards such magnificent stories. Each of them has their own perspective and, during these chapters, their daily lives blend into their imagination as they create worlds and characters (some we will recognize as future Heathcliffs and Rochesters) in their minds.

Firstly, it is not always easy to tell what is actually happening and what is in their heads. There's no warning; the narrative simply moves straight from their actual lives to a fantasy scenario.

But the bigger issue is: why do we care? It sounds like a potentially fascinating premise in theory, and yet it feels a little bit like when someone wants to tell you about the weird dream they had last night and you just DO NOT CARE.

You know what I mean - Do you really want to hear about the wanderings of someone's subconscious? Even if they dreamed that Katniss Everdeen got sent to Hogwarts instead of the Hunger Games and became a badass witch, other people's dreams are always incredibly boring. You know it's true.

So, for me, reading a story about people making up stories in their heads is honestly not that interesting. I do not know if this was simply never going to work, or if this book just didn't do it very well, but either way - I was really bored.

The other major problem is that I know a little something about Charlotte, Emily and Anne. And this book runs with the most basic knowledge of their personalities and doesn't really develop anything else. Charlotte is romantic, but plain, dreaming of equally plain heroines who fall for the very Mr Rochester-like Zamorna. Emily is a loner who loves the moors. Anne is a preachy good girl.

You could probably gather these facts just from reading their books. I would have liked to see a little more depth, a little more personality. This book isn't a biography, so make it up! Be creative! Artistic license!

Instead, I got a mixture of what I already know and what I don't care about. An interesting attempt to look at the young Brontes but, in my opinion, it just didn't work.

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[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to ABRAMS Kids and NetGalley.)

This book was just… bizarre.
Basically this book was about the Bronte siblings, who were able to write about and enter a magical world of their own creation. This was all a bit weird though when two siblings would disappear, and the other two would find their pens writing all on their own. And then we got parts of the book that took place in this make-believe world – Verdopolis, and the whole thing was just weird! I don’t even see how this had anything to do with the Bronte Siblings at all.


4 out of 10

[Korrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I'm not someone who is normally drawn to historical fiction so when I was sent the ARC for this tale about the Bronte sisters, I wasn't sure it would be my cup of tea. But I loved it! I was drawn in right away and found it to be an addictive read. I enjoyed reading about their day to day lives, as well as the lives they lived in their fictional stories they wrote. I thought the idea that their imaginations began to take over quite interesting. I loved that this was a perfect mixture of historical fiction and fantasy!

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If I am to have a life of sorrows, I will not let them conquer me.”

[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 4 s t a r s *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

I loved this so, so much. I can't believe it took me to long to read it.

Back in 2016 after reading Jane Eyre for the first time (it is now my favourite book), I became obsessed with the Brontë's. I found them so fascinating, and reading this book brought back all those feelings I had 3 years ago when I first discovered my love for this family and their stories.

The only thing I had to fault with this book is that it's very predictable, but it was so fun and I loved seeing these iconic siblings brought to life!

“The worst punishments are the ones we devise for ourselves.”

trigger warnings: sexism (challenged), death of loved ones, death in general, cheating, fire.

[A.G. Howard]

This book sounds AH-MAZING! Emily and Charlotte Brontë were two of my first literary crushes. Hurry up January 2016!

[Drew · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 33%

This book is a work of fiction based on historical people - the Brontë siblings, from which some of the most widely praised novels, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, have come from. I thought the idea of four siblings living secluded in England sounded completely intriguing. Combine that with the gorgeous cover and I was sold. But I couldn't have ended up more disappointed.

From the first page I was totally confused by the writing - it was disorganized, jumping from Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, and Anne's point of views, and, to be perfectly blunt, was kind of terrible. I didn't like how the author portrayed the Brontë siblings as selfish and hotheaded. Hardly a chapter went by where Charlotte and Branwell weren't squabbling over something petty and it grew tiresome so quickly.

Now, maybe the Brontës did act this way - I haven't read any biographies on them and know next to nothing about them - and that would be fine, so long as Lena Coakley kept their characters interesting. But their selfish, petty, bickering personalities were just annoying, not fascinating in the way that a good character study could have made them.

The way Charlotte and Branwell - who were both literary people - wrote was really weird. They did something called "crossing over" where they literally went inside their stories as they were writing them so they could see the characters they had created right in front of them. Charlotte would watch her characters and direct them like a play, changing one person's lines and another's dress from gold to purple.

This probably sounds like a cool idea, but the way it was written was really confusing. The Brontës' stories weren't explained and I'm sure someone who's read all their books would have a better sense of what was going on, but as I have only read Jane Eyre, I was left thoroughly confused. When Charlotte crossed over to a random party scene in her novel, I didn't get any of the casual references and after a while it just became annoying how it constantly felt as thought I were expected to understand everything.

I really didn't care anything about these poorly developed characters or the plot that was as slow as molasses. I think I can chalk all this up to the underdeveloped writing. There was a lot of potential - fiction based on the Brontës would have been so interesting, but with barely developed characters whose personalities I had a hard time grasping, much less becoming attached to, was a wasted opportunity.

When I found myself skim reading and not caring about the sentences I was missing, I decided not to push myself to finish a book I obviously wasn't enjoying and move on to something better.

[Becca Ritchie]

OMG! LENA COAKLEY WROTE A NOVEL ABOUT THE BRONTE SISTERS!! I AM IN. SIGN ME UP. WITCHLANDERS IS STILL IN MY TOP 5 ALL-TIME FAV HIGH FANTASIES AND I'M JUST SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW. ANOTHER COAKLEY BOOK. ABOUT BRONTE SISTERS.

[Kathrine Pachniuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read anything by the Bronte sisters (yet) but to me this will be the true story about their childhoods <3

[Brightness · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you had the power to make a world, wouldn't you make yourself the hero of every story?




**SPOILERS BELOW**


What a weird, wild, wonderful book. For a story grounded the true family history of the Brontës, this has to be one of the most outrageously awesome premises I’ve encountered.

There were six Brontë children total. The two oldest girls, Maria and Elizabeth, died very young, so we are left with the famous sisters Charlotte (Jane Eyre), Emily (Wuthering Heights), and Anne (Agnes Grey), and their less famous brother, Branwell. All of them were writers.

When they were still young and unpublished, the children created fictional worlds together and peopled them with all kinds of characters – most of whom would go on to influence major characters in their later, published works. Charlotte and Branwell created Verdopolis, a glittering city somewhere in Africa. Emily and Anne created Gondal, a bleak and romantic world much like the moors behind the family parsonage.

In Worlds of Ink and Shadow, the novel takes the Brontës a step futher, giving them the ability to physically step into the worlds they have created and interact with their characters. We aren’t quite certain how they accomplish this at first – all we know is that Charlotte and Branwell have the capability to summon some kind of portal at will.



And then they cross over.



Once inside Verdopolis, Charlotte and Branwell each have their own areas they occupy, their own characters they manipulate, although their separate characters and plot lines often cross paths. There are rules to their world – which I really liked. For instance, once a character was dead, there could be no resurrecting them.

But Charlotte and Branwell basically signed a deal with the devil in order to create these worlds, and the price for crossing over is very dear indeed.





And some magic can never be undone.




Charlotte and Branwell visit their world often, preferring the glittering warmth of their creation to the bleak existence of their poor parsonage life in the north of England.



But a while back, they stopped taking Emily and Anne with them, something their younger siblings have never really forgiven them for. Especially Emily, who has developed an infatuation with the dark and broody Alexander Percy – aptly nicknamed Rogue. She misses him so much, that she writes fan fiction about him. Whenever their older siblings disappear, Emily and Anne sneak into their study and read their writings so they can keep up with the story of Verdopolis. They can even read the story as it’s happening, as the words write themselves on the page when Charlotte and Branwell are away.



Over time, the characters of Verdopolis begin to become self-aware, and they understand that they inhabit a world created by powerful beings, who create and destroy and manipulate. They refer to these beings as the Genii, plural for Genius, and they know that there are four of them. And when this happens, they begin to revolt. A few of them even manage to cross over into the Brontës world with disastrous consequences.

And then she saw it, just beyond the stone wall, eyes read as coals. The black dog. Charlotte felt the horror of it through her body. It shouldn’t be real. It shouldn’t be in their world.
“I knew he’d come,” Emily said.




Once this happens, Charlotte and Branwell understand that they have to destroy Verdopolis and its inhabitants for good. And in order to do so, it will take all of the Brontë siblings. And Emily and Anne will have to make even more costly deals in order to cross over.

Emily does so willingly because she wants to see Rogue and bring him into her world of Gondal.



Anne does it because she has to save all of her siblings. And because she’s really the only sane one out of the whole bunch.





There are clever references and allusions to each of the sister’s major works. Emily loves to walk the moors and is infatuated with a dark, roguish character from Verdopolis.

Charlotte often wonders if she is going mad, as she is haunted by characters from Verdopolis and the ghosts of her dead sisters.


Branwell had said that Old Tom’s harassment would grow worse, but how much worse? Would she hear things and see things all her life? Would she end her days in a madhouse or locked in an attic somewhere, unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality?

And two of these created characters will ultimately go on to become some of the most famous characters in literary history.

Rogue is so Heathcliff it almost hurts.





And Zamorna is Charlotte’s early version of Mr. Rochester. A character she is in love with, but never dreams would love someone like her. She continuously tries to marry him off to rich, beautiful women of rank and nobility, but he never loves any of them.

"Perhaps my equal is not to be found among the nobility….” He said. “If two souls meet, what does it matter? If I could find my equal, I would love her, be she poor and plain.”
Charlotte’s heart skipped a beat. “Poor and plain?” she said with a nervous laugh. These were two words she often used to describe herself. “I doubt such a woman would keep you interested for long.”
“Just because she is poor and plain doesn’t mean she is soulless and heartless.”
Charlotte’s heart lurched again. Zamorna could never love someone so like herself, could he?

You don’t have to be familiar with the works of Charlotte or Emily or Anne in order to enjoy the story. Of course, having read them will deepen your experience, but it isn’t necessary. I have never read Agnes Grey so I may have missed some references in regards to Anne’s character, but I never felt as though I was missing anything in the story.

I honestly thought this book was brilliant and I am so happy I received it in my Owlcrate box, because otherwise I do not know that I would have discovered it otherwise.

[Suzannah Rowntree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came highly recommended, but I didn't know how well it would land for me - after all, the only Bronte novels I've ever read are JANE EYRE (a lot) and WUTHERING HEIGHTS (once), and the only thing I know about the Brontes themselves is that there were a bunch of them who went to a horrible school and then died young. Oh, and that HARK, A VAGRANT cartoon.

So when I found myself inhaling this book with muffled screams in a little over 24 hours, it was a pleasant surprise. WORLDS OF INK AND SHADOW is not just a detailed, tightly-woven homage to the brief, tragic lives of a gifted family; it's also a poignant and sometimes hilarious book about writing, art, and fandom. It's also a spooky, Gothic historical fantasy that reminded me of all the things I loved best about Tim Powers' THE STRESS OF HER REGARD and HIDE ME AMONG THE GRAVES, with its wunderkind artists making deals with the devil to access their art. Beyond that is something else: I can't put it any better than a friend did in discussing the book last night:

I got the whole idea of historical fantasy as a genre in a new way. It’s like, life is weird. History is weird. And historical fantasy leans into that instead of glossing over or explaining away the weirdness in the way the nonfiction often does. It’s like “you think this is weird? Here’s my even weirder version that somehow simultaneously makes history seem more purposeful.

This is PRECISELY the thing that appeals to me in Tim Powers' books about the Romantic poets and the Rossettis (it's my own motivation for writing historical fantasy myself) and Lena Coakley has done exactly the same in this book, except for a young adult audience, and with (it feels like) a far deeper thoughtfulness about the creation of fiction - and not just fiction, but also fanfiction.

(Some oblique spoilers may follow. If you're already sold, go and read the book before coming back for more.)

I loved so much about this story. I'm not sure if it would work as well for someone not as steeped in author culture and fan culture as me. I KEENLY felt the difference between Branwell's more independently-minded characters, and Charlotte's more plot-driven characters. I loved the scenes where Branwell's characters begin to achieve self-awareness, complaining that despite being supposedly so wicked, they still seem to occupy a rather safe and juvenile world, and I shrieked at the part where S'Death knows he's being manipulated by his author into going to grind the faces of widows and orphans but can't resist doing it anyway because that's the sort of character he is!

I don't know much about Branwell Bronte, but the way the book treated him was delightful - there was a moment at the end where we find out the worst thing he can imagine that was such a heartwarming moment. ANNE. I loved Anne. I know nothing about Anne Bronte and was delighted to "meet" her within these pages, shy and practical and absolutely ruthless:

Anne: You would rather die than be a governess? It's not prostitution, for heaven's sake!
Charlotte: I shudder to think where you learned of such things.
Anne: The Bible. Allow me to recommend it to you.

A LEGEND?!

Moving on to Charlotte, I loved the scene with the inception of JANE EYRE: to my mind at least, it suggests the brilliance of that book, which is that it is a Gothic melodrama, but one that breaks with Gothic tradition in making its heroine a "poor and plain" governess just like the author, thus marrying melodrama with realistic fiction AND acting as wish-fulfilment for the author. Plus, Charlotte's realisation that allowing her male characters to desire and enjoy the company of real, flawed women is the key to making both the male and the female characters together more real and dimensional is wonderful: she's been holding herself back by thinking that men want thin female characters.

And finally there was Emily. I found Coakley's handling of Emily to be absolutely fascinating. Emily adores her brother's stories revolving around Rogue, a backstabbing villain, to the point that she begins to seize control of and transform the character for her own story world, making him more attractive, creating a romance between the two of them. It was a pitch perfect depiction of female-driven transformative fandom and fanfiction - it blew my mind a little to find a story about the art of fiction that really took fan interaction seriously and treated it as an art in itself, as well as touching on the outrage that female fans feel when the cute villains are killed off rather than redeemed, usually in service of what Rogue refers to as "a moral lesson". Me, I occupy a centrist position on this question: I don't like allowing unrepentant villains to escape justice, but I also believe in the redemptability of any real or imagined villain you can name. Nobody's beyond salvation. I'm not sure Lena Coakley comes down strongly on any particular side of the question herself in the story, but the thing that delighted me so thoroughly in this story was simply that this sort of transformative fandom WAS treated as a real and genuine artform just as valid as the work of the original author. I've never seen a novel about fiction that did this.

Finally, a huge part of the book's message had to do with truth in fiction, and I have mixed feelings about this message. On the one hand, I was distinctly unenthused by the moment at which the antagonist tells the children that they have kept their created worlds too pretty and charming, which is why the darker, shadowy side of their characters are escaping the story-world to haunt them in the real world. Fictional experiences of safety and beauty are SO important to healing from past trauma like that experienced by Charlotte and Emily, and given that past trauma, I did wonder if the story was penalising them for trying to have that good and necessary escape. THAT SAID, it was lovely to see the characters using their experience of power and agency in their fantasy worlds to confront the trauma in their past and learn not to be passive in it.

Finally, on a slightly different topic, one of the things that bothered me about Tim Powers' STRESS and GRAVES was that in his worlds, apparently one can only make great art by selling one's soul. While WORLDS OF INK AND SHADOW did come close to an idea of escapism as being of the devil, I loved that it pitches the great art made by the adult Brontes, after leaving the worlds of their juvenilia behind them, as being a triumphant thing: as my friend pointed out, they've dealt with their childhood trauma, as great as the cost has been, and begun to make something they can share with the world instead of hide in. Which brings us full circle to the beginning of this review: WORLDS OF INK AND SHADOW takes the tragically brief lives of the Bronte family and gives them great purpose and meaning, perhaps the purpose and meaning that was there all along: these siblings paid a terrible price in suffering, but managed to leave an extraordinary mark on the world of letters despite it all.

All this historical and literary substance, along with four beautifully crafted characters each of whom gets a wonderful arc, in a young adult novel only 73,000 words long. Reader, it was extraordinary.

[marlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

** 3,5 stars **

Ah, this was such a unique book! I don't want to say too much about the plot because it was so much fun to go into it not knowing much. But I'll write a quick review:

I absolutely enjoyed reading this book - everything about it was unexpected and different! It certainly was darker than I thought. And I love it when books turn out different from what i expect. When you read a lot of YA books it hard to find something this original.

"Worlds of Ink and Shadow" is a book I'll recommend to my fellow bookworms, especially if you like the Brontë siblings. I personally didn't know much about them and unfortunately haven't read any Brontë books, but i still enjoyed this book so don't be afraid to read it even if you don't know much about the family. But if you know of them I think you'll enjoy it even more. Or.. Well, there's the possibility it'll make you like it less. Please, keep in mind this is a fantasy book! A book about children living in their invented worlds. About magic. Probably far from the writings the Brontë sisters are famous for. So it might not be for everyone. But if you do like fantasy and magic I think this book is worth picking up! And I have to say, when i read the afterwords I was surprised to see how much of this book really was based on the Brontë siblings lives.

What I didn't like as much was that I sometimes found it a little bit messy, at times confusing and there's a few loose ends that bother me.. And even though I really liked the Brontë characters I found the other characters hard to connect to. But overall I'm really happy owlcrate included this in their january box, I probably wouldn't have picked it up myself, and this book was a treat. Unique, fun and definitely made me want to know more about the Brontë family!

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was in the January Owlcrate box. It took a little bit for this book to get going, but once it did I couldn't put it down!

[Rebecca Petruck]

This book is lovely, not only in the writing but also in the sibling relationships and the power (and responsibility) of creation itself. I was...charmed isn't the right word--COMPELLED by the sisters' characters and intrigued to learn more about the girls and their brother. But in the end this is a fantasy and it delivers on all fronts. I love the way Coakley confused "fact" and "fiction" in the narrative, and how the creations revealed more about the creators than they knew or wanted. WORLDS OF INK AND SHADOW perfectly captures that discomfort of being an author, and it does it in a tantalizing story where the peril is real both because of the events themselves and the potential cost to one's soul.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really really wanted to love this book. I did enjoy it and I think the plot of the story is very clever, I mean...being able to write stories like that and actually cross over into them is basically my dream! But as I read on I found myself slowly starting to lose interest, then things would pick up and get SO GOOD, then they would die down again and it was a bit inconsistent. Overall, a fun and interesting read but I can only give it 3.5 stars.

[The Candid Cover (Olivia & Lori) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full Review on The Candid Cover

Worlds of Ink and Shadow is so original and has a concept unlike any other. There are fictionalized descriptions based on the Brontë family that seem very accurate. This book does have a really slow plot at some points, however, that makes reading hard. I did enjoy the story, though, and consider it a must-read for fans of the Brontës.

Worlds of Ink and Shadow has a one-of-a-kind concept that blew my mind! This book is based on the Brontë siblings’ childhoods, though it is all imagined. I have never read any book fictionalizing a famous person’s childhood, so this one really intrigued me. This book isn’t just about childhood, however. The sisters create worlds through their writing and slowly fade away from real life. This book really has it all! I loved how accurate this book seems with its historical details, and appreciate how much research the author must have done to create this book.

The depictions of the Brontë sisters in Worlds of Ink and Shadow are so incredible. Their personalities are so full of life that you can’t help but love them. My personal favourite is Charlotte, since she has the best ideas and plans in her stories. All the characters in this book were so well developed that the reader can empathize with them and become somewhat attached to the sisters. I absolutely love when you love a character so much that you don’t want to let them go!

Though I enjoyed so many things about Worlds of Ink and Shadow, there was one thing that really bothered me. The plot is very slow at times and it was hard to motivate myself to keep reading. This was disappointing for me, since I loved all of the concepts of the book. I pushed through to the end because I felt the need to find out how everything would play out. I will say that the ending does pick up, so even though the plot can become quite slow, the ending makes it all worth it.

[Abi · Rating 2 out of 5]

(I received a copy from Netgalley, In exchange for an honest review.)

I didn't enjoy this one at all unfortunately.

I just couldn't get into this, so I felt bored very early on. It was hard to follow, confusing and strange. It really dragged for me because of it. I was pretty relieved to get to the end.

Overall, Not an enjoyable read for me.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fictionalised account of the Bronte siblings - Branwell, Charlotte, Emily and Anne - and how their words have shaped their entire lives. They've always been able to pop in and out between our world and the worlds they've written. But soon, their characters begin to develop arcs of their own and the siblings begin to lose control over them, and their own lives in the process.

Rating - 6.5/10. A really cool concept, but could have been done better. Although I appreciate all the references to the Brontes' works and lives.

[Layla · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you ever read and loved Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, you should probably read Lena Coakley’s forthcoming novel, Worlds of Ink and Shadow.

I didn’t entirely love Worlds of Ink and Shadow – which posits that the Brontë siblings could all construct fantastical imaginary worlds and enter them at will – but at what cost? ::cue ominous music:: What I did really love was being reminded of how much I love the Brontës, and the obvious affection that Coakley has for her subjects. I also haven’t read much of their juvenilia – I’m only familiar with it from Juliet Barker’s biography of the Brontës – but now feel renewed interest in their work and curiosity about material that I haven’t read, which is never a bad way to feel.

In any case, the premise of the novel is a really interesting one – the Brontës can all enter Verdopolis, in some form of immersive storytelling, where they become characters in the story they’re telling, too. It’s a fun ride because the four siblings take the role of Genii in the mythos of Verdopolis – the Genii are known by the characters who inhabit Verdopolis as the the controlling agents of the realm – and you get to see their distinct narrative voices and preferences take form as the story continues.

Read the rest at The Midnight Garden.

[Maren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book just wasn't for me. As much as I love Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, I haven't read anything else by the Brontes. The parts with Charlotte and Branwell disappearing into Verdopolis just felt strange to me. It was sometimes hard to tell when they were back in the real world. I didn't connect to any of the characters. Everything just fell flat.

[Heather (The Sassy Book Geek) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally Posted On The Sassy Book Geek

I don't really have a bunch of reasons for this rating. It's just the FEEL of the book deserves 3 and not a full 4 or above.

**** I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review****

First off, let me say this: Who doesn’t wish they could enter their own imagined worlds? To interact with characters of your very own making?

Sounds great doesn’t it? But what would it cost you?

That is the set up for “Worlds of Ink and Shadow” and it did not disappoint.

Let’s Discuss That Plot:

As you read in the blurb this is a story about the very REAL literary family the Brontes. Not familiar with their history? Neither am I and that in no way affected my reading of this book. So now you can’t use that as an excuse to not read this wonderful book.

Now anyways, the plot was very well executed it gave everything it promised. It was very engaging and moderately fast paced, there was never a moment where I felt reading the book was tedious or boring. Absolutely everything in the story was interesting, every time I put the book down I couldn’t wait to pick it back up again!

Also the world building was fantastic, it was everything I’d expect from a good YA fantasy novel. We learned everything about the parsonage the Brontes lived in as well as the ins and outs of their created world Verdopolis. Pretty much nothing was left to the imagination, everything was well thought out and we were kept well informed.

I really loved the folklore/mythology element the book brought in, it was completely unexpected but the effect it had on the story was very intriguing.

This book IS a stand alone and therefore at the end everything is neatly wrapped up and there was nothing left unanswered. It was very satisfying!

Another thing I loved was how beautiful the writing was, it was wonderfully descriptive. I can’t gush enough about how much I liked Coakley’s writing style.

Let’s Discuss The Characters:

Every single one was well developed, complex, and interesting. They were also all easy to sympathize with, I felt myself getting quite attached to them throughout the story. For me personally, getting attached to characters means that they’re well written.

Charlotte – by far my favorite of the characters and Bronte siblings, she was strong and extremely dedicated to her family, as well as passionate about her writing and her characters.

Emily – probably the most frustrating character because she’s a little too emotional and wild. Absolutely unpredictable and chaotic and therefore one of the more interesting characters because of that. You never know what she’ll do next. She kind of…made some problems which is why she’s so frustrating but you’ll still love her!

Anne – very clever and honest she’s the most sensible of the 4 Bronte siblings. If something happened or one of the others got themselves into trouble, mostly it’d be Anne helping them out. She’s a very sweet and endearing character.

Branwell – not my favorite character actually, he was a little too arrogant for my tastes even though he means well. He’s passionate over his work almost to the point of obsession, he might be a little crazy too, nevertheless he’s a good brother to his 3 sisters and still a very strong character.

All four of our main characters were well written but possibly my favorite characters were the “fictional” ones the Brontes created. Zamorna the dashing hero and Rogue the wicked villain, they’re developed and quite complex on their own. I’d reread this book just for them!

The Romance:

There is one and isn’t one at the same time, but it’s possibly one of my favorite elements in this book. Which is saying a lot since I don’t really enjoy romance in my books.

I can’t go into detail without spoilers so all I will say is it’s a favorite of mine because we can all relate (as readers) to falling for the heroes in our books, right? Or maybe even the villains?



(**hint hint** Villain love am I right?)

THAT’S what I liked about this semi-romance and thankfully there are no love triangles and there is no insta-love.

One point about it that did make me uncomfortable though, is the kind of age gap between the couple. Just a little awkward.



In Conclusion:

This was definitely a great book and I enjoyed it immensely. I loved it’s magical, fantastical, and folklorist elements. It’s a very well told story and I’ll be looking forward to reading more by Lena Coakley!

Recommend?

Absolutely! Especially if you’re a fan of books about books or stories within stories. If you’re a fan of books then you’ll be a fan of this one! I would also highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the Inkworld Trilogy by Cornelia Funke since they share a similar theme.

Pre-Review:

I think the best part of the entire book is the fact that the whole story is something we all wish we could do. Crossing over to our favorite fictional worlds? Heck yes! Really though the best part were the characters: The Bronte's and their "fictional" characters, yes they were all absolutely stunning.

[Karen M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally reviewed on One More Page...

Warning: This review contains a lot of fangirling.

Once in a while a book will come along and check off all of your readerly boxes and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to read an advanced copy of it. Lena Coakley’s Worlds of Ink and Shadow was such a book for me. Like, (please excuse the casual tone – I love this book too much to be formal about it) I feel like this book was tailor-made for me: it’s a little magical, it’s about sibling relationships, and it’s about the Brontës.

If you’re a fan of Victorian literature, you might know that the Brontë siblings had a pretty tough life. They were not rich and thus were sent to an inexpensive school where the two eldest siblings (Maria and Elizabeth) fell ill with tuberculosis, passing away weeks after returning home. The death of their siblings was, unsurprisingly, difficult for Charlotte, Patrick Branwell, Emily, and Anne. I can’t confirm whether this is true or not, but it’s said that the remaining Brontë siblings would write to escape their dark reality, creating their own worlds such as Verdopolis, Glasstown, Angria, and Gondal. Some of the stories written in those worlds have been published (See: Tales of Angria).

The Brontës’ lives have always fascinated me but I never got around to reading any in-depth biographies. That’s why I appreciated Worlds of Ink and Shadows so much. It’s still considered fiction (especially when you get to the more magical parts), but Coakley draws inspiration from real events experienced by the family, making it almost like an intro course to the Brontës. Of course, readers should take the biographical details in the novel with a grain of salt, but I found that the book did teach me things about the family that I didn’t know before.

Aside from the biographical details of the Brontës, Worlds of Ink and Shadow is really just a well-written, well-plotted book, so even if you’re not specifically interested in the Brontë family, I think you’ll still enjoy the story. In the book, readers learn that Charlotte and Branwell have tried to resist the lure of writing but have failed, and it is only until later that you start to suspect that there may be a reason for it. Coakley expertly blends the in-universe reality with the stories the characters write, making the readers question what is real and what is not. This is a story about the price of art, but it’s also a story of family, and how far we would go to save one another.

If what I’ve said so far appeals to you, then you should definitely read Worlds of Ink and Shadow. (I really, seriously, cannot love this book enough.)

Verdict: A book that I can’t stop raving about. It gripped me from start to finish, and even had me excitedly explaining the biographical details of the Brontës to my friends. It was a fun read and reignited my interest in learning more about the Brontë family. LOVE.

Read if: You’re a fan of literary biographies with a fictional twist, you are a Brontë fan like me, you want to lose yourself in an imaginative story with well-developed characters that you’ll grow to love.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a huge Brontës' fan, especially the writing of Charlotte and Anne, I knew I had to read it the moment I heard them being associated with Lena Coakley's new book. I haven't, yet, read their juvenilia, but I'm going to need to set aside some time for it now. (Maybe in stages.)

Coakley blends real details of their tragic lives with the characters from their fantasy stories, and comes up with cool explanations for why they moved from writing about fantasy worlds to more serious, realistic stories in adulthood. I loved also how she used knowledge of British folklore through the Brontës' housekeeper, Tabby, to round out the story.

Questions such as what kind of stories are they writing and why, how they kept their father in the dark about crossing over into the fictional worlds, what price will they bargain away, and how does the fantasy inform the real life story in a meaningful way are explored. Great for readers who love the Brontës, Victorian literature, fantasy worlds, and retellings.

[Flor Méndez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es como una mini biografía ficcionada de la literatura de los cuatro Brontë. Me hubiera gustado un poco más de morbo en cuanto al internado, pero entiendo que por el público al que está dirigido no daba. Also, tiene unas partes que son re mil mehhh y dos o tres cosillas predecibles, pero en líneas generales it was ok, como dice Goodreads.

[Clued-in With A Book (Elvina Ulrich) · Rating 5 out of 5]

*** 4.75 stars ***

This historical fantasy fiction is inspired by the true characters of the Brontë siblings, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily & Anne. The siblings lived on an isolated parsonage on the moors. Determined to escape their mundane & strict upbringing, they found a way to crossover to other worlds & later on to Verdopolis, the invented world of Charlotte and Branwell. Their ability to physically step into these worlds, interact with the characters & orchestrate the story in these worlds, came with a high price. When things begin to go awry, when Charlotte and Branwell are haunted by their invented characters causing their real lives to slowly fade away, the siblings have to make an ultimate sacrifice, even if it means at the cost of their invented characters, the dashing hero Duke of Zamorna & the obdurate villain Alexander Rogue.

This premise is certainly intriguing and captivated me from the beginning to the end. Fiction based on historical characters always intrigues me as I always look forward to the creativity of the author, and Coakley's creativity which offered a different angle to the lives of the Brontës was conspicious throughout this book. In real life, all the siblings died early and the author took liberties with this when explaining her version in this book, complementing the whole story. Her storytelling was ingenious with smooth and beautiful prose. Layers of mysteries were revealed slowly and  were explained thoroughly. In a way, there was closure in which I appreciate a lot. This book also did not fall short of the suspense element! There were many twists!

Language used were very clean with no profanity at all! My one and only complaint with this book was that the English the characters spoke was a little modern albeit the timeline was 19th century. I wish that the dialogues and English spoken would reflect that time era better.

This book is narrated from all the siblings POV with alternating chapters among them. I always find that this is a good format as it allows the readers to build a deeper connection with the characters, knowing their inner thoughts and feelings. So yes, characters were quite well-developed distinctly but not in-depth. I do not really mind this as even without that, it is still an enjoyable read.

Truth be told I was skeptical about this book due to below average ratings, but boy was I glad to be wrong! This book is rich with imaginations and the intriguing suspenseful plot will get readers hook right from the beginning! A must read!

[Dianna]

I have a small obsession with Angria and Gondal- to the extent that I’ve read whatever I could find of the Bronte juvenalia and have always hoped that someday someone would write the fanfic.

So I was really excited when I heard about this book. And really disappointed when, in the way of most things, it didn’t turn out the way I wanted.

So this is a tricky review to write because I can’t assess the book cleanly. I didn’t enjoy the book and thought it didn’t ground itself well in either world, and with either set of characters.

And I acknowledge that the Angria characters aren’t fully formed in the first place, and that the Brontes aren’t either, given they are a collection of human qualities that have already been extensively covered in biography and if they are like me, other readers ‘know’ what the Brontes were like.

What Coakley seems to be aiming for is a story about the dangers for writers who get too caught up in their creations. There’s this thread through Charlotte’s later writing that suggests there was something ‘wrong’ with what they were doing. Personal preference would have been to not build a plot around that.

Coakley establishes the fiction within the fiction, but not as successfully as other authors who have taken the same path.

There’s also too much of a conscious nod to the Brontes being the Brontes, and their future works.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worlds of Ink & Shadow was utterly superb. Being my first foray into Lena Coakley’s writing (I’ve wanted to read Witchlanders for the longest time) I was incredibly impressed with the quality of writing, character development and uniqueness! A perfect blend of historical fantasy, gothic horror and based on ‘real’ figures in history to boot!

I must admit that I haven’t read any of the Bronte’s novels. I have heard, however, all about Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Before going into Worlds of Ink and Shadow, I decided to read up a little bit on the family thanks to Wikipedia. I also went back to that page AFTER reading the book. I just wanted to learn more about them, and see what they looked like. Thank you, Lena Coakley, for piquing my interest enough.

I’m always thrilled to read books based around fictionalised versions of real people. I love seeing how the author weaves real facts in with fiction, often offering fantastical explanations for how and why their lives went certain ways. In the case of Worlds of Ink and Shadow, Lena Coakley takes the juvenile writings of the four Bronte siblings and creates a reason WHY they all died so young. It really took my breath away.

The eldest Bronte, Charlotte (author of Jane Eyre) is the stoic and responsible sister. She’s fascinated by romantic tales of chivalry and glorious deaths. Her contributions to the world of Verdopolis is it’s shiny hero, Zamora, and his elegant palace of marble and gold. Everything about him is perfect, as with his wife, but for some reason, she can’t make him seem REAL like the characters her siblings conjure up.

Branwell, the only male child of the family, is responsible for creating Verdopolis’ dark underbelly – including its main villain, the unforgiving and merciless ‘Rogue’. Rather than hiding under a character disguise, Branwell loves to throw himself into the action and become part of his stories (albeit a more polished version of his simple Yorkshire self).

Emily is the black sheep of the family (and later, author of Wuthering Heights). Cast out from Verdopolis with younger Anne as children (in order to protect them, say Branwell and Charlotte) she yearns for a world of her own and to be reunited with a character she’s fallen for – Branwell’s dark and mysterious Rogue. She has a taste for the dark, often surprising her siblings and a knack for being reckless and making impulse decisions.

Anne is the meek, youngest sibling and sister. Preferring the real world to Verdopolis, she doesn’t have any real yearning to go back to the fantastical worlds of ink and shadow. Though too shy to speak to her own father or aunt at the best of times, she is incredibly brave and would risk all to keep her sisters and brother safe.

There is some really great character development going on here in Worlds of Ink and Shadow. Each chapter is narrated by a different Bronte sibling, and there is such a contrast between their personalities that shows. Each sibling has dealt with the deaths of their eldest siblings Maria and Elizabeth in a different way, and therefore what they ‘want’ out of Verdopolis is vastly different.

I loved how the Bronte’s crossed the worlds, and how they were able to narrate their stories into existence once there. How amazing would that be? If they chose it, they were also able to become part of the story as themselves or in a different disguise. Charlotte chose to masquerade as her hero’s youngest brother, while Emily and Branwell became their ‘best selves’.

The reason for this unbelievable ability was brought to light and although it was terrifying, you could still see how the Bronte’s were drawn to risking all for the characters they’d given life to.

There was also a great sense of the world the Brontes were living in, in the ‘real’ world. The stark moors were gloomy and the lack of prospects for the female Brontes was disheartening. You could understand how three girls were easily swept away into their fantasy world. Sickness and superstition ran rife (their own father was a clergyman) and they’d already lost two sisters to consumption prior to the events of Worlds of Ink and Shadow.

Though their fantasy world seems perfect and untouchable, things of course start to go wrong. Their characters begin living lives of their own and even begin seeping into the Bronte’s real life as tortured souls. Zamora and Rogue, along with other notable characters, begin questioning their existence and the influence of the ‘Geniis’ (creators) of their world.

Worlds of Ink and Shadow is incredibly dark and chilling at times, but it’s wonderful. I was completely sold on the fact that it was a solid explanation for their true lives in history (ha, imagine that!). Lena Coakley did an incredible amount of research into the siblings and their early writings. It was fantastic to see the stems of their classics begin within this book and their stories of Verdopolis and Gondal.

I would whole-heartedly recommend Worlds of Ink and Shadow to anyone with the tiniest amount of fascination into the Bronte family (seriously, read their Wikipedia page!) or anyone who loves reading well-written historical fantasy.

[M F · Rating 4 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW TO FOLLOW (probably on my blog, and probably closer to the book's publication date). I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review, so yup. I will review it properly at some point I promise.

In the meantime:

THINGS I LIKE IN LIFE
- Books that mix writers' real lives with fantasy (such as The Stress Of Her Regard).
- Books where people can go into stories (such as Inkheart or The Eyre Affair).
- Books about demon deals, regret, and giving one's life to fiction (such as Tell The Story To Its End).

THINGS THIS BOOK INCLUDES
- All of the above
- Also other things...

...OTHER THINGS THIS BOOK INCLUDES
- Well-developed and interesting characters, which can be hard sometimes when they're based on historical people.
- Characters and scenarios that are easy to sympathise with, particularly for writers.
- Good writing and intricate descriptions and symbolism and magic and worldbuilding and lovely things like that.

CONCLUSION
- This is a very 'Miriam' book and I liked it a lot.
- It is dramatic and bittersweet and fantastical, and I think it would appeal to people who liked the books I mentioned above.
- I may put it on the list of books to buy for the library, because I think it might encourage some of our students to read the Brontes, and also it's good.
- Also, I really need to read Jane Eyre. It's somewhat shocking that I've gone this long without doing so. Call myself a librarian.

[Chelsea (ChelsBookStop) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Old Tom. Old Tom. Take me to Paris. Take me to Rome."

I was really hesitant about reading this book. It sounded almost too awesome to be real, so when I tell you that I REALLY wanted to like this book, please believe me. This review comes with a heavy heart because of how much I feel let down with this book. The premise was there. The characters were there. The story/writing was almost there. You could clearly see where the author wanted to go, but it felt so far away. Like when Banny was trying to find his Character's home in Verdopolis. At times I felt myself really sucked in to this book (like who doesn't love a black dog with red glowing eyes creating a storm?) and I would turn the page just for it to fall flat again. This was almost like listening to your sibling describe a really weird dream to you, for hours on end, except you don't feel the excitement because you weren't in the dream with them. Your just sitting on the edge of your seat waiting, because you can feel it coming but it never does. That is pretty much exactly how I felt during this book. The only thing that kept me going was the hopeful promise of something more.

[Mattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very exciting story for me. I love the Bronte sisters but I was intrigued on the dynamic of writing stories and bringing them to life by living them. Walking through a portal or a crossing to see what you have written and see the characters unfold. I have always wondered what it would be like to write something and to enter that world.

I first heard of this book through an Owl Crate unboxing video, I was really excited to read it because I did hear good reviews about it. I loved how each character had a different role in the portal of both worlds, I was not expecting one of the Bronte's to fall in love. I enjoyed all the characters but I wish that we learned more about Anne. I feel like she was more of the silent one until the end. Branwell and Charlotte were very strong characters but I liked how they didn't compete with each other. They were both equally strong.