What do you think?
Rate this book
The Devil in Crystal
First Signet Printing, September, 1977, 344 pages
- GenresGothicGothic Romance
344 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 30, 2015
Warning: gifs & spoilers.
Please understand that I love old-school gothic romance as a genre. It's difficult to make me DNF a paperback like this, let alone rate it one star. But this...no. The Devil in Crystal is what happens when gothics go horribly wrong.
First, we've got a narrator who contributes absolutely nothing. She's hired as a companion to some isolated matriarch -- that is, she's handed a thinly-veiled excuse to be nosy & wander the countryside to engage in boring-ass conversations with an endless parade of talking-head fillers. Her passive approach to everything -- complete with repetitive inner monologues about so-called "proper behavior" -- made me want to pitch the book across the room. The greatest crime in this vein? An overreactive portrayal of Victorian social norms to excuse the heroine from having any intelligent conversations with male characters, thereby building suspense. Or something.
As if a drab, milksop, utterly forgettable narrator wasn't enough (combined with god knows how many half-understood conversations that she overhears by accident), we have one of the lamest love triangles I've ever read. One of these dudes is a generic cipher of Handsome, Mysterious Virility & he makes the heroine's hormones go into overdrive. Of course. He's an American, after all.
The other male isn't so much a love interest as a wet blanket o' DOOM. I lack the words to describe how utterly ridiculous Damian is. Seriously. He's not onscreen for a single page without sobbing in overwrought sorrow, screaming about ghosts that torment his waking hours, or -- wait for it -- literally howling at the rafters in uncontrollable angst. This dude didn't need medication so much as acting lessons.
(Yes, howling at the rafters. I shit you not.)
The plot itself...barf. There was some stupid-ass smuggling mystery. There was some lol-worthy black cat that wouldn't scare Scooby Doo. And there was some cliched rubbish about Damian's dead ex, aka a blatant Rebecca ripoff.
...So there it is. It's too late for me, but you can still save yourself the time, effort, & hair-pulling. You're welcome.
And now, please excuse me. I need to go lick my wounds.
(Junk food + The White Queen + Scud will do nicely, thanks.)
Please understand that I love old-school gothic romance as a genre. It's difficult to make me DNF a paperback like this, let alone rate it one star. But this...no. The Devil in Crystal is what happens when gothics go horribly wrong.
First, we've got a narrator who contributes absolutely nothing. She's hired as a companion to some isolated matriarch -- that is, she's handed a thinly-veiled excuse to be nosy & wander the countryside to engage in boring-ass conversations with an endless parade of talking-head fillers. Her passive approach to everything -- complete with repetitive inner monologues about so-called "proper behavior" -- made me want to pitch the book across the room. The greatest crime in this vein? An overreactive portrayal of Victorian social norms to excuse the heroine from having any intelligent conversations with male characters, thereby building suspense. Or something.
As if a drab, milksop, utterly forgettable narrator wasn't enough (combined with god knows how many half-understood conversations that she overhears by accident), we have one of the lamest love triangles I've ever read. One of these dudes is a generic cipher of Handsome, Mysterious Virility & he makes the heroine's hormones go into overdrive. Of course. He's an American, after all.
The other male isn't so much a love interest as a wet blanket o' DOOM. I lack the words to describe how utterly ridiculous Damian is. Seriously. He's not onscreen for a single page without sobbing in overwrought sorrow, screaming about ghosts that torment his waking hours, or -- wait for it -- literally howling at the rafters in uncontrollable angst. This dude didn't need medication so much as acting lessons.
(Yes, howling at the rafters. I shit you not.)
The plot itself...barf. There was some stupid-ass smuggling mystery. There was some lol-worthy black cat that wouldn't scare Scooby Doo. And there was some cliched rubbish about Damian's dead ex, aka a blatant Rebecca ripoff.
...So there it is. It's too late for me, but you can still save yourself the time, effort, & hair-pulling. You're welcome.
And now, please excuse me. I need to go lick my wounds.
(Junk food + The White Queen + Scud will do nicely, thanks.)
May 29, 2013
4.5 stars
"I shivered. It was not as I had expected; it seemed too cold and haughty to promise a warm welcome."
Amity Lucas is hired as companion to Regina Fairfax, the mistress of Mallory Keep in Yorkshire. Regina bears a horrible scar on her face and never leaves the keep, so Amity is a welcome addition to the household. The master of Mallory Keep is Regina's brother Damien, but he is so emotionally damaged from a love affair gone horribly wrong that all his time is spent in prayer to his lost love or wandering the moors at night, leaving his sister to run the ancient manor. It doesn't take long before things start going bump in the night in a really big way, but I don't want to spoil the ride by spilling all the beans. I'll just quote a bit to whet your appetite:
"I had meant to tell him so much more-of the sounds in the east wing, of dead Rachel's shrine, the cry of a dead woman's voice, of the diary in the writing room, and of the fearful cat that lay in wait."
Oh, that black cat.
"There are some whose spirits haunt the world before death, and Damian is one. He is mad, you know, crazed."
This book has just about everything you could want in a gothic, and makes Victoria Holt look like a second fiddle. A ghost (or is there a ghost?), smuggling, hidden passages, a hidden tomb (slight spoiler), dotty old Uncle Eustace and his oddly prophetic paintings and my-oh-my that black cat that no one but Amity and Damian could see.
"And then I saw it. At the head of the spiral staircase the black cat sat waiting, its eyes glowing malevolently in the darkness."
Did I mention the black cat? Ya'll will just have to read it for yourself to see what happens next - 'cause you're never going to guess. The story picks up at the get-go and never lets up; there was never a dull moment. Extra plus - even with the first person narrative, the author does an outstanding job of keeping Amity in the thick of things without the peeping through the keyhole method that's so prevalent these days. Best $.50 purchase I've made at a library sale in a long time. Go and get this now - what are you waiting for?
"I shivered. It was not as I had expected; it seemed too cold and haughty to promise a warm welcome."
Amity Lucas is hired as companion to Regina Fairfax, the mistress of Mallory Keep in Yorkshire. Regina bears a horrible scar on her face and never leaves the keep, so Amity is a welcome addition to the household. The master of Mallory Keep is Regina's brother Damien, but he is so emotionally damaged from a love affair gone horribly wrong that all his time is spent in prayer to his lost love or wandering the moors at night, leaving his sister to run the ancient manor. It doesn't take long before things start going bump in the night in a really big way, but I don't want to spoil the ride by spilling all the beans. I'll just quote a bit to whet your appetite:
"I had meant to tell him so much more-of the sounds in the east wing, of dead Rachel's shrine, the cry of a dead woman's voice, of the diary in the writing room, and of the fearful cat that lay in wait."
Oh, that black cat.
"There are some whose spirits haunt the world before death, and Damian is one. He is mad, you know, crazed."
This book has just about everything you could want in a gothic, and makes Victoria Holt look like a second fiddle. A ghost (or is there a ghost?), smuggling, hidden passages, a hidden tomb (slight spoiler), dotty old Uncle Eustace and his oddly prophetic paintings and my-oh-my that black cat that no one but Amity and Damian could see.
"And then I saw it. At the head of the spiral staircase the black cat sat waiting, its eyes glowing malevolently in the darkness."
Did I mention the black cat? Ya'll will just have to read it for yourself to see what happens next - 'cause you're never going to guess. The story picks up at the get-go and never lets up; there was never a dull moment. Extra plus - even with the first person narrative, the author does an outstanding job of keeping Amity in the thick of things without the peeping through the keyhole method that's so prevalent these days. Best $.50 purchase I've made at a library sale in a long time. Go and get this now - what are you waiting for?
July 2, 2022
The DRAMA!!!!
I devoured this in a couple of hours. It is the Gothickest Gothic I’ve ever Gothicked.
I devoured this in a couple of hours. It is the Gothickest Gothic I’ve ever Gothicked.
September 5, 2013
This books blurb lied to me.
Its the victorian era Amity Lucas has arrived in Yorkshire to take up her post as a companion to Regina Mallory.As she is trudging up to the house a man on horseback nearly rides her down (JANE EYRE!!!) and acts very rude blaming her for the near accident.When he hears shes to become companion to the lady at Mallory Keep he gets even angrier and gallops off.
Amity continues to the keep where she meets her employer who is surprisingly a Young lady but with a disfiguring scar across her face.She also learns that the man on horseback was Damian Mallory,her employers brother and master of Mallory Keep.
Master in name only as he suffered a tragic love affair and distraught over this prefers to wander the moors for days at a time.So its left to his sister to handle the actual estate matters. Its best to keep out of Damians way really.
Immedietaly after her arrival she starts to notice that mysterious things are going on.
Why are the maid and one of the stable grooms whispering in corners and going off mysteriously at times? And furthermore who is or was Rachel and whats the deal with the awful black cat Amity keeps seeing?
This has all the hallmarks of a gothic.Family haunted by a curse? check.Dark brooding guy? check,secrets and moors check.
But the trouble is that it has so many of the gothic tropes it gets quite ridicilous and its highlighted when Amity meets the local vicar and he starts babbling on about all the totally HORRIBLE and CURSED events and places in the neighbourhood.Amity barely bats an eyelid at this and thats one of the problems with her character.
She is to Placid,too lifeless.She just drifts along and for a companion does very little companioning (well its a good excuse for an author to Place their heroine on a moor in a damp keep) But despite this we are supposed to Believe she and Regina have gotten SO CLOSE. Just felt like lazy writing
But as I said Before the blurb is so so misleading and intentionally so because even though much is made of
I have to admit to skimming a lot of it.
Its the victorian era Amity Lucas has arrived in Yorkshire to take up her post as a companion to Regina Mallory.As she is trudging up to the house a man on horseback nearly rides her down (JANE EYRE!!!) and acts very rude blaming her for the near accident.When he hears shes to become companion to the lady at Mallory Keep he gets even angrier and gallops off.
Amity continues to the keep where she meets her employer who is surprisingly a Young lady but with a disfiguring scar across her face.She also learns that the man on horseback was Damian Mallory,her employers brother and master of Mallory Keep.
Master in name only as he suffered a tragic love affair and distraught over this prefers to wander the moors for days at a time.So its left to his sister to handle the actual estate matters. Its best to keep out of Damians way really.
Immedietaly after her arrival she starts to notice that mysterious things are going on.
Why are the maid and one of the stable grooms whispering in corners and going off mysteriously at times? And furthermore who is or was Rachel and whats the deal with the awful black cat Amity keeps seeing?
This has all the hallmarks of a gothic.Family haunted by a curse? check.Dark brooding guy? check,secrets and moors check.
But the trouble is that it has so many of the gothic tropes it gets quite ridicilous and its highlighted when Amity meets the local vicar and he starts babbling on about all the totally HORRIBLE and CURSED events and places in the neighbourhood.Amity barely bats an eyelid at this and thats one of the problems with her character.
She is to Placid,too lifeless.She just drifts along and for a companion does very little companioning (well its a good excuse for an author to Place their heroine on a moor in a damp keep) But despite this we are supposed to Believe she and Regina have gotten SO CLOSE. Just felt like lazy writing
But as I said Before the blurb is so so misleading and intentionally so because even though much is made of
I have to admit to skimming a lot of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2016
This was a big cheesy cliche which didn't go as I expected but scratched my itch. More later, maybe, probably not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2013
Another Gothic from the 70's
From Open Library
From Open Library
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews