I'm very excited to participate in this blog tour. A big ol' thanks to Amy at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for giving me the opportunity to participate. I am always so grateful when I am able to participate in things like this. Anyway, below you'll find all sorts of good stuff. We've got my review, a book trailer and some really awesome links for anyone wanting to learn more. Enjoy! (P.S. stay tuned for a guest post later this week!)
Karen Essex
"Reader, you are about to enter a world that exists simultaneous with your own. But be warned: in its realm, there are no rules, and there is certainly no neat formula to become—or to destroy—one who has risen above the human condition…The truth is, we must fear monsters less and be warier of our own kind."
London, 1890. Mina Murray, the rosy-cheeked, quintessentially pure Victorian heroine, becomes Count Dracula’s object of desire. To preserve her chastity, five male “defenders” rush in to rescue her from the vampire’s evil clutches. This is the version of the story we've been told. But now, from Mina’s own pen, we discover that the story is vastly different when told from the female point of view.
London, 1890. Mina Murray, the rosy-cheeked, quintessentially pure Victorian heroine, becomes Count Dracula’s object of desire. To preserve her chastity, five male “defenders” rush in to rescue her from the vampire’s evil clutches. This is the version of the story we've been told. But now, from Mina’s own pen, we discover that the story is vastly different when told from the female point of view.
My Take:
This is a tough review for me to put into words. But I'm just gonna soldier on and hope I can string together a coherent sentence or two :) First off, let me say that I found Dracula in Love to be extraordinarily engaging and very well written. I liked the strong female characters (but hated the semi demonization of the men, yes women were oppressed at the time but that doesn't mean every man was super sexist/chauvinistic as they all seemed in the book) and I really enjoyed the super random twist on the original story. I loved the Irish fairy twist which seemed totally out of place in a retelling of Dracula, but in my opinion, it worked. Now, there were some things I didn't love. First and foremost, there was a bit of random folklore and mythology told in the first half of the book or so, which, while interesting, didn't really do much to further the story, and didn't pop up later, as I expected. I hesitate to call it filler, as it was very intriguing, but just didn't give the book any forward motion, thus feeling a bit filler-y. Also, I'm not quite sure how I feel about the ending. I think it was probably the most appropriate ending for the story, but I didn't love it, it was a tad anti climactic. Though I didn't love the end, it definitely didn't ruin the overall book. I'm always a huge fan of retelling from other points of view, and I think that the author gave Mina Harker a great voice. She was a practical woman for her time. She was smart. She knew her realistic limitations and was happy with her lot in life overall. This was a really enjoyable book, I loved the creepy tone and I LOOOOOVE the cover! Just like this was a toughie for me to review, it was a toughie for me to rate. While there were some things I didn't love about the book, it had a lot of resonance, that elusive indescribable "it-factor" which keeps you thinking about the book long after you've read it, and is one of the most important aspects for me to consider when rating a book. This in mind, I rate Dracula in Love a 2, Borders with a Coupon
Tell me what you think! What do you think about a redo of a classic like Dracula? Do you enjoy retellings from another point of view? Have you read Dracula in Love? What did you think of it? Hit the comments!
If Dracula in Love was a movie it would likely be rated R for sexual content and mild violence (the violence by itself is definitely more in the PG-PG-13 range)
Whats that you ask? You want to watch the book trailer? Well...
If you are interested in learning more about the book, the author, etc. here you go:
- Dracula in Love Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgHRtNHZiQI
- Link to tour schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.blogspot.com/2011/07/virtual-book-tour-dracula-in-love-by.html
- Karen's Website: http://www.karenessex.com/
- Karen's Blog: http://www.karenessex.com/blog/
- Karen's Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1060811184
***FTC Disclosure: Dracula in Love was provided free of charge in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given, all opinions are my own***
If you are interested in purchasing Dracula in Love, please consider supporting The Book Buff by purchasing from the following Amazon link, thank you!
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