briarsreviews's review
5.0
Urban Gothic by Stephen M. Coghlan is the dark, mythic novel I've been searching for.
Do you remember back in English class where they said don't use words in the sentence to describe the sentence? Well, I'm gonna break that rule. This book FELT gothic. It gave me goth vibes in so many ways, and somehow Urban Gothic fit the book just right.
The writing is tremendous. I felt whisked away and enchanted, unable to pull myself from the beautiful writing in this book. It felt like artwork, which I can't always say for reading (yeah, yeah... I know... writing is an art... hush now).
Our lead Alec works in a hospital as a cleaner (but used to be a Medical Technician - what a down grade. That majorly sucks). His past trauma weighs down on him and makes it impossible for him to truly experience his life and dreams. We open on his walking about, and suddenly he sees a woman and three men. It's not looking good for the lady, so he kills those three wicked attackers, and then tries to save our lady Veleda. She's quite mystical and fantastical, making Alec's life forever changed. He chooses to go on quite the adventure with her, and disappear into a world of gothic insanity.
The dreamscape and the other realm with different people (and their kooky abilities) was so cool. It's one of those unique imaginative ideas that you've probably dreamed about and wanted to write about, but never did. It gave me those dreamy vibes and made me just so impressed. The story really pulled me in, and I am totally enchanted by Stephen's writing and ideas. Like, I can't express it enough. The descriptions alone gave me wonderful and intense images in my head. I love this! It's so cool! The story is so good at whisking the reader away.
But that's just me - me and my nostalgic love of gothic reading. It gave me dark Alice in Wonderland vibes, mixed with Donnie Darko and Rocky Horror-esque niche-ness.
There's also a fair amount of action throughout the pages. I loved the mix of dramatic story telling and thrills packed tight in this story. It's just enough to pull you along but also keep you intrigued.
Ah, I love this.
Five out of five stars.
I received this book for free from the author, Stephen M. Coghlan, in exchange of an honest review.
Do you remember back in English class where they said don't use words in the sentence to describe the sentence? Well, I'm gonna break that rule. This book FELT gothic. It gave me goth vibes in so many ways, and somehow Urban Gothic fit the book just right.
The writing is tremendous. I felt whisked away and enchanted, unable to pull myself from the beautiful writing in this book. It felt like artwork, which I can't always say for reading (yeah, yeah... I know... writing is an art... hush now).
Our lead Alec works in a hospital as a cleaner (but used to be a Medical Technician - what a down grade. That majorly sucks). His past trauma weighs down on him and makes it impossible for him to truly experience his life and dreams. We open on his walking about, and suddenly he sees a woman and three men. It's not looking good for the lady, so he kills those three wicked attackers, and then tries to save our lady Veleda. She's quite mystical and fantastical, making Alec's life forever changed. He chooses to go on quite the adventure with her, and disappear into a world of gothic insanity.
The dreamscape and the other realm with different people (and their kooky abilities) was so cool. It's one of those unique imaginative ideas that you've probably dreamed about and wanted to write about, but never did. It gave me those dreamy vibes and made me just so impressed. The story really pulled me in, and I am totally enchanted by Stephen's writing and ideas. Like, I can't express it enough. The descriptions alone gave me wonderful and intense images in my head. I love this! It's so cool! The story is so good at whisking the reader away.
But that's just me - me and my nostalgic love of gothic reading. It gave me dark Alice in Wonderland vibes, mixed with Donnie Darko and Rocky Horror-esque niche-ness.
There's also a fair amount of action throughout the pages. I loved the mix of dramatic story telling and thrills packed tight in this story. It's just enough to pull you along but also keep you intrigued.
Ah, I love this.
Five out of five stars.
I received this book for free from the author, Stephen M. Coghlan, in exchange of an honest review.
tavenorcd's review
4.0
Urban Gothic.
Not my favorite title, and I don’t see the connection to the story, but that doesn’t exactly matter, because the story contained inside is fantastical and wonderful and poignant. It cuts to the soul, for its themes slice through the psychological and the broken and the wounded.
Suppose everyone had a doppelganger. Suppose the world itself had a doppelganger. What would such an alternative dreamscape, complete with imagined and unimagined people, be like? How would its psychological connection, through our dreams, affect our world?
Urban Gothic sets out to explore that world, a world of strange forests, heroic warriors, strange doppelgangers, and fundamentally, a world that lives and dies on love.
Alec, the main character, is a broken human searching for meaning. When he’s thrust into a dreamscape, he must recognize his own broken past and move past it to realize what he must do to not only save himself, but his new (and a few old) friends.
Sounds like a fantasy epic, right?
Wrong.
Stephen Coghlan tells this story in very few words, but every word matters. Every word leads toward the inexorable conclusion. While half of the conclusion I could predict after about forty or so pages, the very end threw me off, yet made me enjoy the story even more.
Well done, Stephen, and its time for the scores.
Writing: 5.5/10. This will be the only low score. While I enjoyed the writing, unfortunately for such a short piece there were more than just a few typos throughout. I didn’t discuss this flaw above because I don’t think it should detract from people engaging with Urban Gothic, but it is worth mentioning as part of our metrics. I’m also pretty sure I found a use of the word “guiltily” as an adverb to describe how someone said something, which I did not enjoy.
Characters: 9.5/10. In such a short narrative, Coghlan presents a multitude of characters, each with their own backstories and motivations. While Alec is the center point, the other characters feel alive, as if they’re living their own tale, too.
Plot: 9.5/10. Urban Gothic only loses half a point here because I managed to predict one half of the ending! Otherwise, well done. The themes connect with the conflict moving the characters forward, and the exploration of PTSD, drug addiction, and brokenness through dreams is a wonderful break from most fantasy.
Setting: 9/10. You can’t really get much better than a dreamscape complete with strange trees, doppelgangers, and a forest that allows you to go wherever you please. (Very indicative of Narnia, by the way). In some ways, I envisioned an Inception-like world, but infinitely more fantastical than that.
Overall: 8.375/10. So close to the potential rounding up to 5 stars! Clean up the typos and you’re on your way to five stars from the Two Doctors Review! Great job, Stephen.
Not my favorite title, and I don’t see the connection to the story, but that doesn’t exactly matter, because the story contained inside is fantastical and wonderful and poignant. It cuts to the soul, for its themes slice through the psychological and the broken and the wounded.
Suppose everyone had a doppelganger. Suppose the world itself had a doppelganger. What would such an alternative dreamscape, complete with imagined and unimagined people, be like? How would its psychological connection, through our dreams, affect our world?
Urban Gothic sets out to explore that world, a world of strange forests, heroic warriors, strange doppelgangers, and fundamentally, a world that lives and dies on love.
Alec, the main character, is a broken human searching for meaning. When he’s thrust into a dreamscape, he must recognize his own broken past and move past it to realize what he must do to not only save himself, but his new (and a few old) friends.
Sounds like a fantasy epic, right?
Wrong.
Stephen Coghlan tells this story in very few words, but every word matters. Every word leads toward the inexorable conclusion. While half of the conclusion I could predict after about forty or so pages, the very end threw me off, yet made me enjoy the story even more.
Well done, Stephen, and its time for the scores.
Writing: 5.5/10. This will be the only low score. While I enjoyed the writing, unfortunately for such a short piece there were more than just a few typos throughout. I didn’t discuss this flaw above because I don’t think it should detract from people engaging with Urban Gothic, but it is worth mentioning as part of our metrics. I’m also pretty sure I found a use of the word “guiltily” as an adverb to describe how someone said something, which I did not enjoy.
Characters: 9.5/10. In such a short narrative, Coghlan presents a multitude of characters, each with their own backstories and motivations. While Alec is the center point, the other characters feel alive, as if they’re living their own tale, too.
Plot: 9.5/10. Urban Gothic only loses half a point here because I managed to predict one half of the ending! Otherwise, well done. The themes connect with the conflict moving the characters forward, and the exploration of PTSD, drug addiction, and brokenness through dreams is a wonderful break from most fantasy.
Setting: 9/10. You can’t really get much better than a dreamscape complete with strange trees, doppelgangers, and a forest that allows you to go wherever you please. (Very indicative of Narnia, by the way). In some ways, I envisioned an Inception-like world, but infinitely more fantastical than that.
Overall: 8.375/10. So close to the potential rounding up to 5 stars! Clean up the typos and you’re on your way to five stars from the Two Doctors Review! Great job, Stephen.
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