Reviews

The Black Garden by John S. McFarland

see_sadie_read's review

Go to review page

3.0

Sooo, this is a book I've now read. I've finished it and that's kind of the only feeling I have about it. It's 470 pages long. The protagonist doesn't meet the antagonist until ~page 300, doesn't understand his nature until about page 400 and ALL of the action happens in the last few pages (and ends in tragedy) The writing is actually lovely, but there really needs to be a lot less of it. The book is too long by half.

Beyond that, my only real complaint is how well-spoken EVERYONE is and how absurdly perfect Perdita is. At one point the antagonist says of/to her, "Hardly a new month arrives without some report of your exploits, of your compassion, heroism, even." And it's true. She's far too perfect, even performing a rudimentary tracheostomy with a spinning bobbin at one point!

I won't call this a bad book, and I'm glad to have read a local author's book, but I'm kind of glad to be done with it. On a side note: despite the cover, this is gothic horror, not romance of any sort.
More...