A review by lizpatanders
The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding
4.0
I have to say that up until the last few chapters of this book, I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I thought that the author tied this book together really well at the end.
The whole story is set in Victorian London and has a very Gothic mood and feel to it. At the beginning of the novel, I wasn't sure how all of the individual story lines would tie together, but the author pulled it together quite well. Also, I didn't get a sense of infeasibility as I read. It really made sense to me when I tried to visualize the action scenes. Furthermore, I thought Wooding's explanation of the wych-kin and how they came to be was interesting, creative and logical all at once, because it drew on aspects of facts we know as humans and more fantasy like qualities.
As for my complaints about this book, it felt like the author saw things as very black and white, and I think I would have liked to see more depth in that respect. There were also some parts of the book or lines characters said which felt a bit sappy. Furthermore, the author would sometimes choose to structure his sentences in a way that I felt was meant to sound pretentious, but just wound up being awkward. It felt kind of over the top and out of place at times--the imagey helped me visualize what was happening, and I liked that, I just thought how it was written didn't entirely fit somehow.
I would definitely recommend this to readers who enjoy fantasy or novels with a Gothic feel to them.
The whole story is set in Victorian London and has a very Gothic mood and feel to it. At the beginning of the novel, I wasn't sure how all of the individual story lines would tie together, but the author pulled it together quite well. Also, I didn't get a sense of infeasibility as I read. It really made sense to me when I tried to visualize the action scenes. Furthermore, I thought Wooding's explanation of the wych-kin and how they came to be was interesting, creative and logical all at once, because it drew on aspects of facts we know as humans and more fantasy like qualities.
As for my complaints about this book, it felt like the author saw things as very black and white, and I think I would have liked to see more depth in that respect. There were also some parts of the book or lines characters said which felt a bit sappy. Furthermore, the author would sometimes choose to structure his sentences in a way that I felt was meant to sound pretentious, but just wound up being awkward. It felt kind of over the top and out of place at times--the imagey helped me visualize what was happening, and I liked that, I just thought how it was written didn't entirely fit somehow.
I would definitely recommend this to readers who enjoy fantasy or novels with a Gothic feel to them.