Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul

Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul (2011) Leanna Renee Hieber

This is a YA/Historical/Fantasy/Romance (got all that?).

We are reading the journal of Miss Natalie Stewart, who recently left the Connecticut Asylum, where she spent several years, not because she is a lunatic, but because she has been mute since the age of four when her mother died.

When she returns home to her father, who works a the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she immediately becomes fascinated by the uproar over a painting of Lord Denbury–a striking young man who disappeared and is presumed dead. The uproar over the painting leads her to meet Mrs. Northe, a spiritualist, who believes there is something untoward–perhaps even evil–with the painting.

There was much to like about this story: the plucky (MUTE!) heroine, the mysterious, missing English Lord, the eccentric spiritualist, yet something felt lacking in the execution. I wanted to care about the characters, but instead I read solely to find out what happened. I just couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters.

I was curious to see what happened, but instead of being sucked into the story, my mind kept creating possibilities that (this being a romance) I knew wouldn’t happen.

On the other hand, I only paid $1.99 for this story, so it wasn’t a horrible escape for that price.
Rating: 6/10

Published by Sourcebooks Fire

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