4.5/ 5 stars

Short and Sweet:
The Fall currently holds my top pick for Most Awesomely Creepy Book of the Year. I want to smile because I enjoyed it so much, but it still scared me pretty well several times.

To Elaborate...
Madeline Usher is the current chosen cursed one in the House of Usher. Generations before her have been lost to the madness, and when the house favorites you, the madness is ten times worse. As she searches for a solution to rid her and those she loves of the ancient despair, the house will do its best to keep her in her place.

If you're looking for an eery, dark read, this is quite possibly the book for you. This was my first Bethany Griffin Poe retelling (I've had Masque of the Red Death on my shelf for months but haven't gotten to it), and I'm so glad I read it. I'm really not much of a Poe fan, but I love the transformation Griffin gave The Fall of the House of Usher. This is a clever, distinct, and all together consuming story that will have you biting your nails by the end. I love all the twists so much that I'm literally writing a paper on it for one of my classes this semester.

I really struggled with giving this 5 hearts or 4.5. I decided to go with 4.5, because as much as I loved it, I did have some unanswered questions. There were some areas where the house did something weird, and I wanted a little more information. I know the house is supposed to be mysterious, but it was almost like I needed more information for it to feel mysterious and not random. This definitely wasn't a big problem (it's actually kind of hard to label something a problem when it's a reflection of how much more I wanted to read in the story after having so many great parts already), but I still feel the need to mention it.

Overall, this is an exciting and haunting story that has made me want to start reading Masque of the Red Death as soon as possible.

Originally posted at I Heart YA Fiction: http://iheartyafiction.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-fall-by-bethany-griffin.html