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eliotts_library 's review for:
Within These Wicked Walls
by Lauren Blackwood
Thank you so much to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of the audiobook for review!
Within These Wicked Walls is easily one of the best fantasies I’ve read recently. The fact that this is a debut is even more impressive, it was so well done!
Within These Wicked Walls is an Ethiopian-inspired horror retelling of Jane Eyre, which takes place in a mansion in the desert filled with the horrifying manifestations of the evil eye. Andromeda is a debtera, someone trained to create amulets to rid places like this one of their curses. But nothing could have prepared her for what she would find on her first solo job, especially when that job involves a man who is as irritating as he is adorable. It’s a race against the clock for Andromeda to finish cleansing the house, especially when more lives than she originally thought are in her hands.
I can’t believe how impressed I am with this book. Within These Wicked Walls had me laughing out loud at some parts, on the edge of my seat at others, and even had me a crying mess at the end of it all. The author writes in such a way that the emotions on the page felt like my own, and it was a rollercoaster from start to finish. In terms of this being a retelling, I have not personally read Jane Eyre or seen any adaptations of it, so I can’t speak on how closely this follows the original story. But the romance in here was incredible! The chemistry between Andromeda and Magnus was palpable, it felt so real and believable. I was so desperately rooting for them. The rest of the characters were phenomenal as well, especially the parental figures. I love that the side characters felt just as important as the main characters, and that they got to have their own stories told as well. As an audiobook, I loved the choice of narrator! I think she did an excellent job with this book, and I found her voice to match the mood of the book perfectly. I also found this had just the right amount of horror to it as well. The atmosphere was delightfully eerie, and I loved all the creative ways the author described the manifestations, they were so creepy! It’s exactly what I wanted for this time of year, and I would definitely recommend it to others as a Halloween read!
Within These Wicked Walls is easily one of the best fantasies I’ve read recently. The fact that this is a debut is even more impressive, it was so well done!
Within These Wicked Walls is an Ethiopian-inspired horror retelling of Jane Eyre, which takes place in a mansion in the desert filled with the horrifying manifestations of the evil eye. Andromeda is a debtera, someone trained to create amulets to rid places like this one of their curses. But nothing could have prepared her for what she would find on her first solo job, especially when that job involves a man who is as irritating as he is adorable. It’s a race against the clock for Andromeda to finish cleansing the house, especially when more lives than she originally thought are in her hands.
I can’t believe how impressed I am with this book. Within These Wicked Walls had me laughing out loud at some parts, on the edge of my seat at others, and even had me a crying mess at the end of it all. The author writes in such a way that the emotions on the page felt like my own, and it was a rollercoaster from start to finish. In terms of this being a retelling, I have not personally read Jane Eyre or seen any adaptations of it, so I can’t speak on how closely this follows the original story. But the romance in here was incredible! The chemistry between Andromeda and Magnus was palpable, it felt so real and believable. I was so desperately rooting for them. The rest of the characters were phenomenal as well, especially the parental figures. I love that the side characters felt just as important as the main characters, and that they got to have their own stories told as well. As an audiobook, I loved the choice of narrator! I think she did an excellent job with this book, and I found her voice to match the mood of the book perfectly. I also found this had just the right amount of horror to it as well. The atmosphere was delightfully eerie, and I loved all the creative ways the author described the manifestations, they were so creepy! It’s exactly what I wanted for this time of year, and I would definitely recommend it to others as a Halloween read!