I should have known this was billed as being Gothic in some way before going in, because that would have tempered my expectations a lot - or I would have decided not to pick this up at all. 

It's flowery in an oppressive way (which sort of works for the narrative and the type of storytelling happening her), dreamy and off-kilter, and threaded with fairy-tale like stories breaking up the main narrative. I was intrigued by the overall story, but the prose kept grating at me and I found the ending entirely unsatisfying. 

Gothic is basically an anti-buzzword for me now, and I'm glad I know that now.