This was okay. Not great. The main character was very annoying, and didn't really hold up to the depressing mystery. If I'd liked her more, maybe this would have been more fun. I only held out to find out what happened in the mystery.

I didn't like this as much as the first one but I'm not sure why? The first one was INCREDIBLE so I might reread them both back to back at some point, it's possible I lost something in the months between reading them.

Full review on my blog, February 11th 2021: https://inkandplasma.com/2021/02/11/yellow-jessamine/

Everyone knows I adore Caitlin’s work, and The Luminous Dead was one of my favourite books that I read last year (see the rest of the list here). I read Yellow Jessamine for the first time in November as the first book in my clearurshit readathon TBR, and decided to read it again this month so that I could review it. Definitely wasn’t just an excuse to reread Evelyn’s atmospheric and creepy story about a travelling sickness, a woman who is mired in her own paranoia and obsession and fear.

The atmosphere in Yellow Jessamine is as flawless as I’ve come to expect from Caitlin. Eerie novellas are some of my favourite types of read, and I love the way that YJ builds. The mysterious sickness starts off distant and gets closer and closer, creating a really tense reading experience as I waited to find out what the hell was going on under the surface. Evelyn is blatantly hiding far too many secrets, and I loved the way they unfolded throughout the course of the novella as Evelyn is drawn closer to the centre of her own web of lies and they all start to unfold around her. I adore the way that, even in just 130 pages, there were twists and turns that could take me by surprise. And, speaking of length, Caitlin knocks it out of the park with tight and concise writing. Not a word of description is wasted in this story, and when I reread it, knowing the ending, it was just as impactful and potent as the first time because of the underlying imagery threaded throughout the entire story. It’s 132 pages of perfection, with brilliant pacing that built to an ending that was like a punch in the gut.

Unsurprisingly, I adored Evelyn and Violetta and their dynamic. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil a thing about this book, but I loved the way that the complexities in their relationship played out – especially when it came to that web of lies of Evelyn’s. Evelyn is every bit the disaster lesbian, seeing danger and consequences everywhere she turns. There’s also the soldier, and the role he plays is – oof – it’s incredible. I particularly love the way Evelyn acts with the soldier versus the way she acts with Violetta. We get to see two sides of her, one brutal and calculating and the other obsessive and devoted. Everyone should read this creepy novella, but try not to get dragged too deeply into Evelyn’s garden because who knows what you’ll find there.

DNF @ 15%

This has a really interesting tone, and I've already recommended it to some of my blogging friends who I think would find it a better fit. Unfortunately something about the voice didn't really work for me personally. If this ends up getting an audiobook, there's a very good chance I'll end up listening to it, but I just didn't mesh with it.

If you like gothic horror, strange little novellas and Dracula mythos, you might enjoy this more than I did and I'd recommend picking it up, it's certainly worth a try.

This was weird and raw and beautifully composed. A strange novelette but one I'm really glad to have spent half an hour reading.