Sorry for the absence of a review last week - my descent into the summer fever was fairly quick and it kicked my but for a lot longer than I had expected... showing up my lack of preparedness for once :D
Sepulchure is a novel that it is easiest to classify as a thriller. It doesn't have the graphic scenes that epitomise a horror novel but that's not necessarily a bad thing - while single I don't tend to watch horror films or read graphic novels because I have no one to cuddle me to sleep and protect me from the monsters.
The story is based in two different time periods, at the close of the the nineteenth century and the modern day. It's relatively standard "battling the forces of evil" fare although I do like the fact that the chief protagonists of both eras are female - call me sexist/feminist/gender favouritist but I do like seeing sisters kicking evil butt.
I felt that the story took a long time to get started - a lot of information before you get to the serious action. While this information all makes sense in hindsight, it made me wonder earlier on in the novel when we would meet this dark threat that you feel lurking in the background (especially in Leonie's storyline) right from the start. There are wee spells of action earlier in the novel, but then all goes relatively calm - or drama occurs off-narration - for a significant chunk of the text.
What I did love was the ingenious incorporation of Tarot into the text. While I don't really believe that cards (or stones, or palms for that matter) can predict the future or fight evil, I thought that this was the element that really pulled the novel together. It helped in uniting both timelines and added that spark of difference that made the book stand out from the crowd.
I'd give this book a "hire out from the library for your minibreak" rather than a "go out and buy".
3 stars out of a possible 5.
Sepulchure is a novel that it is easiest to classify as a thriller. It doesn't have the graphic scenes that epitomise a horror novel but that's not necessarily a bad thing - while single I don't tend to watch horror films or read graphic novels because I have no one to cuddle me to sleep and protect me from the monsters.
The story is based in two different time periods, at the close of the the nineteenth century and the modern day. It's relatively standard "battling the forces of evil" fare although I do like the fact that the chief protagonists of both eras are female - call me sexist/feminist/gender favouritist but I do like seeing sisters kicking evil butt.
I felt that the story took a long time to get started - a lot of information before you get to the serious action. While this information all makes sense in hindsight, it made me wonder earlier on in the novel when we would meet this dark threat that you feel lurking in the background (especially in Leonie's storyline) right from the start. There are wee spells of action earlier in the novel, but then all goes relatively calm - or drama occurs off-narration - for a significant chunk of the text.
What I did love was the ingenious incorporation of Tarot into the text. While I don't really believe that cards (or stones, or palms for that matter) can predict the future or fight evil, I thought that this was the element that really pulled the novel together. It helped in uniting both timelines and added that spark of difference that made the book stand out from the crowd.
I'd give this book a "hire out from the library for your minibreak" rather than a "go out and buy".
3 stars out of a possible 5.
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