Vincent Virga

CW: pedophilia, incest, child abuse

I've never read a book that went from perfection to horrendous so drastically. Seriously, during the first few chapters I thought I would rate it 5 stars: the main character was relatable, the writing beautiful, the Gothic tone developing well, the references to other literature both in the style and by the well-read characters themselves smart.

The plot started to drag after Robert arrived in New York, but I thought okay, the beginning was so strong, surely it'll recover.

NOPE.

The plot for the remainder of the book was basically Robert pining by the sea and encountering ~*mysterious things*~ he doesn't question over and over again with no progression whatsoever. Halfway through the author introduces significant pedophilia and/or incest threads, because apparently pedophilia is the best way to show how much you love Ancient Greek culture? (?!?!?). These themes are discussed and/or engaged in as if they're no big deal by characters we're supposed to root for.

The great Gothic elements promised at the beginning just devolved into performative passages describing jealousy, murder, child abuse, and other gross things just for the sake of it. As a bonus, includes racism. I cannot begin to describe how ungrounded the narrative became. Do not recommend.… (more)

I stumbled across this in a used bookstore, and picked it up as d fun trashy read on the plane over to Japan. To my surprise, Gaywyck was anything but light reading!

It's apparently the first Gay Gothic novel, and it really feels like one - it's very dense, both in terms of the writing style and the plot.
All the reviews on here seem to agree on this one point: the book manages to be, on one hand, utterly Gothic, and ridiculous, full of overwrought purple prose, and at the same time, an engaging and moving novel.

… (more)

I stumbled across this in a used bookstore, and picked it up as d fun trashy read on the plane over to Japan. To my surprise, Gaywyck was anything but light reading!

It's apparently the first Gay Gothic novel, and it really feels like one - it's very dense, both in terms of the writing style and the plot.
All the reviews on here seem to agree on this one point: the book manages to be, on one hand, utterly Gothic, and ridiculous, full of overwrought purple prose, and at the same time, an engaging and moving novel.

… (more)