Jessica Verday

This is a book that's definitely a Book 1 of a series, and I say that in the bad sense of the term... It's definitely got some good ideas, taking advantage of the legend of Sleepy Hollow, taking place in the town of Sleepy Hollow, NY, and exploring themes of death and mourning alongside the legend. However there are 2 things that make this book fall flat for me, one which isn't the book's fault, and one that is. Firstly: the fact that ghosts are involved or will eventually come up in the show more story was spoiled by the LibraryThing page for the book itself. That's not the book's fault, but because of the "ghost" and "ghosts" tags being used makes it obvious that ghosts are involved, that brings me to my second point: the ghost parts of the plot take forever to show up and become active parts of the story...

You hear so much about the legend of Sleepy Hollow and the Headless Horseman, while the main character mourns the recently confirmed death of her best friend, so you almost expect the legend to start unfurling in real life with the death of the best friend as a trigger. Perhaps murdered by the ghost of the actual Headless Horseman or a Headless Horseman copy cat killer. But in between very realistic mourning for a somewhat outcast teenage girl who's parents have her future planned out for her, when all she wanted to do was hang out with her best friend and make perfume, we do have the occasional encounters from the token mysterious boy who the main character meets after her death. You might imagine: "okay, this is where ghost stuff happens!", only to be met with, again, more pretty realistic mourning and processing your best friend's death. And believe me, I'm glad the book takes it's time to have it's main character mourn a loved one! The death and the feelings of mourning aren't even magically forgotten about or washed away in favor of the main character spending all her time with the token mysterious boy, which is really great, I love that. But after that is a lot of faffing about with the day-to-day slice of life of the main character dealing with mourning, going through the school year, Halloween without her best friend, prom night without her best friend and everyone forcing her to try being normal and find a date, Christmas without her best friend and trying to find the perfect gifts for everyone. And it has you wondering: "Where are the ghosts I've been promised after being spoiled by all the tags on the social media pages for this book, huh?! This just seems like fluff and going through life after someone's death!" - and sadly you don't get any ghost activity until about 85% of the way through (mind you, I read the audiobook, so that's how I came to that estimation).

You see, I actually really love the fact that we see the complex mourning process the main character goes through and how her best friend's death has effected absolutely every aspect of her life - even when new friendships come into her life, and everyone seems to move past the death without her. But there's so much focus on that before anything definitively supernatural happens that this book honestly could've been some contemporary fiction about coping with death and that was all. It doesn't feel like it should be supernatural fiction at all!

So as much as I like the non-supernatural stuff, I can only rate it as supernatural YA fiction because that's what it's *trying* to be, even if the book poorly handles that element. Even if it's meant to be Book 1 of a series, it's my firm belief that even Book 1s should stand alone, leaving a little mystery for a potential second book being fine, but should wrap up just enough of it's plot points so that a reader can be satisfied with just Book 1 in the event they don't or can't continue the rest of the series. And unfortunately this is a Book 1 that's relying on future books and the interest of the reader to keep it going, since none of it's plot points get wrapped up within it's 500 something pages, or around 12 hours in audiobook form. And sure, while some of the ghost activity can be predicted by the reader, if you're marketing your book as supernatural fiction, it NEEDS more supernatural elements period. show less

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and by loved by me.

I've always liked Edgar Allan Poe, and found the poem Annabel Lee particularly striking, so of course I had to pick up this YA novel based on his work. The protagonist, Annabel Lee, has been living with her mother at a mission in Siam, but moves to Philadelphia to live with her father show more after her mother's death. She has never met her father, and soon becomes aware that he's involved in some mysterious activities. Meanwhile, there's a murderer on the loose in Philadelphia, and something strange is afoot with the two assistants of Annabel's father, the gentlemanly Allan and the unpleasant Edgar (and of course, Allan is very attractive too—this is YA, after all). Verday has been inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson as well as by Poe himself.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—That was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

Verday doesn't actually follow Poe's story of Annabel Lee, beyond taking Annabel's name and presumably including Siam as a "kingdom by the sea", but instead uses these various familiar pieces to create a story that's entirely new. I worried initially that I would be thinking too much about what was different, but instead I ended up really enjoying the story for what it was. I appreciated subtle little references like "A bust of Pallas Athena greets me as I step inside," while remaining caught up in Verday's new narrative.

The gory preface had also given me some cause for concern, but I was relieved to find that the story as a whole was mostly atmospheric and mysterious rather than gruesome. I'm left wanting to read more books about Poe and more nineteenth-century historical fiction, which is always a good sign.

My only real complaint is the blatant and unnecessary set-up for a sequel in the last few pages of the book. I enjoyed this story enough that I would happily have picked up a sequel without any prodding, so I would much rather have seen the book come to a reasonable conclusion on its own. I always feel like this sort of blatant set-up speaks to a lack of confidence on the part of the author, as if she doesn't trust her readers to stay with her unless she sort of tricks them into it. Still, this is a pretty minor issue, and didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the story as a whole. I'd recommend this to any Poe fans who also enjoy YA novels, and I suspect that YA readers who aren't familiar with Poe will enjoy it as well. show less

Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” is an amazing example of love beyond the bounds of time. However, to call Of Monsters and Madness a retelling of this famous poem is a curious action because readers will find it challenging to discover the similarities. Annabel in the story is no longer a child, she does not necessarily live by the sea, she is still very much alive at the end of the novel, and the intense love affair never really materializes. Instead, this Annabel is a young lady meeting her show more father for the first time upon the death of her mother. She must adjust to a life of privilege in 1820s Philadelphia after spending years living in Siam. Most of the novel details the adjustments she must make to her behavior in order to assimilate. In fact, the only apparent connection between the Annabel of the story and the Annabel of the poem is the name.

Annabel follows an all-too-familiar character pattern of a girl too modern for the time in which she lives. She has an intense interest in medicine, something her father forbids her to practice. She prefers pants to dresses, and she does not understand the need for a constant chaperone. Unfortunately, she is also weak, automatically believing the adults in her life are correct and that there is something wrong with her for her nonconformance in dress, behavior, and attitude. The combination is rather distressing, as one would hope a girl of such modern interests would have the backbone to match.

The rest of the story is equally bland and predictable. The connection between Allan and Edgar is obvious even without the blatant clues in place to guide readers. The secrets of Annabel’s father are not quite as horrifying or surprising as the story intends them to be. Making things worse, the murder mystery is equally evident, leaving nothing for the reader to anticipate or to solve.

This unimpressive story is messy. Its use of influential story lines never allows the story to coalesce as it should. There is the obvious Jekyll and Hyde connection as well as Poe’s “Annabel Lee”. Then, there are too many striking similarities to Megan Shepherd’s The Madman’s Daughter series for comfort. The story never properly settles into a good pace, and the characters remain flat and wholly undeveloped. The fact that Of Monsters and Madness is the beginning of yet another series is a genuine disappointment, for there is nothing within the story that will pique a reader’s interest for further adventures. Sometimes, creative retellings are just not meant to be, of which Of Monsters and Madness is a perfect example. show less

Cover Thoughts:

The cover of The Hollow depicts an intense moment that happens about midway through the book. The colors and image on the cover are deep, gem tones that are very fitting to the nature of the story. Overall, I’d give it an A.

Book Thoughts:

The story begins with Abbey, the main character, trying to deal with the disappearance of her friend, Kristen, and preparing for her funeral. She meets Caspian, and begins to fall in love. But as the story unfolds secrets are revealed that show more rock Abbey’s world.

While I did enjoy The Hollow and it kept my attention, I feel like it suffered from ‘first novel’ syndrome. You know, there are big plans for a series and the first book is spent explaining a lot, setting up for subsequent books. I LOVED Verday’s writing style, and I think she did a great job conveying the feelings of Abbey throughout the novel. I knew what Caspian would turn out to be from the get go, but it didn’t bother me. The “big reveals” in the story didn’t seem big or revealing enough, but I am hoping as the story continues, more will come together.

As a first novel in a series, I did enjoy it. I also acquired The Haunted, the second novel in the series at the same time and will be reading it soon. I can’t wait to see how the story continues.

Rating: 4/5 show less