Melanie Karsak

'Hauntings and Humbug' was a perfect Christmas read. It is a gender inverted retelling of Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' with a steampunk twist, although I think that description undersells it. This more than a retelling with women playing the male leads pantomime style. It's a complete reimagining of the ideas behind 'A Christmas Carol' which starts by thinking about what it would mean if Marley and Scrooge had been women working in a partnership in Victorian England, which immediately show more prompts three important changes to the story.

The first change is that the story has to be told in an alternative version of Victorian England in which women were allowed to own and operate businesses and, if you're going to have an alternative Victorian England, why not make it a Steampunk one and have Marley and Scrooge working as tinkers creating automata that start as fairground rides and, as the money becomes tight, evolves into the manufacture of automated weapons platforms.

The second change is that the events that have shaped Ebony Scrooge and led her to become a woman who has locked herself away from the world all relate to being a woman: the accidental death of her parents, the death of her daughter, the death of her sister in childbirth and the failure of her marriage, have all mauled Ebony and left her crippled by grief and anger. I found Ebony's traumas and her reaction to them far more engaging than Scrooge's mild regrets for loss of an early romance in favour of a career and his distress at how few people turned up at his funeral.

The third change is to how the three Spirits of Christmas manifest to Ebony. They serve the same purpose as the ones in 'A Christmas Carol' but these Sprits embrace both who Ebony is and the Steampunk creations that inhabit her imagination. I found the changes refreshing. They kept me engaged with the story and they told me more about Ebony.

'Hauntings and Humbug' kept the almost fairytale tone of 'A Christmas Carol' but still managed to deliver an emotional punch that was more powerful than the original story. I thought Melanie Karsak did a great job and depicting grief and what it does to us and seeding the hope that it can be something that we can prevent from tyranising us and stopping us from living a full life. show less

My original Curiouser and Curiouser audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Retelling the classic Alice in Wonderland for adults and with a steampunk vibe, this book is a masterpiece in itself, and I have no shame in saying that I enjoyed it a lot more than the original. This Alice is older, probably in her twenties, and has a younger sister with fragile health, who is in love with Henry the hatter. The Caterpillar here is called William and is someone very show more important to Alice. He needs to complete a job for the Queen of Hearts, and Alice, despite having left behind her life as a petty thief, will join forces with William in order to save him and also maybe save her soul.

It could be due to how famous Alice in Wonderland has become, that I felt a bit underwhelmed when I read it, but this did not happen with Curiouser and Curiouser. I found it compelling from the very beginning, with interesting characters and amazing events. The book doesn't follow the same storyline as the original, it's more like a shuffle and mix, but it felt quite exquisite. There are some flashbacks to Alice's past, which gives us some background about her. These flashbacks appear alternating with the main story, creating a complex and rich weave that makes for a really polished book.

I expected the steampunk to be my favorite aspect of the book, but I think what I liked best was how dark this story is. If Alice in Wonderland is a children's book, this is quite the opposite. The first scene where we see the Queen of Hearts was an impressive one, and I don't consider myself easily impressed by horror in books, but it was so vivid, so dark, and so unexpected, that I felt touched by it. I could almost smell the stench and feel the horror Alice felt.

And if all that was not enough, the book is beautifully written, with rich and elaborate prose, characters who feel real, and Alice... Alice is simply charming. There is also love in this book, but not the sappy one that we see in many romance books. This one is real, painful, and deep; and it complements the story perfectly.

Lesley Parkin's narration was perfect for this story. She delivered great characters' interpretations and transmitted their emotions in a powerful way. I was able to recognize every character and follow conversations without any issues. I just notice once or twice that a small part of the narration sounded like the last character talking, but it was barely noticeable.

I would recommend this book to everybody: whether they enjoyed or not the original book, and whether they are or not into steampunk. It's simply a very well told story with some powerful scenes.

Audiobook was provided for review the author. show less

Super major content warning for rape and sexual abuse within families, child neglect/abandonment, and drug dependence/withdrawal. I didn't know about the sexual abuse part and found it very upsetting.

That said, this is a fantastic (both senses, I suppose) steampunk novel, engrossing and totally alive. Lilly, Sal, Angus, Celeste, and even Byron are compelling and well-drawn characters. The settings work really well. The relationships (and, yes, the past trauma and present processing) feel show more 'real.' The kickass main character is both kickass and very kind. And although I'm not 100% sure what to make of the sort of magic-y bits about the divine, I like how Karsak avoided easy answers and left open various explanations.

Re: the sequel ... this is an excellent novel, so I'll read it ... but I have serious reservations about the fact that a sequel exists. When I saw the series title, I was hoping following books might focus on various other characters/aviators (Etienne! obviously), but now I suspect Karsak is just going to wreck what Lilly has at the end in order to create further plot. We'll see :) show less

I bought this book a while ago. I have a thing against Amazon and I RARELY buy books from there and refuse to use Kindle or Audible anything!! But I had to get some books that only they had and I wanted free shipping. I had been looking at this one for a while, and it felt like it would be right up my alley. Fairy tale, steampunk, yes please.

Then my book came in and I was PISSED. It was so small for $10. I was expecting some novel not novella. So the book sat.

But this month I am show more concentrating on short stories, novellas, and MG under 250 pages, so It was time to pick this up.

I loved it. Had a blast. The author packed so much into 124 pages. There was no dry spots, or anything long and drawn out. It was in your face here it is action and adventure from page one. I had my fairy tale links that worked quite well without being a strict retelling, and the steampunk was done well and used in ways that feel like home. My only complaint about the story itself is it did get annoying how often “Little Red” would lamate her lack of male love interest.

Overall this was a really great read and I did go buy books 2-4 and will pick up 5 and 6 in the coming months.

HOWEVER, I wish I could get these books somewhere other than Amazon. It is from an indie press, possibly a vanity or self published press and there is nothing wrong with that. I understand the pull Amazon has on the market place. And if you are a Kindle user you can get the entire series either free or really cheap. And that is lovely, but there are other readers like myself who are anti-Amazon that would love this book and probably other works by the author as well. There are ways for publishers and self-publishers to get their materials in all the marketplaces, and I would really hope this author would look into it. I would carry this book in my library in a heartbeat if I could get it other places. The print book itself is lovely. It has a great cover, attention is paid to the layout of the pages, and designs to designate each chapter are lovely. But the author has limited their scoop (even if it is a really large scoop) by staying Amazon only.

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