Yellow Jessamine

I had a bit of a rough start with this book, as I felt like I had missed some of the world building details, but I decided to just power through rather than going back to see if I could muddle it out. And there was more than enough gothic/plague/weird-plant-bullshit elements to keep me heavily invested.

Honestly, this level of slow creeping horror is pretty much exactly the vibe I am looking for in a spooky October read, and the Victorian Lady Boss protagonist and sapphic undertones were cherries on top.

I am a bit unsure about this one. As many others, I bought this book because I loved "the luminous dead".

I love Caitlin Starlings writing, her prose is beautiful and she just knows excatly how to create certain moods and evoke emotions. Similar to "the luminous dead" there is some soft world building that only gives us the information we need to understand the story but doesn't make the (in this instance: fantasy) world feel hollow. Nontheless and different to "the luminous dead" I think I would have loved some more information. About the world and/or the secondary characters. I didn't connect with the characters and the story as well as in "the luminous dead" and I felt like there was a huge tonal shift somewhere past the middle that show more didn't feel as smooth as it could have been. The book is very short so I imagine it difficult to get the pacing right with such limited space.

I like the motif of decay, rot and ruin in combination with earth and plants in horror. This book combines these things in a fever dream I have to think about a bit more to form a proper opinion on it. But I do think that this fever dream works, even though I think it would have had greater force if it was implemented in a slower pace.

I liked the main character a lot and I think that's one reason why I don't rate this book lower. I love my women horrible, murderous and not interested in men. Having a green thumb is an added bonus. I also desperately wanted to love the secondary character Violetta but the bits and pieces we got regarding her were just too little to connect with her. I feel like the book would have had a much greater emotional impact on me if she would have been a proper character. This is also one of those instances where I would have loved to see more of these womens love for each other.

Honestly I should probably rate this lower but I couldn't put it down. The story lured me in and didn't let me go, the horror aspect was perfectly haunting and Evelyn is the kind of female character I can not NOT love. I feel like this would have been another personal favourite of mine if it was a bit more fleshed out, a bit longer and slower paced after the tone shift. The story still lingers and I can't let it go. So objectively this would have been a three but the tight grip the story has on me doesn't agree. show less

This review and others posted over at Milliebot Reads.

Thank you to Neon Hemlock for sending me this book for free in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

This is an atmospheric story with a touch of the fantastical/paranormal that had me wishing for more. As with basically every novella I enjoy, I was left thinking, “but I want more!”

The story follows Evelyn and as it progresses, we learn more about how she grew up and came into the power she’s managed to hold on to in her dying city. The setting has a Victorian or Regency vibe, which adds to the mystery of Evelyn’s backstory and her skills with plants and poisons.

Like I say for most novellas I review, I don’t want to say much about the plot because the book is so short. show more The end really threw me for a loop though, and I found myself pleasantly puzzled by the conclusion. If you’re looking for a quick, atmospheric, and just a tad queer, historical fantasy, check this one out.

Also, the cover and chapter header designs… -chef’s kiss- show less

Ohhhh. But I loved this creepy little novella so much. Caitlin’s Starling is def now a must read author for me.

2.75