The ramblings of a bibliophile.
Although this short story is in a collection of vampire romance stories, I didn’t really find it all that romantic. Alright, the man and woman get together, she saves him, and then they run off into the mist together to live happily ever after. But it really just didn’t feel that… romancey. In that aspect it was quite bland. But, overall, I liked the take on historical fiction and the storyline.
This short story really made me decide to pick up my book on The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper. It had this beautiful complexity and background to the storyline that I wasn’t expecting. There was also a lot of information and context in it that completely went over my head because I really don’t know all that much about Jack the Ripper.
I really need to do a little more research on Jack the Ripper before I continue reading too many of these short stories. They’re amazing, and I love the journey that they take me on, but I don’t click as to the character’s names and the theories as quickly as I do with topics I’m far more knowledgeable on. So, it took me a while to figure out whether Martha was a woman who was a likely suspect, or one that was a likely victim.
I really wasn’t expecting a Trickster story with a Chinese spin on it when I started reading this story. I was kind of expecting another Native American / Coyote story. But I really liked the fact that there was a very different spin on the Trickster tale. For starters, it is based in California during the Gold Rush and features a time long gone.
This is my first ever Jack the Ripper retelling. Or alternate history. And I kind of thought that it was a nice, gentle introduction. Especially since I know next to nothing about Jack the Ripper in the first place. Bertie not only pulled me in immediately, but it also made me want to read far more stories like this (so lucky I have a whole collection to dig through).
I haven’t read this book in a very, very, very long time. As in probably not since high school. When, to be honest, a lot of the intricacies of this storyline went a little over my head. So reading this amazing, amazing novel for the second time when I have much more knowledge… well, it was an absolutely awe inspiring treat. One that I was incredibly sad when it ended… so luckily there are two more intensely complex stories in this trilogy.
I need to start this review by admitting that I’ve never actually read Romeo and Juliet before. I have read King Lear, but not yet had the chance to read the tragic romance… so there’s probably a few things in this retelling that somebody who had actually read the original play would have picked up on that I missed. Having said that, I still managed to pick up on many of the important moments in this story, and you know… fall madly in love with it.
I picked this book up ages ago. Because of a vague recommendation on Goodreads. And then I kind of forgot about it. Until this week. And now I’m kind of sad that I had forgotten about this amazing novel for so long. And currently don’t have the spare funds in the budget to buy the other two books in this trilogy.
