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on The Lovely Beast
JoAnne Soper-Cook
I was a teenager, a little older than Id like to admit, I haunted the library looking for Gothic romance novels, No, Im not talking about Gothic romances which might be impressive like sitelinkThe Mysteries of Udolpho one of the books that inspired sitelinkNorthanger Abbey, Nope, Im talking about the really crappy ones that were published in thes ands, They had covers that always included a girl running from a dark and foreboding castle, her dress whipping in the savage wind,
If you actually read one instead of staring at the cover with glee youd find that the plot of these books generally involved a naïve young lady sent to a remote castle where mysteries await only her keen mind to be solved.
Then theres the lord of the manor, whos generally a Captain or an actual Lord, whom the girl both fears and almost immediately loves, Why Because he tells our heroine about the darkness within his soul and has dark hair, thats why, Dur. Oh, and there are relatives and servants who all feel the need to encourage the girl to flee! flee! and hints that the castle is cursed,
Thats pretty much the plot of this book, other that its a naïve man who arrives at the dark lords remote castle, Jacob van Willigen has been sent by the Society of Psychical and Esoteric Research to find and destroy an infernal device said to be capable of reanimating life, If Jacob is unable to do that he is then ordered to dispatch its inventor and the lord of the castle, the dark and mysterious Caleb Donnithorn, to whom Jacob is inexplicably drawn.
I had the curious sensation of existing in two places at once! For it seemed to me that some part of myself flowed out of me and toward him and part of his essence flowed toward me, so that our two selves, or some aspect thereof, met in the middle and not only met but embraced.No, he doesnt have a boner, Instead it turns out that Jacob has his own secrets, secrets hidden from himself, which only Caleb can help him uncover,
As we flowed together in this manner, I was aware that his touchthe contact of his mind, or whatever it washad awakened something in me, something that yearned and strained toward him, an eagerness or a desire, the name of which I hesitate to write.
This impression lasted but a moment and was gone, leaving me weak, trembling, and as exhausted as if I had run a thousand miles,
Its also a hint as to why Caleb amp Jacob are both enthralled by each other, Theres a lot of other hints throughout the novel which I wont discuss or quote because spoilers that I paid absolutely no attention to as I was too busy trying to prove that this book was a reworking of sitelinkDracula.
Or to be more precise, Francis Ford Coppolas Bram Stokers Dracula I rewatched it yesterday and guess what It's still cheesy fun and Keanu Reeves still sucks, The Lovely Beast has a lot in common with it, The movie strongly implies Stoker based his Dracula on theth century prince Vlad Dracula aka Vlad Tepes aka Vlad the Impaler, All the Dracula's suicidal bride stuff That's folklore and it was never in Stoker's Dracula, I don't know where the reincarnation crap came from,
Listen to them, the children of the night, What music they make!
Stoker just liked the name, so please ignore Coppola, Anyway, I could take you through point by point as to why Caleb Donnithorn shares a similar history with Vlador you could read this book and check out sitelinkthis webpage that was created by a as far as I know respected scholar, even if it is done in red on black and looks horrible.
Similar to a Gothic novel there's a lot of weird shit going on within the castle in The Lovely Beast, Calebs second wife, Justine, appears and disappears randomly, sometimes bleeding, Theres William, Calebs extremely attentive servant who warns Jacob off one minute then tells him theyre all under a spell the next, He disappears halfway through the book with no explanation, only to be briefly mentioned at the end, Also, this book is identified as “steampunk” but I can't find a reason the steampunk parts are necessary, Those elements don't add to the novel in anyway, But most strangely of all are the two historical figures and one literary invention of one of the said historical figures wandering around the castle, This part flummoxed mehow do you have a writer and her creation in the same book Then I remembered I was READING A BOOK, Relax, sugar pie.
Weird shit related to Dracula: Caleb has“brides” check, At least two of them want to get it on with Jacob check but it wasin Dracula, Caleb tells them to leave Jacob alone because “hes mine” check, Calebs dead first wife is named Elisabeta and she committed suicide by throwing herself off the castles ramparts checkbut that's Coppola's version, Caleb tells someone that after Calebs gone he can “have” Jacob check, Etc, etc, etc check.
My pointyes, Im actually getting to itis that I didnt NEED to prove to myself or other readers that The Lovely Beast is inspired by Vlad the Impaler or Dracula.
Its pretty fucking obvious, but what wasnt obvious to me was that Cook was taking the book in a completely different direction that I TOTALLY missed, A direction based on an entirely different piece of literature, I was so busy looking for proof of one thing, I missed all the clues that lead to another, Am I an idiot Is she just super clever Am I an ignoramus who should have her Amazon account revoked Is her writing just obtuse I DONT KNOW.
I do know that its going to take me a long time before I stop thinking about this book, even if it is just to wonder what the fuck was going on.
I do know that I would very much like for someone else to read it so we can discuss it or so they can tell me Im a nitwit who lacks the basic intelligence to understand a nursery rhyme.
Query: Do I think readers will enjoy this book
Answer: Yeah, I dont have a fucking clue,
If any of the above sounds interesting, read it, If you like costume dramas, read it, If you like steampunk, give it a try, If you want to discover the truth of Caleb and Jacob, read it, If you like dude on dude action, this is an example of what youll find:
I licked and sucked wherever my fancy took me, and when I was satisfied that he was indeed passions slave, I took his erect member again into my mouth and suckled strongly.Theres not much of that, though, Not much romance, either. Oh, also, if you now think you may not like it because it's all literary, well, I wouldn't really worry about it, Theres a vampire or is he dude and another mysterious dude who is something youll recognize from other romance novels, Its as simple as that,
Just read it and get back to me,
.stars
Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review When Jacob van Willigen is sent by the Society for Psychical Research, in the year, to find and destroy a blasphemous 'machine' currently under development by Romanian nobleman Caleb Donnithorn, he little realises that the dangers he anticipates will fade into insignificance beside the psychological and emotional turmoil this handsome and enigmatic aristocrat will arouse in him.
For Donnithorn is a 'Watcher', an immortal being cast out from Heaven and doomed to live in mortal guise until the end of time, and he has another, much older name: Vlad the Dragon, or Vlad Dracul.
Donnithron quickly surmises what his new guest has been sent to do, and more importantly, he recognises Van Willigen's true, forgotten nature and makes it his mission to help him remember and reclaim it.
This is an interesting and extremely wellresearched twist on the Dracula legend, giving an alternative explanation for the Count's ability to 'draw out' the souls of the dying and for his sobriquet 'Tepes', or 'impaler'.
The story also includes author Mary Shelley, her creation Victor Frankenstein, and scientist Ada Lovelace amongst Donnithorn's 'brides', chosen as much for the intellectual contributions they can make to his enigmatic 'machine' as for their physical beauty.
I like the steampunk 'alternative reality' setting, ath century Europe that features flying trains, horseless carriages and robotic household cleaners all rather reminiscent of Philip Pullman's 'Dark Materials',
Oh, and there's plenty of homoerotica too, Quite a heady mix! My only criticism is that the time sequence of the narrative jumps about in a
rather confusing way, making it somewhat hard to follow, A sitelinkJoyfully Jay review,
stars
The Lovely Beast is a strange mix of historical, steampunk, and supernatural, I was really intrigued by the premise, and I very much wanted to like this book, But I have to admit that I spent much of the book simplylost, I just didnt understand a lot of what was going on, I had to take numerous breaks, and I just couldnt get drawn into the story, In fact, if Im completely honest, I had to make myself finish the book,
The one thing the author does exceptionally well is give us a vivid and fantastic description of the world these characters inhabit, From the pneumatic tubes that carry messages and trains, to the little clockwork devices that clean or heat food, to the boiler systems that heat the house, to the conveyances that people use to get around, Cook draws an incredibly clear picture of the steampunk aspects of this book.
I really loved this part, and found myself intrigued and enamored with each new machine or automata revealed, Likewise, Cook has a way of painting the scenes so that I had no trouble visualizing the scenery, the rooms, or each little detail of the surroundings,
Read Kris' review in its entirety sitelinkhere,
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