Blood on Her Tongue
Book synopsis:
The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harboring secrets of her own, too.
Then, the worst happens. Sarah's behavior takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angry… and hungry.
Lucy soon comes to suspect that something is trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth, or risk losing her forever.
Overall Review (Spoilers):
What a dark treat of a story!
I highly recommend this read.
The turns that this story took were an unsettling mixture of repulsion and lore-building through dated newspaper clippings provided in the text.
I loved the not straightforward vampire approach. Even in the introduction of changelings being mentioned and the creature affirming that it in fact, had swallowed memories from its previous hosts, begs the question… is this creature its own person?
This story did echo Dracula, in the sense that both Lucy and Mina had slept with Dracula, which is something Penny Dreadful also explores in its storyline, but with the husband, not Dracula (or was it both?). The fact that this book utilized two sisters instead of close friends is where the repulsion came into play. It feels unthinkable, but that is what drew both sisters in. As the ending concludes, both sisters were rotten in their actions but wholly devoted to one another.
What a read.
A Taste of the Haunting:
Song pairing: Sweet Lamb by KiNG MALA
Movie pairing: I’d actually recommend a few TV series to really put yourself in the setting and tone. The Alienist and Penny Dreadful are a great echo of the scenery and darkness. Hemlock Grove is another way to understand the repulsive approach these characters took in this story. Oh, and for movie choices, I’d go with Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos.
To dive further into the mood… I recommend Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Carmilla, and even a book I didn’t quite care for but feels like a similar world here: A Dowry of Blood.
Setting:
I love a good time piece. I loved that it was a mixture of what I would expect to see in Penny Dreadful and in The Alienist. Having read The Alienist, it made this book all the better to experience.
Characters:
Ah, characters, characters. There wasn’t any person I loved or cared for, but I did enjoy the risks and manipulation they took on between each other. Especially as you saw all manner of reasons unfold and revelations towards the end. What a terrible group of people trying to just survive life and the time they were in.
Plot:
Chef’s kiss. I was genuinely surprised that the book didn’t become a vampire hunter-ish tale as it worked towards its ending. I think that’s what made it so refreshing. Yes, it was unthinkable the way the sisters treated each other and the way men treated them, but oh my gosh, it was those elements that made the story so dark.
