Saturday, 8 December 2012

Book Review (180): Darker Still (Magic Most Foul #1) - Leanna Renee Hieber



Darker Still (Magic Most Foul #1)

Publication: 8th November 2011
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 317
Genre: Fantasy/Historical Fiction
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
I was obsessed.

It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brushstrokes of color swirled onto the canvas. It was the most exquisite portrait I'd ever seen--everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable...utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.

There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.

I've crossed over into his world within the painting, and I've seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked--bound together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone streets of Manhattan. Unless I can free him soon, things will only get Darker Still.
My Thoughts...
This dark and gothic tale had me turning the pages as quickly as I could, so absorbed in the story that I was instantly captivated and awed by this world Hieber created in the 1880's.
I've never read The Picture Of Dorian Gray which was the inspiration behind this book and series but I've always known what the gist of it was about, so when I first heard that this book was similiar to it I knew I needed to get my hands on a copy.
Natalie is mute, she's been that way since the age of four when she witnessed the death of her mother, so hoping that she regains her voice her father sends her to an asylum for the mute and the deaf.
Finally home her father who works at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art is discussing a new painting one day, and Natalie becomes fascinated by it, a portrait of a Lord Denbury whom supposedly committed suicide after the death of his parents, but what nobody knows is that he never died and instead has been trapped in the picture, and only Natalie can get him out.
With the help of Mrs Northe, a wealthy widow from high society who purchased the portrait and a clairvoyant to boot, helps Natalie to free Denbury from his prison and to defeat the evil that imprisoned him there.
I really liked this book and I can't wait to see what else is in store for us in the rest of the series.
I give this 4/5.

1 comment:

  1. This sounds like a perfect book for me! I haven't read the picture of Dorian Gray, but I know his story and I have that book on the shelves. I think I need to read this book soon! Thanks for sharing your great review :)

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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