Brekke K. (sfvamp) - , reviewed on 10/31/2009 + 108 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 10

At first this book reminded me a little too much of Harry Potter since it takes place in a Victorian haunted boarding school and the professors couldn't help but remind me of the professors of Hogwarts. Professor Alexi reminding me of a good-looking Snape (he even sweeps into the room with his black cloak billowing around him and terrifies his students) and Headmistress Rebecca, with her no-nonsense ways, couldn't help but bring to mind McGonagall. But as I got more acquainted with Hieber's world I became more enamored with her creativity and the similarities between other famous works seemed less intrusive and more indicative of beloved archetypes placed in unique circumstances. The enigmatic and brilliant Alexi thaws and is destined for love in a way that Snape was doomed to never know. Cool-headed Rebecca eventually loses her cool in a way McGonagall never would. And after a while one stops comparing Hieber's characters to other beloved literary characters and falls in love with these characters on their own merit.

This novel is a mixture of Wuthering Heights meets Greek Mythology meets Victorian gothic novel and it is soooooo good because of it. At times Hieber gets a little melodramatic and I admit to rolling my eyes a few times at the over-the-top actions of some of the characters but it never jolted me out of the story. In fact it was more like reading a Shakespearean play because, though the dialogue could get over-explanatory, it was so poetic and beautiful nevertheless and, moreover, befitting of the world Hieber creates.

The romance is wonderful though non-explicit. For most of the story a kind of UST drives most of the romance and that somehow makes it all the more steamy. You truly believe in the love between the two main characters which is the lynchpin holding the entire plot together.

Hieber is a playwright and her diaglogue, as previously stated, is poetic and witty. The influence of the Renaissance permeates her work and I only wish her website would state what the next book in her Strangely Beautiful series is about because I am dying to know more about the characters in this novel as well as see what other fantastic characters she can imagine.

Furthermore I'd like to state that this book is one that benefits the most from knowing as little as possible about it before one delves in. Hieber weaves such an intricate tapestry that the discovery along the way leads to the most enjoyment. Normally I'm one of those people who likes to know the ending before I read a book, but I have to say I'm very glad I held back in this case and let myself just enjoy the journey.

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