This book drew me in with its cover, as is often the case. I was intrigued by the synopsis. And several reviews of it called it a merging of Frakenstein, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde, and that left me even more interested. Normally with that much hype surrounding a book it is bound to disappoint, at least a little bit, but this book was fantastic.

Hark was a fabulous character. He was uncertain and timid but trying to find a foothold in the world. He could see that his friendship with Jelt was changing but admitting it to himself meant that nothing would be the same. He broke my heart and left me cheering him on. He had a great story arc. Through the course of the story he was forced from being a little boy running a small time con to a man who takes responsibility for his own story.

I had a hard time feeling too much sympathy for Jelt because he was pretty mean to Hark from the moment we met him. But, despite that, I felt tremendous sympathy for how Hark dealt with the changes in his friend.

The gods were presented as monsters first, deities almost by accident, and I liked that approach. The idea of monster gods is appealing to me and this was the perfect blend of monster and majesty to suit me. The world this book was set in was also beautifully detailed. I could feel the undulating waves of the Undersea. The permeating fear of it that fed the gods for thousands of years. It was a beautifully written story. My only complaint was that the ending when Hark is going after the heart dragged on for a bit too long. After about 50 pages my mind started to wander and I wished we could stop describing everything so thoroughly and move on with the action a bit quicker. But the ending was compelling, as was the epilogue. I read the last thirty pages or so with tears streaming down my face, my heart breaking and cheering for Hark all at the same time. In the end this was a story about the power of stories, and it had a profound power all its own.

The last of my pre-written posts. 

I prefer classic horror because it deals with ghost stories being told at a holiday party or other ways to distance the story from the reader enough so I can enjoy the story without putting myself into nightmare situations.

Some favorites include The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Fall of the House of Usher. I read two Great Illustration of the Classics versions of classic horrors that work with my brain (Frankenstein and Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). Last year's pick, The Turn of the Screw, was much too wordy for me to enjoy the story. I have tried to read Dracula in the past, but I made it all of 25 pages and noped out of it.This year I am reading Tales of Mystery & the Macabre by Elizabeth Gaskell.

I think I've probably said this before, but it bears repeating: Richard Armitage should narrate all the things.