Goodreads Blurb
For Natalie Stewart, a normal life has never seemed so far away. Her only solace, Lord Jonathan Denbury, is wanted for murder. To clear his name, Denbury must return to England and assume the role of his demon doppelganger. But Natalie begins to doubt his true motives, especially as a new gentleman begins whispering in her ear. Natalie and Denbury may be able to visit each other in their dreams, but they can't escape the darkening shadows. Amid spontaneous explosions, friends turned enemies and dangerous secrets revealed, there's still a demon who has Natalie's scent, and someone is trying to resurrect the ultimate evil.
I'm an official fan of Gothic literature now! I absolutely adored Darker Still (borrowed from a friend who doesn't appreciate it as much apparently!) So getting on this blog tour? Definitely some exciting stuff for me! I had insanely high hopes and i'm glad to say that Twisted Tragedy (What can I say? The title is incredibly long) met them all the way!
There were plenty of engaging parts that I absolutely devoured, but there were a few boring parts where we went through a ton of unneeded description in some parts, and there were a few filler chapters I ended up skipping. But, thankfully, all together that was only about 20 pages spread across all 336 pages!
Here's another thing--the synopsis is a bit misleading, but that in no way means that this book wasn't engaging! It makes you thing "A love triangle? Really?" But no. There was no love triangle! We meet Denbury's friend, Nathaniel Veil, and he only shows up, flirting and a possible romantic interest, for about seven pages, then he's gone. And honestly, I loved it that way. Twisted Tragedy would've been too cliche if that'd happened! And since Jonathon is the only love interest, let's talk about him a little...
Lord Denbury really is just as swoony as he was in book 1! He's just as supportive to Natalie and he's just as protective and has all the traits we look for in a YA love interest: Caring, protective, sweet, a bit of a dark side, etc. You just have to love him. Definitely one of my favorite book boyfriends!
Natalie is a great character. She's sharp and she's not one of those girls who're easily unnerved. She can figure out a lot of secrets and I loved her personality! She was a bit quirky and fun and she was definitely one of those sympathetic characters. She wasn't a strong heroine in the way that she wasn't scared by anything--she was. But she was facing a demon who had almost killed her. So she was one of those likeable characters, who didn't necessarily have to be strong to be amazing and still seem not as weak as others would be.
I loved the plot. Especially with Maggie thrown in the picture! Maggie is...deluded, we'll say, that she rescued Jonathon and that she's his. Of course, you'll find out why later, but it was just interesting to see how Maggie interacted with him and Natalie. Maggie, despite her cattiness, was definitely one of my favorite antagonists! But besides Maggie, the plot was definitely indescribable, really. It had twists, it had so many secrets just waiting to be revealed, and then of course, the demon. Natalie is waking up from premonition-dreams and she has runes carved onto her skin while dreaming. Creepy, no? Just goes to show how wonderfully creepy a book can be!
Overall, The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart was engaging and was the perfect sequel to Darker Still, one of my favorite books of 2011. It was new, demonic, and full of things you never expect! Read it, enjoy it, then come back here and tell me how much you loved it! I promise I'll squee with you! And trust me. You will squee.
Pages: 336
Series: Magic Most Foul #2
Genre: Gothic Literature/Romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: Nov 1, 2012
Rating: 4 stars
Author Bio
Author, actress and playwright Leanna Renee Hieber grew up in rural Ohio inventing ghost stories. She graduated with a BFA in Theatre and a focus in the Victorian Era from Miami University. She began her theatrical career with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and began adapting works of 19th Century literature for the stage. Her one-act plays such asFavorite Lady have been published, awarded and produced around the country. Her novella Dark Nest won the 2009 Prism Award for excellence in the genre of Futuristic, Fantasy, or Paranormal Romance.
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Darker Still is one of the books that really started my love of all things Gothic. And the cover was great. Now we have this book, and the title is awesome and the cover is even better than the first book. AND Nikki likes it! Yeehaw! Jaime is going to like it too! :)
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