Cat Winters

Seventeen-year-old Edgar Poe's plans to escape his foster family, begin classes at the prestigious new university, and marry his beloved Elmira Royster go awry when a macabre Muse appears with a request.

The Raven's Tale

Sheila Goicea

I received a copy of this book via Netgcalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

What a unique read! I'm so glad I decided to request this arc! Review to come.

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Story Eater

My first impression of this novel boils down to one word: baroque. Many different interpretations and first impressions come to mind with that word; for me, fanciful, extravagant, frou-frou, extraneous, and busy. Yes. Busy with too much alliteration and assonance. In other words, it sounds like the whole narrative is an attempted mimicry of Poe. Don’t get me wrong. I like Poe. I spent a whole 700 level grad school semester with him. I read biographies, commentaries, and even "Eureka." If I’m going to read Poe, though, I will read Poe.

Additionally, the world building seems to have no rules. It feels as though the book aspires for magical realism but falls just short of the mark. Too many of the characters fight against what feels should be normal (i.e., the muses) and what the writer strives to establish as normal does not have any foundation in the world. 

On the other hand, Winters certainly did her homework on Poe. Many of the things people know about Poe today, or have known in previous generations after Poe’s untimely death, come primarily from a rival publisher Poe competed with in the newspaper business, which Winters mentions in her end matter. Imagine misinformation today, except without the television coverage. 

In all, this book was just not for me despite the excitement I felt when I first read the blurb. I don’t know what it is about the books this year, but many of them just have not met my expectations. I can’t rate this novel as low as I would have if there were not an element of research, however, because I know the work it takes to research (and do it well), so I must admit, though I dislike the story, I did very much enjoy the academic writing at the end. I would certainly mention this to my students who like Poe simply because of the way it brings alive his youth and college days, if for no other reason.

Ashlee

A fascinating reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s teenage years, with a truly gothic and sometimes unearthly setting. Cat Winter’s prose is lovely, especially when paired with Poe’s own work and the premise overall is one that will suck you right in.

However, after about the first quarter of the book, the storyline seemed to grow stagnant and I quickly lost interest in discovering what would come of Edgar and Lenore. I think the biggest issue is that the idea of creative muses, as damn good as the idea was, just wasn’t explored the way it should have been for it to really be successful.

I definitely expected the story to grow in scope and scale, when Lenore’s purpose and nature were revealed (eg. what of the other muses roaming the world?), so I felt a little let down to discover that the story was very narrowly focused on only Edgar and his life.

Overall an interesting read, but one that felt a little too reined in for its own good.

Seventeen-year-old Edgar Poe counts down the days until he can escape his foster family—the wealthy Allans of Richmond, Virginia. He hungers for his upcoming life as a student at the prestigious new university, almost as much as he longs to marry his beloved Elmira Royster. However, on the brink of his departure, all his plans go awry when a macabre Muse named Lenore appears to him. Muses are frightful creatures that lead Artists down a path of ruin and disgrace, and no respectable person could possibly understand or accept them. But Lenore steps out of the shadows with one request: “Let them see me!”

The Raven's Tale

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