I Am Princess X

I read a review that recommended this book to the "aging Buffy crowd". Not that I'm taking offense or anything . . . Despite that backhanded insult and being a big Buffy fan, that throw-away comment does a huge disservice to this book. There is nothing snarky or Buffy-like about it. I hope the revie......more

Cherie Priest has written herself a pretty good novel (which I'll call "Southern Something"). There is much to like. In tapping into the rich literary gothic tradition of the South, she has come up with her own creation. The characters, Eden Moore, her aunt Lulu, stepfather Dave, all seem to come fr......more

I have come to the realization that although I would never live in the South again if you paid me, this does not mean that the South has left me. I apparently seriously dig me some Southern Gothic-flavored stories--well, I kind of knew this already, what with having read Charlaine Harris so much, as......more

Another one I found underwhelming. Priest tries to capture a Southern Gothic atmosphere, and while she makes use of a lot of excellent, classic set pieces—swamps and cemeteries; abandoned hospitals and dark cellars—the first person narrative mostly failed to capture a sense of immediate terror or da......more

I didn't like this as much as I'd hoped to. I was ambivalent toward Boneshaker, but I really love Bloodshot and Hellbent (my girlfriend is in the doghouse a little bit for finding them boring), so I had high hopes about this one. I know it was her debut novel, but still. There's something compelling......more