Published by: Greenwillow Books, October 7th 2014
Genre: YA, Gothic, Mystery
Pages: 400
Format: Ebook
Source: Greenwillow, via Edelweiss
Madeline Usher is doomed.
She has spent her life fighting fate, and she thought she was succeeding. Until she woke up in a coffin.
Ushers die young. Ushers are cursed. Ushers can never leave their house, a house that haunts and is haunted, a house that almost seems to have a mind of its own. Madeline’s life—revealed through short bursts of memory—has hinged around her desperate plan to escape, to save herself and her brother. Her only chance lies in destroying the house.
In the end, can Madeline keep her own sanity and bring the house down?The Fall is a literary psychological thriller, reimagining Edgar Allan Poe’s classic The Fall of the House of Usher.
The blurb says this book is psychological thriller, so after reading Feral I was extra excited for this. But it turned out to be a gothic novel. The tone of the book, the house, the villainous love interest, the curse, the creepy doctors in their tower ... yeah. Pure gothic. That's not to say I didn't like it, because I sorta did. Sorta.
I LOVE the atmosphere of this book, I like the writing, the set up, and I'm very fond of the premise. I love Poe so of course I would like this. I even liked the set up of the book, how it flipped between different years of Madeline's life but still managed to keep some semblance of sense. I was confused by the story but not by the book itself.
But that's where my like affair with this book ends. I was interested in the curse but I wasn't attached to any of the characters enough to wish for a cure. I liked the story enough to read the whole book but there wasn't enough oomph (can't think of another way to describe it) for me to be truly interested. The Fall was flat. It was on one level all the way through. I got bored several times but I wanted to reach the end to know what happened. But that ending - was it even an ending? I'm so miffed (though happy the dog was alright in the end.)
My favourite parts of this book were Lisbeth Usher's diary. Had The Fall had more of her parts, I might have liked it much more. To sum: an okay gothic novel with a creepy atmosphere.
(as a side note, I appreciated the inclusion of a same sex relationship, even if it was only hinted at)
Characters ★★☆☆☆
Setting/world building ★★★☆☆
Writing Style ★★★☆☆
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