The Thirteenth Tale

I whipped through The Thirteenth Tale so fast, I didn't even get a chance to list it in my sidebar. The funny thing is I didn't really like the beginning all that much. I started it on Tuesday and read a couple of chapters before I went too bed. I didn't like the writing at the beginning; it seemed a little too "in the know" somehow, too self-reverent: oh, look at me, I'm the beginning of a dark and creepy tale." It just didn't do much for me.

But I guess the joke's on me, because I sped through the rest of the book in a marathon reading session yesterday. My eyes were really burning from a day of staring at a computer screen so I came home and took my contacts out. There's really not much I can do without my contacts except read (gee, what a shame!). So from about 5:30 to 1:30 the next morning, I just couldn't put this book down.

Now, it's not the best writing I've ever seen. And there just a few too many pointed references to Jane Eyre. One or two would have been fine; you don't need to beat the reader over the head with it. But it is a compelling, gothic story and moves along very quickly. It's fun to get so caught up in a book you don't want to put it down.