Book Review: Darker Still

Title: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

Release Date: Nov. 8, 2011
Publisher: Sourcebook Fire
Pages: 320 pages
Genre: Historical, Horror
Source: Publisher

Goodreads Summary: The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.

Darker Still is such a unique novel, in a very good way! After witnessing her mother’s death at a young age, Natalie Stewart stops talking. Now 17-years-old, Natalie communicates with other people through sign-language and writing on notepads. The story is told through Natalie’s journal entries which is very appropriate for this story. While it may seem odd to read an entire book made up of journal entries (a first for me), Ms. Hieber makes it work very well and the story flowed wonderfully.

I am a character driven reader and Natalie is a very likable character. She is brave, spunky and smart. People don’t expect much of her because she is mute, but she proves them wrong. She stands up for herself and refuses to be bullied or put down for her short comings. The women in Darker Still, Natalie and Ms. Northe, are the heroes of the story, the ones who do the sleuthing and the saving. I liked Denbury’s swoon worthy character and I hope we get to know him better in the next book.

The setting of Darker Still is perfectly Victorian and the story is awesomely dark and gothic. The circumstances that got Denbury stuck in the painting and keeps him there are scary. Filled with dark magic, a gorgeous man trapped in a painting and an evil, possessed body, this is a great creepy read for this time of year when the weather is cold and gray. If you enjoy gothic stories like the Picture of Dorian Gray, you will love this book.

The ending of Darker Still is satisfying with no cliffhanger but there is more there to explore. I was very happy to find out that there will be a sequel coming out next year. I can’t wait to read it! If you have not done so yet, enter to win a copy of this great book here.

Content: Kissing, violence.  

My Rating: Really Good!