I is for In

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book.

If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.

My TBR

About the Book I’ve Read

In the Garden of Monsters by Crystal King

A woman with no past. A man who seems to know her. And a monstrous garden that could be the border between their worlds…

Italy, 1948

Julia Lombardi is a mystery even to herself. The beautiful model can’t remember where she’s from, where she’s been or how she came to live in Rome. When she receives an offer to accompany celebrated eccentric artist Salvador Dalí to the Sacro Bosco—Italy’s Garden of Monsters—as his muse, she’s strangely compelled to accept. It could be a chance to unlock the truth about her past…

Shrouded in shadow, the garden full of giant statues that sometimes seem alive is far from welcoming. Still, from the moment of their arrival at the palazzo, Julia is inexplicably drawn to their darkly enigmatic host, Ignazio. He’s alluring yet terrifying—and he seems to know her.

Posing for Dalí as the goddess Persephone, Julia finds the work to be perplexing, particularly as Dalí descends deeper into his fanaticism. To him, she is Persephone, and he insists she must eat pomegranate seeds to rejoin her king.

Between Dalí’s fevered persistence, Ignazio’s uncanny familiarity and the agonizing whispered warnings that echo through the garden, Julia is soon on the verge of unraveling. And she begins to wonder if she’s truly the mythical queen of the Underworld…

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

An interesting gothic retelling of Hades and Persephone in post WWII Italy fighting a curse keeping them apart. I liked how neither knew enough of what was going on or even how the curse worked, doomed to repeat the cycle for millennia. I also liked that their Roman counterparts were used (Pluto and Proserpina).

An old castle, secret passageways, a neglected magical garden filled with statues of mythical beings, ghosts that only Julia (Persephone) can see, Dalí and his weird entourage – it all makes for a delicious world (pun intended: all the delicious food described throughout felt like Master Chef) that Julia has to traverse to find the truth about herself.

I liked the twists on the original tale and the intensity of the relationships.

The cat was my favourite character.

Everything was larger-than-life, much like Dalí: the food, the people, the mythology, the tragedies. Having this historic artist in this historical setting gave the story a flavour of the surreal.

“Air, where the molecules of inspiration collide with the atoms of audacity.” The way Dalí described things all the time was sometimes profound, but mostly silly.

Once the curse is broken, the story ends a little flat, IMO. Still, a good book. I enjoyed this gothic dark fantasy showing that true love will always prevail. Highly recommended.

My Book

The Inn (Dark Court Sisters #2)

I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?

You can now support my time in producing book review posts (buying books, reading, writing reviews and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.

*FYI, my reviews are my honest opinion and if something bothers me, I tell it straight. How else will anything change? My opinions are based on being a voracious reader and book buyer, not an attack on the author.*