In the Serpent's Coils (Hallowmere, #1)

May 05, 2008 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

"I do believe in faries! I do! I do! "

So begins the chant in the middle of PETER PAN to save Tinkerbell from dying. In Tiffany Trent's first book of the HALLOWMERE series, IN THE SERPENT'S COILS, you had better believe in fairies or you may find yourself dead.

The book opens to find Corrine, our heroine, deathly ill at her Uncle's home. She finds out that her beloved mother has died, and her father had died a few years before while fighting on the...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Lady Eilonwy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: dark-fantasy, fantasy, historical-fiction, personal-favorites, strong-female-leads, boarding-schools, fairy-tales

In the Serpent's Coils is the first book in the Hallowmere trilogy and tells the tale of orphaned Corrine Jameson. Our heroine is sent to a reform school after losing her family during the Civil War, finding secret societies, black magic, and murder. Needless to say, I was enchanted by this novel: the elegant writing style, the unfolding mysteries, the attention to historical detail, and the dark Southern setting made an enthralling read. The characters were sympathetic, well-rounded people, the...more

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Apr 29, 2008 Rachael rated it 5 of 5 stars

In the Serpent’s Coils is a wonderful new fantasy book that I read just a little while ago. It is filled with disaster, secret love letters, confusion, secret meetings, and the mysterious Fey.

At the beginning of the story, Corrine is sent to live with her uncle. There, she finds out that her mother is dead, and she has her first encounter with the people under the hawthorn bush. It seems like the hawthorn people are helping her, by curing her of her illness, but something isn’t quite right.

By he...more

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Jul 16, 2008 Tattered Cover Book Store added it

Shelves: staff-recommends, jackie-recommends

This is considered a "teen historical fantasy" novel, the first in a new series called Hallowmere. I have to say it hooked me pretty hard. Set in recent post civil war times, it concerns orphan Corrine who is sent to live at a rather strange girls reform school by a seemingly uncaring and harsh uncle. The school is as grim as you might imagine, with a cold headmistress and an extremely unusual population with a whole lot of secrets. Like girls that have gone missing (who may have been sacrifices...more

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Mar 09, 2009 Nicole Bunge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Interesting historical YA read.
Main character is Corrine, a recently orphaned girl, takes place a few years after the end of the Civil War.
She has dreams of fairies, and waking visions. She's 15?16?, and after her mother's death, is sent to live with her Uncle. She snoops and talks to the fey, and then is sent to a reform school.
Basically, none of the adults will talk to her, or explain anything and then she finds some love letters from the 1300s... it gets odd.
Still, it's well thought out,...more

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Dec 11, 2008 Emily Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. The premise is great--a girl finds herself caught in the struggle between the Hallowed and the Unhallowed fey--and Trent melds elements from folklore and fairy tales with a deft hand. The book is dark and wonderfully creepy, while still being appropriate for a YA audience.

That said, I simply could not get myself to like the heroine. At her best, she is dull and has few admirable qualities. At her worst, she is really quite stupid. She does someth...more

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Aug 04, 2009 Celia Powell rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, youngadult, fairly-awful

I find it odd when I read the acknowledgements in a book and discover that an author's whose writing I have found cliched and uninspiring gives profuse thanks to authors I admire for all their encouragement. I guess enjoying someone's writing doesn't mean you'll share their taste in other books.

In the Serpent's Coils was one of those books - it starts off fairly promisingly, when Corrine's parents die, and her uncle sends her off to reform school after she has a close encounter with the fae. The...more

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Mar 03, 2009 BizarreLibrary rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Civil War has just ended. The country is on the mend. Corrine Jameson awakes to discover everything she cares for is gone. Her parents are dead and she herself barely escapes a severe illness. With nowhere else to go, she is sent to Falston Manor, a boarding school run by a family friend. On first arriving, Corrine learns of the harsh world she never experienced when living on her family farm. She does make friends, but also must deal with strict teachers and cruel schoolmates. On top of tha...more The Civil War has just ended. The country is on the mend. Corrine Jameson awakes to discover everything she cares for is gone. Her parents are dead and she herself barely escapes a severe illness. With nowhere else to go, she is sent to Falston Manor, a boarding school run by a family friend. On first arriving, Corrine learns of the harsh world she never experienced when living on her family farm. She does make friends, but also must deal with strict teachers and cruel schoolmates. On top of that, Corrine continues to have frightening dreams, and find ancient love letters all dealing with the fey. While being unable to escape her frightening visions, she is also at a loss with whom to trust. As girls from Falston disappear, Corrine must unearth the truth before it is too late.

The cover for this book piqued my interest. I also love a good supernatural mystery and have been in need of a new series to read. In Tiffany Trent’s first book of the series, In the Serpent’s Coils, she delivers just what I was looking for.

Corrine is a girl who wakes up with nothing and must survive on her own. As she is sent to Falston, she is determined to keep a stiff upper lip and not let teachers like Miss de Mornay, and classmates like Melanie, get the better of her. Corrine is a well written character who has a strong sense of survival, yet is also a gentle and caring person. I grew to like Corrine very much. She is curious about the strange happenings at Falston and wants her friends to be kept safe.

There was one element of the story that kept nagging at me as I read. Corrine makes some frustrating choices. Now, having finished the book, it is clear these events had to take place. Also, it is refreshing that the main character did not blindly make all the right decisions, as such would never happen in reality.

I have not read historical fiction for quite some time, and I enjoyed it very much. It was very easy to let the story take me right into Falston Manor in the 1800s with Corrine.

The text is written so beautifully that I was able to admire Trent’s writing skill and her imaginative story telling separately; together they created a wonderful novel. All in all, I loved the book and will be picking up the next, By Venom’s Sweet Sting.

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May 06, 2010 AudryT rated it 4 of 5 stars

Re-read as part of studying books with cliffhanger or open endings. This is what I call a "soft" cliffhanger -- solid, complete story arc that leaves some threads dangling and uses the last couple of pages to set up the next arc in the series. Fairly successful at both satisfying the reader's curiosity and leaving them wanting more.

Serpent's Coils was published in 2007 and closely follows the template for books of its sub-genre: boarding school for girls in a historical setting, witches either u...more

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Dec 22, 2008 Ryan Mishap rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fantasy

Urban fantasy, er, well, it is set at the end of the U.S. civil war so it certainly isn't modern, but it has the sesibility.
Corrine's witchy mother died, leaving behind a trunk. Her father is missing and presumed dead from the army, and Corrine is off to live with a rather unpleasant uncle. Soon, Corrine makes a deal with some faeries, is shipped to an all girl's school where witches are said to be and girl's have disappeared.
An interesting set-up and take on the Hallowed/Unhallowed faerie wa...more

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Jul 25, 2009 Annie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, gothics

This was pretty good. About a group of girls who are apparently susceptible by nature to the enticings of fairies--didn't really get that part; not well-explained. Anyway its about the battle for a school of girls and the instructors who are sworn to protect the girls and bring down the "unhallowed" band of fairies trying to drag them to the underworld for their own nefarious reasons.

Well written but left a lot of holes and questions. Perhaps the second book will answer them? The ending was uns...more

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Apr 29, 2010 Shauna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: jf-read

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I think the story had potential, but it seemed to move really slowly and I had a really hard time getting into it. When I reached the end and discovered a cliff hanger, I also discovered that I just didn't care that much and I probably won't bother to pick up the next book. I'm one of those readers who gets really emotionally attached to characters and I came away from this book without any attachment at all to any of the characters. Sad. Perhaps I jus...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Linn rated it 3 of 5 stars

My branch manager brought me an advance copy of this book and asked me to read it. I read it and encouraged her to request copies for our branch. At the time, I thought it was a great book and was eager to read the rest in the series. By the third book in the series, my husband looked at me in bafflement and asked, "If you hate the characters so much, why are you reading these?" And I realized that he was right. I complained about what was happening more than I enjoyed what was happening. So I q...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Turtle rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Historical Fantasy Fans

Recommended to Turtle by: Tiffany Trent

Shelves: fantasy, romance, young-adult, reviewed

I'll admit right off the top that I'm not one for vampire books. I've had bad experiences with them. Either I hate them for the gore or I hate them because they are just terrible works of literature (see the entire Twilight saga for details).

But I took an enjoyable class in college taught by the author of this series. Tiffany Trent often used samples from her own work in our class and I was impressed by her style of writing. So I went to a book signing after school and picked up one of her book...more

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Jul 23, 2009 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of dark fantasy and historical fiction

In the Serpent's Coils was a scary fairy story set in post Civil War America. We meet the main character, Corinne, as she wakes up in her uncle's house with no idea how she got there. Soon she is told her mother died of a fever that almost claimed her own life, leaving her an orphan since her father was lost in the battle at Petersburg. Corinne's Uncle William is stern and after she defies his strict rules too many times he packs her off to Falston Manor, a girls' reform school. Falston is every...more

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Jul 20, 2009 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

In the Serpent's Coils is the first book of the Hallowmere series, my most recent forray into fantasy novels with truly cheesy cover art.

Although I read Tiffany Trent's debut in record time, I had the feeling throughout that I'd somehow traveled this road before. Maybe it's just that when you get stuck on a specific genre (and I'll admit, I've read quite a few books along this same vein lately), they all seem to run together. But this book reminded me so strongly of Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle boo...more In the Serpent's Coils is the first book of the Hallowmere series, my most recent forray into fantasy novels with truly cheesy cover art.

Although I read Tiffany Trent's debut in record time, I had the feeling throughout that I'd somehow traveled this road before. Maybe it's just that when you get stuck on a specific genre (and I'll admit, I've read quite a few books along this same vein lately), they all seem to run together. But this book reminded me so strongly of Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle books, it was sometimes confusing.

In this introduction to the Hallowmere series, we meet the young heroine, Corrine. The novel opens with Corrine awakening from the augue (swamp fever) in post-Civil War Washington DC. Her father never returned from serving the Union army, and her battlefield nurse mother has died of the same disease that sickened Corrine. Orphaned, she is sent to live with her estranged uncle William, who informs the 16-year-old that he has no use or affection for children, and basically to stay out of his way.

Corrine is a curious and bright girl, so she quickly gets herself into trouble by meddling in Uncle Williams affairs and losing a precious artifact. As punishment, she is promptly sent away to a reformatory school for young ladies south of the Mason-Dixon line. More prison than school, her new home is filled with less-than-friendly classmates, strange teachers and haunting visions and dreams that begin almost immediately upon her arrival. Corrine spends this first book of the series learning about the history of the war with the Fae, her role in the battle against the unhallowed and of the Fairy Prince's strange fascination with her.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I wouldn't call it a must-read. I plan to read the rest of the series (because I happen to have them on-hand), but I'm not BURNING to know what happens next. I'd call In the Serpent's Coils a pleasant -- if somewhat predictable -- journey over familiar literary territory. Fans of Libba Bray or Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series will enjoy Trent's take on the "friends under the hill", and if nothing else, it's a quick read that doesn't require a lot of brainpower. Sometimes, that's the formula for the perfect literary escape!(less)

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Mar 28, 2011 Alyssa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-review

The Civil War has just ended. The country is on the mend. Corrine Jameson awakes to discover everything she cares for is gone. Her parents are dead and she herself barely escapes a severe illness. With nowhere else to go, she is sent to Falston Manor, a boarding school run by a family friend. On first arriving, Corrine learns of the harsh world she never experienced when living on her family farm. She does make friends, but also must deal with strict teachers and cruel schoolmates. On top of tha...more The Civil War has just ended. The country is on the mend. Corrine Jameson awakes to discover everything she cares for is gone. Her parents are dead and she herself barely escapes a severe illness. With nowhere else to go, she is sent to Falston Manor, a boarding school run by a family friend. On first arriving, Corrine learns of the harsh world she never experienced when living on her family farm. She does make friends, but also must deal with strict teachers and cruel schoolmates. On top of that, Corrine continues to have frightening dreams, and find ancient love letters all dealing with the fey. While being unable to escape her frightening visions, she is also at a loss with whom to trust. As girls from Falston disappear, Corrine must unearth the truth before it is too late.

The cover for this book piqued my interest. I also love a good supernatural mystery and have been in need of a new series to read. In Tiffany Trent’s first book of the series, In the Serpent’s Coils, she delivers just what I was looking for.

Corrine is a girl who wakes up with nothing and must survive on her own. As she is sent to Falston, she is determined to keep a stiff upper lip and not let teachers like Miss de Mornay, and classmates like Melanie, get the better of her. Corrine is a well written character who has a strong sense of survival, yet is also a gentle and caring person. I grew to like Corrine very much. She is curious about the strange happenings at Falston and wants her friends to be kept safe.

There was one element of the story that kept nagging at me as I read. Corrine makes some frustrating choices. Now, having finished the book, it is clear these events had to take place. Also, it is refreshing that the main character did not blindly make all the right decisions, as such would never happen in reality.

I have not read historical fiction for quite some time, and I enjoyed it very much. It was very easy to let the story take me right into Falston Manor in the 1800s with Corrine.

The text is written so beautifully that I was able to admire Trent’s writing skill and her imaginative story telling separately; together they created a wonderful novel. All in all, I loved the book and will be picking up the next, By Venom’s Sweet Sting.(less)

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Oct 13, 2007 Sookie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Corrine, a girl who has survived the Ague fever and the death of her mother, is sent to boarding school in post-civil war Virginia by her Uncle William. Corrine has been frequently plagued by strange dreams and visions--visions of fairies and of her mother. Painful dreams. As she is settled in to Falston Reformatory School, she hopes she can escape the dreams--instead, they follow her. And she learns of a secret--a terrible secret about those who run Falston and about girls who were taken. Plus...more

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Sep 05, 2007 Faith rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone!

I met Tiffany Trent, the author of this fantastic book, at the World Fantasy Convention last November. She did a reading from the book at one of the sessions I attended, and I knew I’d like it. It was finally released this past Tuesday (8/28), and I got a copy of it last night.

Wow!

I liked it even better than I had expected. And trust me, that’s saying a lot, because I had high expectations for the book. Set in postbellum Washington D.C. and Virginia, Corrine’s father is presumed dead after a bat...more I met Tiffany Trent, the author of this fantastic book, at the World Fantasy Convention last November. She did a reading from the book at one of the sessions I attended, and I knew I’d like it. It was finally released this past Tuesday (8/28), and I got a copy of it last night.

Wow!

I liked it even better than I had expected. And trust me, that’s saying a lot, because I had high expectations for the book. Set in postbellum Washington D.C. and Virginia, Corrine’s father is presumed dead after a battle. She and her mother had gone to Washington where her mother was working as a nurse.

Corrine wakes up to learn that her beloved mother is dead, and the locket that bears her parents’ pictures is gone. She is her uncle’s home, from whom her mother had been estranged, and her whole world has turned on end. She’s still recovering from a serious illness, and she wants her mother’s trunk that her uncle refuses–for the time being, at least–to give to her. But one day the mysterious creatures under the hawthorn tell her that they will grant her wish if she brings them a stone that reposes in her uncle’s study. She complies, and is given in return two doses of something that resembles a dried sparrow’s heart. Not only does she recover from her illness, but her uncle’s den has been ransacked and her mother’s trunk forced open.

When Corrine tells her uncle about the creatures under the hawthorne, he is shocked and angered, and sends her away to a reform school for young ladies. The school is like nothing Corrine could have imagined, and she very slowly begins to make some friends. But she’s also having dreams and visions.

She doesn’t know who she can trust, and when her missing locket is returned to her, she makes a choice. The repercussions of that decision send ripples of shock throughout the school and Corrine’s life is altered in ways she could not have imagined.

This is the first volume in a series of ten; the next is due out in December of 2007. I can’t recommend this any more highly.
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Feb 12, 2011 Diana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-a-copy

After losing her parents Corrine is to stay at her Uncle William, but Corrine is sick and sees things she can't really understand. To get rid of her sickness and hopefully her visions she does something she shouldn't have done and her uncle sends her to live at Falston Manor. Falston Manor is a reformation school for youn ladies but Corrine is still having visions. But Corrine has more to worry about after what she did at her uncles the Captain has been following her and what is it about witches...more

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Sep 05, 2010 Jodi rated it 3 of 5 stars

The story is set post Civil War. Corrine has lost her mother and her father went missing during the war. Her uncle quickly packs her away to a school for unwanted young women, Falston. Strange things keep happening to Corrine - she sees her father who quickly turns into another kind of ghost. It seems as though Corrine has been caught between two Fey factions - the Hallowed and the Unhallowed. But it's difficult for her to know which side she should be on when all the adults around her keep vita...more

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May 25, 2009 Kater Cheek rated it 4 of 5 stars

This YA fantasy/horror novel deals with a girl orphaned just after the Civil War. It's dark, but not as gut-wrenching as, say, M.T.Anderson's "Octavian Nothing." Trent has obviously done extensive research into the period, but the exposition is handled so deftly that if you give this to your daughter she won't realize she's learning something until it's too late. Suitable for precocious tweens, teens, and adults.

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Apr 20, 2010 Jolene rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this book to be great escape reading and I thought that the author did a great job of keeping the pace of the book both exciting and unpredictable. The main character, Corrine, is fleeing from the Fey who are very aggressively pursuing her, while she works on unraveling the mystery of her connection to them. The story has just the right gothic feel to it, without seeming overdone.

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Nov 17, 2011 chris tierney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

This books spends a while doing that annoying thing where the adults who know what's going on refuse to tell the young people anything, even when it would prevent all sorts of problems. Fortunately, it also _acknowledges_ that it's doing that. Ultimately this book felt more like a prolonged setup for the series than a story in its own right, but I'm interested enough to continue with the next book.

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May 12, 2010 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Shannon by: Aunt Jody gave it to me as a gift.

Good story but the writing is only okay. It took me a couple chapters to get used to it because it doesn't "grab" you, but it tries really hard. Once I got into it though the writing got much smoother.
I liked the idea of the fey and what they are doing but I think the main character lacks development. I will definitely be reading the next book in this series.

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Jun 29, 2009 Kami rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

This is one of the better fairies-are-bad-but-irresistable books. The writing is better. The storyline is better and more complicated. Here's the thing though: the main girl doesn't ever learn from what she did wrong before. She keeps not telling people what's going on and then it gets someone hurt or killed. I want to hit her sometimes. Pretty good overall.

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Nov 19, 2008 Amelia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, disappointing

I chose four stars because Corrine isn't really my type of heroine. She's shy and doesn't have an extreme amount of drive to her. She isn't willing to risk everything for what she knows is right. However, the book was set up quite well and bitingly realistic. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a Gothic fantasy novel.

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Mar 02, 2013 Mika added it

I don't know if this book is terrible, or if I just hate being as confused as the main character. I am for sure that the Fey aren't as helpful as Rory proclaims, and that the ladies of Falstons are most certainly NOT worshipping the devil, but still being this confused 3/4 of the way through is not nice. Hmph.

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Sep 17, 2009 Courtney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction, series, teen-fiction, faeries

While this book could have benefited from some extra editing, the overall story is pretty good. I'm always a fan of historical fiction with a fantastical twist. Recommended for fans of "A Great and Terrible Beauty" (though not quite as intoxicating).

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Oct 31, 2010 Jennah Fletcher rated it 5 of 5 stars

Unfortunately, Hallowmere, like many other series published by MirrorStone, has been discontinued. Please join my petition to get it back at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/c...

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