Dark Dance

Blood Opera Sequence #1

by Tanith Lee

Drawn to the ominous house of Scarabae by the promise of passion, Rachaela soon finds herself a prisoner of her own desire, seduced into a dark and dangerous existence by a lover who bears her family name. Original.

Genres: Horror, Vampires, Fantasy, Fiction, Gothic, Dark Fantasy, Paranormal

409 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.

Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.

Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.

Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.

Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.

Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.

Reviews

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first Tanith Lee book I've ever read, though I've heard her name here and there. I think I had a different impression of her as an author than what she actually is. But then, this is the only book I've read of hers so far, so I don't really know what she's like. This book, at least, was different than what I might have expected.

I haven't enjoyed books featuring incest (e.g. Forbidden and Ada, or Ardor). This book has incest. However, unlike the linked books, it's a horror novel. Which seems appropriate, because incest is horrifying.

Anyway. I did enjoy this. I was reading it at the DMV and it was starting to get good. I was crouched over it in my seat, biting my thumb, eyes wide in morbid glee.

This was both like and unlike other horror novels I've read. I haven't read many though, and not for a long time. This was gothic in atmosphere, with a sense of isolation. It was sickly beauteous. Disturbing yet inevitable.

I wasn't sure of the writing at first, but it grew on me. It was spare yet perfectly descriptive. I'm in awe of the way some writers can string words together. (Anyone who says the English language is lesser than others, less poetic somehow, doesn't know what they're talking about. Just thought I'd add that.)

So. I think I'll look up more Tanith Lee books.

[Dfordoom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slow-moving book, but intentionally so. What I love is the way she creates an atmosphere of inertia. The heroine, Rachaela, seems incapable of action, in fact she hardly interacts with the world at all. She works in a bookshop, and the world of books is more real to her than the real world. She then discovers that she is linked to the Scarabae, a family of vampires who are also cut off from the world, like insects (beetles) preserved in amber. Her attempts to escape the Scarabae are frustrated by her own apathy, but escape them she must. Lee is obsessed by transformations, especially in the sense of alchemy. Male and female are not discrete categories in her world, and neither are the living and the dead. As always with Tanith Lee, the prose is gorgeous. The atmosphere is overpowering with claustrophobia and tainted sexuality.

[Rosamund Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tense, compelling novel: if you enjoy vampire fiction and explorations of trauma, this may feel as indulgent and satisfying to you as it did to me. Rachaela grows up at a distance from everyone around her, and has no connection with anyone aside from an elderly cat. After her mother dies, she begins to receive letters from her father's solicitor. She tries to ignore these, but is gradually drawn into the web of her father's family: a strange old house far from anywhere, whose inhabitants own jewels beyond price, but live on rabbit and seagull, and rarely encounter anyone from the wider world. Here, Rachaela uncovers terrifying secrets about a family she cannot escape. Clever, emotionally honest and full of darkness, this is a very accomplished Gothic novel.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different sort of vampire book, this one seems to be commentary on apathy and passivity. The protagonist, Rachaela, who I would say is clinically depressed, exists. Just exists. She moves through life in a fog, aiming for nothing and achieving little. One day, she discovers she's part of an ancient family, known as the Scarabae, a weird vampire-ish clan that holes up in their remote estate, removed from the world and never venturing outside. The Scarabae send for Rachaela. When going to them becomes the path of least resistance, she obeys the summons and becomes trapped in their nightmarish world.

I really like this book. You never know, for sure, if these people are vampires or not. Certainly they're extraordinary: they live for centuries. But are they vampires? They themselves don't seem to know, or only seem to believe that they are. It's as though they've been told they're vampires over the years, so they behave like vampires, because what other identity do they have? What's the word for "freakingishly long-lived human"?

People in states of depression could experience a similar grasping for identity, I suppose. I do. Am I truly depressed, or am I just telling myself that I am?

I love how author Tanith Lee handles her unmotivated protagonist. Rachaela doesn't want to do anything but exist. I think she must have been a difficult character to make interesting.

This is a good book. I will probably read the rest of the trilogy.

[Ms. Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book over-dosed on vague prose. We had verses and flowery sentences that would float easily unto the next. No fault there. Everyone gets carried away every now and then.
But when you are doing so with such extreme vagueness that the reader knows not of what the character is thinking or if their actions ring true, then you have reached too far.
This is not my type of read at all. Breath was huffed and pages were skimmed. This read tried to be gothic and failed in my opinion.
The plot was rather weak and the main character was unbelievable, to say the least. From the first few pages I thought the MC dim-witted and my estimation of her never faltered.

For those that think they are diving into a vampire read that will have you thirsting for a Bloody Mary, well, think again. Oh, and there's incest too. And, no. There is nothing "hot" between these pages.

I do not recommend this read one bit.

[Meredith is a hot mess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm incredibly happy I stumbled upon this hidden gem. Anyone who enjoys a slow-burn, atmospheric, gothic horror should enjoy this novel. The descriptive writing is beautiful without venturing into purple prose, and the writing just gets better as the book goes on. It started out slow, then events in the middle had me hooked, and by the 75% mark I was on the edge of my seat and couldn't put the book down.

I understand why this book has several low reviews, it's not for everyone. The subject matter is dark and twisted. It's not a typical vampire book. In fact, I wasn't sure if the family was just crazy, cult-like or truly vampiric until the end. My favorite part of Tanith's writing style is that there are no info-dumps or complete explanations of the family. You're left wondering with the main character if they're all just mad. There are hints to the otherwordly nature of the family that adds to the atmosphere and mystery of the story.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I connected more with the main character Rachaela than most people did that read this novel. Perhaps it was her desire to not deal with the real world that appealed to me. Wouldn't we all in some way like to escape reality? (possible spoilers)
It will not appeal to everyone what with the incest and innuendos of vampirism. I just enjoyed the prose and use of colours to describe everything. The House was intriguing. The family reminded me of my grandparents. Maybe that was the appeal for me, a life that I found I would have wanted. Would it have been so bad to laze away the days in an old home by the sea? To read my books and be dotted on as I replenished the family line? Hmmm, maybe not so much!

[Scarlett O.H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still a brilliant and intense gothic horror.
Why has this not been made into a movie?

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars on reread: I really like it. Warnings for incest and the sexualization of a child.

This is Lee's version of vampires. They're not traditional vampires, but they're definitely unnatural, twisted and seductive. This book is dripping with gothic trappings and purple prose. It has a very strange protagonist, marked mostly by her complete lack of action. Rachaela glides through this book while the plot takes place around her.

[Ken Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

     Meet Rachaela, a solitary book store clerk in her late 20s enduring a life of avoidance. She finds society and technology unbearably irritating. She has developed personal skills designed to keep everyone away. She has no friends or family, being the only child of a single parent, abandoned by her father before she was born. Her cat and her mother have both died but she is content. One of my favorite things about Rachaela is what an ambivalent employee she is. She is late every day, she steals from customers, and if the boss is not around she is likely to just close up shop and head home. At one point she just locks the door in the face of some arriving customers and leaves early!

     When she loses her job and her apartment in short order she is left with no choice but to head off into well-worn classic gothic territory. (Needless to say Rachaela is equipped with raven hair and alabaster features.) She is pulled against her will to the remote, dark estate of her unknown father's mysterious family, 'the Scarabae'. They are sort of a shuffling elderly cult with iconography that inverts myths and Bible stories. Their dark old house is lined with stained glass depicting scenes such as dragons killing knights.
     Here is a place that should actually suit Rachaela quite nicely. There is no electricity, no one expects her to follow any schedule or do anything with anyone, and there are respectful servants around to handle everything. But for some reason she can't accept this. In London she was a hermited Luddite but here she insists on having batteries for her little radio so she can feel connected to the outside world. Unlike Mrs. DeWinter she does not try to fit in and get along. She is nosy, persistent, and demands to go with the servants to the closest village (it is either 7,8,9 or 10 miles away, depending on whom is asked.) What has her freaked out is the growing sense of what exactly she is being drawn into, a situation so strange I almost dropped the book.

     '...the whole of her future jolted before her. The trains, the city, her search for some grubbing, nasty ill-paid job,a room somewhere, the noise of neighbors, the teeming streets, the overt viciousness of the capital. She saw too the length of days, the black-bullet chambers of the nights. She saw her aloneness, now loneliness, and she saw the vista of age, which she had never contemplated before. She was shiftless, had made no provision. She had lived as if awaiting rescue, her mother's money, the arrival of the Scarabae.'

  That situation and the story Dark Dance unwinds suggests the sort of meditation, here on the darkest fears of an abandoned child, particularly the "fatherless" daughter, growing into a young adult and making their way in the world, that only the horror genre can provide (since they stopped churning out Greek tragedies). Any readers concerned for Trigger Warnings should consider this entire book off limits - all the triggers are in here. This book deserves a place next to Elizabeth Engstrom's set of remarkable rural nightmares "When Darkness Loves Us" as a sort of urban complement.
     The book's theme of betrayal - self, personal, and institutional - is pervasive and, in Lee's intoxicating prose, elevates Dark Dance above the usual gothic. Here is a conversation Rachaela hears outside a London abortion clinic:
     'All them counselors and psychiatric. Was I sure? Cause I'm bleeding sure. Can't have another kid can I? Can't afford it and he'll leave me.'
     'Oh Lyn.'
     'Well he would have. We was in a fix as it was. An' I took the bloody pill. I did. Regular. And then I goes up the shute. That would have been number three.'
     'Lyn, you always go on.'
     'It's this place. It reminds me. All them psychiatrics at the hospital. I had to see four of them. Like a bloody judge and jury, trying to persuade me to have it. I can't have it. I've got two already.
     Rachaela listened, her eyes on the wooden floor. To one who had travelled before her.
     'Well, you got rid of it, Lyn,' said the unfriendly friend.
     'It was a struggle. And then the way they treat you. And the pain. Christ, I thought it would be all right. I've never been right since. You know I ain't. I couldn't bear him near me after.'
     'That was psychological. They told you it was.'
     'No it weren't. They done something to me, the clumsy buggers. They treat you like shit when you go in for it.'

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

(The description attached to this book in Goodreads isn't really accurate, because the main character ISN'T drawn to the house by her own passion, really. Rachaela gets manipulated into most of her decisions throughout the book, and she doesn't seem to WANT anything, other than to be left alone and not bothered. Her motivations can be summed up as "I'm comfortable with how things are and I don't want them to be changed. Okay, things have changed and I'm comfortable with how they are NOW and I don't want them to be changed.")

I think I'd describe this book as "trashy", but in a good way. It's very dark (naturally), with lots of gloomy descriptions and VERY flowery prose. I'm currently in the mood for dark books, so this works for me.

Oh, and the "trashy" description comes from the fact the story is about an ancient, incestuous family trying to preserve their bloodline, and the only capable breeder in the family happens to be Rachaela's father. You tell ME how that's going to turn out.

[Ilse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dit boek is niet zo goed te omschrijven - bizar, geïntrigeerd, vol walging, tegelijkertijd facking vet.

[Lawrence FitzGerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow, contemplative, melancholy. Very good prose.

I do not like fantasy. Poor characterization, convenient magic. But this, this...

The best speculative fiction tells us something about ourselves. I'm not sure Dark Dance did that so I deducted a star. But really...

[Ана Хелс · Rating 5 out of 5]

Има два начина да се пише за вампири – единият удря по хормоналния дисбаланс на подрастващите тийнове, използвайки простотии като лъвове, влюбващи се във вечерята си, блещукащи кожици и съществуването на определен вид добродушни кръвопийци. Вторият, моят правилен начин, разкрива по Стокърски вампирите като не-хора, почти чудовища, изгубили всякаква връзка с хуманизма през хилядите си години съществувание, имащи нужди и мечти, напълно непонятни за средностатистическа човеко-еднодневка, носещи мрак, страх и ужас със всяко свое дихание.

* * *

Танит Ли е правилната авторка на истории за вампири, в които почти никога не се употребява тази заклеймяваща дума. Кръволоците са богове, до тях могат да оцеляват само клонки от родословното им дърво, понякога преки, понякога преродени, и смъртта идва не от два свръхизраснали кучешки зъба, а по-скоро от разкъсани с едно движение трахеи, смачкани черепи, мащабни пожари, грандомански експлозии. Те са нашите господари, ние живеем само защото на тях им е твърде досадно да се занимават с нас. И толкова. Любовта е странно позабравено чувство, минаващо някак през реинкарнациите, съвсем неуважително към неща като пол, възраст, време, роднинска връзка. Четейки за съществуванието на божествата, можем само да се поскрием под завивките, надявайки се да не хванем техния черен или сребърен поглед в някоя замъглена уличка. Възможност толкова близка и същевременно позволяваща ни да клатим отривисто глави, отричайки вероятността, даже мисълта, за нещо толкова естествено случаемо.

Тъмният танц, от Танит Лий книги за вампириТъмният танц е началото на прекрасната готическа история без точно положителен край. Ракела е прекрасно според ничии параметри същество без цел, живуркаща ден за ден, безразлична към времето и бъдещето, както и към всичко физическо случващо се около нея. Обвита в пашкул от меланхолия, героинята ни внимателно избягва да живее, а само се задоволява с минимално възможното за своето безвремие. Докато не бива поканена, или по-скоро принудена, от целия свят да посети своите непознати, но въпреки това омразни роднини, живеещи в голяма тъмна къща, някъде в странен джоб на време-пространството, където имената губят смисъл, а човешките и природните закони отслабват до нула своя обичаен хват. Запознаваме се със семейството на Скарабеите — повече от древни, напълно непонятни, индиферентни към всичко, освен към кръвта, необичащи слънцето, но без стандартните очаквания за превръщащи се в пепел при сблъсъка със заревото зъбати животни. Като в сън Ракела почти не научава нищо за своята истинска същност, но усеща на ръба на безумието цялата истина за света и своето място в него, впримчено в мрежата на древните. Мрак, изпълнен с цветове, е сетингът за една полу-любовна история, наситена с мълчание, очакване и болка, после бягство и завръщане. И финална смърт. Прелюдията на операта завършва с последен акорд на лумнал огнен пейзаж. И танцьорите се оттеглят в антракт.


книги с вампири Лична тъмнина, от Танит ЛийЛична тъмнина идва с реки от кръв, горящи клади от загубени животи и една млада, неопомнила се богиня на пътешествие, очакваща промяната и смисъла на новия живот в ново тяло, без нужди, но с огромни очаквания. Дъщерята на обърканата героиня Ракела се разтваря към калния свят навън, искайки отмъщение и опрощение за изгубената възможност за пълноценна божественост сред псевдо-египетските старци, Скарабеите. Десетки обикновени, понякога откровено излишни и зли, в повечето случаи просто посредствени и дразнещи дребни хорица погиват в божия гняв на твърде младата само в агресивната част на ума си Рут, като картини на болезнено обичайно ежедневие се менят с безумно непонятни и непринудени сцени на зашеметяващо насилие. Инцест, самота, прерязани вени, глътки ненужна кръв, засищащи несъществуваща жажда. Едно недовършено обучение в божественост винаги носи своите летални последствия. Все пак денят на обикновените е спасен от древно божество, по-древно от първите страници на Библията, и една съвсем обикновена си жена, обичаща много и искаща твърде малко от живота, работещи независимо един от друг, и донесли ако не справедливото, то поне временното разрешение на проблема с тематичното унищожаване на бледите англиканци. Нова завеса след нова смърт, публиката затаява дъх, не знаеща какво още може да очаква, тъй като мъртвите често възкръсват, а любовта, понякога преминала векове, не устоява достатъчно уверена дори няколко секунди. Няколко глътки въздух до края.


вампирски книги Аз, тъмнината, от Танит ЛийАз, тъмнината отваря сцената за гранд-финала на божествената игра. Декорите се сменят с ледени пирамиди, древноегипетски гробници, окървавени синове на първите божии деца играят с отхвърлените първи жени на историята, притичват объркано реинкарнациите на пантеона от именувани за нечовеци в преждевременно съзнали се деца и пада много, твърде много бледа тъмнина. Новата дъщеря на Ракела, всъщност преродена Рут и още повече преродена египетска богиня на смъртта, наречена на първата жертва на огнената вакханалия — Анна, поема своя противоестествен дъх от утробата на изпълнена с безразлична омраза майка и страннополов древен баща, нарушава всички биологични закони и отпътува повече от преждевремнно съзряла към истинския си господар, онзи паднал ангел от несъществуващите божествени царства. И тук е Каин, и тук е Лилит. И въпреки това няма капчица религия. Вампирите са тук и не са. Те са Скарабеи, древните, вечните, прераждащите се. Нямащи нужда от човечествето, освен да разсее скуката и да замести нечия изсъхнала утроба. Жертвите са жертвоприношения, любовниците се превърщат в олицетворение на единствената възможна любов, а отхвърлените губят живота и жизнеността си. Завеса — с обещание за нова тъмнина. А зрителите се оглеждат и се страхуват да напуснат местата си. Твърде тъмно е навън.


Прозата на Танит Ли е, меко казано, смущаваща. Тук теми табу няма, ама никакви. Бащи, майки, деца — само роли без някакви морални ограничения, всичко се прави в името на продължаване на рода и кръвта, тъй като тук повече от всеки друг стандартно човешки случай прераждането е ежедневие, нов шанс за различност след разнообразната смърт. Децата растат с часове, на две години те изглеждат и събират мъдростта на векове в телата на двайсетгодишни, годни за размножаване без оглед на някаква физическа възраст. Труповете на обикновените са само купчинки неудобства, лесно измитащи се с малко пари и повечко атавистичен страх. А отношението към децата е противоположно на всичко, в което някога са ви възпитавали. Децата твърде лесно биват отнемани от родителите си и още по-лесно компенсирани и замествани кротко в сърцата им, а родителската любов по правило е нещо неслучващо се и заменено с тиха омраза и кротичък страх от неясно изродените възможности на подрастващите божества. Да, и децата много лесно умират, биват жертвани, взривявани, разкъсвани, изгаряни. А котките и кучетата биват винаг�� пощадени и истински обичани според техните животински закони, толкова близки до скарабейското разбиране за божествеността. Всеки ред ще ви разтревожи, обърка, изпълни със съмнения и погнуса. Ако сте нормални.

Такива като мен намират очарованието в искрения мрак и разбират нищожността на толкова много ежедневни закони. Душите пеят между редовете на тези текстове, отмивайки посредствеността и делничността на съзнанията ни, отваряйки трети очи, седми чувства и стотици прераждания, гледащи иззад рамото ни и съветващи ни някъде през вековете как да отхвърлим наслоеното над истинското ни аз. Тъмнината е толкова поглъщаща; и тъмночервена. Река от забрава и знания. А Танит е капитанът на лодката по Лета, в която аз мога само да се надявам да не бъда просто сл��чаен пътник.

[Mandy Szewczuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The creeping sort of horror that passivity brings is the real horror of this book. Tainted sexuality, twisted concepts of humans, animals, and vampires. The slow pace does not detract, as it really ties us to the main character and her passive life. The details, lurid and purple as they are, give the book the gothic sense that pervades.

[Nele · Rating 5 out of 5]

lee's writing keeps being brought up in the same breath as angela carter but even knowing that this book has exceeded my expectations! the lush prose, the atmosphere, the horror... really enjoyed the second half even thought it caught me completely off-guard lol the dialogue feels a bit off at times but i had an absolute blast

[scarr]

more books need to be referencing Brief Encounter (and be this sick and twisted!)

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is set in modern London (England) and sort of a gothic fantasy or horror, so the urban fantasy tag doesn't quite fit.

I almost never say this but I advise anyone picking this up to stop at the end of this book. Yes it is part of a trilogy, but I actually feel that it takes away from the subtlety and mystery of this book when things are 'explained' later.

What basically happens is that Rachaela works at a bookstore and one day receives a letter summoning her to 'The House' and her father's family, who she's never had any contact with. Eventually she goes and all decends into gothic creepyness as she tries to discover the many secrets of the Scarabae (the family) what it is they so desperately need her for.

The characters are not particularly sympathetic, but are strangely compelling all the same. This is supposed to be a vampire story but in this book isn't the turning book of the novel.

I loved the mystery and general sinister insanity of the family and the air of suspense created. Incest and madness play major roles which may discomfit some. What I liked most was that at the end Rachaela still doesn't know if the family are vampires or deluded through centuries of inbreeding, which have given them special abilities.

I've skimmed the other books in the trilogy and think it's best to read each book as a separate novel.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the way Tanith Lee writes. There's something about her style that's clear and emotional, atmospheric, and engaging. She's not the kind of writer who I could read back-to-back-to-back, but every time I read one of her books, I find myself drawn in almost without realizing it.

Dark Dance is overflowing with Lee's style, but the story here feels very lackluster. This was touted as Lee's first foray into horror, but with the recent trend of paranormal romance, I can see this getting tagged with that genre if it were released today. Like her other books, there's an erotic undertone to the entire story, and the whole point of Dark Dance seems to be that erotic undertone.

What makes this horror, though, is worthy of a trigger warning: incest. Specifically, known and willing incest, on both parties. Lee doesn't shy away from the specifics, either. There's more to the horror than just that (this is a creepy story of family and commitment), but man, that definitely stands out.

This is a two-star story, elevated to three thanks to Lee's style. I'd be hard pressed to recommend it, but fans of Lee should definitely give it a chance.

[Emilia Polo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Das ist ein außergewöhnliches Buch. Ich brauchte eine Weile um mich mit Tanith Lee zunächst so passiver Heldin zu identifizieren, dennoch entfaltet Lees Stil und Storyaufbau solch einen Sog, dass es mir unmöglich war, das Buch aus der Hand zu legen.
Dies ist jedenfalls nicht Deine übliche zartbesaitete Vampirromanze, sondern ein wirklicher Horrorroman.
Allerdings einer verfasst auf einem bewundernswert hohen schriftstellerischen Niveau.
Das Cover (der deutschen Ausgabe) ist total irreführend, da es wohl auf jugendliche Leser abzielt, die sich die x-te Bella und Edward Bis(s) Variation erwarten. Diese Zielgruppe könnte sich mit Tanith Lee schwer tun.
Dennoch, wie ich inzwischen finde, ein tolles Buch.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark Dance was a very strange book. I found it hard to get into. The main character is not very likeable. But you end up learning why that's the case. There are feelings described in this story that I didn't realize other people imagined. (I won't spoil, but let's just say it has to do with expectations.) There is a subtle kind of horror to this book which is part of what kept me going. At the end, my favorite character let me down. Overall just a weird journey.

[Misha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super creepy. I liked the whole atmosphere of the story. I was compelled to keep reading — all the way until she left the second time and Ruth came into the story. After that, I just skimmed to the end.

It’s a good story but for me, there wasn’t enough romance. I wanted more of Adamus and Racheala together. It got pretty weird, not going to lie.

Not interested in reading more of the series but it’s more of a “it’s not you, it’s me”.

[ax · Rating 4 out of 5]

kind of like the reverse card of mother! drenched in some gorgeous purple prose. well-paced and always seemed to take an interesting turn as things began to dull… much love to apathetic and clinically depressed mother rachaela

[Selena · Rating 4 out of 5]

If V.C. Andrews wrote a vampire novel this would be it.

[Orgofr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author is definitale terrific.

[Sonora Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. Classic Gothic vampire novel, and kept me intrigued. Compulsively readable. I docked a star though for the incest and for the sexualization of a child. Even if the latter was done with horror from the third-person narrator, you can do that without going on about how a child's breasts look. The story would've been just as effective without the incest element either, and made an otherwise excellent sex scene feel gross. So, I wouldn't say the book was bad, but I also can't say I'd read it again or continue on with the series.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I'd give it 3 and a half stars if it were possible, but upped it to four because I adored this book when I was an angsty gothic teenager. My reread here at 40 was prompted by the recent release of a 3rd season of Twin Peaks, after a 25 year absence, and the death of Chris Cornell, the combination of which has cast a spell of nostalgia on me for better days gone by.

Rachaela is a well-drawn character, minus all the gothic vampire crap. She is a great picture of a lonely woman without ambition. One would not have used the term so freely in the early 90s, but she has a touch of autism or aspergers. Anna tells her she lives a "dream life," and I think it is very apt.

Lee carefully orchestrates a comping of age in how Rachaela learned to both accept and condemn her own mother's behavior through her own experience of raising Ruth. It is also a singular and unique portrayal of a woman who completely lacks all sense of maternal love and warmth. Such an exploration of a female character is rarely undertaken without heavy handed condemnation for the lack of maternal feeling. She is a thoroughly unlikeable character, yet it's never difficult to relate to her either. Her pettiness, selfish disposition, and chronic indecision are all too human attributes, which renders her, if not likable, at least relatable.

I read it fast, fell easily into the story and found it very visually complex in my imagination as I read. This, I attribute to Lee's eerie poetic prowess and word-smith skill. She throws contradiction after contradiction at the reader in all of her descriptions, such as fat women with thin faces and dark houses full of light, but the effect renders a more detailed imagining. Fat is fat and could lead to a generic image, but what does a fat girl with a thin face look like? It was an interesting and effective technique.

Book two, Personal Darkness sits next to me. I never knew there was a trilogy, and I know I should probably leave well enough alone here, enjoy the nostalgia and move on, but I'm going to give book two a go. Everyone needs a good trashy novel now and then.

[Debra]

Stephen King endorsed the entire Dell Abyss Horror line. Here is his blurb:

"Thank you for introducing me to the remarkable line of novels currently being issued under Dell's Abyss imprint. I have given a great many blurbs over the last twelve years or so, but this one marks two firsts: first unsolicited blurb (I called you) and the first time I have blurbed a whole line of books. In terms of quality, production, and plain old story-telling reliability (that's the bottom line, isn't it), Dell's new line is amazingly satisfying...a rare and wonderful bargain for readers. I hope to be looking into the Abyss for a long time to come."

[Eidan Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a bit slow but very much in keeping with the style of Lee.

I expected something different: my favorite writer and my favorite subject? I was sold, bit something didn't gel.

Still a good book, but only for fans I guess.

[Velvetink · Rating 4 out of 5]

vampires.

have two copies of this. (one from A)

8th March 2010 = one copy to essi