Publication Date: April 16 2019

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Source: NetGalley

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Edgar Poe counts down the days until he can escape his foster family—the wealthy Allans of Richmond, Virginia. He hungers for his upcoming life as a student at the prestigious new university, almost as much as he longs to marry his beloved Elmira Royster. However, on the brink of his departure, all his plans go awry when a macabre Muse named Lenore appears to him. Muses are frightful creatures that lead Artists down a path of ruin and disgrace, and no respectable person could possibly understand or accept them. But Lenore steps out of the shadows with one request: “Let them see me!”

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*I would like to thank NetGalley for this advanced reader copy in return for an honest review*

A dark atmospheric and gothic tale that is worthy of Edgar Allan Poe!

” We’re all nothing more than beautiful young monsters.”

If you have read any of Winter’s books before you will not be surprised by the writing style or storytelling approach. It is what I love most about Winter’s books. She has a very unique style to telling dark, atmospheric historical fiction novels with surprising twists and turns! Winter’s take on the teenage years of Edgar Allan Poe piece together a possible detailed depiction of how this master of the macabre got his start.

” Horror is for the lower classes. Horror isn’t art!”

As a huge fan of Poe I was loving the odes to his work and the use of parts of his writings to tell the story of his beginning. The sprinkling of words from “The Raven” lit my heard with joy! There were so many great references to some of my favorite Poe works. It was evident that Winter’s did her research and worked hard to mimic Poes writing style at times.

The dual perspective with Poe and his muse Lenore wove together perfectly to share both the sides of Poe and his inner workings of the poets mind. Like any writer there is the internal struggle , especially being a teenager, Poe has a lot of obstacles to work through.

” I’m your son’s muse- his macabre spirit- his poetic obsession with madness and weirdness, and the most delicious horrors.”

Lenore was my favorite. I enjoyed her chapters so much more than Edgar’s. She was such a complex character and began to take on a life of her own. She has her own obstacles to deal with and figure out, while trying to help Poe become his best self and the dark, macabre poet he is meant to be.

Overall I was enthralled with the dark, grim and all things macabre that are woven throughout Poe’s young life. The gothic atmosphere that are so familiar in Poes writing is strongly apparent in this story. If I were to give this book a color it would be dark gray. I visualized the whole story in my head as a black and white and I loved that aspect of the book. It was a great depiction of how young Poes life could have been and shaped and let you imagine how his writing came about. Most notedly his poem “The Raven” ! A dark atmospheric and gothic tale that is worthy of Edgar Allan Poe!