A Gothic Romance

The Architect of Song by A.G. Howard

This was the book that came in my September Lit-Cube, which was curated by the author herself. Not sure why it took me so long to read, as the book is quite good. I guess I am just not feeling like myself, as I usually get through at least a book a week, and this has not been the case since school started.

At any rate, I highly recommend this new adult book.

Juliet just lost her mother. Juliet is deaf, and has been since she was eight years old, when she contracted an illness that also took her father. Her uncle helped raise her, and now he is pushing for her to marry a viscount who wants her house. Juliet is not happy about this, and plans to do everything she can to keep this from happening.

I need to back up a smidge.

While at the cemetery for her mother's funeral, Juliet wanders and finds a man who is trying to get into the grave area of a man named Hawk. The man is angry. There is an unusual flower planted at the grave. Juliet digs it up, and discovers that the petals of this flower allow her to see the ghost of the man who is buried there.

Juliet finds that she is in love with this ghost who has some unfinished business. She also finds that she ultimately likes, and maybe even loves, the man who was intent on taking her house. How will she juggle these two loves, and what mysteries surround the two of them?

A Pottermore Trio

Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics, and Pesky Poltergeists
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship, and Dangerous Hobbies

As the title of my post suggests, these were available on Kindle from Pottermore. Three delightful novellas for any fan of Harry Potter. I loved all three. In reading these, I learned more about some of the professors at Hogwarts in terms of their backgrounds. I also learned, to a certain degree, how JK Rowling came up with the names of the characters, as well as their personalities.

Another nice thing was learning about the Sorting Hat, the Chamber of Secrets, and stories of a couple of the ghosts who roam the halls of Hogwarts.

A quick read, all three of them, but invaluable to a true Potterhead.

Prequels Can be Creepy Too

Escape from Asylum by Madeline Roux

I am so glad I stumbled across the first book in this series a couple of years ago! If I hadn't I would not have had the opportunity to read five (four, and one of novellas) books that revolve around an asylum. Of all of the books in this series, this one was my favorite.

Being a prequel, this one has nothing to do with Dan, Abby and Jordan, and I was so ok with that. I mean, what could they have done with that as a prequel anyway? Tell about their lives before they came to Brookline that summer? I don't know that that would have been worth reading. Thankfully, this takes place roughly fifty years prior to the events in the original trilogy.

Ricky is brought to Brookline by his mother and stepfather because they can't deal with him anymore. He is angry (he attacked his stepfather), and *gasp!* had a relationship with a boy. Obviously (eye roll here), this is enough to put a person in a mental facility. While there, Ricky meets Kay, a transgendered teen, who may never get out unless she starts acting like "her true self."

Ricky actually doesn't have it as bad as some of the other patients at Brookline because the warden has bigger plans for Ricky. Plans that include "curing" him without lobotomizing him or shock therapy. In theory, this sounds good, but every other time the warden has tried this, patients have died, including Ricky's biological father.

Will Ricky become a pawn of the warden's? Will he ever get out of this place? Read this book and find out.