Blood on Her Tongue A Gothic Horror from the Author of My Darling Dreadful Thing

Zuerst denkt man, man hat es schon durchblickt. Aber nein, meine Freunde. Man hat es nicht durchschaut. Es ist doch ganz anders, als man anfangs denkt. Und die Art und Weise, wie es alles erzählt ist, ist ne schöne Mischung aus Gothik Vibes und leisem Horror. Und ich liebe das Ende!

Thanks NetGalley for the arc! Read this one if you love The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, Dracula, T. Kingfishers works and books like Leech by Hiron Ennes. Summary: Sarah, Lucys twin sister, discovers a bog body on the grounds of her estate. Fascinated by the morbid and in love with with science, she becomes obsessed with the "bog woman", watching her autopsy and mentioning her frantically in writing to her sister. Two weeks later, Lucy receives a letter letting her know that her sister is plagues by a sickness - similar to a burst "insanity" that has befallen her once before. After the commitment of their aunt to a mental asylum, Sarah and Lucy are deathly afraid of the same future awaiting Sarah. Lucy rushes to Sarahs sickbed, but it becomes more and more clear that some kinds of sickness cannot be healed - if you could even call Sarahs state of mind a sickness... This one was fabulous. Lovely writing fitting for a novel set in the 19th century, a moody atmosphere found in the wetlands of the Netherlands, enticing, yet not always likeable characters and a healthy heap of eeriness made this book a lovely blend of everything slightly unsettling. I would not say this book is gruesome psycho horror, but it is definitely not for the faint of mind (or stomach.) Between the chapters, we often find letters or articles giving us more insight in the characters and their surroundings. Whilst the twins were generally very loving towards each other, they both had huge flaws which made the book even more believable and interesting. Intersected with thoughts of the pull between whats wrong and what feels right, mostly our main characters have a lot of depth. Be warned that men, especially in the nineteenth century, were awful, so if you feel uncomfortable reading about a man thinking of an independent woman as unnatural, maybe skip this one (but remember that this also entails reading about badass independen. I loved this slightly different interpretation of vampirism and enjoyed discovering every piece of information we could get our hands on. This book was moody, eerie, fascinating and creepy - and I loved all of it!

I really enjoyed this book. At first, Lucy, the “good” sister, got really on my nerves - but not in a bad way. She changes a lot over the story and grows as a character. Funny enough, I actually liked the “bad” sister more. The relationship between the two sisters feels real and complex. There are a few gory moments, but the main focus is on the real struggles women faced back then - being called too emotional or hysterical, and always fearing that a husband or family member could have them sent to an asylum. The ending felt very satisfying. I would recommend this book if you like stories like this