| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
MissRubyJones
Joined: 22 Apr 2008
Posts: 78
|
 Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:51 pm Post subject: Great Gothic - Sea of Secrets by Amanda DeWees |
 |
|
I have NEVER been so excited about a book that I come here to post about it, but I am WILD about Amanda DeWees' Sea of Secrets (which I purchased, btw, on Smashwords during a sale I found out about on the Romance Potpourri board  ) .
It's one of the top 5 books of any genre that I've read this year, in a genre I thought was dead -- the gothic romance. I can't say enough about the quality of the writing or the quality of the story. I only slept three hours last night, because I couldn't stop reading it!
I would, without hesitation, put this book up with Mary Stewart or Daphne DuMaurier - it's that good.
Has anyone else read this book?!?! Or have I miraculously stumbled upon a diamond in the rough?!?! |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Eggletina
Joined: 06 Jul 2010
Posts: 349
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Hmm... haven't read this or even heard of this author, but if she's comparable to Stewart or du Maurier (two of my favorites), I'll have to give her a try. Thanks for the rec! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MissRubyJones
Joined: 22 Apr 2008
Posts: 78
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Check it out, Eggletina. I have a full synopsis and links to it at Smashwords and Amazon on my blog.
Read it and let me know what you think. I know I'm raving like a crazy woman, lol, but I haven't read a new author that excited me as much as this one in ages.
Now, let's just hope she's not one of those one-hit wonders they're talking about over on the Potpourri board
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kris
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 301
Location: Southwestern Ontario
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:08 pm Post subject: sea of secrets |
|
|
I'm always up for a great gothic. Just bought it at KOBO. I'll let you know what I think
_________________
Behind every successful man is a surprised woman. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MissRubyJones
Joined: 22 Apr 2008
Posts: 78
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 9:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
Hurry hurry, kris - I can't wait to have someone to discuss this with!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
maggie b.
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 2263
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 12:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I bought a copy also. But I am sooooooo behind on my reading. Hopefully I can read it in the next few days.
_________________
http://maggiebbooksandteas.blogspot.com
She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain. - Louisa May Alcott |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kris
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 301
Location: Southwestern Ontario
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 3:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
MissRubyJones said
| Quote: | | Hurry hurry, kris - I can't wait to have someone to discuss this with! |
Maggie b. said
| Quote: | | I bought a copy also. But I am sooooooo behind on my reading. Hopefully I can read it in the next few days. |
This will be my next book after Conor's Way. Lately I've been hitting the reading jackpot. Keep 'em coming
_________________
Behind every successful man is a surprised woman. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
maryskl
Joined: 25 Apr 2009
Posts: 328
Location: Alabama
|
| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Read it last night. Very good book! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MissRubyJones
Joined: 22 Apr 2008
Posts: 78
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
I'm so glad you liked it, maryskl!
I don't want to say too much about the book, because to do so would give some of the plot points away, but I was just so impressed by the wonderful characters and the story. I especially loved Oriel, the heroine.
One of my favorite aspects of SoS is how true to the Victorian period it is. After starting -- and failing to finish -- several wallpaper-y Regencies and Victorians lately, SoS was so refreshing. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MrsFairfax
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 1067
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
I'm reading it now and enjoying it. I don't have a very good track record with cheap e-books, so I'm especially pleased with MS. DeWees' prose. She's got a nice writing style and her pacing is good. My only issue is, I loathe Hamlet, so I'm predisposed to be more impatient with Herron than Oriel is at the moment.
_________________
Binocular vision, no need to hop, and an ever-so-much easier time of it climbing ladders.
- James Cobham in Freedom & Necessity |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MMcA
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 626
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | | My only issue is, I loathe Hamlet, so I'm predisposed to be more impatient with Herron than Oriel is at the moment. |
LOL. About half way through, even before the horrendous Ball incident, I wanted her to tip Herron off the nearest cliff. In a sense, I very much liked his character, because 20 is young enough that the teenage self-absorption and muddled thinking were believable, but even making allowances for his age, I thought he was not quite sane. But I believed that Oriel would fall for this beautiful mysterious youth, and that she'd been treated so badly throughout her life that she wouldn't realise what a relationship ought to be like.
And I got the HEA I was rooting for, so that made me happy. (The mother though - perhaps I'm overfond of my children, but I thought she took that revelation fairly lightly.) I didn't really believe that they'd all recover from that angst to become a happy family again, but somehow that didn't detract from my enjoyment - it was all melodrama, and I could live with the implausible ending.
I really liked the author's note at the back too: I thought she achieved what she had hoped to achieve with the book. I'd read her again.
Very minor quibble: at the very beginning, Oriel has been at the graveside at her brother's funeral. I thought women didn't do that? (I'm sure they did sometimes, but I thought they didn't as a rule. And you can't imagine that her father would have allowed her to defy custom.) On the other hand, I was really pleased that the author gave the soldiers their moustaches.
(ETA: should have said, MissRubyJones, thank you for the recommendation.) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Eggletina
Joined: 06 Jul 2010
Posts: 349
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 4:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| MMcA wrote: | | Quote: | | My only issue is, I loathe Hamlet, so I'm predisposed to be more impatient with Herron than Oriel is at the moment. |
LOL. About half way through, even before the horrendous Ball incident, I wanted her to tip Herron off the nearest cliff. In a sense, I very much liked his character, because 20 is young enough that the teenage self-absorption and muddled thinking were believable, but even making allowances for his age, I thought he was not quite sane. But I believed that Oriel would fall for this beautiful mysterious youth, and that she'd been treated so badly throughout her life that she wouldn't realise what a relationship ought to be like.
And I got the HEA I was rooting for, so that made me happy. (The mother though - perhaps I'm overfond of my children, but I thought she took that revelation fairly lightly.) I didn't really believe that they'd all recover from that angst to become a happy family again, but somehow that didn't detract from my enjoyment - it was all melodrama, and I could live with the implausible ending.
I really liked the author's note at the back too: I thought she achieved what she had hoped to achieve with the book. I'd read her again.
Very minor quibble: at the very beginning, Oriel has been at the graveside at her brother's funeral. I thought women didn't do that? (I'm sure they did sometimes, but I thought they didn't as a rule. And you can't imagine that her father would have allowed her to defy custom.) On the other hand, I was really pleased that the author gave the soldiers their moustaches.
(ETA: should have said, MissRubyJones, thank you for the recommendation.) |
I finished it today, too, and felt similarly about it. So many gothics follow the Jane Eyre template. It was fun to read one inspired by Hamlet.
Thanks again to MissRubyJones for the rec. I don't think I would have found this one without your comments here. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kris
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 301
Location: Southwestern Ontario
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
I'm about a third of the way through and I'm loving it. Wow ....her father sure is a nasty piece of work. Based on what I've read so far , I would buy
another book by this author. Can't wait to get back to reading it.
_________________
Behind every successful man is a surprised woman. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MissRubyJones
Joined: 22 Apr 2008
Posts: 78
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 10:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm so glad people are enjoying Sea of Secrets as much as I did. I am such a fan of Gothic romances, and finding this book was like finding hidden treasure.
Did anyone else enjoy the literary references as much as I did? I swooned over the reference to Tam Lin -- one of my favorite old English ballads (as done by Fairport Convention, of course )
Oh, and if you're still reading or haven't read the book yet, the author has created a "soundtrack" -- here's a link: http://www.amandadewees.com/?page_id=142
I love the idea of a soundtrack for a book... I feel a Romance Potpourri thread coming on  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Eggletina
Joined: 06 Jul 2010
Posts: 349
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
| MissRubyJones wrote: | Did anyone else enjoy the literary references as much as I did? I swooned over the reference to Tam Lin -- one of my favorite old English ballads (as done by Fairport Convention, of course )
|
Another one I noticed was Herron's nickname for Oriel: Ondine, after the water nymph. I also appreciated how the author turned the image of Ophelia on her head with what she does with Oriel in the tide.
Oriel's name reminded me of Orual in Till We Have Faces. I wondered if it was deliberate word play on the author's part. Lewis's book also deals with faith and love and that matter is openly discussed in Sea of Secrets. Might just be coincidence and my brain making random leaps as usual, though. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
