A review by C J Dee
A review by C J DeePage count: 511
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Corvus (HarperCollins)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3/5
Christina Rossetti was only a young girl when she inadvertently strengthened and bound herself to her uncle, John Polidori — a vampire.
Adelaide McKee and John Crawford had a one night stand that resulted in a daughter. It is seven years later that John finds out and only because Adelaide has discovered their daughter is in the clutches of Christina’s uncle.
Through very many twists and turns, Adelaide, Crawford, Christina et al must rescue the girl and defeat Polidori to save London as they know it.
I found Hide Me Among the Graves to be a very difficult novel to finish. I’m not sure if this is because it spans from 1845 to 1882; because there seems to be a lot happening at once; or because it feels very much like a classic literature novel. To be honest with you, dear reader, I am a much bigger fan of contemporary writing.
I loved the idea of the overall story. Vampires in 19th century London, what’s not to love? However, upon attempting to read it, I felt it went on for far too long and became repetitive at points.
Some of the characters had great depth and they were wonderful. I felt others, however, could have been easily combined to lessen the cast and potentially save some pages. They didn’t bring much to the novel so when they appeared I struggled to remember their point in the story.
Generally speaking, if you like vampire fiction and you like classic literature, I can almost guarantee that Hide Me Among the Graves will send you over the moon. Personally though, I felt it was overstuffed, overwritten, and underwhelming.
