The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving | Book Review #130

The Bookish Island's Book Review:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

Are there spoilers?

This is a classic so I don't believe that a spoiler warning matters here.
But no, there aren't any spoilers.

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Title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Author: Washington Irving

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Genre: Classics, Horror, Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Mystery, Gothic, Historical Fiction

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Date Read: October 28, 2018

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Sleepy Hollow is a strange little place...some say bewitched. Some talk of its haunted valleys and streams, the ghostly woman in white, eerie midnight shrieks and howls, but most of all they talk of the Headless Horseman. A huge, shadowy soldier who rides headless through the night, terrifying unlucky travellers.

Schoolteacher Ichabod Crane is fascinated by these stories....Until late one night, walking home through Wiley's swamp, he finds that maybe they're not just stories.

What is that dark, menacing figure riding behind him on a horse? And what does it have in its hands?

And why wasn't schoolteacher Crane ever seen in Sleepy Hollow again? 

The Rating:

My Review:

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was a book I had been wanting to read since forever ago. Probably because of the movie that I saw when I was a kid and barely remember. And then the tv show, Sleepy Hollow came out and I remember that used to want to read the original story. But it was when I got the opportunity to be able to read The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo that I knew I had to finally sit myself down and finally read this story of a headless horseman and Ichabod Crane.

But I was truly disappointed to find out that although the story was short (which I like) it was also not that spooky. It didn't deliver on the spooks for me so I was sad when I finished reading it and nothing thrilling happened. 

In my Goodreads review I said:

I don't even know what I was expecting from the source of everything Sleepy Hollow. Maybe I expected a dark and exciting read but instead got -not that. 
But I'm still glad I read this because now I can, not only, say I read it but I can now read any adaptation.

And I still feel that way after months of having read it. I am glad. Glad that I read another classic. Because to me reading a well know/beloved classic means I've not only accomplished something that no one in my family has done (that I know of) but that I read a book I wouldn't have been able to read 5 years ago before I started this blog and reading journey. I used to get so mad because I wouldn't understand anything, the language or what was going on, and would just give up. Now I know for certain that me from 5 years ago would be so proud that I read this classic Along with so many others.

But I should mention that in regards to The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel I did write a review down for that book. So please make sure to check that out. It was such a good book to read during October.

The Spell Book of Katrina Van Tassell Review

Goodreads    

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The Bookish Island
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Dracula by Bram Stoker | Book Review #129

The Bookish Island's Book Review:
Dracula by Bram Stoker 

Are there spoilers?

This is a classic so I don't think a spoiler warning applies here.
But maybe there are some spoilers in this review.

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Title: Dracula

Author: Bram Stoker

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Pages: 448

Publisher: Back Bay Books

Published: 2005

Genre: Classics, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Gothic

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Date Read: October 20 > October 2018

Rating: ★★★★☆

Bram Stoker's classic novel of suspense and horror was a bestseller in Britain when it was published in 1897. A late 20th-century biographer of Stoker has suggested that famed Victorian actor Henry Irving, for whom Stoker worked for many years, was an inspiration for some of Count Dracula's characteristics.

The Rating:

My Review:

I wanted to participate in the Spookathon and I choose to add this book to my tbr for that readathon. It fit perfectly in the challenge to read a book not set in our current time period.

I ended up truly enjoying myself when I was reading this book and when I finished I was so proud because I got to finish a huge book that was also in an older English language. Which has always been one of the most difficult for me to read. 

I ended up deciding that I would split the rating for  Dracula right in the midddle. 

FOr me the first half of this story, where the narator is Johnathan Harker. And how he is telling Mina (and us, the reader) what is going on on his tavels to COunt Draculas Manor (or was it a castle) .Those chapters wee really good and thrilling. But when it came to the other half I was so confuzed and mixed up. Not only where thee too many htigs going on at once but Van Helsing was talking too much instead of jst telling eveyone what was going on plain and simple. And I got Mina and Luccy mixed up at first only to later get that they were completly different. And then the fact that Lucy's mom was a total dummy (and that's me writing it down in a PG sense) 

The first half gets a 4 out of 5 stars. 

Last half gets a 3 out of 5 stars. 

Although in my Goodreads review I said the following:

I give this spooky classic a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I would have given it a solid four if it weren't for the last half of it is all over the place. At least for me, it was. The first half gets a good 4.5 though. The portrayal of vampires in this was amazing. But the portrayal of the female characters lacked so much. I even got Mina and Lucy mixed up more than once. 

Still this is another book that I'm glad I read.

In regards to that review I posted. I no longer have those thoughts. 

The female characters in Dracula were more than great. It was the men who overshadowed them and made them seem as lame as they were. Van Helsing alone ruined most of the book with his vague explanations of vampires and what was going on in the story. And Johnathan barely did anything constructive. It was Mina who was out there taking care of her best friend, Lucy and giving away her blood to save her. Knowing that it was probably too late and that she was already a goner. Even putting herself in harm's way to do so.

Although the whole blood transfusion thing was done so wrong. It terrified me more than the vampires. Think of the infections or diseases that were happening at the time the story is set in and then think of blood types and how if you get the wrong type of blood it can kill a person.

This made me queasy more than once as I was reading it.

So now that some months have passed since I've read it I think I'd prefer to give Dracula a 4 out of 5 stars. And would gladly read again in the future.

Goodreads  

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The Bookish Island
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The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe | Book Review #128

The Bookish Island's Book Review:
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe 

Are there spoilers?

Its a classic so I don't think this warning matters here.
But yeah there's a little one.

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Title: The Tell-Tale Heart

Author: Edgar Allen Poe

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Genre: Classics, Horror, Fiction, Short Stories, Gothic

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Date Read: September 28, 2018

Rating: ★★★☆☆

'Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was a groan of mortal terror ... the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul.' 

Stories about murder, mystery and madness, portraying the author's feverish imagination at its creative height.

The Rating:

My Review:

I had never really known what The Tell-Tale Heart was about until I watched the Thug Notes for this story.

Thug Notes: The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe

So I didn't know what it was about until then and after I really wanted to read it for myself. And I did.

Not only was it a little creepy but it was a sweet short story that I read in a day. Which is always great in my book.

The whole aspect of the guy murdering someone and hearing his heart so loud that he thought he would be found out. That the police would find his remain under the floorboards. So good!

Goodreads 

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The Bookish Island
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The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo | Book Review #125

The Bookish Island's Book Review:
The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel: A Story of Sleepy Hollow by Alyssa Palombo

Are there spoilers?

No.
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Disclaimer:
This book was sent to me by the publishing company in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel
Author: Alyssa Palombo

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Pages: 416

Publisher: St. Martins Griffin

Published: 2018

Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Retelling, Historical, Fiction

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Date Read: October 3 > October 14, 2018

Rating: ★★★★★

When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. Ichabod knows that as an itinerant schoolteacher of little social standing, he has nothing to offer the wealthy Katrina – unlike her childhood friend-turned-enemy, Brom Van Brunt, who is the suitor Katrina’s father favors.

But when romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together – all while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Headless Horseman. That is, until All Hallows’s Eve, when Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position.

Enlisting the help of her friend – and rumored witch – Charlotte Jansen, Katrina seeks the truth of Ichabod Crane’s disappearance, investigating the forest around Sleepy Hollow using unconventional – often magical – means. What they find forces Katrina to question everything she once knew, and to wonder if the Headless Horseman is perhaps more than just a story after all. In Alyssa Palombo's The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel nothing is as it seems, and love is a thing even death won't erase.

The Rating:

My Review:

I initially saw this book on Goodreads when they had it up for the giveaway and I quickly applied. And lucky enough I won an arc copy f this book. I just set it aside and in my head, I planed when in October I would read it because I wanted to be in the perfect mood. Since it sounded so good and I also wanted to read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Knowing this story was an adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow I decided to read it before this. Though this story is its own completely different thing.

So the time came and I found Sleppy Hollow and read it. But I was slightly disappointed in it. Probably because I found it on Spotify and listened to it. I didn't completely let myself get immersed in it. 

The romance part in this was strange to me but I liked it. I was so worried for Katrina (the main character) during the whole story and I wanted her to be cool and for the most part, she was but just not what I expected when I thought of Sleepy Hollow. There was also magic and tarot so I loved those scenes a bunch. Cause I have tarot cards. 😁

Still, the story was amazing on its own. It had fantasy and bits of spooks, and drama, love triangles, and all that good stuff. So even though I was originally going to give this story 4 stars I ended up changing my mind the more I thought about it all. Now I think I it's 5-star material. 

Goodreads    

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The Bookish Island
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