By Robert Beatty
Serefina, a young girl, lives in the basement of the Biltmore Estate. Her father, the electrician, hides her. She scurries about and views the occupants above in secret, until one day she sees a man in a black cloak swallow up a young girl. More children disappear and Serefina takes it upon herself to protect the Estate.
A middle-grade book, I was surprised at how quickly the story became scary. The description of the man in the black cloak is terrifying. This is a perfect tale for someone wanting a scary, ghost-like story.
The Biltmore Estate is a real place (you can look it up), and Beatty did a fantastic job creating atmosphere surrounding this magnificent piece of history. Atmosphere is mostly why the story is engrossing.
Serefina is an unusual girl. She's got odd quirks and seems a little off. There were a few internal dialogues with herself that seemed lengthy and took forever to get to the point. Because of this, I cannot give the story a full rating. The internal 'figuring out of things' felt forced.
The villain is malicious and dark, and the conclusion to the novel will have your heart pounding.
For a Gothic, somewhat historical tale of a girl who wants to belong, I'd recommend this.
4/5 STARS
No comments:
Post a Comment