Evening lovely readers 🙂
As promised here is my review of the riveting Jessica by some of the most talented writers you will find. Again I will be sounding like a broken record but I LOVE FANTASY. Heck I’d bathe in the damn thing if it were substantial enough to do so (yes I meant substantial, though not huge there is a fair bit of me 😉 ). I do however try to branch out on the genres I read as you can find some real gems in the most unexpected places. For example, if you get a chance please read my review on the awe inspiring Zero by J.S Collyer. Now I’m not usually one for sci-fi but the story was immense with in-depth scene setting and characters who you saw as human rather then plot points, but I digress… Jessica is one of these lovely little gems that reaches out and grabs you by the throat screaming READ ME, READ ME NOW and not once will you be disappointed that you did.
If you have not heeded my advice before pop on over to Helena’s blog now, she is one of my most favourite writers. There you will find a scrummy assortment of literary ooey gooey goodness that will leave you in awe of the very writer you seek. Helena herself is a writer and dilettante of such high calibre that I feel honoured to review her work. As icing on the cake this collection includes another of my most favourite writers, J.S Collyer. The author of Zero lends her literary genius to this collection to help complete the the dazzling effect of the overall narrative.
The book entitled Jessica is a bid to answer the question who is Jessica B Bell. It is essentially a horror story told from the perspective of other people with one character seeming to be the more main narrators throughout. Now if you have been on Helena’s website you’ll see the mysterious Jessica figure mentioned a lot, in both passing and as author of some fantastic narratives of her own. But who is she? What ensues is such an adventure of intrigue and questions for the protagonist Helena that you are left reeling even as you continue to read. We’re never treat to interaction with Jessica ourselves but multiple points of her life are related by those who have met her, those who have met her and gone mad and those who have met her and stopped themselves before they went mad. Is Jessica such a demon to be feared? The great thing about this book is that you can relate to the stories as you read them and I can’t talk for others but I certainly found my heart pounding as I read the horrors these tales related. Imagine mutilating your own face so you don’t speak of the demons you know are real? Or witnessing the birth of a demon child through the face of the mother, a mother who has been plagued by a demon voice for so long?
This collective narrative is very well written, encompassing the more thrilling aspects of horror without being too overtly gory. The language used is also exceptional in that it’s used to the greatest effect,
‘Then she twirled and sauntered away, though in my eyes her head twisted and her eyes stayed on me right until she was out of sight.’
I know right? Ahhhhhhh that was chilling and gave me the creeps at the same time, but I have to say one of my favourite sentences came from the very beginning of the book. It’s decadent and lavish and as if you’re rolling around in velvety caramel,
‘There are rumours that I keep a writer trapped in my basement, chained to a chair, writing stories by candlelight in her own blood on dirty yellow parchment, but I assure you, those rumours are exaggerations, darlings.’
It’s this level of creative genius that flows straight through the book. Undoubtedly it’s a brilliant piece of well written horror that you will find engrossing, thrilling, scary and unique. I urge you to pick up this book today as you won’t be disappointed. I really cannot say one bad thing about any of the writers as they all work in such an exceptional way that it really makes a literary geek such as myself happy.
Thank you 🙂
The Torn Page - A K Hinchey's Writing Blog 