Review: The Fall by Bethany Griffin

The Fall

Author: Bethany Griffin
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Genre: YA Gothic/Horror/Retellings
Format: ebook
Release Date: October 7, 2014
Source: egalley received from publisher via Edelweiss
Rating: 4 Stars
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***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my open and honest opinion.***

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Madeline Usher is doomed.

She has spent her life fighting fate, and she thought she was succeeding. Until she woke up in a coffin.

Ushers die young. Ushers are cursed. Ushers can never leave their house, a house that haunts and is haunted, a house that almost seems to have a mind of its own. Madeline’s life—revealed through short bursts of memory—has hinged around her desperate plan to escape, to save herself and her brother. Her only chance lies in destroying the house.

In the end, can Madeline keep her own sanity and bring the house down? The Fall is a literary psychological thriller, reimagining Edgar Allan Poe’s classic The Fall of the House of Usher.

My Review:

I read this right after another Poe retelling and was just completely swept away by the dark creepiness. I felt kind of meh about Bethany Griffin’s other two books, Masque of the Red Death and Dance of the Red Death, but I absolutely love Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher so I knew I had to give this a try. Oh boy, I am so glad I did. Don’t read this book at night in the dark. Especially if you live in an old house. I grew up in an old house so I know how they can creak and whine and groan and make all kinds of noises. So this book totally freaked me out. I was reading on a plane and every bump due to turbulence had me jumping. Goosebumps were appearing on my arms. This book was that creepy. Between the scary House that’s clearly trying to kill everybody to the creepy old doctors trying to “cure” Madeline’s “illness”, my skin was crawling. *shudders*

And that, my friends, is exactly how you should be feeling whenever you are reading an Edgar Allen Poe retelling. The main character, Madeline, is kind of naïve, but she’s been locked up in the House of Usher her whole life and is cursed so what do you expect? She is prone to fits where she falls into a trance, experiences extreme pain, passes out, etc. These tend to occur whenever she is thinking ill thoughts towards the house…*dun dun dun*

Her twin brother, Roderick, is somewhat of a coward and to be honest, I never liked him. He just kept abandoning Madeline because he was too afraid to face the reality that was his life. So he ran away to school and came home less and less frequently, leaving her in the care of the creeptastic doctors. Doctors just freak me out normally. But these ones that were so fascinated with taking Madeline’s blood, examining the color of her skin completely freaked me out. I’m seriously gagging over here. It was just weird which totally fit with the whole vibe of the story.

Something I feel needs mentioning is the way the story was written. It jumps around a lot between when Madeline was younger and older, but still moves forward chronologically, if that makes any sense at all. Probably not huh? Example: Chapter One: Madeline is Eleven. Chapter Two: Madeline is Sixteen. Chapter Three: Madeline is Twelve. Chapter Four: Madeline is Seventeen. Get it? I found this to be just a tad confusing. For one, her voice sounds the same. She didn’t really sound any younger in her younger chapters. And two, the chapters are extremely short so at times you’re pulled from 18 to 12 in one page and then back again in another. I did like getting the story from her younger years as well as her older years. There were a lot of necessary details to the story within, but I think it could have been organized a bit better.

And then there was the ending which was a bit confusing. After going back and rereading it, I think I understand now, but am still not wholly certain. It was rather abrupt and I kind of felt like the book had gotten its head chopped off. But other than these two small, minor complaints, I really enjoyed this story. I’m so happy that I gave Bethany Griffin another chance, because this Poe retelling was truly remarkable. It will have you looking over your shoulder and lying awake at night staring at your door, just waiting for something bad to happen. Happy reading all!

Have you read this one? Read Bethany Griffin's other two books? How did this one compare? Were you completely creeped out by the doctors and House? How did you feel about the way the chapters jumped around?