Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell review- ish (The Book Spooktacular)

This is my last post for the blog tour. I hope you guys enjoyed it and make sure to go over to Ashley's blog to read the last part of her story.

It's been a blast!

I love this book and the mini-series, it's rare that I love both a book and it's tv adaptation. It's the kind of book I'm always on the hunt for, the timeless kind of story. It's huge, so I understand if it's daunting to pick up. It's over 800 pages.
I for one was excited about its size. I like longer books, I grew up reading LoTR so that's probably why. It's an incredibly crafted story with an expansive world and intricate magic system. It's one of those books that sets the stage for you, and goes slowly into the telling of it and then completely knocks the wind out of you when all the pieces start to click into place.

Susanna Clarke is a wordsmith. She's the type of writer who you can tell puts thought and care into every aspect of the story, and it shows.

It's about a prophecy, magic, and the two magicians who unwittingly fulfill that prophecy.

It's very gothic in style, one of my favorite things about it. That and the magical realism paired with the historical setting. It's the fine details in a story that win me over ultimately and this one is full of them.

It's rich and layered... like a cake.

It also has one of my favorite villains, The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair. He's also a fairy, but not the fairy archetype you're used to seeing in most media. But the rather the darker, more dangerous type that is rooted in Celtic folklore. Basically the type of faeries that I prefer.

He such a creepy presence in this book and show. He's a little bit like an aged Peter Pan, in the way that he is incredibly temperamental and prone to impulsive acts. The best example of what a faerie should be, in my opinion of course.

All of the other characters are amazing too. Strange is my other favorite along with Childermass and Arabella. The storyline is spellbinding and the setting is appropriately moody and magical.

I can't stress enough how fantastic both the book and show really are. They did an amazing job bringing the book to life, which was quite a feat in itself.

It's a stunning work of art, and if you love England, mythology, faeries, magic and any type of historical fiction.  I highly recommend it!!!

A bit of caution though the book and the show are quite dark, and deal with some occult things like tarot cards and scrying. Also has the dead being raised, and the show has a brief scene with some nudity ( Not sexually, just a giving birth scene on a slave ship.) 


I'm going on a hiatus for November. Going to try to focus on writing. Best of luck with all your Nano novels!!!