![Cover image of Young Gothic by M.A.Bennet. On a deep blue and red background, stylistic illustrations of people hover, like smoke, over an isolated, house in the woods. Directly above the house is a woman in a dark jumper, with long black hair. Her features are striking, and her arms seem to be broken apart, like shards. Above her, a man, seemingly with two heads, their hair tangles. One face looks concerned, and wears glasses, the other has red eyes, unencumbered by glasses, and looks smug. Right at the top, backlit by a red moon, and framed on either side by bats, is a man with floppy dark waves. He glared toward the viewer. The entire cover is rendered in shades of blue, red and black. In the centre of the cover, not blocking any of the faces. the title of the book [Young Gothic] is written in a red, sharp edged font. At the bottom of the book the author's name [M.A. Bennett] is written in a pale blue retro, serif font.](https://eebonnerauthor.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/image-6.png?w=667)
Thank you to M.A. Bennett, Hachette Children’s Group, and NetGalley for a galley of this in exchange for an honest review.
Young Gothic was an intoxicating read. Filled with magic, mystery, and Gothic charm, the book draws you in, wrapping you in a spider web of intrigue.
I liked all of the characters, and Bennett is expert at crafting unique voices, shifting between slang terms, and gendered outlook with fluid ease. Eve, Ren, Griff, and Hal were each unique in their owns ways, and the story was framed just differently enough through each of their eyes to add to the intrigue of the narrative, without becoming confusing or repetitive.
There was a meta edge to this which I also really enjoyed, I like fiction that is self-conscious of the rules, and consciously tries to defy them. The narrative zigged and zagged, but could never truly escape its generic conventions, and I love how aware of that the MCs were. The self-conscious intertextuality of this was also fascinating, and the tying together of a variety of Gothic classics with a new narrative thread, was a really unique way of situating this in tradition, whilst also bucking convention.
I do think this might have been a little ambitious in places, I think there were some elements that I thought might develop more, and the didn’t, and the ending felt a little hasty – I am not sure I was totally convinced by it! That being said, this is YA Gothic fantasy, so suspension of disbelief is definitely required. Another thing I found a little odd [SPOILER] was the focus on fertility, which might be returned to in a later books, if this does get a sequel, and isn’t necessarily irrelevant… as a theme, though, I am not sure enough time was given to it. I think rather than strike a significant chord, I worry it feels perilously close to being, dare I say, uncomfortable in its handling. This is a really sensitive issue for a number of reasons, and whilst within the narrative the impacted characters are kind of coming to terms with things, and feel uncertain about how it is going to play into their life more widely, I think there was some voicing of unpleasant thoughts that wasn’t really assuaged.
Overall though, I thought this was good! A very enjoyable read.
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