Greenwillow Books The Fall

I loved this book. It was action all the way through. From the first few pages. I was sucked in. Felt sorry for her by the end. She so wanted to get away. Its a must read for all ages.

A thoroughly creepy, atmospheric and wonderfully written story.The writer managed to capture the utter desperation and darkness of the house and its effect on its residents, namely the Usher family, in this re-telling of an old 'Poe' tale.Highly recommended for anyone that loves moody gothic horror / haunted tales. However, my only bugbear after such build up was the ending, which I thought was a tad odd. (I had to read it twice to attempt to grasp it, but that's probably just me!)The timeline flitted backwards and forwards using Madeline's ages at a given time to tell the story:i.e. Chapter heading, Madeline is 15, Madeline is 9, Madeline is 11, then back again.Although this didn't run in chronological order, it enforced my sense of Madeline's psychological torment and enhanced her slipping grip on reality throughout.Holds your attention. All in all, a great read.

My interest for the paranormal should be no surprise by now. When I saw this book, which promises to tell the tale of a haunted house and a cursed family, I decided it was the perfect read for these somewhat dreary autumn nights. My expectations were high, but the Fall doesn’t quite deliver.The Fall by Bethany Griffin is based on the fall of the house of Usher, a short story by one of the older masters of horror Edgar Allan Poe. The original story is told from the perspective of a young man who goes to visit an old friend and his sister who slowly succumb to madness and an undescribed family illness, which leads to the brother putting his sister in the family tomb despite her not being dead. The Fall is told by the sister Madeline. Short memories from her early childhood to her adolescence should enlighten us slowly to what is going on. You see, Madeline is cursed, and as if being cursed isn’t bad enough, the house in which she lives is part of it. It is an almost omniscient presence, an evil presence. It speaks to Madeline, tries to keep her on the estate, but doing so will slowly drive her mad, just like all her ancestors. When she wakes up in a coffin she is not sure whether she will survive at all, let alone break the ancient curse that threatens to claim the life of her dearly beloved twin brother as well as her own.If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be ‘melancholia’. The atmosphere is at times claustrophobic and suffocating, at other times dreary and heavyhearted. The house is truly a main character, you can almost feel it breathing through the pages of the book. The scenery Griffin manages to paint is astonishing in its woefulness and lives up to Poe’s gothic tale.Unfortunately, there were also quite some things that I didn’t like about this novel. The Fall had so much potential. We have a cruel estate, a family illness, a girl slowly going mad: all the ingredients to make for an interesting story. Sorry to disappoint, but it isn’t nearly as interesting as it promises to be. The short chapters could make for such an exciting read, yet they are too repetitive. Yes, we know Madeline is cursed, we know she is physically weak and we know that the house is evil. I think show, don’t tell comes in handy here. I want to see that the house is maleficent way earlier in the text instead of being told so. There isn’t enough happening to justify the length of this novel. Another thing is that the story should be a mystery to us. Through the short pieces of memory, the reader should be able to slowly piece together what is happening. However, I think almost everyone will be able to almost immediately tell what is going on, and this takes away from the little suspense this novel already had. Also, Madeline bugged me at times. She felt utterly useless, though that could be me. She is supposed to be frail and sickly, after all. What I also disliked, was that though the presence of the house felt very real, I couldn’t get a clear picture of it. I don’t think the main characters did, either. Apparently you can live your entire life in the house of Usher without ever seeing more than, say, a third of it.The Fall is really an atmospheric book. It could be improved in some ways, yet I did not find it bothersome to read. It really depends on what you expect and what you like. If you want to read a novel without a chronological timeline that allows you to slowly realise what has happened, I would advise the double shadow by Sally Gardner rather than the fall. You won’t find a horror story full of suspense, either. Do read if you enjoyed Edgar Allan Poe’s the fall of the house of Usher or if you are a big fan of slow-paced, mainly atmospheric psychological horror.

I read this book in high school and finally bought myself a copy because I’ve been kinda wanting to reread it. I’ve never really been a huge fan of reading so take that as you may.If you are used to more strong horror don’t get your hopes up. This is what I like to call semi spooky ambient lore for Edgar Allan Poe’s classic story “The Fall Of The House Usher”. It goes through the life a a girl from the family of usher and what she goes through in the house with with her familial experiences and the curse witch afflicts her family. It is mildly confusing to read at first because if I remember correctly it jumps between her pov to diary entries. It takes a little bit to get used too but once I did I couldn’t put it down.I thought it was super unique and It will likely be on my list of favorite books for a long while.

This surprisingly decent take on Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher" starts off as a creepy ghost story, as we learn about the influence of the House on the Usher family. However, it eventually devolves into a sappy young adult love story, as the main character is torn between her young doctor, her brother, and her brother's gay lover. Stop reading about seventy pages from the end so you won't have to suffer through this Twilight rehash of an ending.