Reviews

Chiaroscuro: The Mouse and the Candle by Matthew S. Cox

12rhys23's review

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Started out promising. I thought it would be a drawn out philosophical back and forth on the debate of good and evil, priest and vampire, and explore what happens when the 'evil' vampire is maybe not completely as expected. 

Instead I got a lot of uncomfortable (and many!) scenes of the 8 year old girl crawling into an older man's lap, cuddling him, and making orgasmic moans when she's allowed to feed on the older priest. Yikes! 
 
Skipped ahead, wound up at the end, the end was stupid. DNF

2 stars for the first 80 pages I enjoyed. 

_viscosity_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thecraftynene's review against another edition

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3.0

This could have been a short story. All that plodding along, all the priest’s misery and self-loathing for THAT ending? Very unsatisfying.

jledgren's review against another edition

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3.0

Decent, but could benefit from editing. I very much enjoyed the concept, and there were very interesting themes such as in the story of the mouse and the candle and the themes of Abraham. With that said, much of this book was the same thing over and over. To me, it didn't drive home the monotony of eternity but instead became boring and predictable. Additionally, I found the descriptions of black characters particularly problematic. Overall this book had a lot of potential, but ultimately fell short for me.

yche09's review

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4.0

Fascinating take on creatures that we all love/hate... Vampires.

This book was a mystery to me. I was given just a few details before I reviewed it. I thought it was a horror book of course because of some of the description. However, even if this book contained a few scary moments, it also had me interested in the history and relationship of the characters. I could definitely say that there's a hint of drama here and there.

What strikes me as unique in this book is the way Antonio Molinari treated vampires. The book's timeline is indeed very long because as we all know, vampires can live forever and yet, he (Antonio) kept his faith alive along with the belief that they can be saved. His character also has an amazing amount of strength. To endure many things for such a long time is quite outstanding.

The little girl though... How to describe her... Hmmm... Let's just say that while I liked her character, I had many, many doubts. She's adorable, I give you that. However, there instances wherein I thought.. Ah, this would be her turning point. This is one of the things that you gotta look forward to. Will she or will she not be a creature of darkness?

I love following the events that span years and years. Like I said, the history part intrigued me. I've been reading for a long time and I know that it's always good when the author pushes you to research on things. It's a show of great interest. This book made me research even the most insignificant things (clothes, shoes, cars of a certain era) It was quite fun really. :)

The ending had me satisfied. I can't think of a better way to end this book.


I guess what I appreciate the most in this book is that it sticks to the belief that vampires are not just some teen-made-fantasy creatures. They're more complex and they're not just a thing of the night. They're so much more, so if you're tired of vampire-books-made-for-teens romances, then this one is for you.

rosanec's review

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3.0

Not really what I was expecting. This is not what I call horror. Paranormal drama, maybe.
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