Review: Artists will get it the most.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 2, 2014
Well, well, well, Kenya Wright. What a way to kick off my 2014 reading.Admittedly, I've been admiring this black author of multicultural fiction from afar for a while now. Her name keeps popping up in various author circles, and that's a good sign. I wanted to know what all the hype was about. Now I know.I'm so glad I dived into this dark art story that she offered for free on Amazon. I don't think it will be leaving my conscious or subconscious mind any time soon. Romance, murder mystery, paranormal, love for art, a dark twist, and a few life lessons about survival and living life to the fullest are all wrapped up in an engaging story here.I really liked Alvarez (hot Cuban with two hearts) and Elle (beautiful model struggling to find herself). She represents the muse I think many artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and those heavily invested in sharing their creativity with the world can relate to having, even though the muse is really Death in this book. I actually highlighted two lines that particularly struck a chord in my gut. May I share them with you? Thanks. It's not often that I highlight passages within a novel, but I thought these were so beautiful. So accurate. So inspiring. If you're an artist, they'll ring true deep within you:1. "You're a muse. You inspire the creative to imagine something great and you stimulate the dull and unoriginals' minds to think outside the box."2. "He'd made it his life to show the world something so powerful, the image would be ingrained in their minds for years after they've seen it."Ah, yes. An artist and his or her muse walk hand-in-hand to create something memorable.Let me geek out for a moment as I close this review.Two movies came to mind while reading this, so I loved that Elle was a movie buff. She would appreciate my movie references and quotes. 1. Saw I-VI (Yes, there are actually SIX of them!), for the theme of survival against all odds and learning to love your life: "Until a person is faced with death, it's impossible to tell whether they have what it takes to survive." Throughout the whole movie franchise, Jigsaw goes to extremes to make sure people know the value of their lives. Characters in this novel do that too. 2. Poison Ivy 2, for the dark art taking over your life: "That's Peter, the performance artist as he likes to refer to it, self as show. Someday, with any luck somebody will put him out of his misery." In that 1996 movie, art student, Alyssa Milano, allows her dark muse to wreck havoc on her life. Sometimes people are able to come back from the darkness. Sometimes they are not. You'll have to read The Muse to know which ones do in this story.Elle's ability to quote and recognize lines from any movie was a unique character quality to read about. I found it exciting since I tend to think of myself in that way every now and then. Although I'm not quite on Elle's level, I have a tendency to quote obscure lines from movies. For instance, "Kill the beast while he's wounded," is one of my faves. Thandie Newton delivers it with such passion in Chronicles of Riddick that I felt it down to my toes. "When Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die," is another fave from another fave actor. Tom Hardy as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises was another villain that stole my heart and planted that line in my head forever. Of course, there are the ones such as "Say hello to my little friend," that everyone knows and loves. I won't even insult you with giving the movie and actor for that one. My point in all this rambling--Elle was one hell of a character with a talent I found intriguing, and it had nothing to do with her modeling or being an artist's muse.