Review: Beautiful Story, Intricately crafted plot, Amazing characters I'd follow to hell and back
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 16, 2014
In Death’s Dream Kingdom, Jessica Penot tugs at the fabric of reality. She turns everything you think you know on its head, weaves a vivid world with seraphims, gods, demons, hollow men and Death himself.Her writing style reminds me of Neil Gaiman--sparse and powerful. An understated elegance and profoundness.Cera and Arawyn are a love story I can sink my soul into. Torn apart by their very nature but always finding each other across the lifetimes.I loved how the author interspersed parts of T.S. Eliot’s poems at the beginning of each chapter. Such a unique touch and brilliantly done!The setting for the tree of life and the plain of stars was beyond beautiful. I could picture each place in my mind as if I had been there to visit. The richness of detail to the middle and lower kingdoms was perfect. I could see each step of the journey but I was never bogged down in description.I loved all the ritual and mythology. I cannot imagine how much research Ms. Penot did behind the scenes to make everything so accessible to the reader.Ms. Penot is a gifted and talented writer. Definitely someone I will continue reading and be expecting greater and greater things from!This is a very deep and symbolic book--perfect for a book club discussion.When I reached the end, I felt absolutely satiated but hoping for more--exactly what a great book should do!