Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore ISBN: 9781250162731
Published by Feiwel & Friends on January 14, 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
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With Anna-Marie McLemore's signature lush prose, Dark and Deepest Red pairs the forbidding magic of a fairy tale with a modern story of passion and betrayal.
Summer, 1518. A strange sickness sweeps through Strasbourg: women dance in the streets, some until they fall down dead. As rumors of witchcraft spread, suspicion turns toward Lavinia and her family, and Lavinia may have to do the unimaginable to save herself and everyone she loves.
Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes seal to Rosella Oliva’s feet, making her dance uncontrollably. They draw her toward a boy who knows the dancing fever’s history better than anyone: Emil, whose family was blamed for the fever five hundred years ago. But there’s more to what happened in 1518 than even Emil knows, and discovering the truth may decide whether Rosella survives the red shoes.
Characters: 7, I cared about Lala and Dorenia far more than I cared about Rosella and Emil, who seemed to have the same voice but different hobbies. Or at least, Emil had a hobby and Rosella was just kind of….there. Several of the secondary characters were additive to the plot, but in true fairytale fashion, they weren’t really more than cardboard standups.
Atmosphere: 8, both the historical and modern settings were relatively easy to picture, given their descriptions. The Strasbourg 1518 setting was far more immersive to me, but that’s partly because there were multiple threads of tension, whereas the modern setting had one.
Writing: 6, I think the author was going for a fantastical fairy tale vibe, but the modern-day chapters were more purple than necessary for scene setting, and the same concepts were told (not shown) repeatedly. There were a few times when the author contravened her own words in a scene, which threw me out of the action. And the very short chapters with rotating POV was distracting and frustrating (and didn’t serve the plot but did put a barrier between me and feeling a sense of kinship with Rosella or Emil).
Plot: 9, the overall concept was striking: a re-imagining of a fairytale, connected with an actual Medieval dance plague, overlaid with both feminist and “accept your family’s past as part of your identity” themes. The ending was sweet- though, again, I was more impacted by Lala’s tale than Rosella and Emil’s- and I appreciate the magical realism concept (which reminded me of Sarah Addison Allen in it’s broad strokes within the modern setting).
Intrigue: 7, it was an easy read, and I did want to see what happened with the dancing plague (which was new to me, and is fascinating).
Logic: 7, the characters definitely acted in accordance with their driving motivations (mostly fear), but there were multiple incidents of sudden, convenient resolutions that spoke more to fairytale than reality, so I had to keep reminding myself to see the plot through that lens. And, like a fairytale, there are a few lessons one can take from both sets of stories, about fear and the self.
Enjoyment: 7, it’s definitely an original book, and the Romani culture inclusion was fascinating (though for the first half of the book, I thought Rosella was also Romani). I also appreciate the LGBTQIA+ aspect, especially as we know for a fact that’s not a modern concept, but so many historical fiction authors hetero-wash their histories. And I always appreciate being introduced to new facts (like the existence of affrèrement!)
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
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