Katherine Harbour's Blog - Posts Tagged "anti-hero"

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein
A horror story set in turn-of-the-century Geneva. Elizabeth was saved from a childhood of abuse and poverty, fostered by the wealthy Frankensteins, who needed a companion for their difficult, genius son.
Years later, Elizabeth and her best friend, Justine, seek Victor Frankenstein, who left Geneva after a rift between Elizabeth, himself, and their missing friend, Henry. Elizabeth's entire life has centered around Victor, whose temper and frightening intelligence have verged on madness.
After they return home, one of Victor's little brothers is murdered, and Justine accused of the crime, Elizabeth, who has been glimpsing a hideous monster in the forest surrounding the house, begins to realize a terrible truth about Victor.
A wrenching tale of a girl who is a survivor, and whose desperation to keep her new life, at the whims of a troubled young man, steers her toward what may be a horrifying end.

Ninth House
Galaxy Stern has had a violent and uncertain life, a life which ended with a series of murders that she survived. When she's offered a chance to attend Yale and better herself, she takes it, and is introduced to the Houses of the Veil the secret societies that practice magic for the benefit of the elite. She has joined House Lethe, a sort of police for the other Houses. Her tutor is Darlington, a charming and solitary young man, a gentleman scholar, who is only present in flashbacks. We don't learn until later what terrible fate has befallen him. It is this intriguing mystery, and Alex's determination to solve the murder of a girl she doesn't know, that drive the narrative. Alex is the very definition of an antihero. She's selfish and dark-hearted. But she's also a survivor, with wounds that haven't healed. She's basically a double-edged sword. As she navigates her way through the dead--who are both benevolent and horrifying--and fights her way to answers, another layer of mystery is revealed. A page-turner of a dark fantasy.