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3.0 

As I Descended

By Robin Talley
As I Descended by Robin Talley digital book - Fable

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Publisher Description

From the acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves, Robin Talley, comes a Shakespeare-inspired story of revenge and redemption, where fair is foul, and foul is fair.

Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school’s ultimate power couple—but one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey. Golden child Delilah is a legend at exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize.

But Delilah doesn’t know that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything—absolutely anything—to unseat Delilah for the scholarship. After all, it would lock in Maria’s attendance at Stanford—and assure her and Lily four more years in a shared dorm room.

Together, Maria and Lily harness the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school. But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what’s real and what’s imagined, the girls must attempt to put a stop to the chilling series of events they’ve accidentally set in motion.

260 Reviews

3.0
“so i guess this is maybe around 2.75 to 3 stars for me. it's hard to say. i guess i should preface this by saying that macbeth isn't my fave shakespeare play (not by a longshot) but i loved the idea of a modern retelling with an lgbt couple as the main characters. at the beginning of the book, i was pretty much immediately drawn into the story, already liking where it was going. but the beginning of the novel was the best part, in my opinion. the ending felt way too rushed for me to be satisfied. i think that's my biggest disappointment. i thought the first part of the novel (act i, i guess) was a lot more developed and i had a clear picture of who was who, how the novel would align itself with the play, etc. i could even see how it was going to fall apart for maria and lily. but then the plot itself literally fell apart and i found myself skimming a good portion of the last part of the novel. i didn't even like the epilogue either. i didn't care that delilah was remorseful or that mateo was angry. i just found myself not caring at all about what was going on. i think that, even tho i don't really like macbeth, i would have enjoyed this book if the plot had stayed consistent and the characters remained interesting. i had high expectations for this novel, so i think that's i'm pretty bummed that it didn't meet them.”
““Between the atheism and the lesbian thing, Lily was a terrible Catholic. Even before she'd added murder to her list of sins.” Une réécriture saphic (et queer) de Macbeth qui se mélange avec la légende de La Llorona. L’ambiance de ce livre était très malsaine, c’était angoissant et dérangeant, mais c’était aussi addictif et très rythmé. On voyait bien l’inspiration de Macbeth, le livre était lui aussi séparé en 5 actes, mais l’autrice c’est très bien réapproprier l’histoire. Elle a donner une ambiance mystérieuse et terrifiante remplie de fantôme et de légende mexicaine à cette histoire déjà vu et revu. Elle a donner une nouvelle vie à Macbeth et j’ai bien aimé son inspiration. Maria et Lily forment un power couple idéal, le hic c’est que personne ne le sait. Leur popularité leur vient entièrement de Maria, Princess du pensionnat, adulé de tous, mais toujours derrière la reine Delilah. Lily part contre, n’est visible que pour son handicap, elle n’est visible que dans ses béquilles et maintenant elle ne veut être visible que dans le regard de Maria. Pour qu’elles puissent rester ensemble, pour qu’elles puissent vivre leur amour à l’université, Maria doit gagner la fameuse bourse pour lequel elle est deuxième, derrière Delilah, encore. Cette reine injuste et toxicomane qui ne mérite pas son trône. Sans le réalisé, elles vont pactiser avec des fantômes afin de détrôner la reine s’entrainant dans une spirale de tragédies et de sang. Car le sang entraine le sang. Ce livre regorge de diversité, il est queer, un des personnages principale vie avec un handicap et c’est un thème central de son développement, l’autre est Latina et nous entraine dans sa culture et ses légende (et dans le raciste qu’elle a elle-même envers sa culture et sa différence). C’est si naturellement aborder qu’on n’a pas l’impression de lire un livre sur la diversité ou que l’autrice se force pour être inclusive. Non c’est super naturel et fluide. Le livre est super bien écrit, le rythme de la narration est excellent et la manière dont elle structure les phrases ajoute à l’histoire à elle-même. J’ai aimé comme on changeait de POV rapidement, qu’on suivait un peu tout le monde dans le désordre, sa rajoutait de la tension. On voir que Talley a mis beaucoup d’effort pour créer une atmosphère et c’est bien réussi. Par contre, j’aurais aimé plus développer les personnages, voir plus de back story, de cheminement, plus en apprendre sur elle en tant qu’humaine et pas que en tant qu’outils pour fantômes maléfique. Je me souciais d’eux, mais je l’aurais plus fait si elles avaient été mieux développées. Dans l’ensemble, j’ai adoré se livre, un roman d’horreur comme j’aime en lire avec des fantômes qui savent frapper au bon moment. Ce qui manquait en termes de personnalité était compensé dans l’histoire et l’ambiance générale.”

About Robin Talley

Robin Talley is a queer author who grew up in southwest Virginia and now lives in Washington, DC, with her wife and their kids. She is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels for teen readers: Music from Another World, Pulp, Our Own Private Universe, As I Descended, The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre, What We Left Behind, and Lies We Tell Ourselves. You can find her on the web at www.robintalley.com.

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