I would like to express my gratitude for the Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book, generously provided by the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

"Yellow Jessamine" by Caitlin Starling is a mesmerizing novella that weaves together elements of horror, fantasy, and psychological suspense. Starling's prose is rich and atmospheric, immersing readers in a mysterious and unsettling world where the boundaries between reality and nightmare blur.

The novella's strength lies in its evocative storytelling and the intricate characterization of its protagonists. Starling skillfully builds tension, creating an atmosphere of unease that lingers throughout the narrative. The setting, vividly described, becomes a character in itself, adding to the overall sense of dread and fascination.

"Yellow Jessamine" is a masterful exploration of psychological horror and the consequences of unravelling sanity. Starling's narrative prowess and the novella's haunting atmosphere make it a captivating read for those who appreciate dark fantasy and psychological depth.

"Yellow Jessamine" by Caitlin Starling is a captivating and chilling gothic tale that transports readers into a world of intrigue, paranoia, and dark beauty. Set against the backdrop of the dying city of Delphinium, the story revolves around the powerful shipping magnate Evelyn Perdanu, whose life becomes entangled in a mysterious and deadly sickness that threatens everything she holds dear.

I'm typically not a huge "gothic horror" fan, but I absolutely LOVE Caitlin Starling's writing, and I knew I had to grab a copy of this when I saw it was out. It starts of a little slow, but that's just to give you a good sense of vibe / characters; I loved getting to know Evelyn and Violette, and loved the feeling of how dark & moody the city was.

For such a short book, there's A LOT going on here, so despite it feeling "slow" at times, there are bits that are important later - setup about the politics of the town, information about Evelyn's ship & crew, and eventually the "Big Bad" itself, which I won't spoil or give away too much of here.

I recently read T. Kingfisher's WHAT MOVES THE DEAD and loved it, and think this is very similar in tone / vibe / substance -- although I actually think this one gripped me a bit more even just because of how conflicted and complicated the main character is. I love stories with MCs we don't always root for or like, and Evelyn's characterization was so well done.

Loved it.

This is one of those books where weird shit happens, it's not really explained and you're either into it or not. With this one, I wasn't too into it.

The book had a compelling atmosphere but I feel like it needed a bit more pages to really flesh out the plot. Intriguing mystery at the forefront but in the end, it kind of dissolves into weeeeeird craaaap metaphors similarly to her other book The Death of Jane Lawrence (which I liked way more).

The author has a way with words and I don't think this book was bad, but definitely not for everyone. I would say it's similar to Horrid by Katrina Leno, so if you enjoyed either check out the other.

A cold and dark atmosphere, almost suffocating, interweaving botany and madness as if these two terms were synonymous.

Yellow Jessamine is a short but deadly addicting and intriguing novel. The author's pen is fluid, I read his novel, yet so disturbing, with a strange ease. The plot of this novel is captivating, the botanical aspect, which is preponderant, makes Yellow Jessamine almost poetic despite its singular universe.

Lady Evelyn Perdanu, the protagonist, she is an intelligent and strategist woman, who seemed heartless to me at first, but touching when you discover her past.

This novel was a magnificent discovery, the atmosphere so unusual seduced me from the first pages, I highly recommend it if you like novels in the Gothic style

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling
Genre: Horror/LGBTQIA
Publisher: Neon Hemlock Press
Publish Date: 5 September 2020

Star Rating: 3/5

Yellow Jessamine is a book about a lonely woman by choice who is trying to do the best she can in a world that has made her cruel, selfish, and rich. Evelin, lives in a city under siege and as a shipping magnate is one of the cities powers but a new plague has arrived on her shores and it may be connected to her

Starling is a wonderful storyteller and I enjoyed reading her style. Unfortunately, there were elements of the story that could have been done better. I found especially at the end have to reread certain bits to figure out the chaos and I might have read it wrong but I never got to find out what was under her veil. If she wasn’t wearing a full veil it was a half veil. There was something wrong with the top part of her face? It seemed more than a distancing tool... Or perhaps I’m focusing too much. I liked the characters of the soldier and her maid and the ‘We’.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light gothic read-between book. Or a filler book during the Halloween month as it does have creepy moments.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Neon Hemlock Press, for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

3.5*
What a unique, unsettling and eccentric little book! Having gone in pretty apprehensive about this one, I was pleasantly surprised.
The first half of this was really slow and I had a difficult time getting into it. However, the slow beginning is not without reason and is well worth pushing through! By the second half, this book was really getting under my skin.
I think that if you're into short, Gothic weird books; this could really work for you!
The atmosphere was very Gothic and dark. I feel that the ships and the ocean really added to that tone very nicely. I also loved all of the different layers to the MC. She is a very flawed character but aware of it and I enjoyed that about her. She was a very interesting charter to follow and get to know.
I don't knave a whole lot to say about this one because it's so short and I don't want to say anything to spoil it. I went into this one pretty blind and I think that worked in my favor. (And yours too) But I will finish by saying that I think this was very well done for what it is. I'd recommend giving this one a shot and pushing through the first half if you're interested in a short, Gothic and effectively unsettling book.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc of this!

Feels good to know I wasn't the only one with problems with the arc format, which I realized it sooner...

The way the archive was created made it impossible to read. I was really excited because the synopsis made it sound really cool, but well...

this was definitely an odd book but not in a bad way! I was intrigued initially because I will eat up anything sapphic and horror-and this book has both! but, i was kind of let down by the sapphic part of this novel, as it felt more so like that part didn't really come into play at the end, and it was rushed. other than that, the horror was good, and i enjoyed the plot, it didn't feel rushed nor incomplete!

This book was really good. It exceeded my expectations. I loved the character development we saw and definitely think it deserves more hype

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of Yellow Jessamine.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. I stopped and restarted it several times before finally pushing through to the end, and it is not a long book by any means. It was well-written, a bit surreal, and a bit surprising. But I don’t think it was for me. That does not mean it was a bad book by any means, just...not the right book for me as a reader. It straddles the line between fantasy and historical, but doesn’t quite fit with either.

I will say, I did enjoy the dynamics of the relationship between Evelyn and Violetta, and I would have liked to explore their relationship further!

I thought this was a wonderfully creepy read. I got lost in the atmosphere and style of the writing, and I found the main character extremely compelling. Though I would have liked it to be a little longer to fully flesh out all the plot points and develop the world a tad more, as it was a lot to pack into a novella.

Overall, definitely recommend!

I wanted to love this book so badly, but the story just didn't pull me in. I loved The Luminous Dead when I read it earlier this year so I was excited to give Yellow Jessamine a try! Unfortunately, I found it so hard to connect to any of the characters. I wanted the story to be scarier than it was and felt that the plot could have used some more development. However, I'll definitely be checking out some more of starling's work in the future.

I really enjoyed the atmospheric tension in this novel. The main character is wonderfully layered, and the author is great at showing the reader the intricacies of the world building rather than simply telling the reader what is need to know. I very much enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others who are fans of Gothic Romances or high fantasy novels like The Sundering by Jacqueline Carey and MistBorn series by Brandon Sanderson.

After reading Starling's debut, The Luminous Deep, last year and really enjoying it, I was looking forward to Yellow Jessamine. In my experience, reading novellas can be very hit or miss - the balance of putting just enough on the page to be satisfying can be rough with the 120 pages or less format. Yellow Jessamine's lush, gloomy atmosphere and mystery surrounding the main character, Evelyn, pulled me in immediately, but by the end, I was just confused by the direction the story took. It felt very disconnected at parts, with two stories going on (Evelyn's businesses with the ships and the plagues, and then her own personal life with the poisons, doomed marriages, and families) that didn't fully mesh for me. I appreciated the mix of Lovecraftian and gothic horror Starling was trying to achieve, but it just didn't pull all of its punches. While this one was a bit of a disappointment, I'm still excited to see what Starling releases next.

An interesting, and brutal, tale of lost love. Lady Evelyn Perdanu gained power and money and is one of the most powerful shipping magnates in Delphinium. Her past hides dark secrets and plenty of violence. When a plague arrives in Delphinium on one of Evelyn’s ships, her power over the city is threatened. Evelyn hides within the walls of her estate but it won't be enough. Dark and intriguing.

Deeply atmospheric, but this novella lacked the punch of Starling’s previous book. While the slow burn effectively built a low grade sense of dread, the thundering conclusion was not given enough room to breath. Don’t get me wrong though, murder lesbians for the win.

this was a really good horror novel, I enjoyed the characters and that their sexuality wasn't their total characteristics. It had a great tense read and I really enjoyed reading this.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novella.

Rating: 2.5 stars

First off, I just want to mention that I did end up listening to the audiobook version because my kindle eARC was practically unreadable. I've been wanting to read something by this author for ages, and while I didn't really love this one, I'll definitely be reading more in the future!

The story/characters didn't really hold my interest, the plot confused me, especially the ending and I didn't gel with the writing style. Also, I thought there would be an f/f romance in here and while there were subtle hints, nothing like I imagined it would be.

Overall, I would recommend this to people that enjoyed "The Monster of Elendhaven" and people who like historical fiction with a splash of gothic/horror.