Member Reviews
The beginning of the book was quite engaging and interesting, with a Mina the likes of which I've never met before in a Dracula-inspired novel (retelling, shall we say). I found the middle of the story to somewhat lag, with some of the character interactions not really going anywhere in so far as the plot was concerned. The last act, however, was a pleasure to read. Not to mention that throughout, Dawn Kurtagich's writing is beautiful--and the folklore that is drawn from kept me interested from the start.
4 ⭐️ Enjoyed this modern retelling of Dracula. Fast paced and chilling, just what a horror novel should be! Great characters!!!
Set in London and Wales, the story is steeped in Welsh folklore. I love that the characters are named for the characters in Dracula. It took me just a bit to discover it!
Mina Murray is a psychiatrist who left her small village in Wales years ago. She left her mom, boyfriend, best friend and has some strange quirks too! Then a strange illness in a patient and a cry for help from her best friend Lucy, takes Mina back home again. A chilling tale follows with a race to stop the Fampir.
Thanks NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Graydon House for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I'm going to be honest, it completely flew over my head that this was a Dracula retelling. I haven't read it yet, so I cannot make comparisons on that front other than the lore I know. Which, from my understanding, I do believe the author did a good job of. Also, I read this on kindle, so there were a few formatting issues, some of which I'm not sure were the author's style choices or just issues with uploading and formatting.
I liked the plot, and for the most part the style of writing. However, I did not like that there was no differentiation between POV and differing timelines. I am not sure if this was a style choice by the author or formatting issues with the kindle version. Other than that, the book wasn't bad! There was one plot twist I was not expecting.
Although I do not think I would read the book again, it is not something I regret reading.
A reimagining of Dracula with Mina as the protagonist with a little witchiness thrown in . When Mina living In London gets word that her friend Lucy is very sick she leaves her job in London to go help her. This book is thrilling , suspenseful and action packed. With all your favorite characters from the original . Must read for Dracula Fans
I really enjoyed this book. The Madness is a perfect mix of mystery, horror and suspense.
The main character, Mina, is a psychiatrist who is also dealing with her own mental turmoils. She's called back to her home town when an old friend asks her for help.
From there we pulled into mysteries surrounding missing girls, a strange illness, a gothic castle, and masked men with supernatural force at its center.
Would definitely be a great fall read.
Overall, a very fun read.
Mina Murray is a London-based therapist who was recently assigned a client with some weird symptoms - hallucinations, amnesia, a weird rash, and calling someone Master. Then Mina gets an email from her childhood best friend in Wales; Lucy is sick and the doctor’s don't know why. She is desperate for help. When Mina arrives in Wales, she finds Lucy has similar symptoms. What is going on and how can Mina save Lucy’s life.
I really enjoyed following this mystery with Mina and seeing what was at the center of the illnesses. I also enjoyed going between London and Wales. There was a lot I did not know about Wales folklore.
Sometimes I felt like it jumped around a bit - between flashbacks, Mina’s love life, and the actual case. I was also very surprised with the direction this book ended up taking, but I ended up enjoying the book alright.
“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺.”
When Mina Murray receives an email from her estranged best friend Lucy, she leaves her psychiatric practice in London and returns to her home in Wales and the people she abruptly left behind years ago.
Teaming with gothic horror, enthralling prose, beautiful and horrific descriptions and with a complex female main character, The Madness is a beautifully written psychological horror that touches upon the effects of trauma and the mistreatment of women by society on a systemic level.
Mina is a complicated character that is initially gripped by her rigid mindset and the compulsions of her OCD, but as she attempts to assist Lucy and unravel the mystery of the illness that has afflicted her and several underprivileged young women, she is forced to confront her trauma and is able to both reconnect with her mother and her former love and develop new relationships with other women who share in her mission.
I also felt that The Madness could be viewed as an examination of the difficulties that women with chronic illnesses face in general, as they sometimes are left to suffer with debilitating symptoms due to a lack research or skepticism regarding their ailments.
The less known about the novel going in the better and there were some twists that I was surprised by. Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House Books and Dawn Kurtagich for providing access to this excellent ebook.
(Review has been posted on Goodreads 07/08/24)
That was… a lot.
I’ve been a HUGE fan of Dawn Kurtagich for years, so you would think I would be used to her intense writing and the horrifying themes incorporated into her books. But I found myself completely unprepared for Madness.
Plot Review:
First of all, this is not just a Dracula retelling or a Vampire book based solely on the horrors that these monsters create.
This is also a deep dive into the ways that women𑁋mostly “troubled” women𑁋are treated in today’s society. Especially when they go missing and police make assumptions or no one even bothers to go looking for them.
I was ready for a Vampire story, but not at all ready for how heavy this book would make me feel.
To summarize the plot: This book is about Mina Murray, a woman focused on controlling every single thing that occurs in her life. However, when a desperate friend seeks Mina’s aid, she is forced to return to her hometown and confront her past and the people she hurt. Along the way, though, she realizes that a dark conspiracy is tainting her hometown and killing innocent women.Together with other brave, fearless women, Mina seeks to stop this evil for good.
This book has a lot of focus on Mina working to resolve her past trauma and reconnect with the people she left behind in the wake of a horrendous attack that changed her forever. Of course, the Vampires are hovering in the background and take center stage at one point, but only after I had sped through a large chunk of the book.
For a book about Vampires, I was hoping to see them more explored. We get intense, but brief, descriptions of what they are like when Mina is actively fighting them, but I would have loved more to be developed about their characteristics. Especially since this book draws on what I believe is Welsh folklore and mythology. I loved that aspect, but using it to paint a better portrait of the Vampire species would have been appreciated and is one of the main reasons I took away a star.
The other big reason I did so pertains to the plot line involving Lucy, Mina’s close friend. This may be heavy on spoilers, but Lucy is turned into a Vampire. Which was interesting and I was kind of excited about that to be more explored or left open for a sequel.
But…
Mina kills Lucy.
So…
What was the point of even revealing that she is alive?
It felt strange and uncharacteristic of our main character to kill her, not to mention somewhat sloppy and overall unnecessary to the story.
Thankfully, this happened at the end of the book and didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment.
Characters:
Turning to the characters, I really enjoyed their diversity.
Mina was an interesting character to follow, especially. Mainly because we see her struggling with past trauma which has evolved into OCD and acute paranoia.
Not only that, though. I loved seeing how her experience had pushed her to help other women struggling through similar situations. Mina was a very compassionate character who truly wanted to help those overlooked by the system. Her character was amazing and inspiring, so no complaints there.
However, I wish we had explored Mina overcoming her OCD and paranoia. Instead, it was something chucked to the wayside after everything was over. Seeing her take it into hand and work to resolve her fears would have been a good way to end the story.
But, I guess we can’t have everything.
Concerning other characters, I loved how each woman had a unique and discerning voice and attitude. They all brought something interesting and new to the story, especially Mina’s mom, who is the first to mention Vampires in this story. She was the main conduit in which Welsh folklore and mythology was explored and I’m a HUGE folklore buff, so learning more about this was really fun and engaging for me.
Thanks, Mina’s mom.
Overall Thoughts:
This book was engaging and spooky, with a deeper meaning that penetrates deep. While I wish more was explored about Mina’s struggles and the Vampires so central to this story, I still adored Kurtagich’s story and the way she continues to bring horror to life.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the chance to review this ARC!
Go into this book blindly!! Do not read the full synopsis!!
This book has:
* Psychiatric practice
* Reach closed gentlemen’s club
* The eerie atmosphere of the small English town
I ate this book up! The twist totally caught me by surprise and I absolutely loved it!
Reading this book was such a thrilling experience! This horror has an incredible blend of psychological and paranormal mystery with a gripping atmosphere!
Thank you so much for the gifted copy!!
I need more! This was a fantastic read! The storyline was so unique and inventive and I flew through the pages. The characters and atmosphere were intense. This definitely kept me on my toes until the very end. Highly recommend
This slow burn psychological take on Dracula was exactly the kind of book I love! As a Dracula lover since I was a child, I'm always excited to tear into a new adaptation and The Madness did not disappoint! The story we all know was modernized but the gothic horror remains in abundance! There were absolutely horrifying scenes, and scenes that broke your heart. Each new twist added to the story only made me read faster. As a lover of the source material, there are certain characters and plot points I was on the lookout for the entire time, and each one appeared in a totally fresh and unexpected way.
A story inspired by Stoker's Dracula. Mina is a psychologist who is drawn back to her home country after her estranged childhood friend has strangely emailed her out of the blue. A young woman has been brought into Mina's care with strange wounds and expressions, but when Mina leaves to see her friend, Dr Seward takes over the young lady's care- until she disappears.
Wow, where to even begin? I went into this book blind, and I highly recommend that you do the same, so I'lll avoid talking too much about the contents of the book.
The Madness is beautiful. The writing and imagery are gorgeous, I could almost smell the ocean wafting from the pages. This book is filled with strong, badass women who aren't afraid to fight for themselves and each other. Mina is so relatable - watching her spread her wings as she leaves her safe, predictable life to fight her past trauma and demons was a real pleasure. The Madness is a deeply moving, chilling and exciting tale that breathes new life into centuries old folklore and I am HERE. FOR. IT.
If you're looking for a story filled with heart, incredible heroines and creatures that go bump in the night, look no further. She has arrived.
Dawn Kurtagich is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to feminist horror and I can't wait to see what she gives us next.
I read reviews that said this was similar to Frankenstein but I was confused until towards the end. I like the concept, of some mysterious happening to the main characters friend, and a patient she was looking after. I don't know what I was expecting, as many thrillers have a similar premise to the character going back to their home town after a murder or something suspicious happens, having to deal with past trauma and current problems. The ending took a different twist that I imagined, and maybe because I wasn't expecting it, it felt weird and slightly out of place. Overall, I liked the story but the ending for me wasn't what I was hoping for. It does make sense as the direction if the story but it wasn't for me. I still would recommend it, as I feel it could be a popular story, I do know people who would like this kind of story, but it just wasn't for me
Telling my kids this is Dracula…. The Madness, a retelling of Bram Stoker’s novel, follows Mina, a psychiatrist, who is called to her hometown by her old friend Lucy, who is suffering from a terrible disease. Having run away from her small Welsh town, Mina hasn’t seen anyone from her past - Lucy, her mother, her first love Jonathan - for the last 12 years. Reluctantly leaving her newest patient, Mina returns home, quickly realizes that something strange - and possibly supernatural - is affecting Lucy - the same thing that may be affecting her patient. Well-written and immersive, The Madness is is a must-read.
Working as a psychiatrist in London, Mina Murray has a safe, sterile and predictable life. When she receives an alarming email from a long-lost best friend, she embarks on a journey home to discover her friend has fallen ill to a similar plague one of Mina's patients succumbed to. To get to the bottom of what this illness is, Mina will need to relive her past and what happened to her on that fateful night.
The Madness is a psychological and gripping mystery with a fresh take on Dracula. I enjoyed the undercover work led by the main character, Mina Murray, and everything she sacrificed to get there. I loved the folklore aspects mixed in with a modern-day vampire story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC!
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing!
This feminist take on the Dracula myth was truly outstanding. Sure, there are still some damsels in distress, but they are being saved by fierce, flawed, female protagonists! Loved this!
This book was refreshingly unique for a theme that I am seeing a lot of this year.
Mina leaves her psychiatric practice behind when her estranged best friend, Lucy needs her help. Lucy is sick, losing time, sleepwalking and is covered in a horrific rash. Mina starts linking cases and notices that Lucy is experiencing the same symptoms of many young girls who have gone missing and wound-up dead. The problem is that Lucy doesn't fit the profile.
This book in itself felt like a descent into madness. Mina teams up with a person from her past and the mother of one of the missing victims to help solve what was going on.
I don't know if I was slow to catch on or what, but I had no idea where the book was going and did not predict the ending until we got to the plot twist. I thought it was very well written. I don't want to say more because I don't know whether it was meant to be a surprise or whether we were meant to know from the beginning.
Overall, it was a great read.
I am a huge fan of Dawn Kurtagich and have read the majority of her YA fiction and featured three of her books in my review almanac The YA Horror 400 which was published earlier in the year. Dawn’s YA is on the mature side, so adults could happily enjoy Dead House (2015), The Creeper Man (2016) or Teeth in the Mist (2019) without feeling underchallenged. I was not surprised to hear this talented author was graduating to adult fiction, as Teeth in the Mist (which has since had a sequel, Blood on the Wind) in particular, was extremely close to adult level anyway.
The Madness leans heavily upon Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) in that it reinvents the legendary story in modern day England, abandoning the east coast town of Whitby for north Wales and London. ‘Dracula’ himself is not mentioned by name at all, but we do have Jonathan Harker, Mina, Lucy and other characters such as Renfield, who is renamed, becoming a female. Kurtagich plays around with the characters, wisely does not simply repackage them, and her version of Jonathan Harker is a million miles away from Stoker’s creation. The Madness is much more about the female protagonists and the men are given precious little (perhaps not enough) to do.
If you have never read Stoker’s Dracula you will probably be none the wiser regarding what Kurtagich alters, keeps, evolves or discards in her story. This is by no means a copy and is a highly entertaining read in its own right, and fans of the original novel will have fun spotting the similarities and subtle differences. I did wonder how things would have played out if Kurtagich had renamed all the characters and kept a greater and more deliberate distance from the original Dracula story? Opinions will undoubtedly differ.
Much of The Madness plays out akin to a dark thriller, rather than a horror novel, and there is not a whiff of vampires until well into the second half of a book which is centred around main character Dr. Mina Murray. Mina is a psychiatrist (who we realise has her own personal problems as the novel unfolds) and is called to assess a young woman found naked wandering around and disorientated on a London street. Simultaneously, Mina is called back to her childhood home of north Wales to help her estranged former best friend, Lucy, fight an undiagnosed ailment. Mina notices that the symptoms the two women show are strangely similar and when she investigates further discovers a pattern. But whilst doing so if faced with a wall of silence from the authorities and the author is clearly making a point about how women are treated in wider modern society. The Lucy narrative is the part of the story which most closely reflects the original plot.
The Madness covers a lot of ground, dealing with Mina’s complex relationship with her mother, her reasons for abandoning her Welsh home in the first place and the abuse of power. Parallels could easily be drawn with how modern day prostitution, people smuggling or how other criminal gangs operate, with the police being complicit to what happens in the book. Mina’s mother was a feisty character who is seen as the local witch, which cleverly allows for a lot of Welsh legends and folklore to be added into the plot. The flashbacks to when Mina was a teenager and her original attraction to Jonathan Harker was also nicely managed.
Students of Dracula might ask where was Dr Van Helsing? Which is a valid question. He does not clearly exist in The Madness and if anything Mina adopts his role, adding complexities to the character. She is struggling with her own trauma and a different cycle of abuse, which is revealed as the plot moves advances. This is a character driven story and for a more traditional action driven vampire novel it probably required a more traditional Van Helsing. The fear and helplessness the captive women fear oozes from the page and without a traditional hero they have little sense of hope.
The Madness was an engaging read and I powered through it quickly, but we could have seen more of the vampires beyond the party scenes and considering Dracula (if indeed that is who he is) is hundreds of year old he makes a pretty dumb decision near the end. Overall the ending felt rushed and the manner in which it played out was over familiar and has been used in other novels. I can understand wishing to draft a book from a female point of view, but the balance of this story felt slightly off, as almost every man in it was portrayed as a scumbag apart from Jonathan. The abuse of power is portrayed as a greater evil than the vampires themselves who were creatures of desire and greed.
Mina is a Psychologist and severe germaphobe with OCD and she is very devoted to her meticulous routine. This routine is thrown into a tailspin when she is called to see a young woman in the psychiatric ward who is covered with a grotesque rash and who prefers to eat insects rather than food. Mina’s structured life is further thrown into chaos when she learns that her estranged former best friend is displaying the same mysterious symptoms. Something rare and evil is attacking young women and seemingly draining them of their very life force.
The Madness is part thriller, part puzzle and part body horror with a dash of horror. The book has plot and character development for the most part. The descriptions of captivity and helplessness are so very real.
Thank you #netgalley for allowing me to read and review #TheMadness.