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Book Reviews of The Book of Spirits

The Book of Spirits
The Book of Spirits
Author: James Reese
ISBN-13: 9780060561055
ISBN-10: 006056105X
Publication Date: 8/1/2005
Pages: 432
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 19

3.4 stars, based on 19 ratings
Publisher: William Morrow
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

6 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

ocnsangel avatar reviewed The Book of Spirits on + 224 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I thought the fisrt was better but enjoyed this one as well
i do hope for one more in this series.
daedelys avatar reviewed The Book of Spirits on + 1218 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
If you've already read the first book in this series, you've discovered the author's beautiful writing style. It's a bit gothic, dark, erotic and sometimes even grotesque. It make me feel like I'm reading something written decades ago instead of anything contemporary, which can make it a slower read if you're not used to it. I can't say that it doesn't have it's slow spots, because it did, but it's unlike a lot of books that would have normally made me give up in frustration because the stories just weren't worth it. This one is. It's just so interesting that I wanted to keep reading, regardless, because I had to know what would happen next.

The author manages to tell interesting parts of early American history through the eyes of Herculine in this novel. I also thought it was brilliant how he weaved Edgar Allan Poe (albeit a fictitious one) into the story. I found this quite fitting, considering the genre of the story.

Overall, it's really a great book (and series) that you should take the time to read if you're interesting in the history of early witchcraft (before it became so P.C.). There may be somethings in it that could be considered paranormal, but it's really all a matter of perspective.
reviewed The Book of Spirits on + 10 more book reviews
2nd in series to Book of Shadows. Continues the adventures of Herculine, the witch.
reviewed The Book of Spirits on + 32 more book reviews
gothic genre
sharrona avatar reviewed The Book of Spirits on + 207 more book reviews
Back cover says "IN a rodle of shadows an dperils, she will taste the forbidden...and find redemption. Woman, man, witch, communer with the dead, Herculine is bound for America in September 1826, leaving behind a strange and violent past in France and armed with the powerful knowledge gained from a quartet of remarkable mentors. In Virginia, fate will lead Herculine to the mysterious Mammy Venus--possessor of gifts at once wondrolus and terrifying--to a haunted young poet named Edgar Poe...and to Celia, a beautiful, damaged salve, who stirs her would-be savior/lover's passions and ignites her dark, otherworldly powers. So begins an odyssey of self-discovery and erotic obsession that will carry Herculine from the coastal wilds of Florida to the chaotic streets of New York--to be liberated by carnality and forever changed in the aftermath of bloody rebellion."
cinderellal8 avatar reviewed The Book of Spirits on + 80 more book reviews
the second part of the book of shadows as with that one everybody in my house read it my son and daughter like a lot as myself too the only problemwith the book is that the cover wrap was lost but otherwise the book is in good condition we recommended..cinderella