31206263Pain begets insanity.

Insanity begets love.

Love begets pain.

It is 1932, and the City of Dalltop is teeming with corruption. In the dead of night, a woman cries for help, but none turn an ear to her pleas. She scuttles through the lost buildings under their leaky roofs for shelter, but they always come. They dress as dark as the night and hide in the shadows. She pierces her feet in mileage and tears her clothes in desperation, but they always find her.

Myriana was a rich young lady with no ambitions, no voice of her own that is until she became the wife of the handsome tycoon, Sorrel Borchardt. She soon learns that nothing is as it superficially appears. The streets that shine during the day actually stand upon the rotten foundations of a mafia organization known as Idon. What hand does Sorrel Borchardt have in Idon? Will Myriana learn to adapt to her new violent lifestyle or will she be consumed by it? Embark on a journey rout in spine-chilling bloodshed as you thread upon the fine line that divides infatuation from insanity.

‘Sorrel and Myriana’ is a book of many extremes, of violence, family, loyalties and twisted realities. 500 something pages of conflicting feelings. Madness, cruelty and love… I’m telling you, a whole lot of crazy mixed with a whole lot of crazy! If you don’t like horror, gothic nor violence, then you probably shouldn’t read this book. Blood will be spilled and piss will flow in this world that is quite realistic yet unreal. A world that is pushed to it’s very limits. While the rules of Dalltop City, as dictated by Sorrel, are truly quite fugly, his relationship with Myriana tops it tenfold as it ranges from paralyzing fear to agonizing pain, from bone chilling hate to consuming love and loyalty. Quite enigmatic and not for the faint of heart. Pain, insanity and love- delivered covered in style.

Myriana. She remembers her childhood to be truly happy and calm if somewhat sheltered. Her mother died during childbirth and her father passed away when she was a teenager. She was taken into another family and when the head of this family also dies, Myriana is left with nothing. Broke, alone and nowhere to go her situation seemed quite dire indeed… Until a hand reached out to her… Sorrel. The confident, rich, uber handsome Sorrel. Heartless Sorrel… Heartless yet loving… See? I can’t make up my mind about him… It’s one of those books where you either hold on to the reality and  despise your MC(s) or where you let go of the reality, run with the idea and simply accept who he is, who his family is… what they do…

Anyway, Sorrel takes Myriana home and very soon they are wed. This is were things start to change. This is when Sorrel reveals his true nature. His true, very possessive, very cruel and conflicting nature. He is a violent man, his temper tiptoeing constantly on the edge between loving and brutal punishment. Myriana tries to escape. Once, twice… And every time she is caught, tortured and taught a lesson. She shall not leave! ‘Sorrel and Myriana’  is an account of Myriana’s life, how her personality morphs and the limits she is willing to push herself to survive.

I found myself wondering if this story had a paranormal aspect to it… I kept thinking Sorrel will be revealed to truly be the Devil. Every event made me imagine different scenarios as to what directions the story would take next and I was wrong every single time.

This novel thrives on character development. And I’m sorry I can’t explain more, or say more about the characters because when you do read this book, I want you to be as conflicted and surprised as I was. But here is what you will definitely get:

  • lovers who won’t hesitate to pull the trigger- either at enemy, or at each other
  • ambitious, successful, strongwilled characters- totally mad, totally cruel, totally conflicting
  • dysfunctional families, and functional families
  • violence, guns, underground organisations, war weaponry
  • actions and reactions

Even though the whole novel is wordy and full of descriptions, I enjoyed reading it. When I have to describe what feelings the writing conveyed, I would say- black&white image of wet asphalt reflecting the streetlights. Dark, yet sparkling. It does have that gothic feeling, it definitely has the horror. It has the strong contrasts of pretty versus ugly, life versus death, giving up versus surviving.

Overall: One of the unique novels I’ve ever read. It can be ‘translated’ in so many ways depending on reader’s personal viewpoints. I don’t mean the violence aspect, there’s a whole lot more to the story. One could analyze the psychological aspects, the moral grounds. It’s truly fascinating if you have the stomach for brutality. 4 ****, while Myriana’s character went through a strong, solid development, I feel Sorrel’s character suffered towards the end a bit by falling into the background. The ending was conclusive and satisfying. Evelyn Sun- well done! I can’t wait to read more from you!