Within These Wicked Walls is an impressively rendered Jane Eyre re-telling that stands entirely on its own. The fantasy, horror, romance, and family redemptive elements lace together beautifully. From the first chapter to the epilogue I was kept entranced by the story.
The setting is eerie and immersive in its scope. From the opening pages, I could feel the sand gritting against Andromeda, as she described her familiarity with the dusts of the land. The castle itself is wonderfully described, as is her entrance into its icy depths. With the odd servants, weird rules, and ice cold temperature of her new home, I felt the unease from the moment she stepped foot into that dastardly castle.
Andromeda is a debtera, in other terms an exorcist, trained by her adoptive father figure, to break curses and exorcise places from the Evil Eye. When she’s kicked out of her home and forced to make her own way she finds herself in the employ of a Mr. Rochester. Nothing is what it seems though as she digs further into the home and the curse itself, only to be lead back to her home and the man who raised her.
This was a solid stand-alone novel. Immersive in it’s horror and setting, intriguing with it’s fantasy elements, romantic with it’s main characters, while also having a heartbeat resting in the palms of a father/daughter relationship that left me with an ache upon reading the final chapter.
The romance felt a bit lacking in some spots, just a bit too much insta-love, however that being said, it still works quite well. Andromeda and Magnus have a chemistry that is disarmingly enchanting and humorous. I highlighted so many of their conversations because there was just so much awesomeness between the two of them.
Overall, I highly recommend this tightly written fantasy, horror, romance. Andromeda is a wonderful character to spend time with as she navigates the machinations of her heart and her head, all while falling in love, and exorcising a psychotic house.
4 Stars
Thank you NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
Chronic Ever After 
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