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inverarityImagine Buffy saving the world except she's boring and has no Slayer powers.
My Big Fat Orange Cat Publishing, 2021, 146 pages
Shadows of Solstice takes place at a small Lutheran college in Minnesota, which seems like such a particular setting that I would guess the author is a Lutheran from Minnesota. Much of the story revolves around the Lucia Bride, which I thought was made up for the book until I Googled it and found that the Lucia Bride is actually a big thing in Sweden, and presumably also in the Swedish communities of Minnesota.
Why should Catholics get all the creepy horror vibes?
Mina Andresen has been a bad girl. Kicked out of her previous private Lutheran college for a little oopsie involving distributing drugs in baked goods, she has been sent to an even tinier and more remote Lutheran college, and if she doesn't manage to graduate from this one, her parents have pretty much run out of Lutheran colleges to send her to.
Despite all this Lutheran and Swedish culture infusing the book, Mina is actually not very religious, never even goes to church, and, you know, is kind of a druggie (though she's trying to be good now). Yet when things start going bump in the night, Mina will end up being the hero that Havestad College and the world needs, even if she's not the hero they deserve.
The problem with this story is that the first part of the book is not much happening, and the second part is a lot of girls hiding in their dorm rooms texting each other and hearing noises, bumps, and screams and yet no one is actually doing anything. There were entire chapters of Mina hiding in terror in her dorm room by night and doing half-assed investigations by day, all of them leading to the conclusion that something is wrong because the last Lucia Bride wasn't selected or something.
Eventually the monsters actually come out of the shadows, and Mina has to defeat them, and the Big Bad who summoned them, with the power of faith in... the Wizard of Oz. And a little help from a deux ex machina ghost. We are informed afterwards that even though she missed her finals on account of saving everyone from monsters, her professors kindly gave her a pass anyway.
This ebook came as part of a StoryBundle and it looked like a quick read for Spooktober. It's fanfiction quality work, and while not completely unentertaining, wasn't exactly a thrilling read. But if you want an American gothic ghost story with a Lutheran Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's got a kind of kitsch appeal.
My complete list of book reviews.
My Big Fat Orange Cat Publishing, 2021, 146 pages
It began with a fire. It would end with a battle.
Kicked out of multiple schools, Mina Andresen's future depends upon graduating from tiny Havestad Lutheran College on Minnesota's north shore.
While not her ideal situation, her classes interest her, her roommate is pleasant, and life holds promise. Then the local church burns down the weekend before finals, on the Festival of St. Lucia.
Suddenly, the nights get darker, shadows move eerily, and Mina imagines she sees monsters. When people start dying, Mina must confront the fact that she's not just imaging things.
In order to save her fellow students, the local townsfolk, and possibly even the world, Mina must step up and accept a responsibility larger than anything she ever imagined. Even harder, she must believe in herself.
Shadows of Solstice takes place at a small Lutheran college in Minnesota, which seems like such a particular setting that I would guess the author is a Lutheran from Minnesota. Much of the story revolves around the Lucia Bride, which I thought was made up for the book until I Googled it and found that the Lucia Bride is actually a big thing in Sweden, and presumably also in the Swedish communities of Minnesota.
Why should Catholics get all the creepy horror vibes?
Mina Andresen has been a bad girl. Kicked out of her previous private Lutheran college for a little oopsie involving distributing drugs in baked goods, she has been sent to an even tinier and more remote Lutheran college, and if she doesn't manage to graduate from this one, her parents have pretty much run out of Lutheran colleges to send her to.
Despite all this Lutheran and Swedish culture infusing the book, Mina is actually not very religious, never even goes to church, and, you know, is kind of a druggie (though she's trying to be good now). Yet when things start going bump in the night, Mina will end up being the hero that Havestad College and the world needs, even if she's not the hero they deserve.
The problem with this story is that the first part of the book is not much happening, and the second part is a lot of girls hiding in their dorm rooms texting each other and hearing noises, bumps, and screams and yet no one is actually doing anything. There were entire chapters of Mina hiding in terror in her dorm room by night and doing half-assed investigations by day, all of them leading to the conclusion that something is wrong because the last Lucia Bride wasn't selected or something.
Eventually the monsters actually come out of the shadows, and Mina has to defeat them, and the Big Bad who summoned them, with the power of faith in... the Wizard of Oz. And a little help from a deux ex machina ghost. We are informed afterwards that even though she missed her finals on account of saving everyone from monsters, her professors kindly gave her a pass anyway.
This ebook came as part of a StoryBundle and it looked like a quick read for Spooktober. It's fanfiction quality work, and while not completely unentertaining, wasn't exactly a thrilling read. But if you want an American gothic ghost story with a Lutheran Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's got a kind of kitsch appeal.
My complete list of book reviews.
