Title: THE FALL
Author: Bethany
Griffin
Pub. Date:
October
7, 2014
Publisher:
Greenwillow
Books
Pages: 432
Formats: Hardcover,
eBook
Find
it: Amazon, Barnes
& Noble, Goodreads
Madeline Usher is doomed.
She has spent her life fighting fate, and she thought she was succeeding. Until she woke up in a coffin.
Ushers die young. Ushers are cursed. Ushers can never leave their house, a house that haunts and is haunted, a house that almost seems to have a mind of its own. Madeline’s life—revealed through short bursts of memory—has hinged around her desperate plan to escape, to save herself and her brother. Her only chance lies in destroying the house.
In the end, can Madeline keep her own sanity and bring the house down? The Fall is a literary psychological thriller, reimagining Edgar Allan Poe’s classic The Fall of the House of Usher.
Now on to the post!
Top Ten quotes from The Fall….There
actually seem to be 11 here, including one fairly long one. Hahaha that's ok the more the merrier!
Reaching up, my trembling
hand gets just a few inches before my fingers touch cool stone. I blink. My
lashes spider-touch my cheeks, and then that touch is gone, so my eyes must be
open. The dull, compressed darkness is so absolute that I cannot see my shaking
hand, even as I bend my elbow and press my fingers against my right eye, and
then my left—gently, very gently—to make certain both still rest in their
sockets pgs. 1-2.
I throw back my head and
scream. Somewhere in the house above, there is one who hears me. The one who
buried me alive. Pg 4.
I pad across my room to
the heavy wooden door. Through the floor I can hear the house breathing. I
position a thick book to keep the door from swinging more than half open.
My candle flickers. I
must have the door positioned correctly before it goes out.
Taking two steps back, I
survey the room. The half-open door still feels…wrong. I adjust it, nudging the
book with my foot. It creaks louder than a door should when moved so
slightly. I rest my hand against the wood—too long because feelings
seep into me that are not my own.
The house wants me to
open the door. To put the book back on the bureau, to straighten the rug. The
house hates closed doors.
But completely open doors
are as terrifying as being closed in with…whatever might find its way into my
room. There are things, living and dead, creeping through these halls, and I’d
rather they ignore me as I sleep… Pgs 5-6.
The stories are part of
this place; they flutter around me like moths, dark and bloated, the size of my
father’s hand. Pg 7.
Roderick laughs as the
wind blows old autumn leaves down from the overhanging eaves of the house, and
they scatter around us like dismal confetti. Pg 43.
I touch the skirt of my
dress, where the lace has deteriorated. Something about a hole in lace
asks to be touched and expanded. Like a half-healed wound.
Pg 52.
I’m lying in Roderick’s
arms. The knife is on the floor, and I see blood on his white shirt,
but I feel nothing. The house wanted this, but I don’t know why.
“The house isn’t
haunted,” he says. “But I am.” Pg 137.
I look even closer. Now I
see my flower garden, a verdant clearing, and at its center, a lone dandelion.
My own garden at the beginning of spring. The picture has changed to encompass
the small changes I’ve made.
Hope surges within me. I
can change the future if I want to badly enough. Pg 152.
The candles flicker out,
one by one, and a loud creaking sounds from all around us, as if the room is
rearranging itself. Roderick grasps my shoulder in the sudden darkness. At the
same time, Dr. Winston’s hand brushes my side and then falls away.
Pg 262.
The machine is pumping,
pumping, pumping. The bellows puff air in and out. Something moves through
miles of tubing, slow and sluggardly. It is my blood. I look down at my wrist.
It is dripping; one drop after another falls into a wide pan below me, and then
funnels into more tubing. It’s all made of sheep’s guts, I know, because I
asked Dr. Winston once. Pg 305.
Roderick and I are lying
on the floor of the drawing room. We are reflected in the great baroque mirror
that covers the interior wall. The top of my head meets the top of his head,
and we create a straight line. He has let his hair grow out a little, and our
hair, twined together against the black rug, sparkles. It is impossible to tell
which is his and which is mine. Pg 337.
Thanks Bethany for the awesome post! I love all of these quotes!
About Bethany:
Bethany Griffin is a high school English teacher who prides herself on attracting creative misfits to elective classes like Young Adult Literature, Creative Writing, and Speculative Literature. She is the author of HANDCUFFS, MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, DANCE OF THE RED DEATH, GLITTER AND DOOM, and THE FALL. She lives with her family in Kentucky.
Giveaway
Details:
1 Grand Prize- A Poe Prize Pack with a Raven Scarf, Necklace, Candle, and a signed hardcover of THE FALL and a signed bookmark! US Only
3 Signed Hardcovers of THE FALL and signed bookmarks
International
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Check out the Tour Schedule for more awesome posts!
Week One:
9/29/2014- Bookish- Interview
9/30/2014- A Glass of Wine- Guest Post
10/1/2014- Stories & Sweeties- Review
10/2/2014- Novel Novice- Review
10/3/2014- Burning
Impossibly Bright- Interview
Week Two:
10/6/2014- Fiction Freak- Review
10/7/2014- Once Upon a Twilight- Guest Post
10/8/2014- WinterHaven Books- Review
10/9/2014- Fiktshun- Interview
10/10/2014- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post
