Review and Giveaway: Cauchemar by Alexandra Grigorescu

I received an advanced review copy of this book from ECW Press.

My Review:
Hannah lives in a house at the edge of a Louisiana swamp with her adopted mother Mae.  When Mae suddenly dies, Hannah is left completely alone at the age of 20, never having experienced very much of the world outside of their house on the swamp.

When Hannah has a funeral service for Mae, she meets a kind musician named Callum.  They become romantically involved and Callum seems to take the place of Mae as Hannah’s protector.  But what does Hannah need protecting from?

Throughout the course of the story we learn that Hannah’s biological mother, Christobelle, is a witch who is rumored to be able to communicate with the dead.  The townspeople shun Hannah because of her mother’s reputation, even though Hannah has never had anything to do with her biological mother and was raised by Mae.

The contrast between Christobelle and Mae are developed by the author throughout the book.  Whereas Mae is a care-giver and healer, Christobelle is selfish and drains the energy out of people she encounters, especially men.  Mae likes to heal and nourish people through food and Hannah also learns cooking skills from Mae.  The culinary aspects of the book are given a great amount of detail and the recipes are explained well enough for readers to try them in their own kitchens.

Hannah and Callum move into the house on the swamp together and strange things start happening.  Plagues of cicadas, snakes and frogs begin popping up, the house makes strange noises and Hannah and Callum have bizarre dreams.  The book is part romance, as Hannah and Callum become closer and are trying to decide how serious their relationship is, and part mystery as they are trying to figure out the strange phenomena they are encountering on the swamp.

I do not read many books in the mystery/fantasy genre, but I really enjoyed CAUCHEMAR.  It is well-written with just the right amount of suspense to keep the reader guessing what will happen to the characters until the very last page.

Giveaway:

I have one paperback copy of the book to give away to anyone in the U.S. or Canada.  To enter please leave a comment below letting me know that you want to win!  It’s that simple!  Giveaway ends on March 18th.  The winner will receive an e-mail and have 48 hours to respond with a valid mailing address.

 

About The Author:
Alexandra Grigorescu is the author of Cauchemar (ECW Press, 2015). She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto.

She’s worked as a freelance writer/editor for various Toronto magazines and websites.

Her writing has previously been published in Echolocation, Acta Victoriana, and the Hart House Review.

She lives in Toronto, Ontario with her husband and a little black cat.

Blog Tour:
This is the complete list of stops on the blog tour:

March 1: The Book Binder’s Daughter, Review + Giveaway

March 2: Bibliotica, Review + Guest Post (the use of food to enhance the story)

March 3: Bella’s Bookshelves, Review + Excerpt (Ch. 1)

March 4: Write All The Words!, Guest post for International Women’s Week feature

March 5: Editorial Eyes, Interview + Excerpt (Ch. 2)

March 7: Lavendar Lines, Review

March 9: Svetlana’s Reads, Review

March 10: The Book Stylist, Review + Interview

March 11: Booking It With Hayley G., Review + Guest Post + Giveaway

March 12: Dear Teen Me, Guest post (letter to teen self)

March 13: The Book Bratz, Review + Giveaway

March 14: Feisty Little Woman, Interview + Excerpt (Ch. 3)