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King Nyx
A haunting mystery about the fate of women and girls in the orbit of self-important men.
Set in November 1918 on the opulent, castle-like island estate of an eccentric millionaire, Claude Arkel, this atmospheric novel reimagines the life of Anna Filing Fort - whose husband, Charles Hoy Fort, was the most famous “anomalist” of the early twentieth century.
Settling in as guests on Prosper Island, the young couple find themselves quarantined in a shabby outpost far from Mr. Arkel’s mansion - from which, they learn, three girls have gone missing. After she encounters a figure in the woods that may be the ghost of her long-lost friend Mary, Anna resolves to find out who Mr. Arkel really is, and what has become of the missing girls.
A contemporary feminist tale with the mood and mystery of a classic gothic novel, King Nyx reintroduces readers, twenty-five years after her acclaimed debut, to one of our most astonishingly imaginative storytellers.
Set in November 1918 on the opulent, castle-like island estate of an eccentric millionaire, Claude Arkel, this atmospheric novel reimagines the life of Anna Filing Fort - whose husband, Charles Hoy Fort, was the most famous “anomalist” of the early twentieth century.
Settling in as guests on Prosper Island, the young couple find themselves quarantined in a shabby outpost far from Mr. Arkel’s mansion - from which, they learn, three girls have gone missing. After she encounters a figure in the woods that may be the ghost of her long-lost friend Mary, Anna resolves to find out who Mr. Arkel really is, and what has become of the missing girls.
A contemporary feminist tale with the mood and mystery of a classic gothic novel, King Nyx reintroduces readers, twenty-five years after her acclaimed debut, to one of our most astonishingly imaginative storytellers.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published February 27, 2024
About the author
Kirsten Bakis
3 books94 followersKirsten Bakis (born 1967 in Switzerland) is an American novelist. Bakis was raised in Westchester County, New York, and graduated from New York University in 1990. She is a recipient of a Teaching/Writing Fellowship from the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop, a grant from the Michener/Copernicus Society of America.
She has taught at Hampshire College and was a writer-in-residence at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York in 2005. She is currently living in upstate New York.
She has taught at Hampshire College and was a writer-in-residence at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York in 2005. She is currently living in upstate New York.
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February 27, 2024KING NYX by Kirsten Bakis
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: Introduction to this author’s work
Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978132409...
Release Date: February 27th, 2024
General Genre: Horror, Science-Fiction, Gothic, Mystery, Thriller
Sub-Genre/Themes: historical fiction (1919) Amateur sleuths, isolated island estate, eccentric millionaire, repressed memory, hypnosis, delusions/hysteria, sanatorium, experimental studies, domestic abuse, unexplained phenomena, gaslighting, misogyny, sexism, missing girls, female friendships
Writing Style: Complex, detailed, flashbacks, intricately plotted, leisurely paced
What You Need to Know: NetGalley ARC on my Kindle Scribe. I almost tapped out at 30% because I was a little bored, but things eventually picked up, and then I became extremely invested.
My Reading Experience: “More lives are derailed by men who did whatever they wanted. The same story over and over again.”
An eccentric millionaire summons Anna Fort’s husband to his private estate on a remote island. Things are mysterious the moment they arrive. The driver that picks them up is odd. They must quarantine for a few weeks in a little cabin next door to another couple in the same situation.
As time passes, things get more and more alarming. Anna befriends the wife of the couple next door, Stella, and they begin exploring the island.
So many unsettling things happen, I don’t want to spoil any reading discoveries! I loved that every, single character seemed unreliable to me and that the early 1900s vibe was very pervasive throughout the novel.
Even thought I would never really want to be trapped on a remote island with suspicious strangers, I did very much enjoy reading about it.
A few creepy jump scares too! Some unexpected developments that made for some eerie scenes.
Loved the classic Gothic tropes at play too with the madness and hysteria, and all the ways men are so dismissive and possessive of women. Anna has an interesting past that involves a toy…very interesting. Maybe my favorite thread throughout this whole thing.
Final Recommendation: Perfect for horror fans looking for those experimental science research vibes, historical fiction setting, and a cast of strange characters. Mysterious, unique, and eerie. Perfect rainy day + cup of tea reading vibes.
Comps: Edgar Allan Poe, Jane Eyre, Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, The Whistling by Rebecca Netley
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: Introduction to this author’s work
Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978132409...
Release Date: February 27th, 2024
General Genre: Horror, Science-Fiction, Gothic, Mystery, Thriller
Sub-Genre/Themes: historical fiction (1919) Amateur sleuths, isolated island estate, eccentric millionaire, repressed memory, hypnosis, delusions/hysteria, sanatorium, experimental studies, domestic abuse, unexplained phenomena, gaslighting, misogyny, sexism, missing girls, female friendships
Writing Style: Complex, detailed, flashbacks, intricately plotted, leisurely paced
What You Need to Know: NetGalley ARC on my Kindle Scribe. I almost tapped out at 30% because I was a little bored, but things eventually picked up, and then I became extremely invested.
My Reading Experience: “More lives are derailed by men who did whatever they wanted. The same story over and over again.”
An eccentric millionaire summons Anna Fort’s husband to his private estate on a remote island. Things are mysterious the moment they arrive. The driver that picks them up is odd. They must quarantine for a few weeks in a little cabin next door to another couple in the same situation.
As time passes, things get more and more alarming. Anna befriends the wife of the couple next door, Stella, and they begin exploring the island.
So many unsettling things happen, I don’t want to spoil any reading discoveries! I loved that every, single character seemed unreliable to me and that the early 1900s vibe was very pervasive throughout the novel.
Even thought I would never really want to be trapped on a remote island with suspicious strangers, I did very much enjoy reading about it.
A few creepy jump scares too! Some unexpected developments that made for some eerie scenes.
Loved the classic Gothic tropes at play too with the madness and hysteria, and all the ways men are so dismissive and possessive of women. Anna has an interesting past that involves a toy…very interesting. Maybe my favorite thread throughout this whole thing.
Final Recommendation: Perfect for horror fans looking for those experimental science research vibes, historical fiction setting, and a cast of strange characters. Mysterious, unique, and eerie. Perfect rainy day + cup of tea reading vibes.
Comps: Edgar Allan Poe, Jane Eyre, Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, The Whistling by Rebecca Netley
April 9, 2024
A tightly woven and haunting gothic mystery that left me supremely satisfied.
A creepy island, a reclusive benefactor, and three young girls vanished into thin air. If those ingredients weren’t enough to hook you, the evolving mystery at the heart of the book does a tremendous job of pulling you deeper and deeper into the abyss as important answers always seem tantalizingly out of reach.
It’s more eerie than it is scary, but Bakis sets the atmospherically rich and period-specific tone incredibly well, as the dialogue and imagery effectively evoke the the haunting quality that brings the plot to life.
The story itself tackles contemporary issues through the lens of life in 1918 – the rejection of science, toxic men in high places, and even a disease outbreak requiring quarantine! Timeless themes, an alluring mystery, and beautiful prose make this a supremely satisfying read.
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Interview with author Kirsten Bakis
A creepy island, a reclusive benefactor, and three young girls vanished into thin air. If those ingredients weren’t enough to hook you, the evolving mystery at the heart of the book does a tremendous job of pulling you deeper and deeper into the abyss as important answers always seem tantalizingly out of reach.
It’s more eerie than it is scary, but Bakis sets the atmospherically rich and period-specific tone incredibly well, as the dialogue and imagery effectively evoke the the haunting quality that brings the plot to life.
The story itself tackles contemporary issues through the lens of life in 1918 – the rejection of science, toxic men in high places, and even a disease outbreak requiring quarantine! Timeless themes, an alluring mystery, and beautiful prose make this a supremely satisfying read.
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Interview with author Kirsten Bakis
April 12, 2024
3.5 A mysterious house with a mysterious owner. Three young women missing from his household. Anna and Charles Fort were actual people, Charles is focused on strange , occurrences that have no known explanation, such as raw meat falling from the sky etc. This though is narrated by Anna and flashes back and forth, from her time as a servant in Charles fathers house, to the present. Invited to the island with another couple by Mr. Arkel, supposedly so Charles could write his book. There is another couple also there and I loved Stella, who would become Anna's wingman, so to speak.
A very strange book, atmospheric and tense. Things, are of course not as they appear. Unexplained happenings and a strange coincidence in regards to King Nyx. Loved the eerie cover.
Audio was terrific.
ARC from Netgalley and RBMedia.
A very strange book, atmospheric and tense. Things, are of course not as they appear. Unexplained happenings and a strange coincidence in regards to King Nyx. Loved the eerie cover.
Audio was terrific.
ARC from Netgalley and RBMedia.
March 22, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ "King Nyx" is an evocative novel set in 1918 on the secluded Prosper Island, blending gothic mystery and contemporary feminist themes. It explores the enigmatic circumstances surrounding Anna and Charles, married guests of millionaire Claude Arkel, amidst the backdrop of the island's dark secrets, including the mysterious disappearance of three girls.
IRL, I’m learning something new every day with books recently. Part of the narrative in "King Nyx" reimagines the true life of Charles Hoy Fort, an early 20th-century researcher and writer of anomalous phenomena. Until a quick Google search, I figured the book was just poking fun at people who believe, but won’t admit outright, that aliens occasionally shower things at us Earth-bound folk.
I haven’t read Kirsten Bakis’ first novel, "Lives of the Monster Dogs," but "King Nyx" introduced me to her flair for the imaginative and the macabre.
There are moments where I lost the plot a bit and felt that the novel could have benefited from tighter pacing and a more focused narrative arc. Despite these minor detractions, I loved the story's beautifully eerie setting and appreciated the subtle yet poignant feminist commentary.
Stella was by far my favorite character. Honestly, the smartest one among the cast. And I love the cover—definitely what drew me to the book!
Thanks to Netgalley, RB Media, Kirsten Bakis, and Bahni Turpin for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
IRL, I’m learning something new every day with books recently. Part of the narrative in "King Nyx" reimagines the true life of Charles Hoy Fort, an early 20th-century researcher and writer of anomalous phenomena. Until a quick Google search, I figured the book was just poking fun at people who believe, but won’t admit outright, that aliens occasionally shower things at us Earth-bound folk.
I haven’t read Kirsten Bakis’ first novel, "Lives of the Monster Dogs," but "King Nyx" introduced me to her flair for the imaginative and the macabre.
There are moments where I lost the plot a bit and felt that the novel could have benefited from tighter pacing and a more focused narrative arc. Despite these minor detractions, I loved the story's beautifully eerie setting and appreciated the subtle yet poignant feminist commentary.
Stella was by far my favorite character. Honestly, the smartest one among the cast. And I love the cover—definitely what drew me to the book!
Thanks to Netgalley, RB Media, Kirsten Bakis, and Bahni Turpin for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
October 16, 2023
Set in 1918, with a lot of references back to the 1800's this dark gothic mystery checked a LOT of boxes for me. We start with Annie meeting with Mr. Dreise regarding her husbands estate - you know immediately how Mr. Dreise feels about a woman's 'place' in society. Flash back - the story is told through the POV of Anna/Annie Fort a woman who grew up in Hell's Kitchen, who had lost her mother and her father was unable to care for her due to his drinking, ended up working as a maid for the very wealthy Fort family. During this time she saw things that were unexplainable and the Fort family decided that she should be treated for mental illness. She falls in love with their son Charles/Charlie and when he decides to marry her after her treatment, the family shuns them and they have no money. Charles is a writer, or a crypto scientist and is studying things that cannot be scientifically explained. He finally has a break through when he and his wife are invited to a private island owned by Mr. Arkel where they are to live for the winter and he is to finish his writing. Mr. Arkel is going to fund his studies.
Keep in mind that women were not allowed the right to vote until 1920. The time period that this book is written was a terrible time in the studies of mental health and illness and simply put - the way women were treated and what was expected of them. You will see this all through the book.
Anna had a friend when she worked for the Fort family, Mary. Mary was a head strong young lady who wanted to defy the world's expectations of women. She was encouraging to Anna and wanted Anna to believe in herself. She gave Anna a journal and encouraged her to write her story of King Nyx (love love love this goddess) Anna never believed she could write for herself... until the death of her husband. Then she decided to write down the story of what happened to them all those years ago on the island.
Everything was described so beautifully I felt as if I was in the story watching. When a book was opened, I could almost smell the leather of the covers and the dust on the pages. I loved this book and and going back to read her other works!
Keep in mind that women were not allowed the right to vote until 1920. The time period that this book is written was a terrible time in the studies of mental health and illness and simply put - the way women were treated and what was expected of them. You will see this all through the book.
Anna had a friend when she worked for the Fort family, Mary. Mary was a head strong young lady who wanted to defy the world's expectations of women. She was encouraging to Anna and wanted Anna to believe in herself. She gave Anna a journal and encouraged her to write her story of King Nyx (love love love this goddess) Anna never believed she could write for herself... until the death of her husband. Then she decided to write down the story of what happened to them all those years ago on the island.
Everything was described so beautifully I felt as if I was in the story watching. When a book was opened, I could almost smell the leather of the covers and the dust on the pages. I loved this book and and going back to read her other works!
March 23, 2024
I really wanted to like this and was in the mood for the atmospheric creepy read à la Wilkie Collins that the blurbs promised. I did make it through, but I had to force myself to persevere through the last third of the book after it had been revealed that the most intriguingly weird elements held no real significance for the plot. This book is like the nonsensical nightmare you might have after reading The Island of Doctor Moreau and Rebecca and watching Westworld and Lost...only more boring than you're probably imagining.
August 29, 2023
I love a psychological murder thriller mystery set in a limited space. This creates more tension and makes the plot twists more interesting as the characters discover each other, and their intentions and truths are revealed.
I love that it's set in the early 1900s still giving a Victorian gothic vibe to the power/control of men over women, paranormal, making us doubt if we're dealing with hallucinations and ghosts or insanity and cruelty. We're not only unveiling the present dangers but also mysteries and crimes set in the past of our characters.
Very good balance and rhythm. I didn't know the work of this author but I'm a fan now. Looking forward to more. It has a great combination of Shirley Jackson and Agatha Christie and other classics.
Loved the cover.
I won an arc via Goodreads giveaways.
(Closer to pub day I shall post on my regular reviewer platforms and Amazon under the name @therearenobadbooks)
I love that it's set in the early 1900s still giving a Victorian gothic vibe to the power/control of men over women, paranormal, making us doubt if we're dealing with hallucinations and ghosts or insanity and cruelty. We're not only unveiling the present dangers but also mysteries and crimes set in the past of our characters.
Very good balance and rhythm. I didn't know the work of this author but I'm a fan now. Looking forward to more. It has a great combination of Shirley Jackson and Agatha Christie and other classics.
Loved the cover.
I won an arc via Goodreads giveaways.
(Closer to pub day I shall post on my regular reviewer platforms and Amazon under the name @therearenobadbooks)
March 18, 2024
A marvelous, creepy, story set on an isolated island owned by a man with too much money to be bound by society. Mrs. Charles Fort is underestimated by everyone, including Theodore Drieser, a fan of her husband. Set during the global flu pandemic of 1918, everything here feels familiar, plausible, and too disturbing to be fiction. The author does a lovely job of recreating a weird time of great change and horrible possibilities and a woman's precarious security in the world. Also: a ripping yarn with echoes of Verne and Wells.
Library copy
Library copy
February 26, 2024
I found the beginning of this story a bit slow, but once it picked up, I didn't want it to stop. Even if I was internally screaming at Anna to just let those dang parakeets go. I really enjoyed how mysterious and spooky the story got and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was around each corner. I mean, creepy life-size dolls are always a win in my book! I also enjoyed the narrator and the way she brought the characters to life.
Thanks Netgalley and Recorded Books for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook.
Thanks Netgalley and Recorded Books for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook.
February 17, 2024
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and WW Norton for my free and unbiased review.
**********
Boy, what a disjointed, bizarre mess. It’s as though Bakis mashed up Shutter Island, The Woman in Black, Rebecca, The Yellow Wallpaper, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The Most Dangerous Game, and I do mean mashed up. I had high expectations. Gothic narrative in which a woman with prior mental health issues is exposed to a mystery? Sure. Count me in. But none of what happens in this novel held my attention, enabled a suspension of disbelief, or aroused a sense of suspense in general. Honesty, had I not received this as an ARC I would have dnf’d it at about 50 pages, by which point I had physically rolled my eyes at least four times. I cannot recall another book that had me doing so.
CW: domestic violence, gaslighting, institutionalization, child sex crimes. fetish sex, gun violence, all of which are mentioned or gestured to, none of which accomplish the shock value I suspect the author was aiming for.
The more this author and her narrator revealed the less I cared, the less I believed the narrator, and the more bored I became. There was no sense of connection between so many parts of the narrative, each more bizarre than the last. A reclusive billionaire on an island? OK, but one who quarantines guests for an undisclosed reason and period of time in creepy cabins, has the, guarded by armed guards, and feeds them from daily trunks of gourmet cuisine that somehow magically stays hot,or cold forever? No. Runaway girls from a reform school,on the same island run by the same billionaire? Weirder still. And now they are living in the woods, in a graveyard, nursing infants in the moonlight. And don’t even get me started on the co-dependent narrator, her wastrel husband and their mutually obsessive research subject on bizarre rain (frogs, blood, etc.), and her damned birds.
Just nope. I clearly did not read the same book as the others who have reviewed it so far. This was not a well-wrought “psychological thriller” anymore than Annie’s husband Charles is a “crypto scientist.” Yeesh. Don’t drink the kool-aid on this one.
**********
Boy, what a disjointed, bizarre mess. It’s as though Bakis mashed up Shutter Island, The Woman in Black, Rebecca, The Yellow Wallpaper, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The Most Dangerous Game, and I do mean mashed up. I had high expectations. Gothic narrative in which a woman with prior mental health issues is exposed to a mystery? Sure. Count me in. But none of what happens in this novel held my attention, enabled a suspension of disbelief, or aroused a sense of suspense in general. Honesty, had I not received this as an ARC I would have dnf’d it at about 50 pages, by which point I had physically rolled my eyes at least four times. I cannot recall another book that had me doing so.
CW: domestic violence, gaslighting, institutionalization, child sex crimes. fetish sex, gun violence, all of which are mentioned or gestured to, none of which accomplish the shock value I suspect the author was aiming for.
The more this author and her narrator revealed the less I cared, the less I believed the narrator, and the more bored I became. There was no sense of connection between so many parts of the narrative, each more bizarre than the last. A reclusive billionaire on an island? OK, but one who quarantines guests for an undisclosed reason and period of time in creepy cabins, has the, guarded by armed guards, and feeds them from daily trunks of gourmet cuisine that somehow magically stays hot,or cold forever? No. Runaway girls from a reform school,on the same island run by the same billionaire? Weirder still. And now they are living in the woods, in a graveyard, nursing infants in the moonlight. And don’t even get me started on the co-dependent narrator, her wastrel husband and their mutually obsessive research subject on bizarre rain (frogs, blood, etc.), and her damned birds.
Just nope. I clearly did not read the same book as the others who have reviewed it so far. This was not a well-wrought “psychological thriller” anymore than Annie’s husband Charles is a “crypto scientist.” Yeesh. Don’t drink the kool-aid on this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2024
This literary fiction, and a great one at that - takes place on a remote island owned by a wealthy man. 2 couples are invited to visit him so that they can complete their work and get it published under a prominent banner name. But the island is filled with mysteries and shadows lurking in the dark. This gothic setting in a contemporary world buildup creates a mystifying feel about the story.
I enjoyed the descriptive writing style of the author which was just enough for you to capture the essence of the place but not overwhelm you by the details. The mysteries don't really point you to a single angle that keeps you pondering on the antagonist. The climax piqued my attention the most with a lot of parallel activities. The cover does give you a spooky vibe, though it is all on the psychological side. There is one element of speculative fiction in here too that added the foggy layer to the story, leaving readers usually unsure about the occurrences.
An enjoyable read, one that I would like to own too. Thank you @netgalley @recordedbooks @w.w.norton and @kirstenbakis for the ALC.
Genre: #literaryfiction #psychological
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
I enjoyed the descriptive writing style of the author which was just enough for you to capture the essence of the place but not overwhelm you by the details. The mysteries don't really point you to a single angle that keeps you pondering on the antagonist. The climax piqued my attention the most with a lot of parallel activities. The cover does give you a spooky vibe, though it is all on the psychological side. There is one element of speculative fiction in here too that added the foggy layer to the story, leaving readers usually unsure about the occurrences.
An enjoyable read, one that I would like to own too. Thank you @netgalley @recordedbooks @w.w.norton and @kirstenbakis for the ALC.
Genre: #literaryfiction #psychological
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
February 19, 2024
This book gave me everything I could have wanted! Set in the early 1900's, a couple gets invited to an island owned by a strange and powerful benefactor. For reasons not made completely clear, the couple must quarantine for 2 weeks with another couple...and things get sinister and uncomfortable REAL quick.
I love reading through the eyes of a somewhat unreliable narrator--it just emphasizes the mysterious quality of the story. The vastness and unfamiliarity of the island and its grand estate make for an ideal Gothic setting. Oh. And human-like dolls. So deliciously creepy!!
This was an A+ read for me. Stoked to get others to read this as well!!
I love reading through the eyes of a somewhat unreliable narrator--it just emphasizes the mysterious quality of the story. The vastness and unfamiliarity of the island and its grand estate make for an ideal Gothic setting. Oh. And human-like dolls. So deliciously creepy!!
This was an A+ read for me. Stoked to get others to read this as well!!
February 5, 2024
Written with a hazy dreamlike quality, on the surface, King Nyx is a gothic myself set on a Canadian Island owned by a rich recluse in the 1920s. In a deeper sense, it is a story about memory, trauma, and the roles men and women are expected to play. I loved the author’s first book, Lives of the Monster Dogs. This one did not disappoint. Though the story is a slow burn, the author set such a moody and lush tone with her descriptions of the surroundings and the glaring flaws of her characters that it was impossible to put this book down. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!
March 15, 2024
Genre hard for me to pin down. Horror? With mystery/thrillerish elements. And Gothic? Kind of, maybe.
The beginning through the middle - very good. Where it wore down - at the end with pages of dull info-dumping, back-storying which even in the world it created didn't make a whole lof of sense. Kind of a story like the TV show: Lost. Creepy, intriguing, great world and characters and then just cobble on an ending, any ending...
Setting and time: rural New York, 1920's. Main characters: Anna, 46 and husband Charlie, who writes articles about 'weird things which fall from the sky.' (He's never experienced this but combs old journals and newspapers for ppl who've experienced eels, dried fish, blood etc., which fall suddenly.) Charlie's been invited to a reclusive millionarie's island home (mansion) to write a book on the subject. Hurrah! Off they go, with Anna having a difficult 'back story' which she frequently recalls parts of.
At any rate, they're set up in a cabin near the mansion - being quarantined for the flu or other germs and so on. They meet up with another weird couple - he studies dreams and has a machine to cure people of nightmares. Think electric shock. - and together the two couples hunker down for the mandatory two-week quarantine period.
Then: Girls in the woods. Deaths in the woods. Weird greenhouse. Millionare makes mechanical dolls. It just flies everywhere, and Anna gets in the thick of it.
Ending? I could not - just could not read all of it. Skim-read and said...
Disappointed. Soooo disappointed. Great beginning, good middle, terrible ending.
Two stars.
The beginning through the middle - very good. Where it wore down - at the end with pages of dull info-dumping, back-storying which even in the world it created didn't make a whole lof of sense. Kind of a story like the TV show: Lost. Creepy, intriguing, great world and characters and then just cobble on an ending, any ending...
Setting and time: rural New York, 1920's. Main characters: Anna, 46 and husband Charlie, who writes articles about 'weird things which fall from the sky.' (He's never experienced this but combs old journals and newspapers for ppl who've experienced eels, dried fish, blood etc., which fall suddenly.) Charlie's been invited to a reclusive millionarie's island home (mansion) to write a book on the subject. Hurrah! Off they go, with Anna having a difficult 'back story' which she frequently recalls parts of.
At any rate, they're set up in a cabin near the mansion - being quarantined for the flu or other germs and so on. They meet up with another weird couple - he studies dreams and has a machine to cure people of nightmares. Think electric shock. - and together the two couples hunker down for the mandatory two-week quarantine period.
Then: Girls in the woods. Deaths in the woods. Weird greenhouse. Millionare makes mechanical dolls. It just flies everywhere, and Anna gets in the thick of it.
Ending? I could not - just could not read all of it. Skim-read and said...
Disappointed. Soooo disappointed. Great beginning, good middle, terrible ending.
Two stars.
January 22, 2024
3.75 stars rounded up. This novel started out small but ended mighty. I don't know if the 1930's count as the era of gothic novels, but Bakis did a fantastic job of setting a gothic scene on this isolated island shrouded in mystery.
I found incredible depth in this, balancing between characters who were so different. I loved Anna as a character, and really sympathized with her simultaneously being embarrassed of her husbands work while also feeling the societal pressure of caring for husband. While it was written for the time period, it handled some taboo subjects in a fascinating manner
Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I found incredible depth in this, balancing between characters who were so different. I loved Anna as a character, and really sympathized with her simultaneously being embarrassed of her husbands work while also feeling the societal pressure of caring for husband. While it was written for the time period, it handled some taboo subjects in a fascinating manner
Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 3, 2024
I’m not 100% sure how to describe this as it’s not really like anything I’ve read before. It’s sort of gothic horror without being scary or supernatural, sort of steampunk fantasy but totally based in realism, and sort of historical fiction with something just outside the realm of straight up history.
Ultimately I guess it’s just a melancholy literary novel that explores a lot of crap women experience and have always experienced, and the lack of support from anyone who’s not a woman. Anyone seen American Nightmare? I mean, it’s kind of a lot of the same.
Either way, I enjoyed the heck out of it. In the end, I suppose it’s really a view of what women tolerated and experienced at the turn of the century and how much they’d ignore to be even remotely safe. I’m not sure we’ve made the kind of progress we should have but we’ve made some. Still a feminist utopia seems as much of a fever dream now as it did 100 years ago, which is probably why I feel like it’s got fantasy elements.
Really appreciate having the opportunity to read this via NetGalley and the publisher.
Ultimately I guess it’s just a melancholy literary novel that explores a lot of crap women experience and have always experienced, and the lack of support from anyone who’s not a woman. Anyone seen American Nightmare? I mean, it’s kind of a lot of the same.
Either way, I enjoyed the heck out of it. In the end, I suppose it’s really a view of what women tolerated and experienced at the turn of the century and how much they’d ignore to be even remotely safe. I’m not sure we’ve made the kind of progress we should have but we’ve made some. Still a feminist utopia seems as much of a fever dream now as it did 100 years ago, which is probably why I feel like it’s got fantasy elements.
Really appreciate having the opportunity to read this via NetGalley and the publisher.
February 18, 2024
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis is a historical novel with mystery elements following Anna and Charles Fort, a married couple, in 1918 who are offered the chance to stay at the mysterious Mr. Arkel’s home on an island off the East Coast. When they arrive several women are petitioning for assistance to find out what happened to multiple local girls who went missing. On the island, things get stranger and stranger as Anna’s past joins her present.
The mystery and suspense elements felt really well integrated with the broader plot of and themes of the treatment of women during the time period. There are references to asylums and how little power women had as well as how hard it was to be believed. In a lot of ways, the book feels very topical and very current as many of these issues from a hundred years ago are ones we are still working on now.
Anna loves Greek mythology and her personal history with it is woven into her POV, which is something I always enjoy. She’s a more reflective POV and the entire book is told in flashback, with Anna telling her own story when her husband’s editor comes to call in the prologue.
I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction with suspense and mystery elements that are more focused on issues at the time and readers looking for a reimagining of the life of Charles and Anna Fort.
King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis is a historical novel with mystery elements following Anna and Charles Fort, a married couple, in 1918 who are offered the chance to stay at the mysterious Mr. Arkel’s home on an island off the East Coast. When they arrive several women are petitioning for assistance to find out what happened to multiple local girls who went missing. On the island, things get stranger and stranger as Anna’s past joins her present.
The mystery and suspense elements felt really well integrated with the broader plot of and themes of the treatment of women during the time period. There are references to asylums and how little power women had as well as how hard it was to be believed. In a lot of ways, the book feels very topical and very current as many of these issues from a hundred years ago are ones we are still working on now.
Anna loves Greek mythology and her personal history with it is woven into her POV, which is something I always enjoy. She’s a more reflective POV and the entire book is told in flashback, with Anna telling her own story when her husband’s editor comes to call in the prologue.
I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction with suspense and mystery elements that are more focused on issues at the time and readers looking for a reimagining of the life of Charles and Anna Fort.
March 3, 2024
King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis
Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the audiobook of King Nyx
Narrated by Bahni Turpin
who always does a superb reading and this is done brilliantly.
A complex gothic noir with a dreamlike setting and slow burn reveals. Charles Hoy Fort, was the most famous “anomalist” of the early twentieth century.
In November 1918, Annie and her husband, Charles receives a mysterious invitation from the reclusive and eccentric millionaire, Claude Arkel, to spend the winter at his secluded island mansion in the Thousand Islands of upstate New York. There Charles can finish his book, “The Book of the Damned” while Annie keeps him company. Another couple, Frank and Stella are invited there too. The two women are to keep themselves occupied while their husbands are working. So begins this strange, creepy and mysterious read.
Who is Mr. Arkel and who are the three girls missing from the mansion and why? Shadows, dreams or hallucinations Annie intends to find the answers to all these questions.
Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the audiobook of King Nyx
Narrated by Bahni Turpin
who always does a superb reading and this is done brilliantly.
A complex gothic noir with a dreamlike setting and slow burn reveals. Charles Hoy Fort, was the most famous “anomalist” of the early twentieth century.
In November 1918, Annie and her husband, Charles receives a mysterious invitation from the reclusive and eccentric millionaire, Claude Arkel, to spend the winter at his secluded island mansion in the Thousand Islands of upstate New York. There Charles can finish his book, “The Book of the Damned” while Annie keeps him company. Another couple, Frank and Stella are invited there too. The two women are to keep themselves occupied while their husbands are working. So begins this strange, creepy and mysterious read.
Who is Mr. Arkel and who are the three girls missing from the mansion and why? Shadows, dreams or hallucinations Annie intends to find the answers to all these questions.
March 13, 2024
I loved this book! King Nyx is a beautifully constructed story with everything you'd want in a novel.
Well developed characters, plenty of mystery, and beautiful prose that provides enough descriptiveness without ever weighing the story down. This perfectly paced story doesn't disappoint.
Well done!
Well developed characters, plenty of mystery, and beautiful prose that provides enough descriptiveness without ever weighing the story down. This perfectly paced story doesn't disappoint.
Well done!
March 8, 2024
This was my first time reading a gothic mystery and I loved it. It’s also the first read for this author and I will definitely be checking out their other book. The descriptive writing style and the narrators ability to bring the characters to life, really made me fall into this book.
March 5, 2024
Original, atmospheric,suspenseful. King Nyx starts out with the slow ascent of a rollercoaster, gains a bit of momentum as the story ascends to its peak and then whoosh ! descends with such speed, surprise and twists that the reader is left speechless. The themes of this haunting, gothic novel are explored in a brilliant tour de force of perception vs reality, evil vs good, sanity vs pathology. Bakis’ writes with a command of the genre that will richly reward the reader who stays with King Nyx through the slowly building beginning to the masterful denouement and totally unexpected end.
March 8, 2024
An unusual tale about a woman desperate to support her husband and his quirky ideas about reality for he is the one who saved her from her delusions. Set in the early 1900’s, this is the tale of a woman struggling to piece together reality when she cannot trust her herself to tell the difference between reality and delusion. It is a mystery set on a secluded private island owned by an eccentric wealthy man who runs a reformatory school for girls but that may not be his real intention. Some of the girls have gone missing.
A dark and poetic read (listen) that was both pleasant and disturbing. I particularly loved our protagonist’s passion for birds and what it means to keep them in her care.
A dark and poetic read (listen) that was both pleasant and disturbing. I particularly loved our protagonist’s passion for birds and what it means to keep them in her care.
February 20, 2024
This book had two things I love. It had a gothic style mystery, with girls disappearing and no one seems to care. Also, it had a connection to real people. I love when a book makes me d a little research about the people or events that the book is based on. I love the slow burn. I love the isolation. I love the historical significance. I love how easy it is to relate even though the events are from a century ago.
March 12, 2024
3.5 stars for me.
The gothic story King Nyx offers haunting imagery, sinister mysteries, unreliable memories, resurfacing past trauma, missing persons, unexplained deaths, and a children's fairy tale gone awry.
Anna Fort has many reservations about her husband's outlandish theories, but she dutifully assists him with his research into unexplained meteorological phenomena in the hopes that his in-progress book will eventually be publishable--and will allow them to drag themselves out of poverty. Once Charles's family's house maid, Anna knows she is the reason he gave up his inheritance and any relationship with his cruel father.
So when a reclusive, wealthy man invites Charles to spend the winter of 1918 on his remote, cold, private island writing his book, Anna is supportive and accompanies him.
But a strange feeling pervades everything on the island. Their host is absent, and while they understand being required to isolate and quarantine to prevent the spread of the deadly flu, many odd occurrences and sinister-feeling goings-on are making Anna wonder if they should ever have come--and if it's even possible to escape.
Meanwhile, flashes of her past seem to be resurfacing on this strange island, the other couple staying nearby seem to have dark secrets, the rumors they had heard on the mainland of missing young girls seem to possibly be true, someone has turned up dead--and they still haven't even seen their host.
The imagery of King Nyx is striking, with (oddly specific and elaborate) automatons, gas masks, looming, mysterious buildings, and more. The tie-in to King Nyx for Anna seems beyond possibility, and the other links to her past seem far-fetched, until she realizes that all of the events on the island seem to be the mastermind of an unhinged puppet master.
Meanwhile mysteries from Anna's experiences in the Fort household seem held together by crucial gaps in memory, and the framework is beginning to fall apart.
I found myself wishing the various aspects of the story had held together a little more cohesively, but I enjoyed the dark, gothic tale of King Nyx and each of its elements, including the caged-bird metaphors, as well as the denouement.
I listened to King Nyx as an audiobook.
I received an audiobook version of King Nyx courtesy of NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books.
Kirsten Bakis is also the author of Lives of the Monster Dogs, a book I'd like to read.
To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see King Nyx.
Find hundreds of reviews and lots of roundups of my favorite books on the blog: Bossy Bookworm
Follow me on Instagram! @bossybookwormblog
Or Facebook! The Bossy Bookworm
The gothic story King Nyx offers haunting imagery, sinister mysteries, unreliable memories, resurfacing past trauma, missing persons, unexplained deaths, and a children's fairy tale gone awry.
Anna Fort has many reservations about her husband's outlandish theories, but she dutifully assists him with his research into unexplained meteorological phenomena in the hopes that his in-progress book will eventually be publishable--and will allow them to drag themselves out of poverty. Once Charles's family's house maid, Anna knows she is the reason he gave up his inheritance and any relationship with his cruel father.
So when a reclusive, wealthy man invites Charles to spend the winter of 1918 on his remote, cold, private island writing his book, Anna is supportive and accompanies him.
But a strange feeling pervades everything on the island. Their host is absent, and while they understand being required to isolate and quarantine to prevent the spread of the deadly flu, many odd occurrences and sinister-feeling goings-on are making Anna wonder if they should ever have come--and if it's even possible to escape.
Meanwhile, flashes of her past seem to be resurfacing on this strange island, the other couple staying nearby seem to have dark secrets, the rumors they had heard on the mainland of missing young girls seem to possibly be true, someone has turned up dead--and they still haven't even seen their host.
The imagery of King Nyx is striking, with (oddly specific and elaborate) automatons, gas masks, looming, mysterious buildings, and more. The tie-in to King Nyx for Anna seems beyond possibility, and the other links to her past seem far-fetched, until she realizes that all of the events on the island seem to be the mastermind of an unhinged puppet master.
Meanwhile mysteries from Anna's experiences in the Fort household seem held together by crucial gaps in memory, and the framework is beginning to fall apart.
I found myself wishing the various aspects of the story had held together a little more cohesively, but I enjoyed the dark, gothic tale of King Nyx and each of its elements, including the caged-bird metaphors, as well as the denouement.
I listened to King Nyx as an audiobook.
I received an audiobook version of King Nyx courtesy of NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books.
Kirsten Bakis is also the author of Lives of the Monster Dogs, a book I'd like to read.
To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see King Nyx.
Find hundreds of reviews and lots of roundups of my favorite books on the blog: Bossy Bookworm
Follow me on Instagram! @bossybookwormblog
Or Facebook! The Bossy Bookworm
March 23, 2024
Spooky murder mystery on an isolated island.
Is she or isnt she an unreliable narrator until it's more than clear the only bad story tellers are the men they're married to.
Loved the psychological juxtaposition of these women being gaslight into believing they're crazy next to murderers who enjoyed killing others and who "did nothing wrong"
This was total immersion into the time period of "men know best". I was questioning everything and reading for answers while the characters did the same. Women stated facts and lived in constant fear of people thinking they were crazy as men who gave nonsensical answers to things they couldnt solve blindly declared their conclusions as "science".
They were all bumbling idiots gleefully abusing and killing everything unless a female took charge or spoke up or stood in their way. King Nyx is a pseudonym for women who need the male title in order to make things happen. Or in some cases women who take over for the male automaton to stop it from blindly destroying everything in its path.
In the end I felt like Annie did. The world is full of murderers and death until occassionally a goddess pretends to be a king and step up to stop the bleeding.
So. Many. Juxtapositions here!! I think this needs to be a book club rec.
Is she or isnt she an unreliable narrator until it's more than clear the only bad story tellers are the men they're married to.
Loved the psychological juxtaposition of these women being gaslight into believing they're crazy next to murderers who enjoyed killing others and who "did nothing wrong"
This was total immersion into the time period of "men know best". I was questioning everything and reading for answers while the characters did the same. Women stated facts and lived in constant fear of people thinking they were crazy as men who gave nonsensical answers to things they couldnt solve blindly declared their conclusions as "science".
They were all bumbling idiots gleefully abusing and killing everything unless a female took charge or spoke up or stood in their way. King Nyx is a pseudonym for women who need the male title in order to make things happen. Or in some cases women who take over for the male automaton to stop it from blindly destroying everything in its path.
In the end I felt like Annie did. The world is full of murderers and death until occassionally a goddess pretends to be a king and step up to stop the bleeding.
So. Many. Juxtapositions here!! I think this needs to be a book club rec.
March 17, 2024
I LOVED this book. It took me someplace else, with a vibe and a setting I have never experienced before. There were surprises, nerve wracking moments, and a satisfying plot line. There was plenty of weirdness, but it only added to the story in my opinion. Was there an underlying moral? yes, and if I caught on correctly it's a very good one, but I'm not that confident I picked up on it correctly. I'll have to talk it over with my brilliant dd and get her input before I commit to my theories (or just cheat and read smart people's reviews).
April 4, 2024
Nicely paced thriller in which a widow reminisces about moments of sheer terror that ended up changing her life. Based on real historical figures in New York circa 1918-1933.
Read
January 4, 2024OH MY GOODNESS. I read this entire book in one sitting. It was absolutely buck wild. I thought it was giving off big Shutter Island vibes but it surprised me in it's Jane Eyreness in the end. A perfect gothic novel.
March 6, 2024
Rich in descriptions and well-plotted, this atmospheric novel delivers a suspenseful and satisfying story. An invitation from a reclusive billionaire, an estate on a remote island, missing girls, sanitoriums, and the quasi-scientific study of the unexplained are all part of this dark and moody gothic novel set in the early 1900s.
Told from a woman’s point of view, the novel centers around the toxic behavior of men with too much power and too little accountability. How the women and girls overcome tradition, superstition, and gaslighting makes for a compelling read.
My thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for this honest review.
Told from a woman’s point of view, the novel centers around the toxic behavior of men with too much power and too little accountability. How the women and girls overcome tradition, superstition, and gaslighting makes for a compelling read.
My thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for this honest review.
March 29, 2024
Of course it was hard to stop reading. Had to force myself to space it out. So creepy yet weirdly funny. Loved the settings, so lush and visceral, particularly the greenhouse. Loved the dialogue. So much more profound than the mystery genre usually allows for.
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