Book Review: nEvermore! Edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and Caro Soles

I was really excited by the premise of this book when Edge Publishing sent it to me. Essentially, nEvermore! (yes, that is the correct spelling) is a collection of stories inspired by Edgar Allan Poe; many are re-imaginings for his published works while others are simply inspired by his writing. How cool is that? I’ve never come across a book like this before, so I didn’t really know what to expect. At first, I was a bit disappointed that some of the stories were so similar to Poe’s originals because it didn’t seem very creative, but as I continued to read I was surprised by the breadth of plot and writing style that I found.

There’s a wide range of writers that have contributed to this book; big names like Margaret Atwood and Kelley Armstrong are mixed in with many I’ve never heard of, but this variety made the collection so much better. The editors clearly knew what they were doing because they made the book accessible to Poe fans and newbies alike. There’s a really informative introduction about Poe’s history and life before you dive in, and each story begins with a note from the author about how Poe inspired them or their story. It’s in these little blurbs that we learn the fascinating tidbit that Atwood’s story was actually written when she was young-as if she couldn’t get anymore impressive!

Although I’m a Poe fan, I can’t say I’ve read a ton of his work, so keep that in mind while you read this review. For people who have read every single thing he ever wrote, they may find this collection tedious just because the stories tend to follow quite closely what he wrote. That being said fair-weather fans like me will be sure to enjoy the book because it’s everything we imagine Poe’s writings to be: creepy and Gothic with lots of plot twists!