My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When the prevalent emotion after you finish reading a book is a lump in the throat, there’s nothing to be done but go back and read the story again and savor it for its deep portrayal of love that transcends time. Like a cup filled to the brim, I could feel the ardor and intensity of the love flowing thru the pages.
Adam Nicke writes from the heart and it is so apparent as he gives the readers a look into the psychological thoughts that pervade a human mind. By questioning some of the beliefs and practices of the Christian religion, he gives wings to the confusion that hamper man’s thoughts and freedom.
The first part of the story Temptation was, to be honest slow-going for me. A young boy being abused by his father living in his own dream world took its time to hook me in. I couldn’t make sense of the character called Sebastian and if it wasn’t for the blurb of the book that explains the concept of Tulpa I would have categorized this story in a similar vein to all the fantasy stories that I devour. But have patience, dear readers, Temptation is just the appetizer as we delve into the 2nd part of the book that is Denial. The story takes flight as we get to see Lillian and her need for love and family to counter the loneliness that dogs her existence. However, it is Sebastian that stole a piece of my heart as the devastation he feels once the realization of his existence sets in is acute and awful.
If you find one book that is so hard to slot into a category it could be this one. There are so many genres mixed into this novel, that I didn’t want to even try. Mystery, Gothic, romance, revenge, philosophy, fantasy, there’s everything in this but by the end, the only thought is LOVE that transcends time!
4.5 stars for this extremely well-written and intriguing story.
Many thanks to the author Adam Nicke for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.
To be unwanted and unloved can cause such pain that our search for salvation can lead us to the most unlikely places – and into the arms of the strangest people.
What if such a quest found only an imaginary friend? Is the character of Sebastian in Temptation and Denial just an imaginary friend or something more – something supernatural?
In Tibetan Buddhism the Tulpa is a being envisioned by the imagination and which then becomes an entity capable of independent life, but what happens to such a being after he who imagined it dies?
Lord Byron once wrote that the mind can make substance and give breath to a form that can outlive all flesh. Was he right?
Temptation and Denial is a story of just such a journey. Set in the mountains and valleys of Georgian-era Wales, Temptation and Denial is a ghostly tale of an immortal love – a love that transcends physical death.
Following on from the cult success of his Grim Fairy Tales, Adam Nicke again explores the tortured Gothic world of Dark Romanticism.
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Good thoughtful review, Farshana!
Thank you Noelle❤️