An Immaculate Deception, Isabela Livino (Review by Melissa Frye)

An Immaculate Deception by Isabela Livino is a hodgepodge between a Gothic horror and mystery thriller. Livino brings us back to 1870s Brazil where we are introduced to the protagonist, Madalena, who is grappling with her unexpected pregnancy. In order to dodge looming scrutiny, she sets off to inform Leandro of their child and pursue an engagement when an accident occurs at the most inopportune time. This leads the two to the isolated Neves estate to recover under the care of Doctor Lobo. Upon awakening from a healing slumber, nothing seems to make sense including Leandro’s incredibly odd behavior.

Livino does a superb job creating a Gothic setting that I was continually fascinated by. She thrusts her readers into a decaying mansion with all the features one could expect – mirrors with ghastly reflections, locked rooms, secrets looming in the air and an overarching pervasive dreadful sense that one can just not shake.

There is way more beneath the surface as we gradually pull back the layers of the onion trying to figure it all out. What the heck is going on with Leandro? Is Doctor Lobo even a human being? What are all of these random rooms? Why is there an unbaked cake from years ago just hanging out in the kitchen? The questions just snowballed and made me eager to learn more. The feel of it generally reminded me of Nosferatu but with a lot more mystery baked in.

If there could be even more icing on the cake, Livino leaves us with a banger of a twist. Holy smokes. I finished this book in a day. While I have absolutely gushed through this review, the only thing that fell short for me was the philosophical backdrop of Dante’s Inferno. I could see the parallels but felt a bit more could have been done. Presumably Livino didn’t go here to detract from the velocity of the rest of the story.

An incredible and immersive read! I highly recommend it even if Gothic horror isn’t your thing. It is so much more.