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The Barkes family was happy – Martha, Clive, and their daughter Eliza didn't lead perfect lives, but they were content and secure – until a complicated figure from Clive and Martha's past, Miss Eliot Fox, returns unexpectedly to their lives. As the family is confronted with secrets long kept, they are forced to evaluate their lives and their priorities. Even young Eliza, who had never met Eliot until the story takes place, comes into her own as an individual. Martha and Clive both make a number of poor decisions in this book, and I often found myself disgusted with them, yet I enjoyed their tumultuous chronicle, hoping all the while that they could piece themselves back together.

I received a free copy of this book from the Goodreads First Reads program.

I put off reading this book for a number of years because I absolutely adore Douglas Adams, and I was terrified that this “sequel” would put an unsettling taste in my mouth. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but unfortunately I didn't feel that it lived up to Adams' works in plot or in prose. I can't fault Colfer for not being Douglas Adams, but I can refuse to accept this book as the canonical ending to the series that stole my heart.

Friends had told me before I read it that I would probably be disappointed, but I had to know for myself. If you're less bothered by the need to consume every piece of literature associated with Douglas Adams than I am, then you probably won't miss much if you don't read this book.

Moore's snarky hero Pocket inserts himself seamlessly into the most unsuspecting of famous tales – first in Fool, which (loosely) covers the plot of King Lear, and now in the Serpent of Venice, a hodgepodge of comedy, tragedy, and horror. The plots and characters of The Merchant of Venice and Othello come together to create new intrigues. With constantly snappy dialogue and just enough raunchy bits to be endearing rather than gratuitous, The Serpent of Venice is a fun read that can border on intellectual if you squint hard enough.

I have not read the original source material by Poe regarding the serpent, so at first it seemed a bit out of place for an otherwise magic-free story, but there's always a bloody ghost, so might as well throw in a mythical creature!