The premise of this novel seems very, very interesting because Edgar Allen Poe's marriage was very, very screwed up. He married his thirteen-year-old cousin; plus, he was thirteen years older than her! Honestly though, I don't think this novel did their relationship justice. The author tries too hard to make their romance seem normal. It seems like she's aiming for the audience to go aw and to have heart-warming moments, but really, with a twisted romance like Edgar and Virginia's, that's not possible. I give her credit for trying to attempt something like that, but the result was many unrealistic moments filled with purple prose. Despite the purple prose, the writing wasn't bad; it wasn't spectacular either. The main problem with this book, however, was the pacing. The book just dragged on and on and on. Maybe it's because I don't like angst, but it felt like the situations were overly dramatic--to the point that they weren't interesting anymore. Overall, if you're looking for historical fiction, there are much better choices.