Thanks to NetGalley and Legend Press for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
The premise and concept of this book initially really intrigued me. Three men secluded in a lighthouse with an unusually high number of accidents, disappearances, and deaths and how they dealt with this isolation – a great gothic and spooky mystery! Stanley was able to illustrate this well.
Although I understood that the descriptive writing style was a part of the narrator’s character (James Meakes) and often showed his state of mind, certain descriptive sections regarding philosophy or literature were quite wordy (just don’t think this was for me) and I sometimes struggled with the quite technical terminology regarding the lighthouse itself which lost my attention and concentration on the book.
Although there is some suspense and the lighthouse is shrouded in mystery for a good portion of the book, I wasn’t pulled into the story and wished it had been more thrilling in that aspect. I do like that over time we uncover more about James Meakes and the minor characters to a degree. It is very much character-driven and I too felt the lighthouse and weather also became characters of sorts which I think was my favourite thing I took from the novel.

A decent story, and the world is built well, but the overly florid language gets in the way. I have never looked up so many words when reading a novel. At first I found this fascinating but as it continued, it wore on me, and in the end the story and characters were not enough to overcome what I found frustrating.

This is easily one of the best books I've read this year. Mr. Stanley writes in a gothic horror, Henry Jamesian style appropriate to both his timeframe and physical setting that is done so well and so artfully that it's a pleasure to savor every word. He is a master of creating atmosphere and mood, particularly the heightened tension of the primary characters. But that's not all he does -- he succeeds in depicting the unraveling of the first person narrator in a way that utterly astounding. Slowly he peels back the layers, one by one, until virtual Armageddon has and continues to unfold before you. I read this book at the same time as The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, and I am the Sea squarely stood side by side with it in terms of complexity, depth and its beautiful command of the English language. Sorry for all the superlatives, but this book really is that good. And many thanks to Legend Press for my ARC.

A lighthouse build on a piece of rock is the only secure element in the middle of a harsh sea. She is a breathing creature pounding at the door, at the windows and at every piece of mortar, banging again and again; nature defying man's build.
Inside, the keepers hold on to vast rules and rituals to ensure that man will win.

Just as the storm is raging outside, the same applies in the keepers' mind: a tempest is gathering momentum and and a combination of raging elements propels our protagonist in a downward fall, losing touch with reality and crafting its own to be able to cope with his own history.

This whole tale is being told in beautiful prose and takes the reader into the peculiar lives of 19th century lighthouse keepers. The minute detail of the workings of such a feat of construction was very intriguing and the language used is reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe. I would recommend to read this gothic tale during a stormy weekend, feet up and a nicely filled snifter within reach.

This is the second book that I've read this year that has a lighthouse as a setting. However, it is completely different from The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex. It is another era, another focus and a completely different style, yet both are perfect!

A sincere thanks to Legend Press, NetGalley and the author for an advance copy in exchange of an honest review.

Stanley offers gothic suspense tale perfect for a rainy day or foreboding night. In elegant prose, Stanley spins a highly atmospheric tale that captures the untamed nature of life by the sea. I found the descriptions of the living quarters and daily life in a lighthouse to be the most interesting aspect of the book, particularly as they helped ground the more fanciful elements of the tale. If you are looking for a chilling read for a stormy day, I recommend 'I am the Sea'

“I will grant you that it may be perilous but this is why we are here. We impose efficiency and order upon the deep”

James is a newly appointed apprentice at the Ripsaw Reef Lighthouse, located on a rock 20 miles off the coast in the middle of the raging sea and often isolated for entire weeks. The novel opens with a gruesome sight: the corpse of the previous assistant deceased in mysterious circumstances, tied to the railings in a white shroud and half eaten by gulls. At the lighthouse, haunted by the sinister sounds of the mechanisms, of the howling winds and waves breaking against the wall, we meet a bizarre keeper often absorbed in strange experiments and a morose assistant with a dark past. Soon mysterious writings appear on walls, a fourth person seem to lurk in the shadows and one corpse emerges at the reef … this is only the start of a gripping, atmospheric psychological thriller. As James investigates, the author gradually lets us in on the secrets of the lighthouse and engages us in a chilling, unnerving game of cat and mouse that kept me on my toes till the last page.

This fine piece of lighthouse gothic is superbly crafted. In James (the first-person narrator) the author recreates the voice of an educated nineteenth-century young man – at times I actually felt as if I was reading Poe. James is well versed in letters (the assistant mocks him by calling him poet), and often draws on his vast knowledge of literature – ventriloquizing Homer, Defoe, Shakespeare, Coleridge – to find imagery and metaphors that describe nature, feelings and situations. The result is stunning, rendering James’ reasoning and ratiocinations, at times crystal clear and at times convoluted, and the paranoia reigning at the lighthouse. The sea is majestic and elemental, rendered with painterly precision and memorable strokes. The literary quotes, often very recognizable, are part of an intriguing game of appropriation and intertextuality, and I actually had fun identifying the sources and the echoes.

We learn that the lighthouse, with its strict routine and rules, is a pale attempt to bring order onto the primordial chaos of the stormy sea, but in this stunning piece of psychological fiction it holds the mirror to what lurks beneath reason. A hypnotic literary thriller, a subtle piece of postmodern fiction and, above all, a testament to the affective, transformative power of literature.

4.5

My thanks to Legend Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is certainly unique.

Its prose is lyrical - almost whimsical - and adds a deliciously decadent air to the book. Rich with description and free-flowing words, this is the fine wine of the literary world. That being said, it doesn't make it easy to read. It's very classical in its approach, yet at times, it does feel as though you're wading through treacle in search of the plot.

The entire book is set within the confines of the lighthouse's walls. This unusual setting makes the perfect backdrop to a twisty, Gothic novel, complete with a gloomy atmosphere and foreboding weather. It's intensely character-driven - even with a limited cast - and in fact, the lighthouse and the weather outside almost become characters in their own rights.

Moving between the mundane and the extra-ordinary, I Am the Sea poses philosophical questions in one breath while quoting famous novels in the next. The narrative thread darts around like the inside of the narrator's mind; often rambling, yet always finding its way in the end.

This book is excellently paced, rising to the big reveal and a thrilling conclusion. It's tense, suspenseful, and gripping. Uniquely unsettling, I Am the Sea is an intriguing literary fiction novel with a rich, Gothic atmosphere.

Many thanks for the opportunity to review this book.

I have read several books surrounding lighthouses this year, and this grabbed my attention straight away.

Sadly I felt myself unable to finish this book, through no fault of its own. I found the writing to be beautiful but too wordy and dense for me. I found myself really struggling to get into the story and made the decision to put it aside. I don't feel that it is fair for me to post a review to Goodreads as I didn't finish the book.

I may well pick this book up again in the future and see if I feel any differently as I have been having a bit of a tough time and this may have affected my ability to enjoy this novel.

I found this was a really interesting book. Lighthouses are interesting, a story of three men having to live together in an isolated place is interesting. Then, on top of all that there is the main narrative.

I loved the description of the sea and the lighthouse. I felt like the author had done their research. There was so much detail and description. The style was quite poetic and wordy which fitted perfectly.

The story itself was a bit creepy, an isolated place with multiple deaths reported. You wouldn't want that as your first posting as an apprentice like Meakes.

It certainly leaves an impression.

I am the Sea is a captivating gothic psychological suspense standalone rich in atmosphere and the joys of sinister storytelling. 1870. James Meakes is a young trainee lighthouse keeper who has been called upon to travel to Ripsaw Reef Lighthouse to temporarily replace one of its keepers, Spencer, who had passed away in rather suspicious circumstances. There was no notion, as yet, of how he died – only that Principle Bartholomew and Assistant Keeper Adamson, who made up the trio overseeing the lighthouse, were seen lashing him to the bars on the day they signalled for aid. Situated barely twenty miles offshore, James finds the place eerie, and despite it being within seeing distance of land, it was more inaccessible than a mountain peak or an oasis in a desert. He had heard plenty of stories about the treacherous waters around it often making it completely isolated and a perilous location in which to both live and work.

The raging storms produce a feeling of being severed from the rest of the world and have been known to last for weeks at a time in the past in the case of extreme, long-lasting stormy weather. Not only had Spencer's death been enigmatic but he had suffered a truly gruesome fate; his corpse was affixed to the railings where gulls had pecked away at his decomposing flesh. Out here among the furious eddies, between the twenty-fathom abyss and the limitless sky, man had built this adamantine tower of granite – totally solid for its first thirty-five feet of interlocking, double-dovetailed, masonry. Beyond the raging seas and gale-force winds, James is introduced to the two other keepers. Principle Bartholomew looked like an elderly clergyman with his white mutton-chop whiskers and his pale, ascetic countenance. Mr Adamson was shorter and more muscular, resembling a coal-heaver rather than an officer of the Commission.

His uniform seemed not to fit him. James senses something is off from the very beginning as the pair appear lost in bizarre experiments and both seemingly have unsettling pasts, but so did pretty much everyone who has ever worked at Ripsaw. They almost didn't acknowledge his presence but knowing other keepers had both died and disappeared in mysterious manners James must keep his wits about him at all times. Soon strange writings begin to appear on the walls which seem to indicate a fourth individual is lurking in the shadows, but James's attention has long since turned to surviving his land-sea ordeal, especially after the concern he has felt recently over the fate of his predecessors which now seem to be much more dark and twisted than what they were once portrayed to be.

This is a captivating, sinister and claustrophobic thriller buoyed by the writer's imagination and the unpredictability of both the sea and human beings. I was riveted by the refreshing originality and the strange goings-on and Ripsaw's vast secrets unravel with every passing page. It's palpably tense, ripe in sinister atmosphere and woven with chilling storytelling which keeps you guessing as the twists, turns and misdirection come at you thick and fast. It's wonderfully descriptive and the only aspect I found lacking was that at times it was too verbose making the writing slightly stilted. Intense, haunting and deliciously dark, it gives a feeling of insanity setting in after a while of being stranded on the small island which is when James's first-person narrative oversteps the line between reality and fantasy, sanity and madness taking it to a whole new level. For fans of Ian McGuire, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jennifer McMahon and Edgar Allan Poe. Highly recommended.

I am kind of conflicted on how to review this one. I absolutely love the setting. I think a thriller/mystery set in a lighthouse is an amazing idea. However, this one was just a little too wordy and I sometimes got confused.

Ever since I received my advanced copy of this book, I’ve been seeing it everywhere which has only whetted my appetite. There’s been mixed review of it, ranging from one star to five, so I went in with an open mind. And I have to say I’m somewhat disappointed.

Lighthouses have always fascinated me, but there is a dark, creepy quality to them that I felt Matt did manage to depict very well.

There is an awful lot of description in this, which isn’t a problem in and of itself, but there is a case of telling the reader what is going on rather than showing them. There is so much description that you end up thinking whether you need to remember it all for later on in the book. I found where one word could be used to describe things, there are half a dozen. Again, not a spectacular issue, but it does then feel a bit too wordy and rambling.

I don’t like to give up on a book, especially when it has been gifted to me, and I did try to persevere with this, but after about a third, I just couldn’t continue. It just wasn’t grabbing me unfortunately, and I just didn’t have the interest to see how it ended. Not for me sadly.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

"1870. Apprentice lighthouseman James Meakes joins two others at the remote offshore rock of Ripshaw Reef."

A remote lighthouse is a perfect gothic setting, throw in some lunatics who have a murder streak and it makes for a fantastic spooky story. The writing flow was good but lagged a bit with all the technical lighthouse info. Overall, a very enjoyable read.

"For if the winds rage, does not the sea wax mad? I am the sea."

4☆

James Meakes is a young trainee lighthouse keeper who arrives at Ricksaw Reef to replace a keeper who has recently died. Despite being within sight of the shore, the treacherous waters around the lighthouse make it regularly inaccessible and a dangerous place to live and work. Several keepers had died or disappeared. Meakes finds his fellow lighthouse keepers to be a strange, unwelcoming pair, and soon begins to worry that the fate of his predecessors may be more sinister than simple accidents.

The lighthouse makes the ideal 'closed setting' for a mystery. Stanley conjures up the feeling of claustrophobia, and the contrast between the wild surroundings and the dull, restrictive existence inside. With a small range of suspects, Stanley manages to keep up the tension with plenty of misdirection and twists. It's a compelling story and did not unfold as I expected initially.

If you enjoy mysteries and psychological thrillers, this is a very well written example which does keep you guessing and combines a compelling plot with great descriptive and atmospheric writing. I'll definitely be adding Stanley's other novels to my 'to read' list.

This is the epitome of Lighthouse Gothic…so atmospheric! Many readers will guess what’s happening with the narrator, but the story plays out so compellingly that those who abandon this book truly miss out on a chilling ride. I don’t typically read other reviews, unless I suspect some undue criticism. In this case, some readers missed the point of the narrative style, complaining that the book is verbose, when that is (cleverly done) a key element to the main character’s psyche.

This is a deliciously dark story. It uses the Lighthouse and sea to great effect to create the perfect claustrophobic and intense atmosphere. The writing and the descriptions are beautiful and along with the location create the perfect eerie thriller.

My thanks to Matt Stanley, Legend Press and Netgalley.
This isn't such a difficult book to rate, but a review?
Maddening!
It's verbose.
Why use a $5.00 word, when a $1.00 word will do?
Big words are incredibly annoying. If you read often then you know the meaning of these words, but it does take longer to get through!
I nearly quit.
Then I noticed that only one character was "wordy" and sometimes wouldn't even shut up.
Nice. A pattern!
I very quickly figured out what was going on, and still hung on until the end. I should have hit it and quit it!
This story was about 75 pages too long.
The descriptions of the Lighthouse were fantastic.
It's just that it's easily figured out, very early on. Yet, it keeps going and going.
Just to finally make me mad and onery? That ending? Who the hell you kidding?
Not recommended.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Let it be known that I HATE DNF'ing ARCs. Hate it. The part of me that was raised by Catholic people is just racked by guilt every time. That said, I'm DNF'ing this.

I was intrigued by the description of the plot, thinking that an isolated lighthouse would be an enjoyable, creepy setting. Unfortunately, the prose of this was over the top to the point where I might even call it purple. The language kept pulling me out of the story and just made it impossible to trudge onward.

Anyone want to DM me and let me know what happens? I am still curious about the plot.

This was a fun, creepy read with a great setting and strong unfolding of tension. I found the prose a little stilted, but I think that was the author trying to sound period-accurate. This book provided exactly what it said it would: lighthouse, creeping madness, dark secrets.

Jam packed full of atmosphere and tension.
So much so you can almost feel the sea sprat,and feel yourself slipping slightly into insanity as you are cooped up on the lighthouse with those strangers,all of whom don't seem quite right.
A cracking read that tops my list of recent lighthouse reads (and there's been a few recently).
The always wondering who is telling the truth is a great way to go,and this was done so well.