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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
This one had all the ingredients I love… multiple POVs, layered timelines, and a cozy old house full of secrets! But this wasn’t my typical mystery/thriller novel.
Here are things I loved: The quiet power of walking away from tech and social media? Tess… Yes please! And the way everything tied together in the end? Really heartwarming. Full-circle stories always hit me in the feels.
Now the things I didn’t quite love: Some of the timeline jumping threw me off a bit, usually I can follow fairly easily so I can’t really say why this one was choppy for me. The vegetarian talk and census references left me waiting for an “aha” moment that never came. Maybe I just didn’t get it
A little cozier than I usually reach for, but still a feel-good read that reminds you how connected we all are across time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Embla Books for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Here are things I loved: The quiet power of walking away from tech and social media? Tess… Yes please! And the way everything tied together in the end? Really heartwarming. Full-circle stories always hit me in the feels.
Now the things I didn’t quite love: Some of the timeline jumping threw me off a bit, usually I can follow fairly easily so I can’t really say why this one was choppy for me. The vegetarian talk and census references left me waiting for an “aha” moment that never came. Maybe I just didn’t get it
A little cozier than I usually reach for, but still a feel-good read that reminds you how connected we all are across time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Embla Books for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If houses could talk, 25 Library Terrace would have one hell of a story to tell—and Natalie Fergie makes sure we hear it in every layered, lovingly told detail.
Spanning more than a century, this quiet, character-driven novel unfolds through the lives of several women who, at different points in time, call the same Edinburgh house home. From Ursula’s census-defying feminism in 1911 to the post-pandemic threads tying everything together in 2022, this is a story that thrives on the gentle unraveling of family secrets, shifting societal norms, and the often-unexpected echoes of the past.
The pacing is on the slower side—this isn’t a book to rush through. But if you love stories where time hops feel earned, and the emotional payoff builds like the layers of wallpaper in an old Victorian terrace, you’ll be well rewarded. Also: census records as a narrative device? Nerdy and excellent.
It’s not quite a tearjerker, but it is quietly profound—and will especially hit if you’ve ever looked at your house and wondered who else found heartbreak, hope, or healing within those walls.
Big thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review—like a census protest, this opinion is entirely my own.