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bethanydane's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
vn_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Truthfully, I picked up this book because I thought the cover was cool. The writing itself is wonderful. The story however, I just couldn’t get fully behind. While it is Victorian and has demons, I think the demon aspect was introduced way too late. The characters I also couldn’t really connect with since I found them mostly unlikeable.
Overall it’s an okay read. Really gave it the 2 stars for the writing and did have some parts that pulled me in to keep me reading.
Overall it’s an okay read. Really gave it the 2 stars for the writing and did have some parts that pulled me in to keep me reading.
artsybry's review against another edition
2.0
This book was...odd. I am really having a difficult time summarizing how I feel about this novel. At first it seemed to check off tons of my boxes - London, Victorian age, women breaking from their expected roles, a supernatural element, and a complex sister relationship. I went into this book expecting to devour it and then as for some more. Instead I found myself struggling through the slow first half and considered abandoning it, then speeding through the back half but questioning every characters actions!
Let's start with the bits I enjoyed...overall the writing was good throughout. The pacing was slow to moderate, but it made sense for the plotting. My only issue was that the language was not consistent. For the most part the author maintained a 19th century tone, but every once in a while a modern phrase would sneak its way into the character's dialogue which at the beginning of the book made me second guess if the time frame actually was 19th century London, or if this was meant to be an alternant timeline/universe. Things like "Actually, I was thrown for a loop yesterday..." and "I did not come here for my MRS degree." That last one is especially not period appropriate.
The book felt very familiar at times, but it reminded me greatly of [b:Sense and Sensibility|14935|Sense and Sensibility|Jane Austen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397245675s/14935.jpg|2809709] as we had 2 sisters, the elder, more mature sister, and the younger, more vivacious and carefree. The differences in personality often led to conflicts and their ideas of proper actions and associations were a spectrum. Their strained relationship forms the basis of most of the conflicts throughout the plot and was very believable and well thought through. I loved that the sister's relationship, and its ups and downs, was a focus throughout the novel, and often trumped the other relationships in terms of importance and pages dedicated to it.
The best part was the inclusion of same sex couples, and that their relationships were a non-issue. Everyone seemed free to love whomever they wanted and not judged for it.
Some things I had an issue with was the supernatural element, Demons, which were extremely sparse throughout the first half of the book. It read more as a historical fiction novel that an urban-fantasy/supernatural novel. Even in the second half of the book where we finally learn more of Demons and their role in our world is minimal. The idea is that anyone from our world can summon a demon and meld their existences in that the Demon's mind would take up residence within the summoner's mind. The only issue though is that the summoner have no way of summoning a specific demon. In this case the 'good people' ended up with a 'good demon' and the 'evil people' with an 'evil demon' but it could have gone completely the other way. If you can't guarantee that the demon you summon won't instantly influence you to start murdering children why would you even take the risk of summoning one at all?!
This last bit is a bit difficult to explain and is totally spoiler-y so read at your own risk!
So far this book seems to be a stand alone novel. It definitely set up the possibility of it becoming a series at the end you, but I don't think I would read it.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Let's start with the bits I enjoyed...overall the writing was good throughout. The pacing was slow to moderate, but it made sense for the plotting. My only issue was that the language was not consistent. For the most part the author maintained a 19th century tone, but every once in a while a modern phrase would sneak its way into the character's dialogue which at the beginning of the book made me second guess if the time frame actually was 19th century London, or if this was meant to be an alternant timeline/universe. Things like "Actually, I was thrown for a loop yesterday..." and "I did not come here for my MRS degree." That last one is especially not period appropriate.
The book felt very familiar at times, but it reminded me greatly of [b:Sense and Sensibility|14935|Sense and Sensibility|Jane Austen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397245675s/14935.jpg|2809709] as we had 2 sisters, the elder, more mature sister, and the younger, more vivacious and carefree. The differences in personality often led to conflicts and their ideas of proper actions and associations were a spectrum. Their strained relationship forms the basis of most of the conflicts throughout the plot and was very believable and well thought through. I loved that the sister's relationship, and its ups and downs, was a focus throughout the novel, and often trumped the other relationships in terms of importance and pages dedicated to it.
The best part was the inclusion of same sex couples, and that their relationships were a non-issue. Everyone seemed free to love whomever they wanted and not judged for it.
Some things I had an issue with was the supernatural element, Demons, which were extremely sparse throughout the first half of the book. It read more as a historical fiction novel that an urban-fantasy/supernatural novel. Even in the second half of the book where we finally learn more of Demons and their role in our world is minimal. The idea is that anyone from our world can summon a demon and meld their existences in that the Demon's mind would take up residence within the summoner's mind. The only issue though is that the summoner have no way of summoning a specific demon. In this case the 'good people' ended up with a 'good demon' and the 'evil people' with an 'evil demon' but it could have gone completely the other way. If you can't guarantee that the demon you summon won't instantly influence you to start murdering children why would you even take the risk of summoning one at all?!
This last bit is a bit difficult to explain and is totally spoiler-y so read at your own risk!
Spoiler
I have very mixed feelings about the end of this book which actually caused me to knock my rating down from 3 stars to 2. I feel like this book is advocating drug use in a warped way. The characters have to constantly imbibe substances laced with demonic essence to maintain their connection with the demon, and once you start you can't stop or risk health issues. Yet, this connection always comes with a price. For multiple characters, namely Lady Henry and her society members, it meant shorter life spans. Yes your life will be filled with beauty and you won't age, but you could basically die at any time. For another character, Basil, who tried to 'kick the habit' despite the risks ended up with in major health issues. And in the end the characters are forced to start new lives at what is basically a commune, but continue their addiction and connection with the demon. Finally, Evadne, who basically really was the only character not trying to commune with freaking demons, got the shortest end of the stick and ended up the worse off in the end. Blah.So far this book seems to be a stand alone novel. It definitely set up the possibility of it becoming a series at the end you, but I don't think I would read it.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
sherwoodreads's review against another edition
The best way I can think of to describe this weird fantasy set in fin-de-siecle London one universe over is to compare it to Shostakovich's Eleventh Symphony, which blends classical and modern musical themes as it tells the story of the 1905 Revolution.
It starts with deceptive slowness, as Victorian novels do, sedate, with attention to late-Victorian detail, but with contemporary viewpoints skewing the Victoriana, and period language mixed with modern.
Here and there sharp thematic hints: the mention of demons, pooh poohed, of course, by modern thinkers. Unabashedly queer-friendly, at a time when there were life-destroying courtroom dramas on this very subject.
Central are two sisters, ten years apart, Dorina Gray and Evadne. Dorina is seventeen, pretty and socially savvy, and knows what she wants. Evadne is not pretty, socially awkward, disappointed at pretty much everything, except her fencing. At that, she's very, very good.
The girls do not get along, though deep down they do care for each other, and wonder how to communicate. This aspect kept me reading, painful as it was a times, but Tanzer is very deft at characterization, never letting even minor characters remain one note, or predictable.
I totally believed in the sisters' arc (I have a sister exactly four years younger, and all the time we had to share a room we fought like hyenas, but as soon as we got our own rooms, we got along great; our blend of tearing at each other and yet having each other's back matches the difficult emotional arc I read here), which is very important. Meanwhile the demonic theme is tantalizingly dangled before the reader.
Then, like the Shostakovich, the relatively quiet beginning slowly begins to intensify, until the bloody and thunderous rush of the climax.
Very engrossing, vivid, intense, a real page turner.
Copy provided by NetGalley
It starts with deceptive slowness, as Victorian novels do, sedate, with attention to late-Victorian detail, but with contemporary viewpoints skewing the Victoriana, and period language mixed with modern.
Here and there sharp thematic hints: the mention of demons, pooh poohed, of course, by modern thinkers. Unabashedly queer-friendly, at a time when there were life-destroying courtroom dramas on this very subject.
Central are two sisters, ten years apart, Dorina Gray and Evadne. Dorina is seventeen, pretty and socially savvy, and knows what she wants. Evadne is not pretty, socially awkward, disappointed at pretty much everything, except her fencing. At that, she's very, very good.
The girls do not get along, though deep down they do care for each other, and wonder how to communicate. This aspect kept me reading, painful as it was a times, but Tanzer is very deft at characterization, never letting even minor characters remain one note, or predictable.
I totally believed in the sisters' arc (I have a sister exactly four years younger, and all the time we had to share a room we fought like hyenas, but as soon as we got our own rooms, we got along great; our blend of tearing at each other and yet having each other's back matches the difficult emotional arc I read here), which is very important. Meanwhile the demonic theme is tantalizingly dangled before the reader.
Then, like the Shostakovich, the relatively quiet beginning slowly begins to intensify, until the bloody and thunderous rush of the climax.
Very engrossing, vivid, intense, a real page turner.
Copy provided by NetGalley
lindsayaries's review against another edition
3.0
This book took me a while to slog through. I actually adore authors who take their inspiration primarily from those such as Oscar Wilde, but with that comes the understanding that it will not be a breezy read. Indeed this book was denser than it appeared, with the majority of the plot not fully coalescing until around 200 pages in. I found myself getting frustrated with the extent the author would go to explain every single moment and happenstance down to Evadne's cab right back to Basil's, her shower, dressing her wounds, changing her clothes, and grabbing the damned Chinese sword before going to save her sister. While I understand all of those events had to occur, it boggles my mind that it felt necessary to vividly explain them all.
All in all, I did enjoy this book. I see that it is evidently a series, and to that, I will politely decline.
All in all, I did enjoy this book. I see that it is evidently a series, and to that, I will politely decline.
lori85's review
3.0
Molly Tanzer's name keeps coming up in relation to modern Lovecraftian and Weird authors, so I've been wanting to read her for awhile. Creatures of Will and Temper is actually more urban fantasy, although the "demons" involved are said to be extradimensional beings of some sort rather than anything related to traditional religion. In my experience urban fantasy tends to be a fairly shallow, escapist genre, and I think Tanzer tried to balance the expectation of a fun romp with a more literary exploration of artistic and sensual decadence in the fin de siècle tradition of Wilde and Huysmans (which [a:W.H. Pugmire|3064456|W.H. Pugmire|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1342560875p2/3064456.jpg] did very, very well). The result felt uneven, like two different books were sqooshed together. The final act in particular is all action à la Harry Dresden, which I don't care for at all. Overall entertaining enough, but also rather disappointing.
calli's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jrosenstein's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked it until the ending where it became some sort of weird Victorian action movie. I also never completely bought the premise. I can't really imagine that in Victorian England even rich ladies would be able to swan around town in men's clothing or a women would be welcomed into a fencing academy.
torturedtropesdepartment's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this story so badly, it has a great idea but it just falls flat and boring in the end. While it is refreshing to see a book filled with LGBTQ without that being a major plot point to me, not a single character is likable. The first 100-150 pages feel pointless to the story and the rest feels choppy and rushed.