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heather_freshparchment's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit, Mental illness, Incest, Dementia, Terminal illness, Murder, Confinement, Suicide, and Stalking
violentlyagitated's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Minor: Rape and Incest
zzara's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent and Murder
Moderate: Rape and Incest
pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A fast paced cat-and-mouse, lite courtroom drama, loaded with deception and intrigue! Red is a resourceful and clever main character, driven to unravel her family's history and secrets. From the Cornish countryside to the social court of London, we follow her from childhood to adulthood and experience all her heartbreaks and triumphs as an elaborate mystery unravels to reveal that not everyone is who they say.
The story is peppered with Tarot, as the key plot device is her Pellar father's signature technique, a little bit of star charts and mysticism. We get so many settings that all feel lived in and full- from her adolescent home full of antiquities, to creepy countryside manors, to grungy smelly London streets, and cozy but wretched taverns. The characters are believable, dogged, and loyal to their creeds. The dialogue matches the settings and historical context. There are little peaks into other characters perspectives, but the narration is mostly from Red's point of view, so the reader does build empathy even for the aggressors (sometimes).
The twists at the end had my head reeling! I don't usually get caught off guard, but dang!
I listened to this via Libro.fm, the narrator was excellent! The physical book is also gorgeous with card illustrations at each chapter head, and a few diagrams and a map of 1730's London.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Classism, Confinement, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Incest
Minor: Rape, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence
jmr0038's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Incest
megatron99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Incest
avidreadr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A slight knock off on stars just for personal reasons. First, it took a bit for me to really get hooked and situated in the story. Could’ve been a personal mindset though. The story is so complex that I honestly struggled to keep up with all the family trees (known and suspected !) and to keep up with all the reveals. Lots of re reads and notes and tbh I still am not sure I understand everything!
But it was a super engaging, mysterious, thrilling tale
Other things I want to remember about reading this book: it kind of reminded me of The Luminaries (
in its dark setting, and how form and narrative rely on a fortune telling aspect; soo atmospheric you really feel and see the settings though the writing was dense it was effectively evocative
Moderate: Suicide, Incest, and Animal cruelty
fionab_16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The story moves from Cornwall to Bath, then London and Devon. It follows the story of a young girl called Red who travelling the road with her father telling fortunes.
Set some years after the passing of the 1735 Witchcraft Act it was acknowledged that witchcraft did not exist and someone could not be executed or persecuted for being a witch However, it became illegal to charge for services like fortune telling and those convicted of doing so were charged as fraudsters exploiting the credulous and could be imprisoned for this.
The Square of Sevens is a form of fortune telling using playing cards which is practised by the main character and a card and it’s meaning is used at the start of each chapter. There is so much historical detail woven into the background of this story I found myself going down rabbit-hikes to find out more about the time the story is set in.
Minor: Incest
leahhhtaylor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Minor: Rape, Incest, and Child abuse
The content warnings arehannahg94's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Laura Shepherd-Robinson, you got me. You got me good.
Minor: Incest, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Rape