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hannahg94's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
I find it hard to write a review for this book... because honestly, I don't really have anything negative to say about it. And a review that simply gushes isn't necessarily helpful. But I love this book.
It's a beautifully done, epic adventure with many satisfying-- and logical!--twists, dastardly secrets, delightfully wicked characters, clever plots, and... maybe the work of the fates? I found the book fast-paced and attention-grabbing. I wasn't bored once. The adventure was jumped right into, and every chapter offered something to be excited about. I finished it in four days. It devoured my free time.
The story feels very Dickens-esque (apparently purposefully so) but in a Georgian setting. Though the book is not veiled in historical "modesty," and has the bite of a modern thriller. The plot was clearly planned meticulously before pen met paper. I loved the characters and their relationships---only one relationship felt weirdly stinted to me, but then a reveal in the end proved that that was intentional!
Laura Shepherd-Robinson, you got me. You got me good.
I could have taken a thousand more pages of this stuff, and I'm usually telling authors to write less.
Content Warnings
Minor: Incest, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Rape
gidgetdraws's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Holy grail of plot twists and a wonderful marriage between the genres historical fiction and mystery suspense.
Fortune telling, family secrets, unreliable narrators, romance, danger, and expertly plotted prose, I loved everything about this novel. I typically pride myself on being fairly good at discerning where a plot is leading and how a book is going to end but I was wonderfully surprised all the way to the finish!
Red, our main character, is reminiscent of an Enola Holmes archetype with her quick wit and schemes that land her in more than one precarious situation. Even in her moments of lapsed judgment, you can’t help but root for her.
This is definitely going on the shelf as “books I could read for the first time again.” And I’ll definitely be reading again to catch any details and hints I may have missed the first time around!
Fortune telling, family secrets, unreliable narrators, romance, danger, and expertly plotted prose, I loved everything about this novel. I typically pride myself on being fairly good at discerning where a plot is leading and how a book is going to end but I was wonderfully surprised all the way to the finish!
Red, our main character, is reminiscent of an Enola Holmes archetype with her quick wit and schemes that land her in more than one precarious situation. Even in her moments of lapsed judgment, you can’t help but root for her.
This is definitely going on the shelf as “books I could read for the first time again.” And I’ll definitely be reading again to catch any details and hints I may have missed the first time around!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Death, Infidelity, and Murder
Moderate: Incest and Adult/minor relationship
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