Reviews with content warning for Gore - The London Séance Society

A great book, it had so many twists but they all unfolded so naturally I just had to think like “of course”. I loved how the whole depth of the conspiracy was never unveiled at once, there was never a moment with like the villain monologue that gives away the whole plan. You alternated POV between Lenna and Morley and pieced together the story as they unveiled what they each knew, and what they each discovered.

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cwerber's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I went into it cold after acquiring it from my no buy group on the book of faces and I am glad that I did.

I liked the character development and wasn't even upset when I figured out the twist in the book.

But I would have liked to read more from Evie's or the love interest's point of view but whatever. I also would like to know more about Eloise.

Anyway, an apropos book to read at the beginning of spooky season.

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siobhanward's review

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was a fun read and if you're looking for a beach read that isn't a romance, this would be a good one. The plot moves quickly and the characters are interesting. If you're happy to just read this and enjoy it at surface-level, it's a fine read.

I found when we dig in a bit further, that's when things start to fall apart. It's very small, but Vaudeline mentions making ectoplasm using Borax (essentially listing off a slime recipe), but the timing seemed off. Sure enough, Borax doesn't seem to have been brought to Europe until the 1890s, 20 years after the book is set. It's a small detail, but it's enough of one that it's worth researching before adding it to your book (of course if I'm wrong and someone finds other dates, please feel free to correct me).

This was kind of an ongoing theme through the book - the plot seems fine at a first glance, but things kind of fall apart in the details. Lenna had seemingly no common sense or genuinely much interest in logic, which didn't fit with her logical, science-rooted character. There were various plot points in the middle that just kind of came and went without much explanation or impact.

The premise of this book was great - while I'd read others like it, there was enough creativity that it had its own distinct premise and voice, however it just felt lacking in the execution.

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bumblebee1223's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was good! I didn’t love it as much as I loved The Lost Apothecary, but the main female characters were just as charming. The twists were also well done and genuinely shocked me, which is always pleasant in a mystery. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Sarah Penner’s books or historical fiction and mystery. It seems well researched and she’s made it a little more inclusive by including LGBTQ romance. But if you’re looking for racial diversity though, you won’t find it here.

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Title: The London Séance Society
Author: Sarah Penner
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 2.75
Pub Date: March 7, 2023

T H R E E • W O R D S

Atmospheric • Reckless • Mystifying

📖 S Y N O P S I S

1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.

Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. But as the women team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I am a sucker for a gorgeous floral cover, and this one certainly fits the bill, meaning I added it to my TBR without even reading the synopsis. Maybe that's where I made my first mistake, but this book ended up just not working for me.

The premise of two women performing séances in order to solve murders was so clever. And in my opinion the first 50 pages were very atmospheric and mysterious drawing me into the depths of the Victorian era. While I do have an interest in the afterlife and spiritual world, for me there was too much focus on the whodunit aspect than the actual paranormal aspect. As the story unfolds, it gets overly repetitive and it is easy to figure out who did it very early on. Therefore, the unraveling of the mystery felt sooooooo drawn out, and the séance wasn't as big a part of the story as it should have been.

But my biggest qualm is with the audio. It irritates me to no end when narrators mispronounce words in audiobooks. In this one there are a lot of French words or words drawn from the French language, and as someone who speaks French, these mispronunciations were incredibly bad! Like not even close! This issue could have been avoided if I'd kept to reading with my eyeballs, but I am not sure I'd have been able to make it through if I'd stuck to just the written copy.

At the end of the day, this one just fell really flat for me in its execution. I didn't care about or connect with any of the characters. And of course, I had a hard time getting passed the poor attempt at French by the narrators.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of Murder She Wrote
• readers who like paranormal historical fiction

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"We may die, but we are never really gone."

"There's no money in truth."

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scarlett_f's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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