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tmholsman_1994's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder
kelisabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Graphic: Biphobia, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
blucbell's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Violence
mckiheather's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Gore, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
blackcatkai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
felofhe's review
- 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? No
3.25
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kelly_e's review against another edition
- 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
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."
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
sibling deathheavster's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexism and Sexual content