Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - A Restless Truth

I wanted to love this book so so much. I really tried to, but I just didn’t. I loved the first book with my whole heart, but something just felt missing with this one.

Maybe I just don’t do mysteries, because this story had a very who-done-it murder mystery vibe to it. I don’t know enough about that sort of genre fiction to know whether or not the sort-of claustrophobic setting is a staple of these types of stories, but the entire book taking place on the ship made it a bit boring to me.

I really really liked the romance. Violet and Maud’s relationship was one of the high points of this story for me, as well as the the reluctant alliance of Hawthorne and Ross.

It was just that overall, the plot progression felt like wading through molasses.

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heini's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

It's difficult to make a seven-day cross-Atlantic voyage setting work and be interesting.

I know I'm not the target audience for light-hearted fantasy, nor erotica, but it was still entertaining ~half the time.

I liked that we followed different characters now. Often the people and events didn't feel believable and it got repetitive.
Plot points were abrupt and there wasn't any weight to actions, no suspense. That's why I wasn't really excited about this book in the first place even though I wanted to know how the story would end: I didn't know it was a trilogy when I started and in my opinion the story could have been a stand-alone.
But the plot is is just a plot - the books are more about young queer people in relationships, cool personal libraries and magical artifacts.
Consent (concerning sex and magic) was handled well and naturally in this sequel too, it was kind of mind-blowing how safe the writer made the relationships sound.

(I listened the audiobook and quality was OK, but maybe someone ought to have told the voice actor beforehand how to pronounce "chemise" so the whole book wouldn't have been filled with one-word corrections with different audio quality.)

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ladythana's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-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

5.0

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18soft_green's review

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4/5

I enjoyed this story though not as much as I enjoyed the first book. It was funny, the plot was entertaining enough, the characters were complex for the most part.

I like that the story centers the feminine characters without making it a girlboss situation and actually shows some of the toxicity with that mindset while still supporting women's agency. I also really loved how it showed that women are important and strong even though society doesn't give them the freedom to be independent. I didn't like how Maud and Violet's relationship starts but I think that's just a preference.

Violet is an interesting character but also one of my least favorite types of characters. Her independent woman with no deep feelings performance is exhausting but that's kind of the point. Maud is fun except her innocence felt kind of forced. But then again, this is the 19th century where women legit didn't get to learn about sex and stuff until after they were married. I love Hawthorn and am curious about Ross.

The sex scenes were awesome! I like how realistic they were about the mechanics of sex and dialogue, the jokes and awkwardness. I like how Maud was new to it but excited and interested so we got a whole scene in safety. I like how the scene was hot but not in a fantastical way and descriptive while also being practical. I love Marske's writing style so much! It's so difficult to find a sapphic story that's smutty but not written for men or perfect the act but is also intimate.

I didn't like how the story kind of particularizes Maud and Robin like their individuality and personness is something that runs in the family and they're just saints among humans but it doesn't go too over the top with it. Maybe that's just because that's how people treat my family so I want to smash it instead of observing that it's just art depicting life? Idk, it's weird.

4/5 Like this story, would recommend

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imds's review

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Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

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anna_wa's review

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adventurous

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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purplepenning's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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