Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - A Restless Truth

While this didn’t quite live up to the first book for me, I still found it gorgeously enchanting. Freya Marske’s prose is as lush and evocative as ever. Sometimes beautiful prose can get in the way of the narrative and leave the reader (at least, this reader) confused about what’s actually going on, but this was eminently readable.

I’ve found that many sapphic romances are lacking in the tension and sexiness that you find in other romances — not so in this book! This book was delightfully horny. Violet and Maud are both deeply flawed and almost mirror images of each other, in a way; where Maud is naive on the surface and unwaveringly strong inside, Violet is confident and sophisticated on the outside but soft and scared on the inside. I especially loved Violet’s characterisation: how she used illusion and artifice as a shield, how she was all defensive sharp edges whenever someone tried to get close to the real Violet, which in turn made it all the sweeter when she dropped those defences and let Maud in. Their story ends on a very satisfactory HFN note that felt right for the characters and their short acquaintance.

While I missed the magical houses and murderous mazes of the first book, I did enjoy the ship setting, and I thought the magical world and its rules were deftly expanded. The reveal

at 50%, that Maud is a medium

was a really fun addition and took me by genuine surprise. The mystery was fun and engaging, mostly due to the hijinks and banter of Maud’s assembled group of investigators but also in part to some very creepy villains. The comparison to Knives Out was a very apt one.

I think (hope!) that the next book will feature Hawthorn and Ross, because they both made fantastic side characters in this.

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takemetomilos's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

A compelling mystery and an astonishing portrayal of what it is to love women, in its many forms. The clumsy beginnings, the hypersexuality hiding pain, women who hurt eachother with sharp words, women who love eachother as lovers, but will never be more than friends, women learning to trust one another. It has it all. Always toeing the line between friendship and love, pushing away and yearning.

The characters are fantastic:

Ross is based as fuck. Fuck the rich fr.

Hawthorn is shitty but devilishly intriguing, he is more sympathetic than I expected (especially knowing how he treated Edwin in book 1).

Maude is my dear stubborn darling, whose sharp morality is endearing, not imposing.
Violet, is smart and clever and dazzling and was forced to grow up too fast- she deserves the world. I will not be taken criticism these r my beloved babies

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patchy_at_best's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-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

4.0

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blueberries's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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azrah786's review against another edition

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4.5

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

CW: violence, blood, torture, injury, death, murder, grief, misogyny, sexism, classism, confinement, kidnapping, alcohol, sexual harassment, sexual content
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Full of magical mayhem, a swashbuckling sapphic romance and a marvelling murder mystery, A Restless Truth is a brilliant sequel to Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light.

This second instalment follows Maud Blyth - sister to previous MC Robin – who gets tangled up in a murder investigation aboard a ship that is taking her home from America when the very person she has found to help Robin and Edwin with The Last Contract situation ends up dead.

I absolutely loved that Maud was the lead protagonist and got her own romantic adventure in this book as I really liked her character from the moment we met her in book 1. The rest of the newly introduced characters were also a really fun bunch. Hawthorn is a character I couldn’t remember well from book 1 (I probably should have done a reread) but I’m really glad he got pulled in for the shenanigans as it made the central murder mystery all the more amusing. Honestly the humour in this and the banter between the characters was great! Violet, I took a little longer to fully warm to but I loved everything she stood for.

I feel like the romance in this second book though just as steamy felt a lot more like a side plot. It was balanced well with the rest of the main plot points however, I feel like the whodunnit storyline and direction of the series as a whole became a lot more apparent and took the limelight.

Nevertheless, alongside the highly entertaining mystery I really enjoyed that we got to see more elements of the magic system and learn more about the history of it all and The Last Contract. It brought the whole conspiracy that started in the first book to a nice place to be continued and concluded in the final book of the trilogy and I’m excited to see who is going to be the lead!
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars

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aileron's review

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-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

3.5

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kari_f's review

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medium-paced

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

4.0

I am a huge fan of historical fantasy, so many aspects of series appeal to me greatly! Some of my wishes from the previous book were more female characters and more insight into magical social circles and government. This installment had both of these in spades, which I absolutely loved!

Other things I enjoyed:

✨ We got hints of what magic might have looked like in other countries and cultures. I hope we get even more of this in the last book, because I loved it.

✨ The characters played off of each other in a really fun way, and I felt like the supporting characters (who I really enjoyed in both books) had more page time than they did in the first book.

✨ The setting being a passenger ship at sea made it feel a bit like a closed room setting to a point. There was forced proximity and no escape, so there needed to be creativity in how different things were handled. I enjoyed this quite a bit!

✨ The tone felt relatively light and fun, considering there were murders and mysteries happening. This kept the book from becoming too maudlin, and I appreciated the playfulness sprinkled throughout.

Some things I wished:

✨ There are multiple occasions of insta-love happening in this series, as well as a bit more romance and lot more spice than I typically enjoy. But I’m invested enough in the storyline that I came back for the second book and will return again for the third.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Tor/Forge for this advanced readers copy!

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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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