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gloryreadstoomuchh's review against another edition
5.0
when I say this book took me for a surprise like I was not expecting this plot twist at all I am not lying. like in mystery books I can figure out what happened, but I’ve actually never been so surprised in my life.
basically the story starts with this girl, red and her father. They are in this tavern because they’re resting and he passed away in the tavern, but in the plot was we find out that actually none of that happened and throughout the whole story, we find out that she has basically fabricated this entire thing, so we find out that one of the maids at the delacy house was actually her mother and her father ended up being Julius lacey, which is actually very wild because he tried to get with her at one point. also we find out that the delacey father was sexually abusing both of his daughters, and we found out when they were in court, because basically what happened was red was playing this whole trick on everyone. She was trying to get the fortune, we find out that when she stayed with mr. antrobus she actually didn’t end up there because her father asked him to take red in, she ended up there because she was in the orphanage her mom, etta dropped her off at the orphanage. Soon after Etta fell in love with Mr. Antrobus, and when she went to get her daughter, he took her in, there was a lot of betrayals and a lot of crazy plot twists in this book.
I was not expecting Archie to be evil like that because he suspected her from the beginning but then he took a turn and i was like oh my God gonna have a romance but it did not because turns out he wanted to be with emily who was Julius’s daughter, so in retrospect that was red/Rachel‘s half sister and he wanted to be with her like they were going to elope like John and Luna did, but well they ended up eloping but then Archie fell off cliff.
I honestly thought that this book was going to be a four star. I was like this is a nice little historical fiction but because of the ending it is five stars like that whole court scene where Mrs. Seabrooke gave up she was just like no I won’t say anything, I’m retracting my case was crazy and it makes you look back on all the things like red is actually really crazy.
I thought Richard from the secret history was unreliable narrator, red takes the cake omg. She just lied, and lied and lied. Her mother wrote her a letter saying that you should go to Miss Seabrooke and sell all the stuff in my briefcase under my bed and instead of doing that she was like red was like I’m a Delacy I’m gonna take everything that belong to y’all and she did, (also red sneaking to learn the square of sevens and her dad don’t actually teach her is sad).
Lazarus found out in the end and there was just so crazy like she was really lying the whole time. This book was so fantastic and is definitely going to be one of my top ten books in 2024.
basically the story starts with this girl, red and her father. They are in this tavern because they’re resting and he passed away in the tavern, but in the plot was we find out that actually none of that happened and throughout the whole story, we find out that she has basically fabricated this entire thing, so we find out that one of the maids at the delacy house was actually her mother and her father ended up being Julius lacey, which is actually very wild because he tried to get with her at one point. also we find out that the delacey father was sexually abusing both of his daughters, and we found out when they were in court, because basically what happened was red was playing this whole trick on everyone. She was trying to get the fortune, we find out that when she stayed with mr. antrobus she actually didn’t end up there because her father asked him to take red in, she ended up there because she was in the orphanage her mom, etta dropped her off at the orphanage. Soon after Etta fell in love with Mr. Antrobus, and when she went to get her daughter, he took her in, there was a lot of betrayals and a lot of crazy plot twists in this book.
I was not expecting Archie to be evil like that because he suspected her from the beginning but then he took a turn and i was like oh my God gonna have a romance but it did not because turns out he wanted to be with emily who was Julius’s daughter, so in retrospect that was red/Rachel‘s half sister and he wanted to be with her like they were going to elope like John and Luna did, but well they ended up eloping but then Archie fell off cliff.
I honestly thought that this book was going to be a four star. I was like this is a nice little historical fiction but because of the ending it is five stars like that whole court scene where Mrs. Seabrooke gave up she was just like no I won’t say anything, I’m retracting my case was crazy and it makes you look back on all the things like red is actually really crazy.
I thought Richard from the secret history was unreliable narrator, red takes the cake omg. She just lied, and lied and lied. Her mother wrote her a letter saying that you should go to Miss Seabrooke and sell all the stuff in my briefcase under my bed and instead of doing that she was like red was like I’m a Delacy I’m gonna take everything that belong to y’all and she did, (also red sneaking to learn the square of sevens and her dad don’t actually teach her is sad).
Lazarus found out in the end and there was just so crazy like she was really lying the whole time. This book was so fantastic and is definitely going to be one of my top ten books in 2024.
lacunaboo's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
willowcat's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
r_vemon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
nnic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Started and ended well but boy did this drag on and on. Could have been tighter and shorter and would have been better for it.
heather_freshparchment's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit, Mental illness, Incest, Dementia, Terminal illness, Murder, Confinement, Suicide, and Stalking
merlin2023's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.25
kmsourada's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
So clever - said to be a Dickensian story. Great ensemble cast of characters that added depth to the story and created interest around the protagonist - Red. There were great atmospheric descriptions of Georgian society in Bath and London. We get the gamut from poor-and-cunning to rich-and-despicable with a plot that builds out like the web of a spider. For the last 50 pages or so I felt like a fly stuck in the web - I think I had whiplash - absolutely no idea of where the story was going and could not have been more surprised.
NOTE: Make sure the read the Historical Note at the end of the book but DO NOT read this until you have completed the read as it would totally spoil the plot!
Historical Note: "a hoax within a hoax"
NOTE: Make sure the read the Historical Note at the end of the book but DO NOT read this until you have completed the read as it would totally spoil the plot!
bernie_e2001's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75