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sarakuhn's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
lauryglory's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
welkinvault's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It was a bit of a slow burn to begin with, and took a few chapters for me to be fully hooked, as Maude was so hesitant and fearful.
The novel is polyphonic, with Constance's point of view being epistolary, only giving enough at each turn to explain the actions of Maude, who was timorously determined to find the truth behind the accident that befell her sister. The sinister character of Stowe was way too overdone as a creepy, classist, sexist, egotistical villain to be believable, but his macabre tours were fascinating.
I do so appreciate a historical novel that is clearly well researched. The time period, the locations, the sense (and smells) of London, as well as the frigid bleak of the Artic were exceedingly well done. The ending felt a bit rushed, but I felt the outcome was satisfying.
Was really pleased to have won the print edition of this book through a Storygraph giveaway.
The novel is polyphonic, with Constance's point of view being epistolary, only giving enough at each turn to explain the actions of Maude, who was timorously determined to find the truth behind the accident that befell her sister. The sinister character of Stowe was way too overdone as a creepy, classist, sexist, egotistical villain to be believable, but his macabre tours were fascinating.
I do so appreciate a historical novel that is clearly well researched. The time period, the locations, the sense (and smells) of London, as well as the frigid bleak of the Artic were exceedingly well done. The ending felt a bit rushed, but I felt the outcome was satisfying.
Was really pleased to have won the print edition of this book through a Storygraph giveaway.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Gore, and Animal death
aroseinabook1991's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
hannan_laura's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
lindetiel's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.75
I picked this up blindly for the cover, and it turned out to be a really engaging story.
jillkahnwald'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
3.75
neilazaara's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I feel a bit betrayed by the title and cover of this book. As much as I loved the author’s debut novel, this one felt a bit too slow and had too many POVs for me.
The plot doesn’t really focus on the revenge part until the very last quarter of the book and from the cover I was lead to believe that we would be exposed to a string of poisonings. Instead we’re following the granddaughter of an apothecary who’s on a mission to find out what happened to her sister. In my opinion the apothecary setting was underused. As a chemist we could have gone a completely different way with poisons also being a big fascination point in the Victorian era. Instead, the book focuses with the fascination with public hangings which gave a really eerie atmosphere to the book. I love this setting and premise but then why use a chemist as a main character and put a massive bottle that’s likely to be poison on the cover. It’s setting up readers for disappointment. ‘Glorious revenge’ implies to me some plotting and scheming with a very satisfactory ending for everyone by giving the wrongdoer their comeuppance and the ‘hero’ getting their revenge. Unfortunately, it didn’t really feel all that glorious and although some revenge was taken out, it felt overall like Maude had not too much to do with it.
The writing is engaging and easy to follow. I just wasn’t totally sold on the characters, probably because it was divided between our 3 main characters and the reader doesn’t get enough time to really get to know anyone in depth.
Overall, the atmosphere, setting and writing are really good but the pacing and marketing of this book really let it down.
The plot doesn’t really focus on the revenge part until the very last quarter of the book and from the cover I was lead to believe that we would be exposed to a string of poisonings. Instead we’re following the granddaughter of an apothecary who’s on a mission to find out what happened to her sister. In my opinion the apothecary setting was underused. As a chemist we could have gone a completely different way with poisons also being a big fascination point in the Victorian era. Instead, the book focuses with the fascination with public hangings which gave a really eerie atmosphere to the book. I love this setting and premise but then why use a chemist as a main character and put a massive bottle that’s likely to be poison on the cover. It’s setting up readers for disappointment. ‘Glorious revenge’ implies to me some plotting and scheming with a very satisfactory ending for everyone by giving the wrongdoer their comeuppance and the ‘hero’ getting their revenge. Unfortunately, it didn’t really feel all that glorious and although some revenge was taken out, it felt overall like Maude had not too much to do with it.
The writing is engaging and easy to follow. I just wasn’t totally sold on the characters, probably because it was divided between our 3 main characters and the reader doesn’t get enough time to really get to know anyone in depth.
Overall, the atmosphere, setting and writing are really good but the pacing and marketing of this book really let it down.