Reviews with content warning for Sexism - A Restless Truth

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A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

23 reviews

wilybooklover's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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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kingcrookback's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

A fun whodunit with some great character development! A Restless Truth really stands as its own story--intertwined with A Marvellous Light and not entirely divorced from it but separate enough that I was never distracted from Maud's journey by thinking about Robin and Edwin. I liked the development in worldbuilding, specifically how gender and class play into the dynamics of capability and power in this hidden magic society. I also appreciated how realistic Maud and Violet's relationship was, how their respective flaws, insecurities, and traumas exacerbated the other's and

how the story didn't end with them in an established relationship. They're both young, and they both have some things to work through and figure out. The possibility is there.

And amazingly, given how he initially came off in A Marvellous Light, I came to enjoy Lord Hawthorn as a character! It'll be very interesting to get to see the inside of his head in A Power Unbound.

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Once again, Freya Marske knocks it out of the park with whipcrack humour, excellent pacing and characters that you grow extremely attached to very quickly. In this volume, we follow Maud, Robin Blyth’s younger sister, as she travels from the USA back to Great Britain on an ocean liner accompanied by an elderly woman with knowledge of one of the objects involved with the Last Binding – too bad she’s murdered before the 2nd chapter…

What follows is Maud “accidentally” recruiting a dream team of fellow shipmates to solve the crime: Alan, a young aspiring journalist with a penchant for stealing; Lord Hawthorn, who would like everyone to know he did NOT want to be involved with these people but somehow ends up showing up when they need him most every time; and finally Violet Debenham, an actress magician with a charming exterior and a steely interior (interestingly, the complete opposite of Edwin in AML).

This love story is more of a lust-at-first-sight but as I came to know both Violet and Maud better, I was able to become more invested in their romance. As Lord Hawthorne put it, Maud is a “ball of righteousness” – the world does not deserve her and she needs to be protected at all costs (just like dear Edwin uwu). The murder mystery combined with the chaotic/cosy/claustrophobic setting of the ship just really *hit* right and just like in AML, there are two climaxes. I can tell you now, I was not expecting the surprise villain and they were scary as shit!!

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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
--

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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hln's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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aileron's review against another edition

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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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patricktreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.25

I have been wanting to read this series for a while now, and am super thankful for NetGalley/Macmillan allowing me an audio ARC.

I will start off with I really enjoyed this story as an individual. I was not expecting it to be different characters than the first, but I think it worked well. Even though it's a series, it now has a more anthology feel. I appreciated the growth in the two characters that had a larger role in this installment along with the new introductions. I think there are a couple of parts that could have been slightly tweaked but It was still good. I also enjoyed the certain comedic aspects spread throughout.

In regards to the narration, I think Aysha Kala did an absolutely amazing job. The voices and characters were distinct and unique, and the acting was chef's kiss. I would absolutely listen to any other work that Aysha narrates.

I can confidently say that I would absolutely recommend this book and series to others.

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displacedcactus's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

This is a lovely sequel to A Marvellous Light. Because it follows a different set of characters, it won't matter too much if you don't remember the finer details of the first book, but it does build directly on what happened in that book, so you should read them in order.

The story of this one concerns a murder on a cruise ship, and trying to figure out whodunnit while also keeping the bad guy(s) from getting their hands on the powerful magic item belonging to the victim (while not knowing what form that item takes). Along the way, there's a great F/F romance with some very steamy love scenes, and establishing our M/M sequel bait pairing to get you ready for the end of the trilogy.

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Thanks to Tor Books for the free advance copy of this book.

- A RESTLESS TRUTH was pitched as "lesbian Knives Out on a boat," and WOW does it deliver on that promise! I was so-so on the previous book in this series, A MARVELLOUS LIGHT, feeling that it never struck the right balance between the genres it was blending. This book does that beautifully, and puts at its heart a beautiful story about allowing yourself to be seen as you are.
- The mystery plot of this book is great fun, keeping it silly and surprising even with the high stakes.
- I think you can probably manage to read this book without having read the previous installment, but you'll be better off if you have, since this one doesn't really reexplain the magic system or the the larger ongoing story until well into the book.

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