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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
This is our pick for this month's Vaginal Fantasy Hangout. Read along and then watch on Feb 27th, 8pm PST! THATS MONDAY THE LAST MONDAY OF THE MONTH!
Amusing Victorian romance and mystery. First book in a series, the ending sets up the second novel. The heroine was plucky when necessary; the hero was a bit too ideal, too tortured a la Mr. Rochester and Heathcliff. In fact, the author namechecks those novels and some by Austen. However. The author dissed "Northanger Abbey" which in unforgivable, especially since that novel was a satire of mystery romances.
Due to a need for easy reads to soothe my busy mind and a big kindle sale, I plowed through the Lady Julia Grey books in a short period of time (to be fair, several are novellas). The first, Silent in the Grave, introduces us to the young, rich, and beautiful Lady Julia whose handsome and unexceptionable husband dies in the hall during one of their splendid parties. At first, it's assumed he's died of the hereditary heart problem that has plagued his family, but soon it becomes clear that something much more sinister is involved. The mystery spans more than a year, as Julia copes with the strictures imposed by widowhood in Victorian times and her own stunned grief. But during this time, she comes to find that her husband was nothing as he seemed, and his secrets come to be dangerous for her as well.
Throughout the series, Raybourn works to create a female lead who must see her societally imposed self as separate from her true self, and who must come to terms with her choices of independence.
One major part of the series is that Lady Julia develops a relationship with a private detective/agent of the Crown/minor titled gent who is half Romany. The bad boy trope is super predictable and not my favorite thing about the series.
Throughout the series, Raybourn works to create a female lead who must see her societally imposed self as separate from her true self, and who must come to terms with her choices of independence.
One major part of the series is that Lady Julia develops a relationship with a private detective/agent of the Crown/minor titled gent who is half Romany. The bad boy trope is super predictable and not my favorite thing about the series.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I stumbled across this book in our local used book store and could not be more pleased at this find. Found myself up late, reading to finish it. The writing was excellent and the historical facts accurate. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series and wonder what Lady Jane will get up to next.
Bit of a slow start and the two main characters drove me nuts at times, but an enjoyable read otherwise if you can get past that.
Julia is extremely inexperienced in the world of deceit and berates herself for doing something stupid quite often (which she does) but still seems to fail to actually learn anything from those stupid decisions. Brisbane is, quite frankly, an ass with few redeeming qualities.
Together, they solve mysteries!
Sarcasm aside, the mysterypart is actually quite well done and kept me guessing right up until the end. The characters may need work, but this is the first book in the series and I can understand the reasoning behind their... personality challenges shall we call them? because it gives all sorts of room for them to grow and - hopefully - learn from their mistakes.
Julia is extremely inexperienced in the world of deceit and berates herself for doing something stupid quite often (which she does) but still seems to fail to actually learn anything from those stupid decisions. Brisbane is, quite frankly, an ass with few redeeming qualities.
Together, they solve mysteries!
Sarcasm aside, the mysterypart is actually quite well done and kept me guessing right up until the end. The characters may need work, but this is the first book in the series and I can understand the reasoning behind their... personality challenges shall we call them? because it gives all sorts of room for them to grow and - hopefully - learn from their mistakes.
I thought this one had so much promise. A nice little mystery/romance in Victorian England. And the very fist sentence was so greatly crafted, I was really exited.
To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.
Unfortunately, this is as good as this novel gets. We are presented with Lady Julia, whose husband passes away in seemingly normal circumstances. However, a detective who claims to have been working for said husband, Nicholas Brisbane, informs our Lady that there might have been foul play. So what does our newly widowed heroine do? Show him out and reject his ideas. This part I actually liked, there were no evidence to support the detective's claim, but this is as logical as Julia gets.
Then the novel does a weird time jump I particularly dislike for no good reason other than to put an end to Julia's mourning period. She finds a letter in her dead husband's study, and now she is convinced that someone killed him.
Oh Lord. Well there was nothing interesting about Lady Julia. She was classicist and racist and incredibly silly at times and annoying. Even though she is supposed to be a "mouse", she still does so many daring things that felt out of her character. And the way she feels so entitled! She's supposed to be really smart, but honestly she felt shallow and self centered. I mean she was dead set on her husband dying of natural causes but one letter that could have been put there by anyone, because a YEAR has passed, totally changes her mind. And while she's supposed to be this good Christian girl, she totally supports her sister's lesbian relations. I'm all for the LGBT movement, and go love, but not in that time period. Oh, and of course she channels modern day feminism, as the rest of the family. So out of place, soooooo sooooooooo out of place. It would have been fine if there were a few undertones, but there was just too much of it.
And Brisbane. He read like a Sherlock (the bbc tv show) fan fiction. He too was way over the top. There was no chemistry between them either. Not one that felt like real, and I just didn't care for their romance.
The mystery part felt like a subplot. There was a lot of things going on, but not enough. Sometimes the narrative just dragged on and on about not really important or interesting things. The second to fifth chapters could have been totally discarded and the novel wouldn't have suffered for it. I couldn't even feel for Simon. Honestly I did not care about the murder at all by the end.
The only interesting character was Julia's father. I really liked him. The problem here? He was the perfect representation of how every character seemed to be from the 21st century, but somehow traveled back in time and totally forgot about everything else except for this.
It had so much potential.
To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.
Unfortunately, this is as good as this novel gets. We are presented with Lady Julia, whose husband passes away in seemingly normal circumstances. However, a detective who claims to have been working for said husband, Nicholas Brisbane, informs our Lady that there might have been foul play. So what does our newly widowed heroine do? Show him out and reject his ideas. This part I actually liked, there were no evidence to support the detective's claim, but this is as logical as Julia gets.
Then the novel does a weird time jump I particularly dislike for no good reason other than to put an end to Julia's mourning period. She finds a letter in her dead husband's study, and now she is convinced that someone killed him.
Oh Lord. Well there was nothing interesting about Lady Julia. She was classicist and racist and incredibly silly at times and annoying. Even though she is supposed to be a "mouse", she still does so many daring things that felt out of her character. And the way she feels so entitled!
Spoiler
Particularity when she storms into Brisbane's study even though Monk tries to stop her, and she's all upset that he uses absinthe to dull the pain. Had the woman never heard of migraines? She's supposed to have lived the past five years with two man with severe illnesses, yet she criticizes the poor fellow for wanting to get rid of his pain? A few chapters ago Simon, the husband's heir and also a seemingly very sickly person, had just told her that he's about to end his life soon and she was perfectly okay with it, but not the way a completely stranger handles his health issues? What???? Simon who she supposedly likes and thinks of as a brother contrast to Brisbane a few pages ago she could hardly stand????? Not to mention every time she calls upon him it's with mundane stuff. And he tells her not to, what does she do?And Brisbane. He read like a Sherlock (the bbc tv show) fan fiction. He too was way over the top. There was no chemistry between them either. Not one that felt like real, and I just didn't care for their romance.
The mystery part felt like a subplot. There was a lot of things going on, but not enough. Sometimes the narrative just dragged on and on about not really important or interesting things. The second to fifth chapters could have been totally discarded and the novel wouldn't have suffered for it. I couldn't even feel for Simon. Honestly I did not care about the murder at all by the end.
The only interesting character was Julia's father. I really liked him. The problem here? He was the perfect representation of how every character seemed to be from the 21st century, but somehow traveled back in time and totally forgot about everything else except for this.
It had so much potential.
“To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.”
I'm honestly not sure whether I love or hate this book, I think it's somewhere in the middle. The pacing was a bit slow for my tastes and there were paragraphs of useless information, such as childhood stories. One or two is OK but not heaps.
I will say this though, I fell a little cheated in the romance category. They hate each other for the entire book and there seems to be no interest on his side but apparently they kissed. It was completely skimmed over, they mention he grabs her when he's really angry at her then she's sitting in her carriage with a cut on her lip. I kept going back to see if I missed a page, I was so confused and didn't realize till several pages later that he did indeed kiss her. I mean who skims over a kiss?!?!
I also think the murder mystery part of the book could have been less complicated, there's alot of taboo stuff and by the end I was feeling a little ill. I did enjoy parts of the book but others were poorly done. And is it just me or did Julia seem extremely cold at the beginning about her husbands death?? He was dead a week and she was planning an expensive holiday to Italy. Not sure if I'll continue this series, it does look as though they get better with each one so I'll probably pick up book two another time.
I'm honestly not sure whether I love or hate this book, I think it's somewhere in the middle. The pacing was a bit slow for my tastes and there were paragraphs of useless information, such as childhood stories. One or two is OK but not heaps.
I will say this though, I fell a little cheated in the romance category. They hate each other for the entire book and there seems to be no interest on his side but apparently they kissed. It was completely skimmed over, they mention he grabs her when he's really angry at her then she's sitting in her carriage with a cut on her lip. I kept going back to see if I missed a page, I was so confused and didn't realize till several pages later that he did indeed kiss her. I mean who skims over a kiss?!?!
I also think the murder mystery part of the book could have been less complicated, there's alot of taboo stuff and by the end I was feeling a little ill. I did enjoy parts of the book but others were poorly done. And is it just me or did Julia seem extremely cold at the beginning about her husbands death?? He was dead a week and she was planning an expensive holiday to Italy. Not sure if I'll continue this series, it does look as though they get better with each one so I'll probably pick up book two another time.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated