Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - The Siren of Sussex

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The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews

17 reviews

yourbookishbff's review

hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was a really enjoyable read and my first by Mimi Matthews! The historical touches (the pretty horse-breakers, the Victorian spiritualism, etc.) added a lot to the story, and I loved our two main characters. The male main character is biracial and Indian, and the female main character is white, and Matthews navigates the difficulties of interracial marriages at this time - as well as the difficulty in simply existing in the kingdom of your colonizer as an Indian person in the late 1800s (particularly after the uprising of 1857). Matthews is also biracial and Indian and notes in the author's note how Ahmad's story reflects her own feelings of being caught between worlds and cultures. This is slower-paced and a felt a little too long for the central conflict to support, but I'll likely continue the series! This is closed-door, with lots of pining and slow-building tension that is truly delicious.

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katrinaward's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is an excellent historical fiction romance. The setting is clearly well researched and the story is immersed in Victorian Era culture and fashion, with nuance. I do enjoy spicy books, but I found it refreshing to not have explicit spice here. The romance is chaste, with no on page sex scenes, but there was plenty of physical chemistry and intimacy between the characters. I felt their pull towards each other. Their dressmaking interactions were an excellent example of how you can create incredibly sensual moments without there being literal sex. I also felt their friendship and partnership growing the more they interacted. It was refreshing how open and honest they were to each other, yet there was still plenty of pining and tension. Evelyn starts the story somewhat naive due to her upbringing, but she is not willfully ignorant and is physically and emotionally strong. Ahmad is guarded and a bit cynical, but very compassionate and kindhearted. They are both genuinely talented and hard working in their respective areas, and respect each other's abilities. The side characters are interesting, but also serve to move the story forward. I listened to this on audio and I found myself thinking about it all the time when I wasn't listening. I had really high hopes for this one, and it met them. Mimi Matthews is probably going to be a new favorite author for me.

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leannanecdote's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

A beautifully woven story full of longing and rich in historical detail.

I wish this had been a bit more slow burn, with more of a friendship forming first. It felt more like insta-lust the way they were so instantly enamoured of each other; a slower start would have been a bit more believable. Still, I loved both Ahmad and Evelyn separately and together. I especially enjoyed how respectful Ahmad was of women — not just middle- and upper-class women like Evelyn, but all women right down to sex workers. Evie’s independence and determination sets her up to be his ideal match despite the significant barrier of race and class. Their romance was so heartfelt and tender, full of simmering tension during the dressmaking scenes. Even when they didn’t think they could be together, they were open and honest about their feelings with each other.

I do think that you need to like both fashion and horses in order to enjoy this book, since they take such a prominent place in the plot. There’s also significant discussion on racism and colonialism that’s very naturally woven into Ahmad’s experience as a mixed race man in Victorian London. I loved that Evie takes it upon herself to buy books on India to inform herself on Ahmad’s experience. The addition of spiritualism was perhaps one plot point too many — all of these different things going on (there’s also subplots with Evie’s friends, one of Ahmad’s customers, Ahmad’s cousin, and Evie's sister) are kind of a detriment to the building romance, which could have had more focus.

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marleywrites's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

4.5

This book made me so happy. It dealt with tough topics, and there was a fair amount on angst. It was emotional and I was worried things wouldn’t end happily. But I never should have doubted, because, Evie. Need I say more?

I love Ahmad. He’s such a strong character and I was pleased with his character arc. I also loved his cousin, Mira. She was such a nice supporting character.

Evie’s friends were fun, too. I’m excited to see Julie’s story in book two!

I read this book because I wanted a horse girl book. And this did not disappoint. There is always room for more horses, but there was also plentiful horse content and metaphors in this book that I enjoyed.

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dearbookboyfriend's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

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wildflowerleahg's review against another edition

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3.75

An author that does her own research and draws on personal life experiences? What is this.

This was my first book I read by Mimi Matthews and it won’t be my last.

Honestly this story was very captivating. I actually read the author’s note cause I wanted to know more about what she researched and the people that inspired this. I loved the female friendships. I’m SO EXCITED to hear that book two is about Julia.

This was a close four stars for me but I think there was a lack of focus and it just kept going on and on…

Just when I thought the novel was concluding, I saw there was over 75 pages left. There were a crap ton of plot lines going on and I its setting up further books, but I was ready to stop. Very good work though.

Ready to dive into book two!!!!

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overflowingshelf's review

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informative lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

The Siren of Sussex was not as tempting as I hoped it would be. First, it should be said that while this is marketed as a romance, it is a closed-door romance. Second, it felt much more like historical fiction than historical romance. And third, listening to this as an audiobook was not the right move.

If you go into this book expecting a historical romance novel, this book probably won’t be for you. I knew going in it was closed door, yet I was still bummed by how lacking the romance felt. I wanted so much more from Evelyn and Ahmed’s “relationship.” While they spent a lot of time together, I didn’t see any chemistry between them. No sparks, no banter, no wistful gazing. Nothing. I need that to keep invested in a romance, especially when it’s closed door. I think this book did suffer from being closed door as it was hard to buy Ahmed and Evelyn were so madly in love that they were willing to get married at the end and screw society’s expectations. This made the characters feel much younger than they are – the romance would have felt more fitting in a YA romance than an adult romance.

However, that’s not to say it’s all bad. I did appreciate that the obstacles in their relationship were real obstacles. He’s half-Indian and a tailor; she’s a white, wealthy woman. Their being together was not something that would be easy or accepted by society. As a result, the romance was relatively low-angst as it was external pressures on them, so if you like that, you might enjoy this book more than me.

When it comes to the characters, I’ll have to be honest, Ahmed is the only one who left an impression on me. I’m reviewing this book a few months after reading it, and Evelyn just didn’t leave a mark. Her whole personality felt wrapped up in being a horsebreaker, and I didn’t get to know her beyond that. Meanwhile, with Ahmed, he felt like a more nuanced and richly complex character with a fully fleshed-out backstory. I liked how Matthews handled Ahmed’s complicated feelings about being biracial – he’s half-Indian and half-British and feels like an outsider amongst both people. In my opinion, he had more motivation and drive behind his actions than Evelyn.

If I had to sum up the plot, it would be that Evelyn needs eye-catching clothing worthy of a horsebreaker to attract a suitable suitor. She partners up with Ahmed as he has a skill for designing fetching gowns for women, plus her wearing his designs will help him generate business. It’s a relatively straightforward plot, and I found it a bit boring, to be honest. There were also a TON of random side plots that didn’t necessarily go anywhere of importance or contribute to the main plot, so the book did feel like it dragged at points.

Now, I won’t say this book is all bad. I loved all the historical information in it! Matthews has crafted a vibrant and detailed look at Victorian England. I loved learning about the Pretty Horsebreakers, as I had never heard about them before. You can tell Matthews has done a lot of research on the topic, and I think that pays off in helping you feel immersed in the time and setting. This is why this book is a great historical fiction story, but not a great historical romance. And while not everything about this book worked for me, I enjoyed Matthews’ writing style.

Finally, as I listened to this as an audiobook, I have to talk about the choices made with the narration. I am still BAFFLED why this book needed two narrators. Yes, I know the book does technically have two points of view, but the execution could have been better. It was so, so, so jarring when the narrator would switch in the middle of a scene. I get it may have been written with breaks in the books to indicate a POV switch, but every time it happened with the narration, it threw me for a loop and took me out of the scene, sometimes at pivotal emotional moments. As for the narrators, I did think their performance was quite good, though I enjoyed Lydia Hanman’s narration a bit more than Vidish Athavale’s (his female voices weren’t great). If I could read this book again, I would pick it up in print over audio.

There isn’t anything egregiously wrong with this book, but all the little things made it hard for it to capture my attention the way I hoped. I do think there are readers, particularly those who don’t like a lot of spice, who will enjoy this as a romance. But I like my historical romances to have a bit more chemistry between the leads, especially if it’s closed-door. I’m on the fence if I’ll pick up the next book in the series – I liked the couple it was hinting at for the next book, but I’m not sure I’m invested enough in the series to spend the time reading it. I guess time will tell if I continue on or not.

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imds's review against another edition

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

3.5

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