Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis

18 reviews

meggiemeggie52's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

3.5

I thought it was good! The story was solid, if slow-going for the majority of the time--though the pace did pick up at the end which was nice. I liked the multiple viewpoints, but the 1919 timeline felt like the stronger storyline with more nuanced characters. Veronica and Joshua were likable enough, but they felt flat compared to Lillian and Helen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Murder, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Bullying

Minor: Medical content, Blood, and Racism

daepyonimst's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Child death

Minor: Racism

mtnest's review

challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

litliz's review

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Classism, Confinement, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness

kimveach's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

An interesting novel set in the Frick Mansion in NYC at two different times: 1919 and 1966.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racism, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Bullying, Child death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Terminal illness, Death, and Medical content

lauramparis's review

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Classism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Stalking, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Murder, Racism, and Sexual harassment

thecorbinocaper's review

slow-paced

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

2.0

This book had a lot of potential but just didn’t hit for me. I found the characters to be mostly one dimensional and thoughtless. I thought the most intriguing character was Joshua Lawrence, a Black assistant curator/intern of the Frick collection (1966) and I wish that he was more fully developed in the narrative. His challenges of navigating the world of museums and art would have added so much rather than simply alluded to here and there.  The comparison of modeling in 1919 and 1966 was interesting, as were the scant references to the Spanish Flu and descriptions of art. but overall it fell flat for me and I wish the background details had been brought more to the forefront. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, and Child death

Minor: Murder and Domestic abuse

kerrygetsliterary's review

informative mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Racism, Child death, Classism, Death, and Misogyny

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Miscarriage

jessgreads's review

adventurous informative mysterious sad slow-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? No

3.5

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨⬜

Title: The Magnolia Palace

Author: Fiona Davis

Genre: Historical Fiction

Author Info: Female

Setting: New York City (1919 & 1966)

Month Read: January 2022

Book Type: Hardcover

Publication: January 2022

Pages:368

*Book of the Month January Pick

TRIGGER WARNING- 

Murder / Death / Death of Child / Verbal Abuse / Light Physical Abuse / 

"The rich think they're are protected, that they have magical powers, when in fact they're only mortals, like the rest of us."

No Spoiler Summary:

The Magnolia Palace is a dual-timeline historical fiction novel told by the point of view of two separate women who find themselves in The Frick Mansion, and follow the shared mysteries the house holds. Lillian, or Angelica, a former model finds herself in the Frick mansion by accident, and Veronica, so many years later, finds herself there for a Vogue photoshoot.

The Mansion holds many secrets, and both Lillian and Veronica work in their own ways to discover what was thought to be long-lost. Twists and turns around the mansion, and it's glorious art collection, pepper the novel with facts and characters alike. It's a quicker read, and an actual place you can visit, which I think really made the novel stand out.

Review:

I'm really glad that I got this book in my January Book of the Month box, because I was fascinated to hear that many of the places, people, and artwork discussed are real and actually at the Frick Collective in Manhattan. Having spent 2 years in New York, I knew a lot of the statues discussed, as well as many of the places that the characters went while in the novel- and that was really exciting for me. I also LOVE reading about art, and this book does so beautifully.

However, I was way more into Lillian than I was Veronica. I think Lillian's storyline was definitely the dominant one, and was far more interesting. If the Veronica storyline had been cut entirely, I don't think I would have missed much- but I understand needing it to be there for the reveal towards the end. I wish we could have either stayed in 1919, or travelled through time with the characters from that time period. I would have realllllllly looooved getting a first person narration from Helen, and I think that could have been a great way to move them into the future, but alas, we get Veronica. I wanted to like the 1966 storyline so much more than I did, because I do think that time period is amazing, but I just feel like the characters (especially Joshua) needed more fleshing out, and I think the stakes needed to be more than what they were. Also, the bow ending didn't really do it for me, but I do understand some people really love that.

Ultimately, solid 3.5 for me, and I am glad I read it for everything I learned. I definitely want to read more about the actual model Lillian was based off of, because that little tidbit we got sounded really, really interested. If you're on the fence about reading The Magnolia Place, I would definitely get it- if you love history, art, or New York this could definitely be the book for you. 

Recommendation:

Dual Timelines:

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E Schwab

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Books Set in NYC:

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

NYC Based Historical Fiction:

The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Physical abuse

cassielaj's review

adventurous informative mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

The mystery, the dual timelines, the art history, the family drama… I loved this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Grief

Moderate: Medical content, War, Murder, Racism, and Infidelity