Scan barcode
rhonaea's review
3.0
Enjoyable. The first I've read by Alanna Knight. The okay thing which rankled was the minor detail of going to the NLS on George IV Bridge in 1901, when it wasn't instituted by law until 1927 and the building didn't open until 1938.
stefhyena's review
4.0
This book was definitely on the cosy side of the equation despite its historical setting: many, many parts of it could have been written as dark, but the mood is cheerful and determined as its suffragette protagonist. The firts two death were actually horrendous, but not really portrayed as such the whole thing comes across as a sort of adult's Nancy Drew with strange. threatening but non-fatal happenings for the detective and puzzles to solve including old pieces of a map, a secret room and a strange package.
I've mentioned Rose, it's very likeable how independent it is- her disregard for her appearance (and the fact she gets judged for it), her bicycling and the way Jack encourages it, and the work she mentions on women's suffrage (more of that would have been great but I suppose that's what I get for coming in at book 7). One of my favourite scenes was where Rose says something along the lines of "I couldn;t be seen cycling to the funeral" and then explains that this was why she wore a tight bonnet (to contain her hair) and parked her bike some streets away. I almost feel motivated to get back on my own bike.
All the stuff around Jack's daughter led to a predictable ending which I really didn't appreciate. I disliked that storyline taking over from the main-one to the point where it was all they focused on (leaving some things about the mystery unanswered). I actually felt it was unnecessary all the way through the book, all it did was reintroduce negative conceptions of gender while the unconventional relationship, cycling and general rebelliousness had overturned all that. I'm not saying that the (probably realistic) view of Jack's and Rose's gender roles is the problem, more the fact that this is not problematised and from a wonderfully transgressive character she gets reduced after-all (and anachronistically) to woman-who-has-it-all. She agrees to something that goes against the grain for the whole rest of the book too.
Basically I felt like patriarchy crept back in and ruined everything. I can accept that what they chose to do was the most practical and ethical solution (though I feel the author cheated a bit in how she set that up...which opened my eyes to the overly neat mechanism of the plot throughout the book which is why I think I was not more emotionally engaged) but it should have been presented as a site of conflict and compromise rather than a "happy ending".
The mystery was fairly predictable but with enough twists and a gradual enough emergence to be fun, the stuff around the "frenchy guy" looked like it was going to go in a bad direction but was quite firmly redeemed. There's no subtlety here but a lot of satisfaction for the reader who wants some ethical and emotional escapism.
This had all the depth of a Kerry Greenwood novel (which I also read quite eagerly), it did not measure up in terms of everything I want in a book but it was enjoyable and flowed easily enough for me to use it as a "reward" for myself when I had done enough more serious reading for the day. I would read more of these and possibly find more to criticise but I think also just enjoy doing it. More enjoyable than irritating. 4 stars.
I've mentioned Rose, it's very likeable how independent it is- her disregard for her appearance (and the fact she gets judged for it), her bicycling and the way Jack encourages it, and the work she mentions on women's suffrage (more of that would have been great but I suppose that's what I get for coming in at book 7). One of my favourite scenes was where Rose says something along the lines of "I couldn;t be seen cycling to the funeral" and then explains that this was why she wore a tight bonnet (to contain her hair) and parked her bike some streets away. I almost feel motivated to get back on my own bike.
All the stuff around Jack's daughter led to a predictable ending which I really didn't appreciate. I disliked that storyline taking over from the main-one to the point where it was all they focused on (leaving some things about the mystery unanswered). I actually felt it was unnecessary all the way through the book, all it did was reintroduce negative conceptions of gender while the unconventional relationship, cycling and general rebelliousness had overturned all that. I'm not saying that the (probably realistic) view of Jack's and Rose's gender roles is the problem, more the fact that this is not problematised and from a wonderfully transgressive character she gets reduced after-all (and anachronistically) to woman-who-has-it-all. She agrees to something that goes against the grain for the whole rest of the book too.
Basically I felt like patriarchy crept back in and ruined everything. I can accept that what they chose to do was the most practical and ethical solution (though I feel the author cheated a bit in how she set that up...which opened my eyes to the overly neat mechanism of the plot throughout the book which is why I think I was not more emotionally engaged) but it should have been presented as a site of conflict and compromise rather than a "happy ending".
The mystery was fairly predictable but with enough twists and a gradual enough emergence to be fun, the stuff around the "frenchy guy" looked like it was going to go in a bad direction but was quite firmly redeemed. There's no subtlety here but a lot of satisfaction for the reader who wants some ethical and emotional escapism.
This had all the depth of a Kerry Greenwood novel (which I also read quite eagerly), it did not measure up in terms of everything I want in a book but it was enjoyable and flowed easily enough for me to use it as a "reward" for myself when I had done enough more serious reading for the day. I would read more of these and possibly find more to criticise but I think also just enjoy doing it. More enjoyable than irritating. 4 stars.
smarkies's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
claudia_is_reading's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the mystery, very old-fashioned, with secret passages, and bits of maps :P
But I didn't like the whole Jack's daughter arc. Not only reinforced my dislike of him, it also has a predictable end, one which trashes the whole characterization of Rose :/
I have one more book of this series, so I probably will finish it, but... I'm disappointed :(
But I didn't like the whole Jack's daughter arc. Not only reinforced my dislike of him, it also has a predictable end, one which trashes the whole characterization of Rose :/
I have one more book of this series, so I probably will finish it, but... I'm disappointed :(
More...