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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, War
I wanted to like this! The gothic, the WLW, the flowing prose - these are why I persevered much longer than i would’ve with other book. But ultimately this is a very underwhelming read. I agree with other reviews that the plot was too loose and inconsequential to follow. But for me it was the characters who let this story down. They are poorly developed, unlikable, and their relationships with one another (especially the main romance) unconvincing and boring. If you lose interest after the first dozen pages, don’t bother - it doesn’t get any better
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, War
Minor: Sexual assault
I was intrigued by this book and was definitely drawn in my the name and the historical era it was set in. I had an idea in my head for what this book would be like, and it was completely different from what I had expected! It had a kind of suspense, horror, thriller feel about it. With all the ghosts, nightmares and Lady Lucy Lockwoods fragile disposition and mental health. With dark places of the manor laced with foreboding and terror. It didn’t really have much of a wartime ww2 book feel for me, but more of a thriller mystery. It was a strange one! Unexpected.
I did like the main character though, Hetty, and reading her friendship and relationship with Lucy blossom. I wasn’t quite sure of where this book was headed or what it was trying to get it at the beginning. The plot seemed like it was trying to find itself a bit but I still felt invested and wandered what turn it would take. For me, it took a little while for it to get going and was a bit of a slow mover, but again, I felt intrigued and invested into what may unfurl.
I feel like nothing much happened throughout this book? Most of the book was just looking for missing museum exhibits and characters having nightmares. It also didn’t leave me feeling overly fulfilled or happy. I had high hopes but it didn’t quite deliver for me. The writing was good though. I can’t dispute that Jane Healey is a very talented writer and the writing was great! Id definitely read any other books she came out with on account of this but hopefully with a better plot!
I did like the main character though, Hetty, and reading her friendship and relationship with Lucy blossom. I wasn’t quite sure of where this book was headed or what it was trying to get it at the beginning. The plot seemed like it was trying to find itself a bit but I still felt invested and wandered what turn it would take. For me, it took a little while for it to get going and was a bit of a slow mover, but again, I felt intrigued and invested into what may unfurl.
I feel like nothing much happened throughout this book? Most of the book was just looking for missing museum exhibits and characters having nightmares. It also didn’t leave me feeling overly fulfilled or happy. I had high hopes but it didn’t quite deliver for me. The writing was good though. I can’t dispute that Jane Healey is a very talented writer and the writing was great! Id definitely read any other books she came out with on account of this but hopefully with a better plot!
I have such mixed feelings about this book. It’s a nice read, and the idea of animal exhibits being evacuated to a mansion during wartime is fascinating, but it was all very ‘polite’, and it dragged a bit in the middle.
I do like a spooky stately home in a story, and the build up promised exactly this. The stern and stuffy major and his dreamy, wistful daughter with emotional trauma, rattling around long, lonely corridors and empty, closed off rooms. At one point the build up in the first third of the book was so strong that I stopped reading it at night because it was creeping me out too much. But my daytime reading revealed that actually I needn’t have worried. If there was an eerie thing that happened, there would be a reveal not long after and it was a normal explanation and everyone moved on.
I liked the dynamic between the two young women, and the fact that they found so much common ground in their past and their present, but even this was a little polite for me. The main character in particular could have been so much more. Mental health is a running theme, and we needed to see both of the women unravel a little. Actually see it, rather than hear of it happening in another room. See them bring out the best and worst of each other.
The housekeeper is a fabulous and important character that wasn’t really developed at all, which is such a shame. And if you’re going to mention specific staff, especially if you’re coming across them in the museum rooms and the basement shelter, make it so we connect with them. Have them interact properly with the main character so that we care about their involvement in the story later on, because that was important too. She’s a working class girl thrown into an enormous house with strange goings on. Surely she’d have connected more with the odd maid or two. Especially if they’re important to the overall plot in the end. And surely she’d have reached out to them first for friendship, seeing as they too are brought into the ‘madness’ of this great house and expected to fall in line with the dynamic of it.
The ideas that the author had are fantastic, but it was as if she needed to let go and enjoy weaving the tale. There was glamour, but there needed to be more glamour, it was spooky, but it needed to be more spooky, there was conflict, but at that point I just wanted them all to sort it out and move on, because I’d learnt earlier in the book that they probably would. There are hints of Jane Eyre, but heavily diluted, and how amazing it would’ve been if that had been explored.
Saying all this,I liked the ending. The last couple of chapters take you on an emotional journey that could have been there for the rest of the book. I liked the final reveal. The very end was pretty nice. But think about the fact that I’ve just used ‘nice’ to describe it again, and that says it all. It’s a nice book. A bit floaty in the middle, but overall I’m glad I read it.
This is an author with talent. But I really want her to let loose and allow her characters to pull us into their world so that we don’t want to leave them when they move on without us. I would definitely buy something else she’s written, because I like the style of her writing. The book had so many good qualities and the idea was great, but I really wanted it to dig deeper.
I do like a spooky stately home in a story, and the build up promised exactly this. The stern and stuffy major and his dreamy, wistful daughter with emotional trauma, rattling around long, lonely corridors and empty, closed off rooms. At one point the build up in the first third of the book was so strong that I stopped reading it at night because it was creeping me out too much. But my daytime reading revealed that actually I needn’t have worried. If there was an eerie thing that happened, there would be a reveal not long after and it was a normal explanation and everyone moved on.
I liked the dynamic between the two young women, and the fact that they found so much common ground in their past and their present, but even this was a little polite for me. The main character in particular could have been so much more. Mental health is a running theme, and we needed to see both of the women unravel a little. Actually see it, rather than hear of it happening in another room. See them bring out the best and worst of each other.
The housekeeper is a fabulous and important character that wasn’t really developed at all, which is such a shame. And if you’re going to mention specific staff, especially if you’re coming across them in the museum rooms and the basement shelter, make it so we connect with them. Have them interact properly with the main character so that we care about their involvement in the story later on, because that was important too. She’s a working class girl thrown into an enormous house with strange goings on. Surely she’d have connected more with the odd maid or two. Especially if they’re important to the overall plot in the end. And surely she’d have reached out to them first for friendship, seeing as they too are brought into the ‘madness’ of this great house and expected to fall in line with the dynamic of it.
The ideas that the author had are fantastic, but it was as if she needed to let go and enjoy weaving the tale. There was glamour, but there needed to be more glamour, it was spooky, but it needed to be more spooky, there was conflict, but at that point I just wanted them all to sort it out and move on, because I’d learnt earlier in the book that they probably would. There are hints of Jane Eyre, but heavily diluted, and how amazing it would’ve been if that had been explored.
Saying all this,I liked the ending. The last couple of chapters take you on an emotional journey that could have been there for the rest of the book. I liked the final reveal. The very end was pretty nice. But think about the fact that I’ve just used ‘nice’ to describe it again, and that says it all. It’s a nice book. A bit floaty in the middle, but overall I’m glad I read it.
This is an author with talent. But I really want her to let loose and allow her characters to pull us into their world so that we don’t want to leave them when they move on without us. I would definitely buy something else she’s written, because I like the style of her writing. The book had so many good qualities and the idea was great, but I really wanted it to dig deeper.
Vintage lesbians in a mansion where they are haunted psychologically and potentially literally!?! This was written for me, I think! It actually reminds me slightly of a short story I wrote and wanted to expand on one day. Now I don't have to write it! (Jk. They're not that similar.) So yes! I loved the writing, the descriptions, the setting, the characters of Hetty and Lucy! I can't be more profound, sorry! I'm excited! I rarely feel this emotionally fulfilled after finishing a book!
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While there were bits of this character driven historical fiction lgbtq novel.
I was rather bored through most of it. Alot of the content felt like it dragged on or was just drivel.
The ending chapters held the most interesting bits and twists (some of which felt they were downplayed by their small presence at the end), which led to a happy ending for the main two protagonists.
I was rather bored through most of it. Alot of the content felt like it dragged on or was just drivel.
The ending chapters held the most interesting bits and twists (some of which felt they were downplayed by their small presence at the end), which led to a happy ending for the main two protagonists.
DNF at 15%
This reads like a satire of what Gothic fiction should be.
This reads like a satire of what Gothic fiction should be.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No