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bertie1903's review against another edition
4.0
Okay wow!!! Also- it connects to A Beautiful Poison???? So now I need to go reread that….
jaklyn_heath_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to @NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity to read this one!
Tillie (Mathilda) Pembroke is a determined, inquisitive, vibrantly independent young woman living in New York in 1899 when her life is turned upside down. She has a riding accident that breaks her collarbone and has her taking laudanum to help with the pain. The same day, her sister Lucy goes missing and is later found dead with 2 puncture marks on her neck and all of her blood drained from her body and a bottle of absinthe close by. Bram Stoker's "Dracula" has just been published and there is hysteria surrounding this death about the murderer being a Vampire.
Tillie is determined to find out exactly what happened to her sister and decides to investigate her the murder herself. She questions people who had seen Lucy in the hours leading up to her death and reads "Dracula" to find connections. Her addiction to the laudanum gets stronger and she starts taking more and more. She also takes morphine that sends her even higher and more foggy. Paranoia sets in as she no longer knows who she can trust and the hysteria and fear of a vampire on the loose does not help.
This novel is part gothic, part murder mystery, part coming of age (as Tillie continues to exert her independence through her determination to find out what happened to Lucy). It is a novel with a very interesting cast characters and you never know who to trust. There is heart pounding suspense and lots of mystery and intrigue. I really enjoyed it!
Tillie (Mathilda) Pembroke is a determined, inquisitive, vibrantly independent young woman living in New York in 1899 when her life is turned upside down. She has a riding accident that breaks her collarbone and has her taking laudanum to help with the pain. The same day, her sister Lucy goes missing and is later found dead with 2 puncture marks on her neck and all of her blood drained from her body and a bottle of absinthe close by. Bram Stoker's "Dracula" has just been published and there is hysteria surrounding this death about the murderer being a Vampire.
Tillie is determined to find out exactly what happened to her sister and decides to investigate her the murder herself. She questions people who had seen Lucy in the hours leading up to her death and reads "Dracula" to find connections. Her addiction to the laudanum gets stronger and she starts taking more and more. She also takes morphine that sends her even higher and more foggy. Paranoia sets in as she no longer knows who she can trust and the hysteria and fear of a vampire on the loose does not help.
This novel is part gothic, part murder mystery, part coming of age (as Tillie continues to exert her independence through her determination to find out what happened to Lucy). It is a novel with a very interesting cast characters and you never know who to trust. There is heart pounding suspense and lots of mystery and intrigue. I really enjoyed it!
megan_f_hobbs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
ginnydtaylor's review against another edition
3.0
Overall I thought it was a pretty good read, if not slow-paced at times.
Spoilers:
----
Ironically I also found Tillie to be more bearable once she started taking opium, although it speaks to her character development that she was tolerable while sober at the end. I liked the reveal of the murderer - I thought the chaotic writing aptly described the chaos of the situation to help you understand why and how Tillie got abducted. And I was happily surprised to find out who the murderer really was (aka one of the only people not on my suspect list).
I still don't really get why absinthe is relevant enough to be included in the title, other than the empty bottles at the crime scenes. But at the very least it's rhythmically pleasing, and it's better than a book just called "Opium"
Likely won't read again, but I enjoyed my time reading it.
Spoilers:
----
Ironically I also found Tillie to be more bearable once she started taking opium, although it speaks to her character development that she was tolerable while sober at the end. I liked the reveal of the murderer - I thought the chaotic writing aptly described the chaos of the situation to help you understand why and how Tillie got abducted. And I was happily surprised to find out who the murderer really was (aka one of the only people not on my suspect list).
I still don't really get why absinthe is relevant enough to be included in the title, other than the empty bottles at the crime scenes. But at the very least it's rhythmically pleasing, and it's better than a book just called "Opium"
Likely won't read again, but I enjoyed my time reading it.
hannahsatreat's review against another edition
3.0
This was an enjoyable YA title I got from Prime First Reads. This takes place in Gilded age NYC and contains a murder mystery. This was a fun read with a lot cool things coming together, like Dracula, Newsies, and weird medical practices of the late 19th century.
barbtrek's review against another edition
5.0
This was entertaining and easy to read. It had interesting historical elements involving medicine and journalism.
dcahail's review against another edition
4.0
This book was really good! It feels like I was in 1899 with Tillie, experiencing life along with her. I’m rarely surprised at the outcome of a story-this one had me genuinely shocked at the end!
sajayyy's review against another edition
4.0
4 star vocabulary - great for anyone who loves soaking up historical language
3.5 star story - it’s a little predictable, but there was still some unexpected twists at the end
3.5 star story - it’s a little predictable, but there was still some unexpected twists at the end
reading_slowlyn's review against another edition
5.0
Here to another favorite book. I loved how Tillie was that naive yet very curious young girl and how she evolved throughout the story. I loved every characters even the bad one. I loved how smooth that story was that I couldn’t put it down.
But this story is not for everybody, especially with the drug addiction, murders and abuses.
But this story is not for everybody, especially with the drug addiction, murders and abuses.