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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
#PopsugarReadingChallenge2019
Prompt - a book recommended by a celebrity you admire: The incomparable Felicia Day (actress, author, all around good egg) rated this 5 stars in her active Goodreads library. ...and I won't hold it against her.
Once upon a time, Modern Millie travelled back in time and did a bunch of things that were not possible for women during the Victorian era. Along the way, she met an android disguised as a human that could slice and dice and speak every language. He also had a superpower: to annoy this particular reader to the point of pain. Literal pain, mind you. I rolled my eyes so hard and often that I gave myself a headache.
Together, they set out to alternately annoy and bore the shit out of me, as it was also her superpower; and solve a murder that I, myself, solved before 40% of the book had been read.
Unfortunately, they survived to annoy and angst me into oblivion because there are at least 8 other books in the series.
And with this, I have completed my Popsugar Reading Challenge of 2019. Yay, me!
Prompt - a book recommended by a celebrity you admire: The incomparable Felicia Day (actress, author, all around good egg) rated this 5 stars in her active Goodreads library. ...and I won't hold it against her.
Once upon a time, Modern Millie travelled back in time and did a bunch of things that were not possible for women during the Victorian era. Along the way, she met an android disguised as a human that could slice and dice and speak every language. He also had a superpower: to annoy this particular reader to the point of pain. Literal pain, mind you. I rolled my eyes so hard and often that I gave myself a headache.
Together, they set out to alternately annoy and bore the shit out of me, as it was also her superpower; and solve a murder that I, myself, solved before 40% of the book had been read.
Unfortunately, they survived to annoy and angst me into oblivion because there are at least 8 other books in the series.
And with this, I have completed my Popsugar Reading Challenge of 2019. Yay, me!
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was going to write that this book hasn't aged well, but then I took issue with the phrase in general. Saying something hasn't aged well implies it was fine once but is no longer. This way of thinking is both inaccurate and harmful. The views expressed here were always unacceptable. I'm not in a ranting mood, so I will just briefly list the most glaring issues that completely detracted from anything positive in the narrative:
1. Racist views towards the Romani people. Our heroine, Julia, is cast as an open-minded character, and it's true she doesn't wish the Romani ill. However, she as a character, and the author by extension, frequently speak of them in stereotypical language, call them a "race" of people, and talk about what's in their "blood" as if the aforementuoned stereotypical characteristics are biologically based.
2. Classist privilege that Julia throws around when in fits of temper
3. A savior complex towards prostitutes, who are cast as too stubborn or unwilling to leave dangerous circumstances. Concerns for their well-being are offered in patronizing tone with no recognition of the sex workers as full human beings.
4. A mishandling of queer characters and stories-- Julia tolerates but does not accept them, and is then cast as a kind, liberal-hearted angel for her "efforts."
5. A romantic interest cast as a brooding genius compared to a bumbling, sulky heroine. They are supposedly investigating a murder together, but Julia is often left behind or blamed for mistakes that could have been prevented with open communication.
And that's the tea. ☕
1. Racist views towards the Romani people. Our heroine, Julia, is cast as an open-minded character, and it's true she doesn't wish the Romani ill. However, she as a character, and the author by extension, frequently speak of them in stereotypical language, call them a "race" of people, and talk about what's in their "blood" as if the aforementuoned stereotypical characteristics are biologically based.
2. Classist privilege that Julia throws around when in fits of temper
3. A savior complex towards prostitutes, who are cast as too stubborn or unwilling to leave dangerous circumstances. Concerns for their well-being are offered in patronizing tone with no recognition of the sex workers as full human beings.
4. A mishandling of queer characters and stories-- Julia tolerates but does not accept them, and is then cast as a kind, liberal-hearted angel for her "efforts."
5. A romantic interest cast as a brooding genius compared to a bumbling, sulky heroine. They are supposedly investigating a murder together, but Julia is often left behind or blamed for mistakes that could have been prevented with open communication.
And that's the tea. ☕
I adored the first Veronica Speedwell book so much that I decided to give her first book a try! I listening to it on audio and while it's not her best work (at least of the two I've read so far), it's a solid beginning. It definitely feels like both a first novel, and largely different from the Veronica Speedwell series! This is a pretty slow paced mystery, long and full of details and characters so it won't be to everyone's taste. It reminds me a lot in pace of Georgette Heyer! Also reminiscent of Georgette Heyer - the utter lack of description of any kissing scenes. I'm a little sad about that part. :P
I liked Lady Julia and her journey of self discovery! She was learning who she was without her husband, and who she wanted to be. I also appreciated how she was slowly having her eyes opened to the lives of the people around her! It was a pleasure to see her grow up a bit, and I really loved how open and kind her and her family were to everyone.
Now, I really like Brisbane, mostly. I did not really like his attitude, especially in the beginning, however his growly nature grew on me near the end. I will say though, that he certainly is a very perfect person. He speaks several languages, has wealth, has royal connections, has a secret past, knows about poisons, fights really well, plays a musical instrument perfectly - basically nothing in the book came up that he was bad at or couldn't do. That got a bit out of hand, but since it's her first novel I have great faith that the rest of the series will be a bit better.The biggest thing that bugged me about the book, and if I am very lucky will be unmentioned later on, was the whole "Brisbane has the second sight!" thing. Honestly when the fact that he has headaches because he doesn't want to use his psychic powers came up I rolled my eyes so hard and I almost gave up on the book entirely. I love fantasy and sci-fi, but I don't like those elements cropping up in an otherwise normal setting, unless it's expected. This is why Nora Roberts and I have never gotten along! Thankfully it wasn't a big deal in this book - but really. Can we just never mention it again?
I did love how their relationship was developing, but I was sad at where the book left off. Obviously there are 4 more novels to get through - I will be starting the second one shortly!
I did guess the bad guy, though not the motivation behind it! I actually thought they were brothers for the entire book, so I never would have thought it was because they were lovers. Were they related? Maybe they were cousins or something.... .
I liked Lady Julia and her journey of self discovery! She was learning who she was without her husband, and who she wanted to be. I also appreciated how she was slowly having her eyes opened to the lives of the people around her! It was a pleasure to see her grow up a bit, and I really loved how open and kind her and her family were to everyone.
Now, I really like Brisbane, mostly. I did not really like his attitude, especially in the beginning, however his growly nature grew on me near the end. I will say though, that he certainly is a very perfect person. He speaks several languages, has wealth, has royal connections, has a secret past, knows about poisons, fights really well, plays a musical instrument perfectly - basically nothing in the book came up that he was bad at or couldn't do. That got a bit out of hand, but since it's her first novel I have great faith that the rest of the series will be a bit better.
I did love how their relationship was developing, but I was sad at where the book left off. Obviously there are 4 more novels to get through - I will be starting the second one shortly!
I did guess the bad guy, though not the motivation behind it!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While not a very fast-paced novel, Silent in the Grave nevertheless offers a puzzling mystery that engages the reader until the very end. Julia Grey's husband, Edward, collapses at a party and then proceeds to die. While it was known that he had heart trouble and the attending doctor ruled his death a natural one, the enigmatic and quick-tempered Sir Nicholas Brisbane approaches Julia saying that he believed it was in fact murder. However, Julia dismisses his claims and sends him away. A year later, though, she turns up evidence that makes her question Brisbane's claims and so engages him to help her unmask the murderer.
The actual culprit was quite a surprise and added scandal to an otherwise VERY scandalous (and salacious) plot. For my taste, it was a bit heavy-handed when it came to perverse acts, but again, that's according to me. However, what truly irked me was Julia's incompetence; 400 pages of her bumbling about the investigation and making a mess of things was enough to put me off reading more entries in the series. Brisbane was an interesting character, though, with his mysterious background and his "second sight", which added an air of magic to the book. However, he was too moody and angry and prideful for my liking. Overall, a well-written mystery will a deeply interconnected plot, but not good enough to keep me reading the rest of the series.
The actual culprit was quite a surprise and added scandal to an otherwise VERY scandalous (and salacious) plot. For my taste, it was a bit heavy-handed when it came to perverse acts, but again, that's according to me. However, what truly irked me was Julia's incompetence; 400 pages of her bumbling about the investigation and making a mess of things was enough to put me off reading more entries in the series. Brisbane was an interesting character, though, with his mysterious background and his "second sight", which added an air of magic to the book. However, he was too moody and angry and prideful for my liking. Overall, a well-written mystery will a deeply interconnected plot, but not good enough to keep me reading the rest of the series.
This was a great read. I loved the fallible main character. Sometimes she was stupid but I could see why, her sheltered life, her innocence. It was rather painful to have the 'whiteness' of her life removed one dirty layer at a time however, I enjoyed the book immensely. Brisbane was a bit too good to be believable but I love me a too good to be true hero so it did not bother me too much. I would definitely recommend. Planning on hitting the library tomorrow for the second book.
I honestly can't remember why I picked this one up. I think I liked the title and it was from a charity shop so it was very cheap as well. But the length has been putting me off for a while and after I have finished it, I can say that I enjoyed it but it definitely did not need to be over 500 pages.
This book is about Julia Grey, whose husband died in front of her at the start of the book. She thinks it is congenital heart defect which caused his death but one of the guests, Nicholas Brisbane, said it was murder. As she was investigating it, she stumbled across secret after secret, not only of her husband, but also of her staff and her family.
First of all, I did really enjoy this book. Julia was an intriguing character to get behind, if a little dim to what seemed to be obvious facts. I liked seeing her interacting with her family, especially her brother, Val, and her staff, especially the butler, Aquinas. She was growing and developing as a character, being far more considerate of people as the book went on. I liked the development of the mystery. We got clues along the way as to who was behind Edward's murder (though some clues skated by Julia's head when the reader would be able to guess it just on context) and I enjoyed learning more about the other characters, such as Aquinas, Magda, Val and Edward himself. It made for an interesting cast and I liked side characters developing as their own people, while not taking up centre stage.
That said, one major drawback of this book for me, was Brisbane. He's a Sherlock Holmes knockoff, with being a private detective, black moods, a drug habit, a master at the violin and scientific experiments. Though maybe I should say he's a Sherlock Holmes knockoff of what Holmes is in popular culture, rather than how he actually appears in the Doyle stories. His background and his romance with Julia were really the only ways he differed from Holmes, he even had a doctor companion. I didn't like his romance with Julia either, I think I could have stomached him if it hadn't been such a major character in this book.
I was very excited at the end of the book whenit looked like Brisbane was going to be the murderer but nope, that was just a false lead . If that lead had turned out correct, I would have continued on with the series. But it wasn't correct so I'm not tempted to continue on, despite my liking for the writing style, the characters and Julia herself.
If it wasn't for Brisbane, this would be 4.5 stars (it was far too long for the story it told). But since he is there and he's not going anywhere, 3.5 stars!
This book is about Julia Grey, whose husband died in front of her at the start of the book. She thinks it is congenital heart defect which caused his death but one of the guests, Nicholas Brisbane, said it was murder. As she was investigating it, she stumbled across secret after secret, not only of her husband, but also of her staff and her family.
First of all, I did really enjoy this book. Julia was an intriguing character to get behind, if a little dim to what seemed to be obvious facts. I liked seeing her interacting with her family, especially her brother, Val, and her staff, especially the butler, Aquinas. She was growing and developing as a character, being far more considerate of people as the book went on. I liked the development of the mystery. We got clues along the way as to who was behind Edward's murder (though some clues skated by Julia's head when the reader would be able to guess it just on context) and I enjoyed learning more about the other characters, such as Aquinas, Magda, Val and Edward himself. It made for an interesting cast and I liked side characters developing as their own people, while not taking up centre stage.
That said, one major drawback of this book for me, was Brisbane. He's a Sherlock Holmes knockoff, with being a private detective, black moods, a drug habit, a master at the violin and scientific experiments. Though maybe I should say he's a Sherlock Holmes knockoff of what Holmes is in popular culture, rather than how he actually appears in the Doyle stories. His background and his romance with Julia were really the only ways he differed from Holmes, he even had a doctor companion. I didn't like his romance with Julia either, I think I could have stomached him if it hadn't been such a major character in this book.
I was very excited at the end of the book when
If it wasn't for Brisbane, this would be 4.5 stars (it was far too long for the story it told). But since he is there and he's not going anywhere, 3.5 stars!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
I love Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell series and have wanted to rad her Lady Julia Grey series for a while. I find Nicholas Brisbane an intriguing character. He has an interesting background which should serve the series well. I also like the the hint of attraction between Julia and Nichola as they jointly try to solve her husband's murder. It was a little slow in the middle but ended with a surprising twist and is, after all, the first in the series. I'll read the 2nd installment.