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dinipandareads's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Special thanks to Lake Union Publishing for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for this very late, very overdue but honest review. 3.5 stars rounded up!
TL;DR: This was an intriguing historical medical thriller that had a bit of a slow start but that I quickly found that I didn't want to put down. Tillie was a well-developed character whom I pitied and sympathised with, who frustrated me to no end due to her poor decision-making but whom I ultimately admired by the end. I'm terrible at solving mysteries before the great review and although I'd guessed around the motive, I did not guess at all whodunit so that was a fun surprise! Overall, an enjoyable read.
I'm quite sure that I added this to my NetGalley shelf several years ago because of the cover and when I read the synopsis I probably knew that I had to read this. I'd never heard of Lydia Kang before but I enjoyed her writing. It's nothing astounding and the pace was a bit slow initially but it kept my attention and had me eagerly reading on. I was intrigued by how the mystery sort of revolved around Dracula, as it was released around the same time Tillie's sister was murdered. This intertwining of the story does taper off a bit towards the middle but I liked how the author kept the link going through the epigraphs. It made me want to finally pick up my copy of Dracula! This wasn't your fast-paced, action-packed thriller but it was a slow-build up of a mystery. I don't read much in this genre, and certainly not historical medical mysteries, so although I guessed correctly in the vicinity of motive, I didn't guess correctly when it came to whodunit and honestly, it kinda really took me by surprise although it made absolute sense! 😂 I was properly distracted by the many red herrings and all the drama that unfolds in the societal group that surrounds Tillie but I didn't mind at all. This will not be for everyone though but if you can have patience, I do think that the pay-off is worth it!
I think where the author excelled was with her characters, particularly that of Tillie. I greatly appreciated her character arc and she undergoes some heavy events and experiences major changes to her person throughout the story. When we meet her she's this almost unbelievably naive, bumblingly awkward young woman who came across as much younger than she was. I liked her unquenchable thirst for knowledge and her burning curiosity though and loved the questions she would ask about everything which was considered socially unacceptable to high society in New York in the late 1890s. As the story progresses, you get to witness her fast addiction to opium and laudanum and it is incredibly frustrating to see her make one awful decision after another that keeps her addle-brained yet also somehow functioning through her pain. But she does take the steps to better herself, albeit by force at first, though she does find her strength and grows a backbone and I love how she stood up for herself by the end! I was happy for her and the way her situation ended :)
There were plenty of other characters that were introduced along the way and most of them were truly awful people. I don't want to waste too much time on these secondary characters, especially since talking about them will spoil the "surprise" of meeting them yourself if you want to read the book but it's safe to say I wasn't a fan of many of them. I did like Ian though and the newsies! I wish that we saw more of them, especially Ian, as the story progressed. I also liked Ada, who was fairly meek at first but who also bloomed a bit more towards the end.
Ultimately, I'm glad that this came across my radar! While it didn't necessarily blow me away, once the story got going I didn't want to put this down and I'm glad that it ended on a high note for me. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author in the future!
TL;DR: This was an intriguing historical medical thriller that had a bit of a slow start but that I quickly found that I didn't want to put down. Tillie was a well-developed character whom I pitied and sympathised with, who frustrated me to no end due to her poor decision-making but whom I ultimately admired by the end. I'm terrible at solving mysteries before the great review and although I'd guessed around the motive, I did not guess at all whodunit so that was a fun surprise! Overall, an enjoyable read.
I'm quite sure that I added this to my NetGalley shelf several years ago because of the cover and when I read the synopsis I probably knew that I had to read this. I'd never heard of Lydia Kang before but I enjoyed her writing. It's nothing astounding and the pace was a bit slow initially but it kept my attention and had me eagerly reading on. I was intrigued by how the mystery sort of revolved around Dracula, as it was released around the same time Tillie's sister was murdered. This intertwining of the story does taper off a bit towards the middle but I liked how the author kept the link going through the epigraphs. It made me want to finally pick up my copy of Dracula! This wasn't your fast-paced, action-packed thriller but it was a slow-build up of a mystery. I don't read much in this genre, and certainly not historical medical mysteries, so although I guessed correctly in the vicinity of motive, I didn't guess correctly when it came to whodunit and honestly, it kinda really took me by surprise although it made absolute sense! 😂 I was properly distracted by the many red herrings and all the drama that unfolds in the societal group that surrounds Tillie but I didn't mind at all. This will not be for everyone though but if you can have patience, I do think that the pay-off is worth it!
I think where the author excelled was with her characters, particularly that of Tillie. I greatly appreciated her character arc and she undergoes some heavy events and experiences major changes to her person throughout the story. When we meet her she's this almost unbelievably naive, bumblingly awkward young woman who came across as much younger than she was. I liked her unquenchable thirst for knowledge and her burning curiosity though and loved the questions she would ask about everything which was considered socially unacceptable to high society in New York in the late 1890s. As the story progresses, you get to witness her fast addiction to opium and laudanum and it is incredibly frustrating to see her make one awful decision after another that keeps her addle-brained yet also somehow functioning through her pain. But she does take the steps to better herself, albeit by force at first, though she does find her strength and grows a backbone and I love how she stood up for herself by the end! I was happy for her and the way her situation ended :)
There were plenty of other characters that were introduced along the way and most of them were truly awful people. I don't want to waste too much time on these secondary characters, especially since talking about them will spoil the "surprise" of meeting them yourself if you want to read the book but it's safe to say I wasn't a fan of many of them. I did like Ian though and the newsies! I wish that we saw more of them, especially Ian, as the story progressed. I also liked Ada, who was fairly meek at first but who also bloomed a bit more towards the end.
Ultimately, I'm glad that this came across my radar! While it didn't necessarily blow me away, once the story got going I didn't want to put this down and I'm glad that it ended on a high note for me. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Drug abuse, Death, Drug use, and Medical trauma
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Sexual content
anniebanannie16's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Addiction, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse
bnielsen214's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use
Moderate: Drug abuse and Violence
Minor: Rape
itsheyfay's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Death, Blood, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Torture, Vomit, Alcohol, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage, Xenophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic
bookingwithjanelle's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I love this style of writing & time period. I really enjoyed the tie-ins with Dracula and the "vampire" murders. While I mostly enjoyed it, I struggled a little bit to maintain a steady reading pace and at some points, I could get distracted fairly easily and wasn't as captured as I usually am during reading a book. There was a lot of drug abuse, so if that is a trigger for you, I would avoid this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
elienneg's review
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Sexual harassment
themelodyofspring's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.5
This was surprisingly good. Kept me at the edge of my seat. I had suspicions about the culprit, and I liked how I was wrong but still close. At least the one person I trusted turned out to be good 😊
Trigger warnings: substance abuse, withdrawal symptoms, domestic abuse.
Trigger warnings: substance abuse, withdrawal symptoms, domestic abuse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Pregnancy, Vomit, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
sas_ram's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Review might follow soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Sexism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
mammut's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Addiction, Classism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Death, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Vomit, Confinement, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
lizziegracereads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
This is an atmospheric historical fictionn. It is set in Gilded age New York City with a series of murders that look suspiciously like vampires are the culperates.
Tilly as an interesting character as she struggles in the upper class society she is raised in and to just exist as herself when her individuality is crushed by the societal expectations. Tilly wants to be a reporter like Nellie Blye but she is expected to marry and be a well behaved and well mannered young lady even though she is struggling with the death of her sister and wants to have answers. The romance was sweet and I enjoyed.
I found the representation of addiction and substance use to be well done and humanizing as well as relatable. One part of the story that I appreciated was how Tilly's use of opium is tied to her family try to control her and her behavior which they do not approve of.
The plot twist was unexpected and well done at the end. I also appreciate that Nellie Blye made an appearance in the story.
Tilly as an interesting character as she struggles in the upper class society she is raised in and to just exist as herself when her individuality is crushed by the societal expectations. Tilly wants to be a reporter like Nellie Blye but she is expected to marry and be a well behaved and well mannered young lady even though she is struggling with the death of her sister and wants to have answers. The romance was sweet and I enjoyed.
I found the representation of addiction and substance use to be well done and humanizing as well as relatable. One part of the story that I appreciated was how Tilly's use of opium is tied to her family try to control her and her behavior which they do not approve of.
The plot twist was unexpected and well done at the end. I also appreciate that Nellie Blye made an appearance in the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use