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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
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
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
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
gquintana's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Vomit and Violence
antimony27's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Addiction, and Violence
Minor: Vomit
bookish_afrolatina's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, and Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Vomit
kylajaynebooks's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
This was such a fun read! I haven’t heard anything about it but the cover caught my eye; so glad I decided to pick this one up!
The setting was absolutely incredible add in the Dracula backdrop and I was hooked, it was eerie and haunting but almost elegant at the same time
Each character I felt had distinct personalities and faults to them which I always appreciate; I will say Ian was my favourite though
Tillie was such a fun character to follow; I loved how relentless and headstrong she is despite having her whole family and an addiction going against her. She was a feminist light in an otherwise pretty dark book - we love her and I think she’s a character that will stick with me for some time
The setting was absolutely incredible add in the Dracula backdrop and I was hooked, it was eerie and haunting but almost elegant at the same time
Each character I felt had distinct personalities and faults to them which I always appreciate; I will say Ian was my favourite though
Tillie was such a fun character to follow; I loved how relentless and headstrong she is despite having her whole family and an addiction going against her. She was a feminist light in an otherwise pretty dark book - we love her and I think she’s a character that will stick with me for some time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Blood and Vomit
nickoliver's review
adventurous
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
3.75
Recently, I found this book at the library and decided to borrow it without knowing anything about it. I liked the cover, the plot intrigued me from the get-go, and the author wasn't completely unknown to me, so I was excited to read it soon. And I did actually pick it up quite quickly, which was unusual for me.
The premise of the story was fairly interesting. It was about a girl named Tillie, whose sister was found murdered at the beginning of the novel. It seemed as if she was killed by vampires - which didn't exist (this was a normal historical setting), but "Dracula" had just been published, so vampires were talked about a lot -, and Tillie decided that she was going to try and find out who killed her. However, this proved to be a difficult task. For one, Tillie was a rich girl whose mother and especially grandmother wanted to pretty much keep her in a golden cage and didn't appreciate anything she did. So, going out to investigate her sister's death had a lot of hurdles to begin with. Secondly, what made it even more difficult was the fact that right around the time her sister went missing, she'd had a riding accident and gotten opium prescribed for the pain, which she got addicted to. So she also had that to deal with. Tillie's drug addiction was a focal point in the story and gave it a bit of a unique twist, because it made her almost more obedient in a way. She agreed to things she might not have otherwise because she was promised some opium for it. Though that also made the story more infuriating, because I got very frustrated with Tillie sometimes.
The mystery was overall interesting to read about, I liked following it. I do have to say that it was very predictable - I correctly suspected the right person 100 pages into the story, and there wasn't really anything that truly caught me off-guard. However, it didn't really bother me; I was still immersed and intrigued.
Despite the mystery not being all too tedious, it took a very long time for things to really get going. It was a bit frustrating, especially because a lot that was happening really infuriated me. More precisely, everything that had to do with James, and Grandmama at times, just made me not want to pick up the book anymore. Tillie came to conclusions that made no sense - for example, Grandmama would tell her that Lucy had been lying about James hitting her, despite the fact that she wrote it in her diary in a locked drawer, and after a certain time, Tillie just accepted that as the truth -, and the way she found James to be genuinely interested in her and thought he was a good person, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, made me want to fling myself into the sun. And because it took over half the book for Tillie to start standing up for herself, I was just mad at her for the majority of it.
Of course, though, her actions and thoughts did make sense sometimes. First of all, obviously, the book was set in 1899, and women weren't regarded as being anything more than a baby-making machine, so it wasn't that unusual that she just accepted certain things that someone from the 21th century wouldn't. Plus, like I mentioned above, Tillie's drug addiction often made her ignore red flags if she was provided with enough drugs, so I couldn't really fault her for not seeing certain people as bad, or dismissing certain problematic things they said. Nonetheless, it was still annoying to read about her genuinely thinking James was a good person. Every time he showed up in a scene, I wanted to bang my head against the wall, and like, physically remove him from the scene.
There was a romance in this book, though it felt really messy. Kang wrote three potential love interests, which was a bit much. (Well, maybe more two than three; James barely counted. But he did make advances toward Tillie, no matter if they were genuine or not, so I'm counting him.) The other two were Ian and Tom. Ian was an orphan who sold newspapers and barely scraped by and helped Tillie solve the crime, while Tom was the sickly son of Tillie's misogynistic doctor. It was fairly clear which one Tillie was supposed to be with and that Kang wrote him as the endgame, but the way Tillie also mooned over so many other guys was just annoying.
I did really love Ian, though! He was amazing. Not all his actions were necessarily admirable, but he was supportive and also pretty much the only person in the book who actively wanted Tillie to be clean for reasons other than 'You're supposed to be stronger than that.' He was very delightful, and I did really enjoy his scenes with Tillie.
A character I was weirdly obsessed with throughout the entire book was John O'Toole. He had been hired after some time by Tillie's family as some sort of security guard who patrolled their house at night, and he started to hook up with Tillie's maid Ada.
I have no idea why I was so into him, and it made me feel really weird? Especially because Tillie, for a certain time, kind of suspected him to be a bad guy, which made me feel weird, since I wasn't sure if she was right or not. And I just never wanted him to be a bad guy, based on the aforementioned "crush" I had on him. (To be fair, he mostly just gave me unresolved daddy issues - like just about every good guy over the age of forty. Now that I think about it, I have no idea how old John was, but I definitely read him as older, so to-may-to, to-mah-to.) At the end of the book, I would've liked to see more of him and Ada. It made sense that I didn't, since they weren't main characters and that important in Tillie's life - she didn't particularly see them as anything but people who worked for her -, but still.
Overall, the story was interesting to read, even if the mystery was very predictable. Tillie as a main character could be quite infuriating despite being realistic for the time period and by taking her drug addiction in consideration. The romance was a bit too messy, but I did like who she ended up with; he was very supportive and lovely!
The premise of the story was fairly interesting. It was about a girl named Tillie, whose sister was found murdered at the beginning of the novel. It seemed as if she was killed by vampires - which didn't exist (this was a normal historical setting), but "Dracula" had just been published, so vampires were talked about a lot -, and Tillie decided that she was going to try and find out who killed her. However, this proved to be a difficult task. For one, Tillie was a rich girl whose mother and especially grandmother wanted to pretty much keep her in a golden cage and didn't appreciate anything she did. So, going out to investigate her sister's death had a lot of hurdles to begin with. Secondly, what made it even more difficult was the fact that right around the time her sister went missing, she'd had a riding accident and gotten opium prescribed for the pain, which she got addicted to. So she also had that to deal with. Tillie's drug addiction was a focal point in the story and gave it a bit of a unique twist, because it made her almost more obedient in a way. She agreed to things she might not have otherwise because she was promised some opium for it. Though that also made the story more infuriating, because I got very frustrated with Tillie sometimes.
The mystery was overall interesting to read about, I liked following it. I do have to say that it was very predictable - I correctly suspected the right person 100 pages into the story, and there wasn't really anything that truly caught me off-guard. However, it didn't really bother me; I was still immersed and intrigued.
Despite the mystery not being all too tedious, it took a very long time for things to really get going. It was a bit frustrating, especially because a lot that was happening really infuriated me. More precisely, everything that had to do with James, and Grandmama at times, just made me not want to pick up the book anymore. Tillie came to conclusions that made no sense - for example,
Of course, though, her actions and thoughts did make sense sometimes. First of all, obviously, the book was set in 1899, and women weren't regarded as being anything more than a baby-making machine, so it wasn't that unusual that she just accepted certain things that someone from the 21th century wouldn't. Plus, like I mentioned above, Tillie's drug addiction often made her ignore red flags if she was provided with enough drugs, so I couldn't really fault her for not seeing certain people as bad, or dismissing certain problematic things they said. Nonetheless, it was still annoying to read about her genuinely thinking
There was a romance in this book, though it felt really messy. Kang wrote three potential love interests, which was a bit much. (Well, maybe more two than three;
I did really love Ian, though! He was amazing. Not all his actions were necessarily admirable, but he was supportive and also pretty much the only person in the book who actively wanted Tillie to be clean for reasons other than 'You're supposed to be stronger than that.' He was very delightful, and I did really enjoy his scenes with Tillie.
A character I was weirdly obsessed with throughout the entire book was John O'Toole. He had been hired after some time by Tillie's family as some sort of security guard who patrolled their house at night, and he started to hook up with Tillie's maid Ada.
I have no idea why I was so into him, and it made me feel really weird? Especially because Tillie, for a certain time, kind of suspected him to be a bad guy, which made me feel weird, since I wasn't sure if she was right or not. And I just never wanted him to be a bad guy, based on the aforementioned "crush" I had on him. (To be fair, he mostly just gave me unresolved daddy issues - like just about every good guy over the age of forty. Now that I think about it, I have no idea how old John was, but I definitely read him as older, so to-may-to, to-mah-to.) At the end of the book, I would've liked to see more of him and Ada. It made sense that I didn't, since they weren't main characters and that important in Tillie's life - she didn't particularly see them as anything but people who worked for her -, but still.
Overall, the story was interesting to read, even if the mystery was very predictable. Tillie as a main character could be quite infuriating despite being realistic for the time period and by taking her drug addiction in consideration. The romance was a bit too messy, but I did like who she ended up with; he was very supportive and lovely!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement and Pregnancy
Minor: Vomit, Alcoholism, Child death, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual assault
hannahlois's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Vomit
Minor: Child death and Miscarriage
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