Reviews

A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers

psellars11's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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

This is one of the best books I have read all year! It’s set in 1850s England. The protagonist, Genevieve Timmons, is one that is meant to arouse conflicting emotions / feelings. You feel sorry for her but she is cunning and resourceful and always finds a way out of trouble. I like an ambiguous characters. That’s the main pro of this book- you don’t know what characters you can and can’t trust and it keeps you on your toes the entire time. 

Basically she is caught for doing fake seances across London. She is imprisoned and brought to Somerset to work for the Duke of Somorset. She steals a candle stick and is caught by the Duke. She tries to figure out who to trust. It’s hard. He is convinced that his former wife, Lady Audra was killed or foul play was at work the night she disappeared. He wants her to do a seance to try to find something out about her death and or to coerce the guilty party into coming forward.

She creeps around the estate, finding out more information including hiding in the conservatory and eavesdropping. She also cleverly befriends a servant named Daisy who gives her lots of info, they spend time together, and daisy even helps her get dressed and works as a maid for her. The home seems haunted and people keep claiming they are seeing Lady Audra. So you have to determine if this is actually a supernatural occurrence, faked, or if there is something more sinister at play. 

I won’t spoil the ending but ahh this book was great. I also enjoyed a sprinkling of the diary entries written by Audra too, so it made it a compelling back and forth story. I looked forward to reading it every day and after halfway through the book, I couldn’t put it down! Definitely pick this up and give it a read if you like gothic literature, mysteries, or anything with a creepy feel!

sararah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

mommacusses's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Light read. A few twists. Nothing complicated but well written. 

garbitchdisposal's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

brandyoak311's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

prettiestwhistles's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Confinement, Mental illness, Death, Alcoholism, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Grief, Alcohol, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, and Sexism

Minor: Blood, Incest, Miscarriage, Dementia, and Medical content

Several characters are described as "mad," including one encountered directly in the narrative. While her condition is never specified, she experiences auditory hallucinations and is killed while trying to murder the protagonist. The narrator attributes the violence to her illness.

toodrew's review against another edition

mysterious 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

4.25

I really enjoyed the mystery part of this book. It was extremely well-written. Every plot thread was woven and finished by the end.

The main character was meh at best. Her plot line was also kinda-meh for me. She was pretty cliche. But it's hard to find well-written mystery novels; the mystery part really sells this one for me.

suggs55's review against another edition

I didn't care about any character. Everything seemed so slow and easy to figure out. 

rewomer's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

mavisbird's review against another edition

5.0

I could barely put this book down! It captivated me from the first chapter and only got better from there. The pacing is excellent and the mystery and story weaving is done well. There are alot of twists and turns, but you get to peice things together as you go.

The only part that moved more slowly was the ending as things began to work themselves out, but the rest of it was just excellent! Highly recommend!