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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
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
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
How can a book be so horny/spicy and yet sooooooo boooooooooriiiiiiiing 😠at least the chemistry between the characters was there
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book has made me so excited for the last book in the trilogy and it’s also made me want to re-read the first one immediately! This story follows Robin’s sister Maud and her foray into mystery, murder, and romance. I loved the author’s writing—it’s witty and hilarious. I like that there’s an actual ongoing major problem that threads all the books together, and I just love the historical fantasy aspect of these books
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
This was a fun read! I loved each character and what they brought to the table. The heist aspect was especially fun. I loved the inclusion of magic and its unique system. I really appreciate the hopeful ending.
Marske’s way with words is like nothing I’ve ever read. Beautiful, lyrical, sly, moving, and funny. This is very much a follow up to the first and I wish that I had read them closer together because I definitely missed some connections by forgetting aspects of the plot and/or character names. This is a great, sexy, sapphic novel with strong, well rounded, flawed leads and I am obsessed.
I feel as though I might be rating this slightly unfairly but I just could not care less about this book. The magic system was confusing and I couldn’t keep any of the characters straight. I liked the love story but that’s about it
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An underwhelming addition to the trilogy where the main couple lacks any kind of chemistry, and the plots ambles along at no great rush or tension.
I almost don’t want to review this book because of how beautiful it was, I’m not sure my words will be able to convey it. But here we go anyway, the world deserves to know! I quite legitimately would read this book again straight away. I still might, it’s up for debate. I do think it’s pertinent that you read the first of the series (The Last Binding) for context, but I think you could get by without it, and I might do just that in the future for the sole reason that I prefer reading sapphic novels over mlm. Anyway, you can trust me when I say you just don’t find world building and slow burns quite like this one. The falling in love felt a whole lot like the world crashing and rebuilding itself, and the spicy scenes were so very *very* good. If you like magic, mystery, and very good sesbian lex, do yourself a favor and pick up this book.
original review 2022
i would just like to say i'm a lord hawthorn stan first! human second!
"She would step off the ship in triumph, and Robin would be proud of her, and it would be the first important and worthwhile thing that Maud Blythe, baronet's daughter, and baronet's sister, would have done in her entire short useless life."
The most interesting things in Maud Blyth's life have happened to her brother Robin, but she's ready to join any cause, especially if it involves magical secrets. Bound for New York on the R.M.S. Lyric, she's ready for an adventure. What she actually finds is a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and a beautiful stranger in Violet Debenham, who is everything—a magician, an actress, a scandal—Maud has been trained to fear and has learned to desire. Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of loathsome suspects, they must solve a murder and untangle a conspiracy that began generations before them.
A Marvellous Light was one of the last few books I read last year, and I loved it so much (but it will be featured in this year's favorites bc my list was done by the time I first read it).
So I was eagerly looking forward to this sequel ever since last December, but, at the same time, I was a little hesitant about it. I loved Robin & Edwin so much that I doubted another couple would surpass them. Also, Maud wasn't the best character from the first book. She was just there, so I didn't know how to feel about an entire book about her.
But!! I shouldn't have doubted because I really enjoyed A Restless Truth. I didn't LOVE it as much as AML, but it was still an incredible addition to this series.
If A Marvellous Light is a soft mystery with romance all about the mortifying ordeal of being known amidst magic gardens, magic houses, and wallpaper, A Restless Truth is the complete opposite. Instead, it's a fun book all about a murder mystery while traveling on a ship.
This book was simply so much fun. I just love stories where the characters are stuck in a place with a killer in their midst, with them having to figure out the mystery. While also keeping the investigation a secret.
And all of the characters were so great. Even the side characters!! I'm now obsessed with Lord Hawthorne. I'm a Hawthorne stan first, human second. Mean characters with tragic pasts that deal with their trauma with humor, vulgarity, and by pushing everyone away?? And then will probably eventually find someone that understands and loves them for who they are?? I love that every time.
Even though I wasn't sure how I felt about Maud before, I loved her in this one. She's stubborn and is constantly trying to prove herself, but always stands up for herself against anyone; who just wants to do right by those she loves.
My only issue with this book is that I didn’t /really/ love the romance. I liked it? I think? So much of this story is about Maud and Violet trying to be honest with each other, and they only get the actual truth by the end. So finishing this, I felt that their romance wasn't over? It felt like a beginning, more than an end.
That makes me wonder how the next book is going to go!! I'm hoping it will be about Ross and Hawthorne (if it isn't, I WILL riot), but will we also get perspectives from the other characters? Idk but I'm excited about it!!
i would just like to say i'm a lord hawthorn stan first! human second!
"She would step off the ship in triumph, and Robin would be proud of her, and it would be the first important and worthwhile thing that Maud Blythe, baronet's daughter, and baronet's sister, would have done in her entire short useless life."
The most interesting things in Maud Blyth's life have happened to her brother Robin, but she's ready to join any cause, especially if it involves magical secrets. Bound for New York on the R.M.S. Lyric, she's ready for an adventure. What she actually finds is a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and a beautiful stranger in Violet Debenham, who is everything—a magician, an actress, a scandal—Maud has been trained to fear and has learned to desire. Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of loathsome suspects, they must solve a murder and untangle a conspiracy that began generations before them.
A Marvellous Light was one of the last few books I read last year, and I loved it so much (but it will be featured in this year's favorites bc my list was done by the time I first read it).
So I was eagerly looking forward to this sequel ever since last December, but, at the same time, I was a little hesitant about it. I loved Robin & Edwin so much that I doubted another couple would surpass them. Also, Maud wasn't the best character from the first book. She was just there, so I didn't know how to feel about an entire book about her.
But!! I shouldn't have doubted because I really enjoyed A Restless Truth. I didn't LOVE it as much as AML, but it was still an incredible addition to this series.
If A Marvellous Light is a soft mystery with romance all about the mortifying ordeal of being known amidst magic gardens, magic houses, and wallpaper, A Restless Truth is the complete opposite. Instead, it's a fun book all about a murder mystery while traveling on a ship.
This book was simply so much fun. I just love stories where the characters are stuck in a place with a killer in their midst, with them having to figure out the mystery. While also keeping the investigation a secret.
And all of the characters were so great. Even the side characters!! I'm now obsessed with Lord Hawthorne. I'm a Hawthorne stan first, human second. Mean characters with tragic pasts that deal with their trauma with humor, vulgarity, and by pushing everyone away?? And then will probably eventually find someone that understands and loves them for who they are?? I love that every time.
Even though I wasn't sure how I felt about Maud before, I loved her in this one. She's stubborn and is constantly trying to prove herself, but always stands up for herself against anyone; who just wants to do right by those she loves.
My only issue with this book is that I didn’t /really/ love the romance. I liked it? I think? So much of this story is about Maud and Violet trying to be honest with each other, and they only get the actual truth by the end. So finishing this, I felt that their romance wasn't over? It felt like a beginning, more than an end.
That makes me wonder how the next book is going to go!! I'm hoping it will be about Ross and Hawthorne (if it isn't, I WILL riot), but will we also get perspectives from the other characters? Idk but I'm excited about it!!