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briarroses 's review for:
A Restless Truth
by Freya Marske
Maud starts out her adventure across the sea to protect Mrs. Navenby and an artifact in Mrs. Navenby’s possession. She is armed with a book of prophecies and her best intentions; unfortunately, on the first day of the voyage Mrs. Navenby is murdered and her possessions which are silver are all stolen. Maud sets out to do her best investigating, pulling in the aid of Violet Debenham, a concert hall actress who has just come into an unexpected large fortune from a rich relative, and the grudging assistance of Lord Hawthorn. There are other secrets afoot and more than one person is more than they seem, but Maud knows the fate of the magic in the world depends on her finding the artifact and keeping it away from the enemy. However, as she and Violet investigate together, they also are drawn to one another and soon the romance between them is palpable.
I liked the way characters were introduced; you get a clear sense of Elizabeth Navenby, even though she is on screen for such a short amount of time. Maud being described as wanting to be the kind of person who said ‘fuck’ instead of squeaking “oh my heavens” upon discovering a murdered body is both endearing and revealing at the same time. Hawthorn and Violet being introduced so close to past scandal is interesting; Violet being careless about constantly being a scandal and Hawthorn being just disinterested in the general opinion of people around him while also drawing scandal to his name neatly separate the way that they are characterized and how they react to a given situation. I liked that Alan goes through a few phases of introduction in the different contexts that we find him in.
The mystery element of the story is good, but it definitely does not seem solvable as a reader so if you’re in it to work out the clues and solve it before the characters do, you may be out of luck. For me, that works really well because I have a hard time with more traditional mysteries, so this more magical version which has twists and turns but with unexpected ways of solving problems is great.
It does get steamy at points, so I would definitely put this more towards New Adult, but I think an older teen audience should also be fine with the content. The romance does build nicely between Maud and Violet, and their chemistry is good. Violet’s general know-how and brashness gets her through a lot but she is also very guarded and Maud goes straight for the jugular in terms of getting her to be more trusting. Violet and Hawthorn have a more business-like demeanor with each other when it comes to intimacy.
The language used also and the social mores that were being followed vs. decidedly ignored also lent a really interesting perspective on the relationship between Maud and Violet (as well as others). The freedoms that were accessible to one or the other of them at different stages of the relationship were ones that I hadn’t quite considered contextually - the ease of women being close to one another and touching each other all the time during the time period really allowed for some subtlety of connection and what a touch might mean. I thought it was very interesting, and I think that it was handled well.
My curse struck once again, and I have started with book 2. Not having read book 1, I obviously don’t know what I missed but I enjoyed the series enough that I will probably be looking into it soon. I think the writing is clever, and dynamic. I will be curious to learn more about the adventures following the Forsythia Club’s escapades and subsequent efforts, and how the big bad will conclude.
I liked the way characters were introduced; you get a clear sense of Elizabeth Navenby, even though she is on screen for such a short amount of time. Maud being described as wanting to be the kind of person who said ‘fuck’ instead of squeaking “oh my heavens” upon discovering a murdered body is both endearing and revealing at the same time. Hawthorn and Violet being introduced so close to past scandal is interesting; Violet being careless about constantly being a scandal and Hawthorn being just disinterested in the general opinion of people around him while also drawing scandal to his name neatly separate the way that they are characterized and how they react to a given situation. I liked that Alan goes through a few phases of introduction in the different contexts that we find him in.
The mystery element of the story is good, but it definitely does not seem solvable as a reader so if you’re in it to work out the clues and solve it before the characters do, you may be out of luck. For me, that works really well because I have a hard time with more traditional mysteries, so this more magical version which has twists and turns but with unexpected ways of solving problems is great.
It does get steamy at points, so I would definitely put this more towards New Adult, but I think an older teen audience should also be fine with the content. The romance does build nicely between Maud and Violet, and their chemistry is good. Violet’s general know-how and brashness gets her through a lot but she is also very guarded and Maud goes straight for the jugular in terms of getting her to be more trusting. Violet and Hawthorn have a more business-like demeanor with each other when it comes to intimacy.
The language used also and the social mores that were being followed vs. decidedly ignored also lent a really interesting perspective on the relationship between Maud and Violet (as well as others). The freedoms that were accessible to one or the other of them at different stages of the relationship were ones that I hadn’t quite considered contextually - the ease of women being close to one another and touching each other all the time during the time period really allowed for some subtlety of connection and what a touch might mean. I thought it was very interesting, and I think that it was handled well.
My curse struck once again, and I have started with book 2. Not having read book 1, I obviously don’t know what I missed but I enjoyed the series enough that I will probably be looking into it soon. I think the writing is clever, and dynamic. I will be curious to learn more about the adventures following the Forsythia Club’s escapades and subsequent efforts, and how the big bad will conclude.