A review by meanbeanreads
A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I enjoyed this one, but I might have liked it more had I been more familiar with the historical context. I'm finding that I prefer Hardinge's imaginary worlds over her historically-based fantasy. That said, it's a Frances Hardinge novel and therefore it's worth reading. 

The beginning starts out strong, with poignant emotional notes. Some might find it a bit slow, but I enjoyed the pacing. I felt like I was really getting to know Makepeace

(and Bear)

. 

The pace soon picks up, but for me the story got a little muddled in the second half, when

Makepeace is on the run. The political stuff was a bit hard to keep straight as an American who had no idea the English Civil War was a thing. But that's on me, not the author.

I can see myself enjoying this more upon a re-read, when I'm not in such a hurry to find out what's next. 

Also, I purchased the UK edition of the book in hardcover--look at how gorgeous that cover is! I needed to have it on my shelf. The US edition is so meh compared to the UK one I just have to gush about it.