nerdynatreads 's review for:

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

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 Ugh, this was a random pick up this month and I’m so glad for it because this was absolutely delightful. So good that I ordered my own copy before I’d even finished reading it. I shouldn’t have been surprised because I’d loved the first book as well. 

Marske is a talent at balancing characters, romance, and mystery. I was so invested in every angle of this story that I never wanted to stop reading when I’d pick it up. Maud and Violet initially had me nervous that their voices would run together, but I felt like each of them were created to be such strong and distinct characters. The way Marske works to peel back layers of their stories and reveal more of the characters feels so well done and allowed for a more natural improvement of their relationship. I also had lots of fun with the little group of detectives they create and watching their dynamic unfold as a team, plus made me more excited to see the couple in the final book. 

The timeline of this book is pretty quick so I was worried they’d be confessing their love to each other and I wouldn’t be able to feel it in the story, but I was once again glad to see that their romance ended in a “let’s try this out,” sort of way that felt realistic. I also just love a ship setting for a mystery so I was sucked into the atmosphere and loved watching everything unfold. Though I did feel like our heroines made a few dumb choices, I really enjoyed the number of twists and turns this story took. I’ve still yet to get a solid hold of the magic, but there was more of it explored here which I did enjoy. 

Immediately picking up the sequel and that shows just how much I loved this.