A review by croscot
The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Ugh. I really wanted to like this book. But I didn't enjoy the writing much - there were quite a few moments when a character asked something as part of their inner monologue, and then repeated the exact same thing, word for word, out loud. Why? What was the inner monologue for, then? Other parts were over-explained - maybe the author didn't think the reader would be smart enough to process what they have just read. 

Mr. Morley

was a pathetic villain. I admit, I didn't foresee

Mr. Volckman

being a piece of shit as well, but

Morley

? What an absolute fucking loser. 

And I was dissatisfied with

Lenna's resignation from trying to understand the hows and the whys of spiritualism in the end. She said that it felt freeing to stop asking those questions and just accept things as they were

, but it just doesn't match Lenna from the other 99% of the book. Considering the whole investigation + the seances took a few days, and only a month passed afterwards when the epilogue takes place, this change

from a very inquisitive and skeptical woman to "lol whatevs i guess"

is too drastic.