forgetmenotbooks 's review for:

The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin

3.0

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3.5 Stars

So essentially this book is a bit of Mary Barton, a pinch of Sherlock Holmes, featuring a

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lesbian romance

and really beautiful writing.

I have to start with the writing. It's not often that the writing style of a novel is what makes me go "wow", but the descriptions in The Wicked Cometh are exquisite. The writing also feels authentically Victorian (or Georgian), with a realist edge (probably more Dickensian than Gaskell-esque, but something about the story really reminds me of the aforementioned Mary Barton). There are, for example, long stretches of expositional dialogue (often given by characters in dialect) which would feel like instances of bad writing technique in a novel that wasn't trying to mimic this style. The style also works particularly well with regard to

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the romance between Hester and Rebekah. Because it feels so authentically Georgian/Victorian, it is easy to believe you are actually reading a classic that happens to feature a lesbian romance.

Because the writing is so beautiful, and atmospheric, the world-building is also sublime - for the most part. I could never quite get as clear an image of Waterford in my head as I did Georgian London. The description of the exterior of The Fortune of War is particularly stunning.

Now onto what didn't work so well, in my opinion. Though I liked the characters, and thought they felt like they had jumped straight out of a Georgian/Victorian novel, they weren't as well-developed as I would have liked. Some of the side characters were interestingly flawed (like Meg and Mrs Cohen), but Hester and Rebekah lacked something for me unfortunately, as did the villains. I think Hester's lack of care for anyone but Rebekah was partly the reason I struggled with her

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I'm thinking in particular of the time she grieves more for the living Rebekah than Meg and the twins

and Rebekah herself could have been just that more sparky, for want of a better word.

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The romance is sweet though

. Certain characters are pegged as villains from the start

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I'm looking at you, Mr Blister

and I was hoping for some kind of development there, some twist which never came.

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As for Calder, I suspected him from the beginning. He is too obviously painted as a "good" character, and provides a link between London, Waterford, Blister etc.

The mystery unfortunately was the weakest part of the novel. I didn't mind that some aspects were a bit OTT, I just personally found it predictable.

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There's a main character who's an obsessed doctor, who has put himself in a position where he has easy access to the poor, and people keep going missing, but it's clearly not their belongings that the kidnappers are after. I wonder what use a doctor could make of dead bodies?

On a more positive note, there is some interesting social commentary at play here about the value of life

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Calder - and many others - see more value in poor people when they're dead

, but I think the mystery itself could have been executed better.

On the whole though, I really did enjoy this book. While I ultimately wasn't fond of the mystery, the atmosphere and writing were wonderful and immersive, and I did care for the characters even though they weren't particularly remarkable. I wouldn't have picked this book out for myself, as I don't tend to gravitate towards this kind of historical fiction, but this made for a nice change after all the fantasy and sci-fi.