A review by tessisreading2
Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn

2.0

I'm officially done with this series. The Roma - always an uncomfortable topic when addressed in a historical context by authors with a romantic bent - are even more prominent here than they were in the last book, and it's just as awkward as before. Nineteenth-century attitudes are presented as clues that a character is Absolutely Awful, which throws into stark relief the anachronistically modern opinions and behaviors of the narrator and her family. I had finally had enough, however, when we met the poor relations.

Spoiler

Apparently the March family's unconventionality and largesse, while it extends to giving away priceless gems to random Roma, does not extend to penniless orphaned family members. It was clear immediately upon introduction of the cousins that they were going to have Dark and Terrible Secrets in their past, and probably Evil Deeds as well. They did - and those secrets and deeds were entirely prompted by their poverty and their miserable upbringing, neither of which the family attempted to ameliorate in the slightest at any point. Julia spends a fair amount of time lamenting the cousins' sad fates... but doesn't trouble herself to do anything about it or feel any guilt for not having done anything about it in the past. This makes absolutely no sense given what else we've seen about the Marches; it is a Victorian set-up for what we have already seen are an incredibly un-Victorian family. The Marches are, by authorial fiat, incredibly insulated from any sort of economic reality, so how can we bypass the fact that they haven't bothered to help out their penniless cousins? I was frankly rooting for Emma to off the lot of them.

The writing is bright and spritely and everyone is wildly charming but that just doesn't make up for the fact that they're all horrible people.