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dwinn5 's review for:
A Restless Truth
by Freya Marske
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
I absolutely love this series so far and this book was no exception. Overall the first book kept my attention a little better, but I think that was mostly due to the setting and plot constraints set up by the premise in this one.
It started early- the pace of the first chapter and the inciting incident were a bit jarring, and I had a hard time settling into the story/ understanding the stakes because of how quickly everything happened. Later in the novel, I also felt like the big reveal around Maud wasn’t addressed well. I understood that there was some processing time required and more important things going on, but even once things settled down, they still didn’t address the implications of it considering how big of a reveal it was made out to be. We also didn’t really see Maud think it over internally either, which felt even less believable.
I also mentioned in my review of the first book that the romantic relationship progressed faster than I personally enjoy, and this one was in some ways even faster, but also didn’t graduate to the same level as the other. They’re a different type of couple so it was understandable and I didn’t want it to be the same, but it just came across a little bit shallower to me. I’m also not necessarily the biggest fan of the “teaching” trope, if you catch my drift, so that part fell a bit flat for me.
That being said, I did overall enjoy the dynamic between the love interests; while both characters were unique in their mindsets and approaches to things, they were still both very (enthusiastic) and matched each other’s energy so well. I struggled with Violet at times; I understood her reticence and commitment to keeping her cards close to her chest (even to her detriment), but at times it came across as cruel or almost manipulative in the way she treated Maud. I recognize that it was an important part of her character, but it occasionally made it hard for me to root for the two of them to be together long-term.
P.S. I don’t know if the (references) to The Titanic movie were intentional or not, but they made me chuckle regardless.
It started early- the pace of the first chapter and the inciting incident were a bit jarring, and I had a hard time settling into the story/ understanding the stakes because of how quickly everything happened. Later in the novel, I also felt like the big reveal around Maud wasn’t addressed well. I understood that there was some processing time required and more important things going on, but even once things settled down, they still didn’t address the implications of it considering how big of a reveal it was made out to be. We also didn’t really see Maud think it over internally either, which felt even less believable.
I also mentioned in my review of the first book that the romantic relationship progressed faster than I personally enjoy, and this one was in some ways even faster, but also didn’t graduate to the same level as the other. They’re a different type of couple so it was understandable and I didn’t want it to be the same, but it just came across a little bit shallower to me. I’m also not necessarily the biggest fan of the “teaching” trope, if you catch my drift, so that part fell a bit flat for me.
That being said, I did overall enjoy the dynamic between the love interests; while both characters were unique in their mindsets and approaches to things, they were still both very (enthusiastic) and matched each other’s energy so well. I struggled with Violet at times; I understood her reticence and commitment to keeping her cards close to her chest (even to her detriment), but at times it came across as cruel or almost manipulative in the way she treated Maud. I recognize that it was an important part of her character, but it occasionally made it hard for me to root for the two of them to be together long-term.
P.S. I don’t know if the (references) to The Titanic movie were intentional or not, but they made me chuckle regardless.