A review by crispycritter
The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner

Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.

This book is a prime example of high concept low value. 

• Beautiful cover, great synopsis.
• Painfully amateurish writing. Poor execution.

The central mystery so obviously signposted at . . . 15% that it feels like there is no point finishing the rest of the book?!?! Girlfriend I already know what really happened and who the bad guys are!!!

What is the purpose of putting one character POV in First and one in Third? Especially when Penner is not skilled enough to pull off First Person without info dumping, editorializing, and hopping back to random scenes in the past? (I am whining here but I actually liked it in Starling House, because I think Harrow writes fabulous characters, everyone here is stale bread)

Dumb, manipulative writing tactics: Suddenly a stranger bursts through the door and it was . . . Lulz next chapter is a different character and we have hopped back in time. This is not consensual edging, Sarah Penner. Oklahoma. 

I can already tell we’re gonna shoe horn in a romance that doesn’t need to be there (I say this as a die hard Romance reader, just stop writing romantic subplots just to write them if you’re not gonna do them well).

Anyways Penner is a NYT Bestseller and I’m not so *shakes fist at sky*