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kensi 's review for:
The Savage Instinct
by M.M. DeLuca
It's 1873 in England, and Clara Blackstone has only just been set back out into the world again after spending a year locked away in a private asylum. Determined to never return to the asylum again, Clara reunites with her husband Henry and tries in vain to return to the life she had before. However, she quickly becomes obsessed with the actions of Mary Ann Cotton, a woman accused of murdering almost twenty people, including her husbands and their children. With her husband perhaps not being the man he claimed to be and Mary becoming an unlikely ally, Clara is stuck in a struggle to protect everything she holds dear.
I love historical fiction novels to pieces. If there's some mystery and thriller bits sprinkled in, it makes it all the better. This was a great novel to get lost in, for sure!
Clara was a wonderful character to be in the mind of, even if it was stressful at times. She's under constant threat at all times, either from her husband's intent to have her sent back to an asylum or society's dislike of Clara's actions towards those they deem beneath them. She feels painfully realistic as she deals with grief and the anger of being put in a position of helplessness by those who are supposed to aide her in her time of need. The relationship she has with Mary Ann Cotton is intriguing and unsettling simultaneously; I was never quite sure if Mary was being 100% honest to Clara, but that was a great part of the mystery.
Henry, Clara's husband, was also a well-written antagonist. His motives and actions were not too far from the realm of possibility, and the fact that such things could (and perhaps did) happen to women during this time made his threats and actions very real and terrifying. I always appreciate when a villain isn't outlandish or over the top, it makes for a much more enjoyable reading experience.
The author's writing was also wonderfully descriptive. I could very easily picture Clara's surroundings and the people around her. It also made seeing through the lens of Clara's senses that much more interesting since I could see myself in her shoes regarding her emotions and reactions.
The only issue I really had with the novel was that some things were left more open-ended than I usually prefer. I'm one of those people that like to have everything wrapped up in a neat bow by the end. It's not always realistic, and it doesn't always work with the ending of the story, but we can't help what we like. That being said, I felt the ending fit the characters and the setting very well.
I love historical fiction novels to pieces. If there's some mystery and thriller bits sprinkled in, it makes it all the better. This was a great novel to get lost in, for sure!
Clara was a wonderful character to be in the mind of, even if it was stressful at times. She's under constant threat at all times, either from her husband's intent to have her sent back to an asylum or society's dislike of Clara's actions towards those they deem beneath them. She feels painfully realistic as she deals with grief and the anger of being put in a position of helplessness by those who are supposed to aide her in her time of need. The relationship she has with Mary Ann Cotton is intriguing and unsettling simultaneously; I was never quite sure if Mary was being 100% honest to Clara, but that was a great part of the mystery.
Henry, Clara's husband, was also a well-written antagonist. His motives and actions were not too far from the realm of possibility, and the fact that such things could (and perhaps did) happen to women during this time made his threats and actions very real and terrifying. I always appreciate when a villain isn't outlandish or over the top, it makes for a much more enjoyable reading experience.
The author's writing was also wonderfully descriptive. I could very easily picture Clara's surroundings and the people around her. It also made seeing through the lens of Clara's senses that much more interesting since I could see myself in her shoes regarding her emotions and reactions.
The only issue I really had with the novel was that some things were left more open-ended than I usually prefer. I'm one of those people that like to have everything wrapped up in a neat bow by the end. It's not always realistic, and it doesn't always work with the ending of the story, but we can't help what we like. That being said, I felt the ending fit the characters and the setting very well.