charlottereadshistory's reviews
353 reviews

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Set in Edwardian England, A Marvellous Light starts with the premise that magic exists in secret, and power passes down through mainly aristocratic families. A distinctly unmagical Robin (Sir Robert) is posted by accident to what he thinks is a dead-end role in government. It turns out to be a liaison post for the magical world that reports to Westminster. Robin's successor disappeared in mysterious circumstances and Robin himself gets cursed on day one of the job - but his new colleague Edwin is determined to unravel the mystery.

Edwin is a younger son of a powerful magical family whose own magic is lacking even if his booklearning is not, and the two grow closer in their search for answers to lift the curse.

I was really intrigued by the world building - patriarchal and classist Edwardian society is replicated in magix too with who gets to be a powerful magician and how - with a sneaky glimpse at another type of magic that ties more closely with nature - I can only assume that as a trilogy we will find out more about that in subsequent books.

It all got quite Agatha Christie/Bloomsbury Set in parts, as there were lots of acerbic aristocrats lounging around the family's country seat. Edwin and Robin hole themselves up in the Library and slowly work out the curse, what happened to the magical liaison who went missing and how they felt about each other.

The action and the romance ramps up in the last third of the book and we get some answers, some satisfying character development and lots of standing up to the bullies. I'm looking forward to reading the next installment!

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Mortal Follies was one of the most entertaining regency fantasy romances I’ve read in so long! It follows a cursed noblewoman who has to enlist the help of a purported witch to avoid her own demise. The story is narrated by a faerie following the pair around, whose disinterest and disdain for mortals made me laugh out loud throughout the book.

I listened to the audiobook and I have to congratulate Nneka Okoye for an Oscar-worthy performance. Her voices for the characters were superb, her comedic timing had me cracking up. Her narration added so much to the story for me and I’d gladly listen to anything else she narrates!

Hall paid so much attention to the regency Bath setting, and I loved the inclusion of the goddess Minerva and her connection to the Baths.

The characters were also fabulous - especially the dreamer best friend Lizzy Bickle. I found the mysterious love interest Miss Georgiana to be a bit on the mean side - there’s grumpy then there’s just plain rude, but she had a complicated and tragic past so I’ll let her off. The romance went from zero to 100 which I thought was a bit much.

Overall, I whizzed through this magical regency romp and I hope Hall turns their pen to a historical setting again soon.

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

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adventurous challenging funny inspiring sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This retelling of Medusa’s story was fast, compelling and the themes and messages of the book stayed with me afterwards.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author and it was an absolute treat - Medusa’s raging sense of injustice and loss at what happens to her shines through in Haynes’s lively narration.

Perseus comes across as misguided and fairly useless, handheld by various gods to complete his unworthy task, and I really enjoyed the insight into the thoughts, feelings and motivations of the other gods who were involved.

I found Medusa’s childhood particularly touching, raised with love by her Gorgon sisters. Haynes’s retelling successfully ‘humanises’ Medusa and asks the important question - what is a monster and who gets to decide?

I sometimes get a little muddled with all the characters in mythical retellings but Haynes did a fabulous job in keeping me straight with her multi POV chapters. If you want to get into Greek myths pick up this book!

Goth: A History by Lol Tolhurst

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

My rule of thumb, based on what I've observed over my long career is that [pop songs] are either about death or love. The difference with Goth music? They're usually about death and love in the same song

'A memoir of a subculture' is how Tolhurst sets out his history of Goth, and makes no apologies for concentrating on the bands, events, places and influences he has direct experience with.

What he sets out is a look at some of the literary, musical and religious influences of Goth, set against the late 1970s depression. A truncated history of the creation of and his time in the Cure, and the emergency of post-punk and new wave in the UK and the US. Tolhurst recounts interesting stories from his time with Siouxie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode and Bauhaus and reflects on the inspirations behind musical and lyrical choices and the thoughts and feelings behind them.

As a '90s kid who grew up with a home life soundtracked by many of the bands mentioned, it was thought-provoking to look at the genre from the inside out, rather than passively experiencing it.

I will be lending it to my dad 😂

A Duke of One's Own by Emma Orchard

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

A Duke of One's Own is a regency romance set in 1816, and second in a series (although I read it as a standalone perfectly happily).

Georgie is a reckless debutante who chafes against being chaperoned and the book starts with her getting into a very risky situation with a masked stranger.

Of course, she bumps into this stranger again, who just happens to be a Duke with a terrible reputation on a mission to find a wife. The two have to work out if there is anything more to their physical connection, and even if there was, if they'd ever be happy.

Throw in a spurned ex-lover and his devious sister and chaos ensues!

I liked the addition of modern sensibilities and the LGBT relationships - they absolutely existed at the time and it's nice to see them represented without significant comment apart from acknowledging it was difficult.

I found Georgie's insecurity a little annoying - I really enjoy the recent trend of women protagonists that aren't feeble wallflowers, but a lot of them still seem to have a deep-seated belief that their love interest could never truly love them, a miscommunication trope which fell a little flat for me.

The only other part that I didn't feel worked hugely well was Lady Ashby's appearance about 75% of the way through - it didn't really add anything and was resolved quickly.

Overall, this was a sparkling regency romance and I enjoyed the hint of the gothic of the Yorkshire setting of the ducal seat. You could tell Orchard is a huge fan of Georgette Heyer through the wit and conversation of the characters, even if it was much steamier!

The publisher sent me an advanced reader copy of this book for review but all opinions are my own.

The Good Women of Fudi by Liu Hong

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

"The fate of all women does not have to be ours."

The Good Women of Fudi is set in Imperial China after the Opium Wars and follows two friends, Jiali and Wu Fang. The two women have grown up with wealth and are both seriously accomplished. Jiali is a proclaimed poet and swordswoman, and Wu Fang is attending medical school in Japan - to potentially become the first Chinese surgeon.

At the outset of the story, we join Wu Fang on their boat journey back to Fudi from Japan where she meets English Edward, who mistakes them for a Japanese man.

Edward is travelling to join the Fudi Naval College having recently lost his wife, and his and Wu Fang's lives continue to entwine when he realises his closest Chinese colleague Yanbu is Jiali's new husband.

I was really interested in the history of the period, especially the conflict and rising tensions between the differing Chinese factions - the reformers looking outward to Japan's modernist practices and ideas or the traditionalist ruling Manchus and how spiritualism, religion and family weaves a complicated set of values and ideas. I found the suffering attitudes towards the Ocean People (foreigners like the English) really interesting too and was grateful to see things through Edward's eyes as he became more and more fascinated with Fudi's culture and inhabitants.

Wu Fang's gender identity is explored throughout the book but never directly explained, which is the same for the complicated physical and emotional relationship between Wu Fang and Jiali, Edward and Yanbu. I was really swept along with the complicated study of love, gender and sexuality in it's many fluid forms.

My only gripe is that the book ended on a massive cliffhanger - and I've no idea if the book is a series!

Thanks to the publisher for this advanced reader's copy of this book for review - all opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

Brontë Lovers by Angela Pearse

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Brontë Lovers follows the story of Lizzy, who on a trip with her awful boyfriend to Haworth in Yorkshire meets a volunteer at the Brontë Parsonage Museum called Dain. This romance was fast paced and I enjoyed the references to the Brontë sisters and their works, but there were a few inconsistencies that made it tricky for me to stay in the flow of the novel or enjoy it properly.

Firstly, the names of some of the characters were unusual enough to be a little off-putting.. Klint, Dain and Joelle not exactly being common in North England. An unfortunate hike on the Moors was made vaguely ridiculous by the weather, which apparently was so cold that the protagonist almost died, even though it was only mid-September. I know the author lives in Edinburgh but it felt like I was reading a book with someone who didn't have a great knowledge of Yorkshire or England which was a bit jarring.

I also didn't warm to the protagonist. She felt quite judgemental and I'm not sure some fairly deep issues like physical and emotional abuse, depression and suicide were handled with enough care by the author. Added to this was a fairly bold homophobic/bi-phobic reaction to a revelation of someone's sexuality and past relationship which I thought felt totally off for a book being published in 2024.

I thought the final reveal was fun, and I hope this book brings a new readership to the Brontë sisters due to their inclusion in the story.

Thank you to the author who sent me an ARC of the book for an unbiased review.

Content Warnings

Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"Revenge was not sweet, it was rotten"

This is a feminist untelling of epic proportions - I've never experienced such a well known tale to be turned on its head so drastically.

We all know Rosaline as the girl Romeo ditches for Juliet - but in this version, Rosaline is won over by Romeo's charms due to a chance meeting at a party, and facing a future in a nunnery decides to take a chance on love.

As time goes on (and there is a lot of world building and lounging around in a very hot summer in Verona which felt as oppressive to read as it must have felt before the action gets going), Rosaline realises that her older suitor is a predator taking advantage of much younger girls, and her young cousin Juliet is in his sights.

What is chilling and also probably fairly accurate for Rennaisance Italy was how much men of power and those that served them were complicit in Romeo's actions, and how women were powerless to intervene through formal channels.

The last part of the story in particular was gripping, and I enjoyed Solomons' twists and turns as Rosaline races to save Juliet. I also really enjoyed how the source material was woven into the story and how Solomons kept Shakespeare's voice throughout in the prose.

I received an audiobook ARC for an unbiased review and have to give Sheila Atim the narrator and actress such high praise. A really enjoyable listen and I thought it was perfect for the "dark skinned and moorish featured" Rosaline to be voiced by such an accomplished Black Shakespearean actress!

The audiobook is released on the 3rd August.

Content Warnings

The Maiden of Florence by Katherine Mezzacappa

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Maiden of Florence tells the story of Giulia, plucked from an orphanage in Florence to be used as an experiment to prove or disprove the virility of a prince marrying into the Medici family, and her subsequent life.

I was worried this would be a book that was very upsetting to read given the subject matter, and I would definitely urge anyone who needs to heed any trigger warnings regarding sexual assault to give this book a miss.

However if that's something you can deal with, there is also so much more to this story. I found myself rooting for Giulia and enjoyed hating the despicable minister Vinta, and the tension that his consistent presence in her life brought had me turning the pages long after I had other things to do.

Mezzacappa quite clearly sets out the myriad ways women were subjugated by the patriarchy at the time, and how so many women's lives were completely beholden to more powerful men, and one just had to hope they were moral and upstanding. In that vein, without giving anything away, Giulio was a standout character for me, I loved him.

It was easy to get lost in Florence, Mantua and Venice and I really enjoyed the scene setting and felt how important Giulia's faith was to processing and finding solace in her life, as did the other female characters, in what seems to be a very difficult time to be a woman.

Thanks to the publisher for this advanced readers copy of this book for review - all opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

Song of the Huntress by Lucy Holland

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The scene setting at the beginning with all of the characters of the royal court was a little confusing at first - I was getting my Æthelburgs and my aethlings mixed up. But that aside, you can immediately feel Holland's understanding and passion for this time period, and I love how the history of the period was mixed with the myths and legends which was very evocative.

I found the character development to be slow - I understand that this is often the case in real life and that making the same mistakes is part of the human experience, but the constant escalating miscommunications made for frustrating reading. I wonder if the distance I felt to the characters was also due to the use of the third person present tense which I don't come across as often.

I thought the LGBTIA+ representation was thoughtfully done, especially Ine's asexuality. The patriarchy was also touched on too, and Æthel's frustration at being undermined and not believed was very believable and relatable.

Overall I wanted to love this book as I loved Sistersong, but this was a harder book to enjoy, and I felt like the plot didn't really move along until the last third of the book.

Thanks to the publisher for this advanced readers copy of this book for review - all opinions are my own. The book is set for release on 21st March and is available to preorder now.

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charlottereadshistory's reviews 353 reviews

charlottereadshistory's reviews
353 reviews