Bungling exposition, flat emotionally, and how dare they draw Charles not handsomely. But it's readable.
The blurb of this book makes it seem so dramatic and important. The actual novel feels much smaller, with low stakes and calm feelings. The big conflict of this book is trying to perform a musical in the face of financial and legal challenges. There's also some subplots about some kidnappings and hostage situations, but those take a backseat to the musical.
The novel has many excerpt from two in-world documents: the lyrics of the musical, and the history book that the musical is based on. This takes up a lot of the page time, and I don't think it improved the book. It interrupted the story, and was boring.
However, this book was easy to read, and kept me engaged. I was excited to see how the musical would go on opening night, and the steps leading up to that. It had some cool moments, and made me laugh. But, in the end, not much happens in this book. It's setting up things for the next book, but not actually having those pieces do important things now. It touches on a lot of interesting themes, but doesn't explore them.
Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Books for a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
Wow. (wow.)
Utterly unputdownable. A perfect end to the trilogy.
The more I read of this book, the more I fell in love with it.
We open with Winnie arriving at a mansion haunted by malevolent fae. She is hired on officially as a governess, and unofficially as someone to deal with the curse on the household.
I love what this book balances tonally. It's gothic and dark. It's romantic and wholesome. It's mysterious and fairytale. It's easy to follow and structured.
It certainly relishes its Victorian era setting by leaning more towards Gothic tropes, while not leaning so hard that it gets muddled in the Atmospheric Plotless Weeds that Gothic books sometimes do.
But after all of that, I think what I love most about this book is the romance. It starts so slowly. For the first half of the book, I was wondering if there was even going to be a romance. But it builds, and is built so well. They get to know each other, and learn to trust each other, and have many cute moments together.
I highly recommend this novel. It does act as a direct sequel to the Regency Fairy Tales series, but can be read without those ones.
Thanks to Netgalley and Starwatch Press for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
This is one of those books that I HAVE to stay up until 1am to finish. It's entirely addicting, because it's so well plotted and the characters are given so much to do, in tasks and emotional battles.
A common pitfall of middle books in a series is that there's nothing happening, it all just becomes set-up for the grand finale or clean-up from the first book. With this book2, it avoids all that. It feels necessary and entertaining in every page.
The balance of our POV characters really impressed me. We're following three characters, and I was invested in all of their stories.
Here is the premise of this book:
Sherlock Holmes (real historical figure) decided to freeze himself for over a hundred years in order to solve the crimes of the future (he got bored with the crimes of his own time). Doctor Amy Winslow finds Holmes — recently thawed in 2022 — and decides to take this (insane?) man in. Holmes quickly finds himself a case to solve: a person murdered with an attack tiger, and goes in search of a new nemesis to entertain himself with.
The writing style of this book is highly reminiscent of the classic Sherlock Holmes stories. It is narrated by Dr. Winslow with all of the Victorian flair.
How goofy! How amusing! Yes, it is those things. However, this book is so much more. It is also a story about characters.
This is a story where Holmes has gone from being the smartest man in the room to the most ignorant one. This is a story where Holmes is now obsolete due to modern CSI. This is a story with him coming to terms with his Grand Plan of travelling to the future to save the world failing miserably, as he realizes that the world doesn't need him.
I loved this book. I loved the characters. I loved the writing style. The classing Sherlock Holmes stories didn't work for me (too dry), but this novel certainly did.
Booktone = Celadon Green (intellectual, character/atmosphere focus). https://youtube.com/watch?v=AD4WKlAB0Jw
A video review including this book will premiere on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, at https://www.youtube.com/ChloeFrizzle
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
1st read;
I was blown away by this book. It has the closeness of a magical-psychic-bond without the tropes of a romance. Instead, that closeness and friendship is used to work through character arcs and themes of letting people in.
2nd read:
I originally gave this book 4 stars. Months later, I'm still thinking about it and it was just as good the second time. So I've upgraded it to 5 stars.
Check out my full video review at:
https://youtu.be/Ds-Kr7YsD78
Lyss is training in magic and the sword to become strong enough to kill her father’s murderer. Skaar is a magical monster who has recently escaped from captivity. When they collide, they accidentally get tangled up in a blood pact that both forces them to stick together and is likely to drive them insane.
I think the moment when I fully realized how magnificent this book is this: we are introduced to a new POV character. He is likeable and relatable. Then we figure out that he is our villain. And his Point of View chapters throughout the book were utilized just as well as that first one, both to help us understand him and to up the stakes for the protagonists.
This book is rich with character development and dramatic moments. The emotional moments with the characters are wonderfully balanced with action scenes and a quest. I loved every scene from beginning to end. Even more impressively, this book wraps up nicely while also leaving room for an engaging sequel.
Thanks to The Parliament House and Netgalley for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
I keep coming back to this one. A mesmerizing romance, with character development aplenty. It's told from two perspectives, and all the more richer for it.
Every time I read it, I notice new fun details. Like how Charles processes most emotions thru thinking what his father and brother would think about it. Or how every decision that Anna makes is informed by her current abusive situation, and yet she is still strong and trying to make the best of it and making active decisions.