Reviews with content warning for Death - Maude Horton's Glorious Revenge

Maude Horton is determined to avenge her sister Constance, who died on board an Arctic exploration disguised as a ship's boy. Questions around Constance's death plague Maude, as does the man who seems to have been responsible for it. Maude ends up getting closer to the man himself, Edison Stowe, armed with her arsenal of apothecary tinctures and medicines, to get the truth and justice for her sister.

I really liked the premise of this book - and I also enjoyed the time setting this was based in, the mid 1800s with a focus on the public fascination with hangings and other public executions. However, I think the overall story and execution of the plot was a bit disappointing - a story of a sister taking revenge on her sibling's murderer should be juicy and tense, and I felt like the story was flat and lacking in these aspects. I didn't really like that we got so much of Edison's POV as it took away from Maude's journey and therefore we didn't get some scenes that could have been really good in her perspective, but got a little run down of why it had happened instead from her when we switched back. The fact Maude is a chemist and knows her tinctures should have been a really big part of the story but it just wasn't, it was so disappointing.

This book didn't quite deliver to me the story I wanted, and unfortunately it's the second time a Lizzie Pook book has done this to me. I think in terms of historical setting and premise, she writes very well but the actual execution of the plot, the building up and connection with the characters always fall short for me. She tends to have really gorgeous covers that don't end up matching the inside of the book.

Content Warnings

calamitydane's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

5.0

Loved this. Every time new info was revealed, my jaw was on the floor. The big reveal at the end had me shook.

Content Warnings

mwgerard's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Read my full review https://www.mwgerard.com/review-maude-hortons-glorious-revenge/
Constance and Maude are sisters in early Victorian London, brought even closer when their parents die and they have to move in with their grandfather. He’s a successful apothecary owner and the two grow up helping him behind the counter. Though Maude has come to find contentment in the stability of their lives, Constance yearns for adventure. Not just a whirlwind romance or to find a respectable position. She wants to see the world, so she signs up as a cabin boy (in disguise) on the Makepeace, a ship sent to rescue the missing Franklin Expedition.

Years later, when it is confirmed that Constance did not survive, Maude is secretly given her sister’s journal by a sympathetic representative within the Admiralty. Between this man’s stories about one Edison Stowe and entries in Constance’s secret diary, Maude knows something untoward happened on their voyage. She determines to discover the truth and expose Stowe.

Content Warnings

More...