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swsquadleadr327's review against another edition
slow-paced
0.5
This book had such great promise and fell apart in so many ways. It was so frustrating to constantly follow the POV of the bad guy who was annoying and repetitive. This book was so repetitive in so many ways. The villain's POV, Maude's POV. The bright spots were the diary entries from Maude's sister. But the book was so tedious to read and Maude is so frustrating that her chapters mostly consist of her complaining about how sad and Victorian she is. I kept waiting for some sign that Maude was actually going to DO something. The last chapter finally has something happen, except it basically sums up the entirety of the book in flashback. So instead of reading the story of Maude growing as a person and developing her plan and working with others to enact her revenge you read about it in a few pages. And then the book ends. It was absolutely infuriating. It also didn't fully wrap up the threads that it set up. Everything about this was dull and frustrating. The premise had such promise and fell flat on absolutely everything.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
kalobar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault
editorbrenna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Murder
whatzoreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Violence, Medical content, and Murder
annelihghh's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
franklola's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death
josiesprobablyreading's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
mshusky's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It was a bit of a slow burn to begin with, and took a few chapters for me to be fully hooked, as Maude was so hesitant and fearful.
The novel is polyphonic, with Constance's point of view being epistolary, only giving enough at each turn to explain the actions of Maude, who was timorously determined to find the truth behind the accident that befell her sister. The sinister character of Stowe was way too overdone as a creepy, classist, sexist, egotistical villain to be believable, but his macabre tours were fascinating.
I do so appreciate a historical novel that is clearly well researched. The time period, the locations, the sense (and smells) of London, as well as the frigid bleak of the Artic were exceedingly well done. The ending felt a bit rushed, but I felt the outcome was satisfying.
Was really pleased to have won the print edition of this book through a Storygraph giveaway.
The novel is polyphonic, with Constance's point of view being epistolary, only giving enough at each turn to explain the actions of Maude, who was timorously determined to find the truth behind the accident that befell her sister. The sinister character of Stowe was way too overdone as a creepy, classist, sexist, egotistical villain to be believable, but his macabre tours were fascinating.
I do so appreciate a historical novel that is clearly well researched. The time period, the locations, the sense (and smells) of London, as well as the frigid bleak of the Artic were exceedingly well done. The ending felt a bit rushed, but I felt the outcome was satisfying.
Was really pleased to have won the print edition of this book through a Storygraph giveaway.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, and Murder
wordsofclover's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
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.
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
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Violence
dejaentendu's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death