I had such a hard time putting this book down and kept pushing off the other book I was reading so I could finish this one! I just couldn't give it a five since I saw the reveal of the murder/conspiracy coming from a mile away.

Other than that, I felt like the book did a great job of casually leaving information that would become useful 100 pages later. They weren't obvious bread crumbs either.

This is a solid historical fiction murder mystery with a strong female lead. Donnelly did a great job of intertwining romance but avoided lots of cheesiness and kept the characters focus on the murder mystery. The ending also did a great job of this by wrapping up everything that needed to be but not having her get married. She got a happily ever after for her career dreams which is exactly what fit Jo's character.

I was totally blindsided by the reveal/unwinding of Eleanor's tragic ending story. it made sense but I wasn't expecting the story to be proven as fiction.

I loved the old timey feel of the city, culture and politics as well as the investigative journalism. The book shows the Stark differences between rich and poor as if they are both a part of and not a part of the same time and place.

Jo grew so much as a character at every new piece of information she found and every new experience she had. With that, she has a really good narration and evaluation of her family and old life.

I adored Fay for her honestly and bluntness and realistic attitude. Her conclusion also made sense but I would have loved a companion tale of where her life goes.

I really appreciated the bibliography at the back! I recently read Radium Girls and want to find some more nonfictions. The topics covered by the books on this bibliography are of a huge interest to me and I'll be searching some of them down.

Video review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzZC5l9ket0