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kyatic 's review for:
Hither, Page
by Cat Sebastian
I was lucky enough to get my hands on an ARC of this, and I basically devoured it in two sittings (would have been one, but apparently humans need sleep? Who knew?). Cat Sebastian's books are reliably wonderfully written and researched, and this was no different.
As always, the side characters are ridiculously good fun - in fact, one of my only qualms with this book is that one of the side characters in particular is so interesting that she rather outshone the MCs - and the protagonists are nuanced. I have to admit that the actual romance in this one didn't immediately make sense to me, but the rest of the book is such a delight that I found myself on board pretty quickly. Both protagonists are interesting and the subject of shell-shock (or PTSD, as we'd now call it) is handled delicately. I did find that Leo Page's character seemed to do a bit of a 180 at one point, but it didn't make him seem less well realised; he's been established as a fairly mercurial person, so it made sense within context.
There are lots of narrative threads here that would make excellent spin-offs, sequels and prequels, and they all tie up rather wonderfully. I have to admit that I solved the central mystery very early on, but that's probably just because I read too many murder mysteries rather than being a reflection on the construction of the mystery itself, which is complicated enough to hold your interest without being too meandering.
The atmosphere is so authentic and evocative of a little post-war village; I almost wish this had come out at Christmas, because it would have been a really comfortable read then. Reading a book set in a snowy village in December made me wish I wasn't reading it whilst absolutely boiling to death in the sun. I find that the best kind of writing makes you wish you were actually in it, and this certainly did.
Really recommend this one, and now I'm just sad that, once more, I have no more Cat Sebastian books to read.
I've also just noticed that this is apparently the first in a series, so now I'm DELIGHTED.
As always, the side characters are ridiculously good fun - in fact, one of my only qualms with this book is that one of the side characters in particular is so interesting that she rather outshone the MCs - and the protagonists are nuanced. I have to admit that the actual romance in this one didn't immediately make sense to me, but the rest of the book is such a delight that I found myself on board pretty quickly. Both protagonists are interesting and the subject of shell-shock (or PTSD, as we'd now call it) is handled delicately. I did find that Leo Page's character seemed to do a bit of a 180 at one point, but it didn't make him seem less well realised; he's been established as a fairly mercurial person, so it made sense within context.
There are lots of narrative threads here that would make excellent spin-offs, sequels and prequels, and they all tie up rather wonderfully. I have to admit that I solved the central mystery very early on, but that's probably just because I read too many murder mysteries rather than being a reflection on the construction of the mystery itself, which is complicated enough to hold your interest without being too meandering.
The atmosphere is so authentic and evocative of a little post-war village; I almost wish this had come out at Christmas, because it would have been a really comfortable read then. Reading a book set in a snowy village in December made me wish I wasn't reading it whilst absolutely boiling to death in the sun. I find that the best kind of writing makes you wish you were actually in it, and this certainly did.
Really recommend this one, and now I'm just sad that, once more, I have no more Cat Sebastian books to read.
I've also just noticed that this is apparently the first in a series, so now I'm DELIGHTED.