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thecaptainsquarters 's review for:
Brother's Ruin
by Emma Newman
Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .
This novella was quick-paced, a fast read, and fun. The story is set in 1850s Great Britain which was win number one. Win number two was the protagonist, Charlotte Gunn – intelligent, feisty, and loving (me favorite type). Win number three was the magical society set up in this book.
Charlotte is a woman who wants normal things like marrying her fiance and having a family. She also wants slightly more challenging modern things like continuing to earn her own income from her illustrations and keeping her male publishing pseudonym unknown. But most challenging off all is keeping her magic talent a secret. If it is found out, the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts will claim her and her dreams of the future will be forfeit.
Keeping her magic a secret is not so easy. Charlotte has the guilt of not joining the Society to give her parents and brother a better life as well as the challenge of holding her magic in check and not going “Wild.” However events soon spiral out of control and Charlotte has to decide whether her dreams or her realities will determine her choices.
This novella is super short at 192 pages and felt more like a set-up or prequel to a longer novel. I loved it and wanted more. Charlotte’s family members were loving, struggled, and were realistic in many of their reactions to the occurring events. The magic of the society is introduced but ye don’t get all the bells and whistles of how it works or what it can do . . . yet. The plot was predictable at a few points but I didn’t care.
The novella had a great ending, left lots of questions to be explored, and had tantalizing hints of what may happen next. Whether the next installment be a novella or (hopefully) a longer novel – sign me up!
Side note: This author sounded familiar because I had just purchased her other novel planetfall, a sci-fi, to read! Stay tuned for that review in the next log post.
So lastly . . .
Thank you Macmillian-Tor/Forge!
see me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
This novella was quick-paced, a fast read, and fun. The story is set in 1850s Great Britain which was win number one. Win number two was the protagonist, Charlotte Gunn – intelligent, feisty, and loving (me favorite type). Win number three was the magical society set up in this book.
Charlotte is a woman who wants normal things like marrying her fiance and having a family. She also wants slightly more challenging modern things like continuing to earn her own income from her illustrations and keeping her male publishing pseudonym unknown. But most challenging off all is keeping her magic talent a secret. If it is found out, the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts will claim her and her dreams of the future will be forfeit.
Keeping her magic a secret is not so easy. Charlotte has the guilt of not joining the Society to give her parents and brother a better life as well as the challenge of holding her magic in check and not going “Wild.” However events soon spiral out of control and Charlotte has to decide whether her dreams or her realities will determine her choices.
This novella is super short at 192 pages and felt more like a set-up or prequel to a longer novel. I loved it and wanted more. Charlotte’s family members were loving, struggled, and were realistic in many of their reactions to the occurring events. The magic of the society is introduced but ye don’t get all the bells and whistles of how it works or what it can do . . . yet. The plot was predictable at a few points but I didn’t care.
The novella had a great ending, left lots of questions to be explored, and had tantalizing hints of what may happen next. Whether the next installment be a novella or (hopefully) a longer novel – sign me up!
Side note: This author sounded familiar because I had just purchased her other novel planetfall, a sci-fi, to read! Stay tuned for that review in the next log post.
So lastly . . .
Thank you Macmillian-Tor/Forge!
see me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/