blewballoon's Reviews (763)

I was intrigued and a little intimidated by the premise of this book, but the intimidation wasn't needed. The author does a good job of dropping the reader into the story and having the POV character figure things out along the way. This book feels like a mystery-thriller, and leans more one way or the other depending on which body the main character is inhabiting and how that host's mind works. I did sometimes get annoyed by the

footman popping up to be a malicious murderous nuisance in scenes where there was already danger and tension, so he felt like overkill.

The descriptions of people are mostly grotesque and include mentions of being fleshy, wrinkled, or gaunt. If it's a maid, they are almost universally described like "[hair color] spilling out of her cap" on introduction. Minor complaint aside,  the descriptions across the book in general are very immersive and quickly get you a mental picture of the scene. I was very absorbed in trying to put the pieces of the mystery together, but didn't solve it for myself before the reveal.

I don't love when a murderer's motivation is basically just that they're a psychopath, that feels lame. There was so much to the mystery that there should have been enough for a more compelling motivation.

I also don't know how I feel about the explanations offered for the premise

I remember feeling a little taken out of the story when the plague doctors spoke to each other. I never got a good sense of what time period this was. It seemed like an afterlife thing, like maybe they were in purgatory, but then it sounded like this was the normal prison system for living people??

This is an expansion of the scene Dora sees about Elias and Albert's past in the war. This is from Albert's perspective, which I enjoyed. It's interesting to follow along with his first impression and change in perception of Elias, along with further detail about how they came to be the friends they were in Half a Soul. 

I had this book in my TBR for such a long time and kept putting it off, even though it sounded like something I would love. Maybe I was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype I had created for it, but I think it did. I had a delightful time listening to this story on audiobook. The narrator has just the right tone for a character like Dora and a story that is a sort of hybrid of a regency romance and a fairy tale. I was surprised at how much was packed into such a short book, and how it didn't feel like things moved overly quickly. I tend to prefer more of a slow burn romance, but even with the shorter time frame, I felt like Dora and Elias managed to spend enough moments together with meaningful conversation and shared experiences that the romance was natural. 

I devoured this. I listened on audiobook and I cooked/cleaned for like 5 hours straight because I was enjoying this book so much and didn't want to do something else where I'd have to stop listening. If you love the drama and romance of fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast, and you also love it when characters communicate and treat each other with respect and compassion, you will probably enjoy this as well. Yes, it's incredibly romantic to be swept up in the arms of a steadfast man and carried off to a safe haven, but it's also incredibly romantic to have someone listen to you when you talk about your interests and always consider your advice and opinions. There's plenty of both here. Like The Siren of Sussex, the sex scenes are closed door, but omg this book presses you right up against that door. I was flustered and blushing through certain parts. For me, this was a perfect mix of the grand gestures and dramatic imagery of classic fairy tales, the subtleties and sweetness of real human experience and emotion, and the grounding and informative qualities of good historical fiction.

This is an excellent historical fiction romance. The setting is clearly well researched and the story is immersed in Victorian Era culture and fashion, with nuance. I do enjoy spicy books, but I found it refreshing to not have explicit spice here. The romance is chaste, with no on page sex scenes, but there was plenty of physical chemistry and intimacy between the characters. I felt their pull towards each other. Their dressmaking interactions were an excellent example of how you can create incredibly sensual moments without there being literal sex. I also felt their friendship and partnership growing the more they interacted. It was refreshing how open and honest they were to each other, yet there was still plenty of pining and tension. Evelyn starts the story somewhat naive due to her upbringing, but she is not willfully ignorant and is physically and emotionally strong.  Ahmad is guarded and a bit cynical, but very compassionate and kindhearted. They are both genuinely talented and hard working in their respective areas, and respect each other's abilities. The side characters are interesting, but also serve to move the story forward. I listened to this on audio and I found myself thinking about it all the time when I wasn't listening. I had really high hopes for this one, and it met them. Mimi Matthews is probably going to be a new favorite author for me.

It's so hard to decide which book I liked more in The Doomsday Books series. As much as I loved this, I think I have to give it to the first book for spending more time discussing the wildlife and landscape of the marsh and having a little more action and mystery. This book is a bit like a gothic novel where a newcomer has to contend with an intimidating estate and the unwelcoming people living in it with them. The estate is not spooky or particularly mysterious, though. The story focuses more on internal character struggles and family dramas (not that those aren't present in the previous book.) You also get a clear sense of how time has passed since the last book, and a lot of familiar faces pop up from the last story. The premise of the Inheritance drama is a good setup for introducing the new characters. Luke and Rufus are fantastic together. KJ Charles seems to be really good at creating characters that feel like unique, distinct people despite them sharing similarities with each other. Luke and Rufus are not just transplants of the lead characters in the last book, their circumstances and their romance are their own. The uncle and aunt causing 90% of all the problems were comically awful people, I always pictured Victoria's parents from The Corpse Bride when they were in a scene. 

4 for the first half and more like 3 for the second half.
I had more fun at the beginning of this book than towards the end. Things got a little too goofy and the characters made some questionable choices as the story went on. I do think it's clear the author had a blast writing this and throwing in everything they wanted to, and I'm happy for them. I like media where I can tell the creators had a good time. If you've also read You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by this author, it might help you figure out one of the twists in this book. That was the case for me. I didn't love the twist there, and I liked it less here.

I think that's because I'm more of a "power of friendship" type person who likes to see platonic relationships shine.

I also didn't really like the love interest, Marie. Apart from being really pretty and nice to Briseis, she's kind of rude to everyone else and I didn't get a sense of her personality besides that. There's a scene with poison ivy that is completely implausible and inaccurate to how poison ivy works, which took me out for a bit and I had to complain about it to my boyfriend. For positives: I loved the two completely supportive and loving moms, they bring a lot of comedic relief to the story as well. I liked the plant magic and descriptions. I liked exploring a big old house with lots of secrets. There's a lot of fun stuff here, for sure. The writing is not bogged down by overly detailed descriptions or internal thoughts, so it reads quickly. This is definitely YA due to the age of the main character, but very readable and engaging for me as an adult reader as well. I did not realize this was a duology, I think it kind of works as a standalone even with the somewhat cliffhanger/open ending. I am not sure if I will read the 2nd book or not. 

did not realize this was Christian fiction when purchased

I am being a bit generous with my rating for how much I personally enjoyed the book, but that's based on the writing quality and how I can see how other people would like it if they aren't bothered by the things that bothered me. I really wanted to like this, but unfortunately I just kept having issue after issue with it. 

Our character introduction is Charlotte getting caught sleeping with a married man. Infidelity really bothers me, so I knew it was gonna be an uphill battle to try to like her. We then spend a big chunk of the first part of the book in a bunch of other character's perspectives (mostly Charlotte's sister, so I was a little confused as to who the main character actually was for a bit) before we even get to hers and learn her poor rationale for her choices. So smart yet so dumb? An argument could be made that maybe the author is going for her being smart with facts and riddles, but bad at interpreting emotions and human behavior. She seems to be strongly coded as autistic as well. There's a bunch of casual fat-phobia sprinkled around because one of Charlotte's other main character traits is that she really likes food, but of course it would be bad if she got too plump. 🙄 

I was going to DNF the book, but then

Mrs. Watson became a character and I loved her and how she stepped in to help Charlotte so much.

I got really into it at that point. Unfortunately, that turned out to

be an orchestrated situation by someone else, so the most redeeming part of the book for me turned out to be a lie.

 

Most of the investigation of the main mystery is not done by Charlotte herself, but by an Inspector. Huge chunks of the book are just him interviewing people and considering their testimony. He's fine at his job. He feels sad and surprised when

he realizes that his wife may have had any other desires apart from being his wife and that women might actually think about things.

 

I could not get on board with the love interest. I get that this is historical England and people were in unhappy marriages, but I do not feel the chemistry, I do not feel the friendship, I feel like I'm being told that I should want them to be together (as master and mistress? 🤢) but I don't feel why I should. 

The resolution to the big mystery is pretty dark in subject matter, I wasn't expecting that, but I do think it was talked about in a remote enough way not to be overly disturbing. 

I think the author did overall do a decent job of coming up with puzzles and mysteries and tying things together for Charlotte and the other characters to solve. I like that other characters had skills and specialized knowledge to contribute,

like Mrs. Watson with her ear for accents and acting/costuming skills to create disguises, and Lord Ingram's photo development and manipulation talent.

I think the writing quality was good apart from the jarring switches between perspective and how little perspective Charlotte herself gets. 

This was a fantastic M/M Historical Romance. I loved these two main characters, I loved their chemistry, I loved how they were both gentle, loving souls who tried their best with all the circumstances and hardships that came their way. They regretted and apologized for their mistakes, they communicated, and they listened to each other. My favorite thing in a romance is healthy communication, and it's a good sign when an author can come up with other ways to create drama and tension despite the characters working well together. While the romance is fantastic, there is also a great cast of supporting characters and a really interesting setting. I listened to this on audiobook at 1.4 speed and I liked the narration.
Edit: Bumping this up to 5 stars after reading the sequel (which is also fantastic) because I realized I loved this book even more than I thought.