chronicallybookish's Reviews (1.53k)

This series is my favorite historical romance series, and I am heartbroken that it’s over. I fear I will forever be chasing the high The League of Extraordinary Women gave me. This book, especially, since it’s my favorite of the quartet.
Catriona is by far my favorite of Dunmore’s FMCs, mainly because I relate so heavily to her. She was clearly neurodivergent-coded in the earlier books, and I’m so glad this book really doubled down on that, making it undeniable, and outright confirming it in the authors note. There’s a real depth to the portrayal. It goes beyond quirky or eccentric, really exploring everything from social troubles to sensory overload and burn out. We see it in social situations, in internal monologue, in the sex scenes. It colors every part of Catriona’s experience—it’s a true part of who she is, and I really appreciate that.
Similarly, I utterly adored Elias. Being in his head, watching him scheme and then screw up all his schemes by falling in love.
And the chemistry between the two of them? I was swooning so hard.
The plot in this one also felt especially strong. It was layered, with the artifact plotlines, the suffrage plotlines, and the romance. All of these aspects were braided together seamlessly, and each of them held my interest and kept me engaged. I stayed up far too late reading this book because I simply could not put it down, and then I picked it up first thing the next minute and read for another two hours straight in order to finish it before getting out of bed.
As soon as I finished this book, I wanted to immediately pick up Bringing Down the Duke and do a reread of the series. Dunmore is a supremely talented writer, and as sad as I am to see this series end, I’m even more excited to see what she does next.

This book was SO FREAKING GOOD! I don’t know why I put off reading it. I think that I thought it wouldn’t live up to the first in the series? But it did.
This series is basically criminal minds but in a medieval high fantasy setting. Must I say more?
I adored the characters. Catrin was easy to relate to and I love being in her head. Simon is the epitome of book boyfriend—though I wanted a little bit more of the two of them being flirty. I wish the book had leaned into the fake marriage trope a little harder. That said, what interactions we did get had me giddy. I love their relationship so much.
Once again, this book was the perfect blend of fantasy and mystery. Both aspects were distinct, engaging, and stood on their own; and they were interwoven beautifully.
I desperately want more books in this series. Please and thank you.

3.5ish stars—maybe 3.75?
The premise and plot of this book are so fun and so strong. The pacing was fast and engaging. However, I wanted more from the writing and characters.
There were several points at which I almost DNFed this book in the first 30%—and I probably would have if not for the fact that it was an ARC and I’ve met the author and she was so nice that I desperately wanted to like this book. Ultimately, I’m glad I didn’t DNF. I had a good time with the latter half of that book, but man was that first 30% rough. The writing was not up to par. It was shallow, and the diologue was especially rough, very unnatural. My main issue, however, was how much I could not stand to be in Ford’s mind. I liked Corrie, but Ford was annoying as hell to read about. He was so whiny and melodramatic, I genuinely could not stand it. He did mellow out as the book went on—or maybe I just got used to him-but I still never really got to the point of actually enjoying his POV.
The book was also extremely instalove-y. Technically, it was more insta-lust, but that’s not a trope that works for me either, especially when there wasn’t much chemistry between the characters early on. They did have a spark later in the book, but that first 1/4 of the book was unconvincing and just cringey.
That said, it was a genuinely fun book. The setting was beautiful and well described, the plot was, as I said, so fun and very unique. The premise and plot really are the main selling points of this book, and they were both well executed. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the archaelogical dig and reading about Corrie and Ford’s explorations.
As the story wears on, we also get more character depth and development, and by the 50-60% mark, my original complaints had faded. The writing still wasn’t to the level I personally wanted it to be, but I was enjoying myself, and I no longer wanted to throw the book against a wall every time the chapters switched to Ford’s POV. The plot twists were predictable, but they were still engaging to read, and I think that’s the most important part.
While this wasn’t my favorite, I did overall enjoy it more than not.  I think Jo Segura has a lot of potential, and I’m excited to see what she will do next.