elementarymydear's Reviews (967)

 Cosy mystery in a quiet English town? Post-First World War historical setting? Well-written, fleshed out and varied queer characters? Paranormal goings-on? Yes to all!

This was a really fun read, that had me hooked from the start and didn’t let me go until the end. Even though I hadn’t read the first in the series I was able to jump straight in with this one. The main characters were all great; first you have Walter, a reserved but fiercely loyal nurse who lives with his friends Sylvia and Lucy (who I believe were the main characters and romance from the previous book). Following a party gone very wrong, a body is found in the town pond the next morning, and Detective Simon Frost arrives on the scene to investigate. He and Walter immediately start to feel something for each other, despite the many misunderstandings and disagreements they have along the way.

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I don’t usually read mysteries but this kind of story was right up my alley; fast-paced, character driven, with an atmospheric historical setting. You can tell a lot of care has gone into creating these characters, and it has paid off. Still reeling from the effects of war, and guarded from the outside world due to their queerness, all of the main characters jumped right off the page and felt fully authentic. It was especially great to have a trans character in Walter, as trans rep in historical fiction is often hard to come by.

All in all, this was a lovely read, with a great balance of characters, plot, and mystery.

Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy for review. All opinions are my own. 

 What a truly stunning novel. It’s been sat on my Kindle for a while now, and I’m so glad I finally picked it up!

Homegoing follows two branches of the same family tree across three centuries, seven generations and two continents. It’s structured as a series of chronological short stories, each one following a different family member. We start with two half-sisters in 18th Century Ghana, who have never met but whose lives take drastically different turns. One marries an influential slave trader; the other is sold as a slave and taken to America. Over the following chapters we follow their descendants through to modern day, when their respective five-times-great-grandchildren are questioning and wondering about their own family history.

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The story structure won’t work for everyone, but I personally loved it. Each character was created so vividly, and I especially loved the difference between seeing them through their own perspectives as a young person, and then seeing them through the eyes of their descendants. Especially in the American storyline – partly because it’s a history I’m more familiar with – it really did feel like we were seeing both the immense changes of the past 250 years, and how little changed for so many people.

It’s hard for a book with such an epic scope to still feel personal and emotionally connected to the characters, but Yaa Gyasi managed it. The ending was in some ways cliché, but also unexpected and bittersweet. It was the perfect conclusion for a story like this, giving us enough closure for a satisfying ending while not overwhelming us with a wild plot appearing.

I love character-driven, plotless stories – when they’re done well. I love cross-generational stories – when they’re done well. I love cross-culture and cross-country stories – when they’re done well. This book hit all the right notes on every one! I almost regret reading it almost all in one sitting, but it was so easy to sink into the writing and not put it down until the final moment. 

 4.5 stars

What a fun read!

This was just what I needed to distract me from the general… *gestures to the world at large*. A great fantasy adventure, filled with witty observations and comments, with effortless world-building and lovable characters? Sign me up!

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There was so much to love here. The matriarchal society was (mostly) done well, with only one scene that struck me as particularly on-the-nose. The world hit familiar beats but with many imaginative twists that made it feel fresh. The conflicts between the characters were believable and relatable. And queerness abounds!

There were plenty of nice twists on familiar tropes, particularly the way deities and religion are depicted in fantasy worlds. I won’t spoil the ending but it’s not quite what you expect! And the very last scene set up the rest of the trilogy brilliantly, leaving me wanting more.

My only complaint is that I wish it were slightly longer! (Always a good complaint to have!) The conclusion felt a tad anticlimactic, and I think if we’d had longer to explore the world and set up the ending it might have felt more momentous.

All in all, a great read, and I can’t wait for the sequel!

I received a free copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own. 

 A mysterious, magical circus? Paris in the Jazz Age? Family secrets? What’s not to love?

Well, a few things, actually. This was a real mixed bag of a book.

The highlights for me – which I imagine will be shared with many other people, as it was the reason I picked up the book in the first place – were the storylines about Le Cirque Secret, a mystical circus that only appears to those who truly wish for it. No record of this circus exists; even pictures or drawings vanish the next day. The story follows Cecile, one of the daughters of the ringmaster, and her doomed romance with a painter. I really enjoyed all of her chapters; the story and characters were compelling, and the setting very evocative.

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Unfortunately we didn’t get to the actual circus until about a third of the way through, and the majority of the book follows Lara, a 21st-Century descendant of the theatre owners. There’s a strong, action-packed start – her fiancé goes missing on their wedding day – but after that we had a very long, drawn-out exposition where very little happened. It might have been better had some of the extraneous details turned out to be important at the end, but they didn’t. I’m not sure if we really needed that much world-building for a small-town in Virginia, when there’s a whole magical circus ready and waiting for us.

That being said, the way the two storylines came together at the end was really great; the last few chapters were easily the strongest of the modern storyline. There were a few writing moments that stood out as being a bit awkward, especially at the end, but it was a strong finish.

All in all, this was a very slow-paced book that, mostly, was not about the titular circus. But if you like your historical fantasy on the side of a small town mystery, this is one worth checking out.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free copy for review. All opinions are my own. 

 Winterset Hollow takes a very simple premise – what if your favourite book was real? - but gives it a dark and horrifying twist.

Our main charcter is Eamon, a young man with a troubled childhood who found solace in Winterset Hollow, a whimsical book about woodland creatures. He and his friends decide one year to go and visit the island where the book is set, see the author’s house, and celebrate ‘Barley Day’, the festival from the book. When they arrive, though, they find that the beloved characters they read about are very real, very dangerous, and hell-bent on vengeance.

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‘Book within a book’ is a difficult trope to get right, so I was really impressed that the author managed to pull it off so well. The ‘excerpts’ doted throughout really add to the feel of the book, and with just a few lines you can sense why this fictional book meant so much to people.

The opening few chapters of the book were really intriguing, drawing you in with a mysterious air. The ending was also very strong, with a nice twist that brings the main character full circle. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy the middle of the book quite so much; while the action started with a bang, it became hard to keep that level of excitement up and was occasionally a little hard to follow. However, it did all build to a very satisfying climax – both in the plot and in the emotional journey of the characters. I was surprised by how moved I was in the final couple of chapters!

If you enjoyed books such as Wind in the Willows and Watership Down as a child, and have grown up with a penchant for horror, this will definitely be a good book for you!

Thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy for review. 

 Sometimes, you start a book and you instantly know it’s going to become a favourite. By the first page you have fallen into the world, and by the end of the first chapter you know you would do anything for the main characters. A Marvellous Light was like that for me.

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From the get-go you are drawn into the setting: Edwardian England with a community of magicians going about their daily affairs in secret. I love fantasy where magic exists alongside our own world, and it was so well-done here. We got to see how magicians hide in plain sight, how social expectations differ among magicians, and how their everyday lives are just that little bit different. Casting a spell is known as ‘cradling’, with roots in the cats’ cradle of the playground, but as the story progresses we are introduced to different kinds of magic which, for various reasons, is not practised by the male-dominated British school.

Then there are the characters. You can’t help but instantly warm to both Robin and Edwin, no matter how much they know how to push each other’s buttons. Their enemies-to-reluctant-friends-to-lovers storyline is the cherry on top of a fantastic cake, and keeps you glued to the page the whole way through. I found myself feeling grateful for bad traffic while I was driving so I could listen to the end of an important argument or conversation between them. Both characters go on such great journeys of growth that you just have to root for them. There’s also a great supporting cast, especially Robin’s sister Maud, and his typist Adelaide.

This is the first book in a series, and manages to not only set up the series brilliantly but is also a self-contained story in and of itself. If I was more strong-willed I could get to the end of this one, be satisfied and move on, but as it is I don’t think I’ll sleep properly until the sequel is out. I definitely have my theories as to what’s coming next and I can’t wait to see what happens! This is the most excited I have been for a sequel in a long time.

The audiobook is narrated by David Thorpe, a veteran narrator, and he does a great job as always. He really captured the nuances of every character and brought the whole story to life with a flourish. If I had to make a teeny-tiny critique it would be that some of the characters’ voices were a little inconsistent, but apart from that I couldn’t fault it.

This book was just an absolute treat from start to finish. It’s not even out yet and I’m already counting down to when we will get more. This is such a strong debut novel from Freya Marske, and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a free copy of the audiobook for review. All opinions are my own.