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815 reviews by:
marta_correia
Definitely a new favourite!!! Now, all I want for Christmas is Red Seas Under Red Skies... Can't wait to continue the series!
*Thank you to the editor Capstone for providing an e-ARC copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
Lovely illustrations and fun design of the text make this story a quite immersive, even if too short, experience!
The Library of Doom seems like a really atmospheric, secretive and ancient place , with tons of secrets and magic relics from all Eras of History. An amazing concept that I always love to see!
This is a book I would have been delighted to read when I started reading. As an adult, I only wish there was more of it!
Lovely illustrations and fun design of the text make this story a quite immersive, even if too short, experience!
The Library of Doom seems like a really atmospheric, secretive and ancient place , with tons of secrets and magic relics from all Eras of History. An amazing concept that I always love to see!
This is a book I would have been delighted to read when I started reading. As an adult, I only wish there was more of it!
*Thank you to the editor Crooked Lane Books for providing an e-ARC copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
This was a really fun and engaging historical murder mystery!
Lily, our main character, is very interesting and likeable! She is a smart, intelligent, independent woman in a time when women weren't openly appreciated for those traits. I was happy to find that she wasn't the only female character with these traits as the story evolved. Despite their differences, the women portrayed in this novel are all given distinct characteristics, some more obviously rebellious, others preferring to use their strengths in more subtle ways - all of them so valid and, I think, realistic! I really appreciated how there was true female friendship, how they had their differences and quarrels, but talked about it and accepted each other's views and differences. Lily never puts down other women, on the contrary, and I find that invigorating!
We are also given a wide range of male characters beyond the misogynistic, dominant and controlling kind. We are given man that at first may be shocked with unusual behaviour from women at the time, but don't go on to trying to "put women in their place", they assimilate and accept those behaviours, coming to appreciate and value the exact traits that are considered unwanted by others. This is even more pleasant when one of the men is a military and another from the police - who are more often portrayed as stuck up and close minded people.
There is a representation of races and ethnicities that seem truthful to the times, which is always something of value and importance- I was delighted with the author's note about it, it shows how much care went into portraying it as accurately as possible.
The portrayal of grief is also present and well done in my opinion. Lily is going through a big loss and you can actually see her dealing with it and processing it, instead of just appearing when it's convenient to the story.
The mystery was interesting, compelling and complex enough. We discover things along with the characters and are given the opportunity to put the pieces together with them. Although I guessed the big reveal before it happened on the page, there were actually some twists and turns that had me thinking twice about it!
I liked the writing, it wasn't too modern nor to pretentious in style, it was a good middle ground between the time it's being written and time it writes about. I only found some issues with the pacing, I think the narrative dragged here and there, which took from the fluidity of the storytelling. But, overall, it was very much an enjoyable experience, I liked the time I spent with these characters and story. Will be definitely be keeping an eye out for the next instalment!
Recommend to people who like murder mysteries focused on the more brainy part of uncovering it, as opposed to a more scientific/forensic approach, with the wonderful backdrop of 1800 London!
This was a really fun and engaging historical murder mystery!
Lily, our main character, is very interesting and likeable! She is a smart, intelligent, independent woman in a time when women weren't openly appreciated for those traits. I was happy to find that she wasn't the only female character with these traits as the story evolved. Despite their differences, the women portrayed in this novel are all given distinct characteristics, some more obviously rebellious, others preferring to use their strengths in more subtle ways - all of them so valid and, I think, realistic! I really appreciated how there was true female friendship, how they had their differences and quarrels, but talked about it and accepted each other's views and differences. Lily never puts down other women, on the contrary, and I find that invigorating!
We are also given a wide range of male characters beyond the misogynistic, dominant and controlling kind. We are given man that at first may be shocked with unusual behaviour from women at the time, but don't go on to trying to "put women in their place", they assimilate and accept those behaviours, coming to appreciate and value the exact traits that are considered unwanted by others. This is even more pleasant when one of the men is a military and another from the police - who are more often portrayed as stuck up and close minded people.
There is a representation of races and ethnicities that seem truthful to the times, which is always something of value and importance- I was delighted with the author's note about it, it shows how much care went into portraying it as accurately as possible.
The portrayal of grief is also present and well done in my opinion. Lily is going through a big loss and you can actually see her dealing with it and processing it, instead of just appearing when it's convenient to the story.
The mystery was interesting, compelling and complex enough. We discover things along with the characters and are given the opportunity to put the pieces together with them. Although I guessed the big reveal before it happened on the page, there were actually some twists and turns that had me thinking twice about it!
I liked the writing, it wasn't too modern nor to pretentious in style, it was a good middle ground between the time it's being written and time it writes about. I only found some issues with the pacing, I think the narrative dragged here and there, which took from the fluidity of the storytelling. But, overall, it was very much an enjoyable experience, I liked the time I spent with these characters and story. Will be definitely be keeping an eye out for the next instalment!
Recommend to people who like murder mysteries focused on the more brainy part of uncovering it, as opposed to a more scientific/forensic approach, with the wonderful backdrop of 1800 London!
*Thank you to the editor Crooked Lane Books for providing an e-ARC copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
"Felicity Carrol and the Murderous Menace" had quite a lot of potential. Among other aspects, it has an interesting premise, a setting with a possible clash of cultures and a character with room to be innovative and inspiring. This is what drew me in. A victorian era murder mystery with a female main character in the field of forensic science? Yes, please!
Unfortunately, I was overall disappointed. I didn't love the main character, Felicity (in fact, I liked some side characters much more). The way the author describes her makes it look like she is perfect, not only in looks but also in brains. She's good at everything, she is gorgeous, brilliant, has a phenomenal photographic memory, remarkable powers of deduction, a vast scientific knowledge... However, I found that she fails more than once at using all her brilliance and knowledge in the story. Adding to that, she does a lot of illegal things to "get evidence".
The more scientific parts were not very good, in particular the optography scene. While I understand wanting to insert elements of the time into the story, this scene was not well done for me. I'm convinced it doesn't correspond to the scientific protocol and the results corresponding to the real experiments. While I know this is a work of fiction, that section read more like science fiction than historical fiction. I could go on an entire tirade about this particular aspect, but in the end, it all comes down to this: if the novel is based on a forensic sciences expert, at least that part and the lab work should have been as accurate as possible.
On the historical aspect of this novel, it didn't feel enough like victorian times. From the dialogue to some of the character's views, it read too modern. I'm sure that writing a story in a time that is far from your reality will be very difficult, as there is a lot of research and effort that needs to go into it to make it believable. Unfortunately, in this case, it didn't work for me.
I wasn't drawn to the writing either. I found some awkward or complicated words thrown into the text and weird expressions/descriptions that took me out of the story. Also, there were too many repetitive moments, the romance involving Felicity was unnecessary, the major plot twist, I liked it but figured it out very early in the story, and finally, the resolution was just too neat and fast, I didn't like the ending given to the antagonist.
To conclude, this is a novel with a good premise and an interesting twist on a real-life case that didn't work for me: 2/5 stars.
"Felicity Carrol and the Murderous Menace" had quite a lot of potential. Among other aspects, it has an interesting premise, a setting with a possible clash of cultures and a character with room to be innovative and inspiring. This is what drew me in. A victorian era murder mystery with a female main character in the field of forensic science? Yes, please!
Unfortunately, I was overall disappointed. I didn't love the main character, Felicity (in fact, I liked some side characters much more). The way the author describes her makes it look like she is perfect, not only in looks but also in brains. She's good at everything, she is gorgeous, brilliant, has a phenomenal photographic memory, remarkable powers of deduction, a vast scientific knowledge... However, I found that she fails more than once at using all her brilliance and knowledge in the story. Adding to that, she does a lot of illegal things to "get evidence".
The more scientific parts were not very good, in particular the optography scene. While I understand wanting to insert elements of the time into the story, this scene was not well done for me. I'm convinced it doesn't correspond to the scientific protocol and the results corresponding to the real experiments. While I know this is a work of fiction, that section read more like science fiction than historical fiction. I could go on an entire tirade about this particular aspect, but in the end, it all comes down to this: if the novel is based on a forensic sciences expert, at least that part and the lab work should have been as accurate as possible.
On the historical aspect of this novel, it didn't feel enough like victorian times. From the dialogue to some of the character's views, it read too modern. I'm sure that writing a story in a time that is far from your reality will be very difficult, as there is a lot of research and effort that needs to go into it to make it believable. Unfortunately, in this case, it didn't work for me.
I wasn't drawn to the writing either. I found some awkward or complicated words thrown into the text and weird expressions/descriptions that took me out of the story. Also, there were too many repetitive moments, the romance involving Felicity was unnecessary, the major plot twist, I liked it but figured it out very early in the story, and finally, the resolution was just too neat and fast, I didn't like the ending given to the antagonist.
To conclude, this is a novel with a good premise and an interesting twist on a real-life case that didn't work for me: 2/5 stars.
As good as the first time I read it and the audiobook is great! Still recommend the physical version more, if you can, as it has beautiful illustrations!!!
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One of my all time faves, I have been craving a reread for the past year or so! I finally got my hands on the audiobooks, and to my surprise: I actually read this book for the first time on May 2016! I can't believe it has been 4 years, and I can't believe I am reading it again on the same month by pure chance :o I am a little ball of happy! :3
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One of my all time faves, I have been craving a reread for the past year or so! I finally got my hands on the audiobooks, and to my surprise: I actually read this book for the first time on May 2016! I can't believe it has been 4 years, and I can't believe I am reading it again on the same month by pure chance :o I am a little ball of happy! :3