I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really tried to like this book. Especially coming off of a drawing class where I studied and attempted to make a copy of a Monet, I found the characters' discussion of learning by forging masters' works very interesting. Similarly, I enjoy art and history, and it's clear the author really loves and knows quite a lot about the subject. That said, the occasional insertion of mini-lessons on history, both of art and war, while relevant, kept me from ever getting fully immersed in the story. Perhaps it's also because I am not the biggest fan of historical fiction (largely do to a history of reading the genre for school and being inundated with lessons that similarly take me out of the story itself), but at times there were several historical figures whose names I didn't specifically know. I could infer what their roles in WWII were based on context, but it also made me feel as though I may not be intelligent enough to "get" the story if I couldn't follow every single mention. I can't think of a particular time I've ever felt rather condescended to by a book, aside from the occasional dry textbook I may have had in school.

The two main characters also frustrated me. While they did gain more dimensionality as the story progressed, I simply became more and more confused by their backstories as things unraveled. Once it was revealed (I believe) who the forgery was completed by a bit before halfway through the book, I felt some vindication for being correct in my assumption, slightly annoyed that the revelation had come so early, and unsure of what to think about how it changed what I'd previously read. Perhaps it is meant to be some big plot twist, but it sadly fell flat for me.

Truly, however, my decision to stop reading came very shortly after a surprise appearance of Pierce Brosnan. That name drop itself startled me enough, and forced me to examine if I truly cared to discover how the rest of the story unfolded when I was so dissatisfied with the progression of the main characters. 

I will attempt to pick this up at a later date, and I believe anyone who is either in the art world or loves art history will find this book very interesting. While it did not capture my imagination in the way I'd hoped it would, I know The English Masterpiece will be a source of joy for many readers who'd like a little mystery in their art. 

Current rating: 2 stars

As much as I wanted to finish this, I got bogged down by the backstory. The premise was intriguing, the title fascinated me, and the wit/sec narrative was compelling. But I never made it that far. 

I'd really like to return to this someday, but for now, I think the difficulty of hearing about Curtis' upbringing and his desire to perform music, knowing his true debut was eventually going to come to a crashing halt, is one of the reasons I stopped reading. I was approved for the ARC the day before the book was released, and I endeavored to finish it quickly, but as I continued, other books beckoned and I ultimately abandoned this one.

Unfortunately, after over a month of not touching the book, I think it's time to call TOD. But I do hope to return to it when I'm feeling more emotionally ready for a contemporary novel of this kind.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Doubleday for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Current rating: 3 stars

The premise is absolutely fascinating: at some point in a reality alternate to ours, doors appear out of nowhere in various places in the world. They lead to strange new worlds entirely unlike anything anyone has ever seen... and they call to some people. These doors slowly become a part of society: as a site of pilgrimage and central to their own religion, as a presumed hoax, as a heretical deviance in nature. Twins Ayanna and Olivia are born into a split world: their father a member of the religion of the doors, and their mother a devout Catholic. At the dissolution of their parents' marriage, they live separately and evolve into two funhouse mirrors of each other: similar in appearance and design, but their view of the world around them skewed in harshly differing ways. 

Ayanna is the focus of the book, growing up with the doors as some sort of nonsensical but benevolent entity, the focus of her father's religion. When she comes of age, their practice involves a grounding ritual of self-acceptance that allows individuals to walk through the door. Due to the divergent nature of the fates of those who have attempted to enter previously, it is very much a leap of faith. Olivia, having grown up with their rigid mother, comes to support her sister--and makes a decision that  alters their entire family's lives irreparably. 

Going into the book, I didn't quite expect such an emphasis on religion and religious philosophy. While I generally don't have an issue with either subject, I tend to find them to be quite a heavy topic that I can't comfortably deal with for too long. Once I got into part two of the book, Ayanna's mental state deteriorates and the action of the book becomes much more haphazard, jumping around in time in a way I couldn't easily follow and demonstrative of darker thoughts I try to avoid delving into myself. For this reason, I was having a lot of difficulty getting through the book. I will try to return to it at some point, but sadly, it simply isn't for me right now.

If you are ready for a fascinating and philosophical dive into religion, alternate worlds and an exploration into the familial bonds--and trials--of a Black family in the Midwest, try this book out! If you have experienced the loss of a sibling or are sensitive to religious trauma, however, I'd steer clear, as it may evoke some difficult feelings.

Where I currently am, I would give this book between two and a half and three stars.

So much thanks to NetGalley and Amistad for giving me a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Let me start with the good. 
There is some truly gorgeous prose here. I have never marked so many phrases I loved in an ebook before. Many descriptions, or even minor parts to larger sentences, are poetic and vivid. 
The main character is a badass. She knows how to defend herself both physically and verbally, takes no prisoners, is entirely herself, and also has the softness that comes with knowing healthy familial love. And she’s smart— she is quick to notice things, which is sadly not something I can say for all the supposedly strong heroines I’ve read in fantasy fiction. 
 
Now for the less good parts. 
While the descriptive phrases are often stunning, they’re also overused in a lot of places. Certain aesthetics are described in moments they don’t need to be, when they add nothing to the content of the story. Sure, it’s lovely to read some of it, but it interferes with the flow of the plot enough that it gets frustrating. 
The worldbuilding is told rather than shown, and inserted randomly at moments that don’t make sense. 
Mal and Ash’s relationship have no chemistry until they decided they like each other out of nowhere. This comes after a series of miscommunications (which are, blissfully, due to an actual reason:

Ash’s insecurity about his stammer

). But their care for each other feels completely unearned. 
 
The biggest issue I have, however, made me contemplate DNFing multiple times (before I finally did): the inconsistency of the writing. 
There are multiple POVs throughout the book, but they’re never introduced. At first, it seems as though Mal is the only one whose perspective we’ll get, and that’s fine. But then it jumps to her brother, and then later to side characters from other kingdoms, and none of it makes a whole lot of sense. There are essentially no transitions to explain the narrative shifts, and with it sometimes changing mid-scene, there are many parts of chapters that are difficult to read. 
Action scenes feel like afterthoughts, with very little explanation of what’s happening, and then it’s over.  There is a complete lack of tension in these moments, because there’s no build up nor any payoff. 
The resulting jerky nature of both the writing and the characterization of characters is, by far, the main reason for my rating being what it is (right now, I'd have it at 2 stars). 
 
I really wish the pacing had been better planned; the book drags in some places and then speeds through the action scenes so that it feels like nothing is happening overall. I’d have liked to have the characters be given more time to be introduced, so we could get to know them, rather than have side characters take over the majority of the narrative with very little reason as to why. It feels like they’re there simply to pad out the length of the book and make the world feel bigger, but it instead leaves everything feeling rather flat. The

witch maid

reveals herself almost immediately, eliminating the possibility for tension and the impact of a reveal. The spymaster, Wren, is supposed to be brilliant, but tells Mal everything she knows upon their first meeting. (And don’t get me started on Wren’s characterization—it’s one of my biggest issues with the book). 
 
The paragraphs in the electronic copy I read are also not indented, and at times not separated properly from thought to thought, making it even more difficult to read. I hope this is fixed for the published copy. 

I will try to come back to it at some point. I really want to know how it concludes, because the story is still interesting to me. But for now, I simply can't get through it. When I do finish it, however, I'll come back to update my review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and JF Johns for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

It’s been a little while since I read the first book, which I did not love, but I also don’t remember disliking all the characters quite as much as I do in this one. 
I’m intrigued by the story unfolding, and really want to get into whatever Psyche’s powers are. But I can’t escape how much I am annoyed by each character we come across. Psyche is at times prescient and at others wholly naive, and the love story that felt rushed in the first book completely falls flat. Eros no longer has a personality, and the little we do see is not someone worth rallying behind. 
Dimitra is by far the one character that pisses me off the most. Even though she has understandable issues with her sister and father, I thought she was a bit redeemable in the first book with her seemingly trying to fight for her sister. But here, she just seems like a petty queen clinging to the closest nexus of power.
Maybe I’ll come back to this someday. But for now, I am thoroughly over it. 

The writing is just not grabbing me. I keep stopping and starting and making it less and less far each time. I’ll try another time, maybe. But right now it’s not doing it for me, and the writing style is probably just going to feel more grating if I push myself. 

The reviews I read were GLOWING. And I can’t even make it fifty pages into the book. The worldbuilding was messy and sort of just thrown out there without giving you any time to understand what was happening. But really, the fact that there were cars and guns mentioned in the first couple of chapters was almost enough to make me stop altogether. And so many colloquialisms that take me out of the supposed “fantasy” world. Maybe I’ll try this again one day, but for now, I simply can’t do it.