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Miss Dark’s Apparitions #1
Tall & Dark
Ghosts, grifters…and a missing heir in 1890s Europe.
It’s easier to conduct a séance when the dead aren’t trying to contact you. As Molly Dark knows all too well, the problem with being able to see ghosts is that they never tell you what you wish to know.
For instance, how a proper young lady like Miss Dark is supposed to support an impoverished family after her father has died a ruined man. Or how she is going to impersonate a missing princess long enough to steal a fortune out from under the collective noses of a whole family of royal monsters. Or exactly why the charming imposter claims to be none other than Grand Duke Vasily Nikolaevich, when he certainly isn’t a prince…or a vampire.
Alas, the dead normally have something far more unsettling to impart�
Return to the Bête Epoque, an 1890s Europe ruled by monsters, in Miss Dark’s Apparitions! Leverage meets The Parasol Protectorate in this witty historical fantasy romp. Be the first to join Miss Dark in the spooky mansions of 1890s Europe - preorder Tall & Dark today!
It’s easier to conduct a séance when the dead aren’t trying to contact you. As Molly Dark knows all too well, the problem with being able to see ghosts is that they never tell you what you wish to know.
For instance, how a proper young lady like Miss Dark is supposed to support an impoverished family after her father has died a ruined man. Or how she is going to impersonate a missing princess long enough to steal a fortune out from under the collective noses of a whole family of royal monsters. Or exactly why the charming imposter claims to be none other than Grand Duke Vasily Nikolaevich, when he certainly isn’t a prince…or a vampire.
Alas, the dead normally have something far more unsettling to impart�
Return to the Bête Epoque, an 1890s Europe ruled by monsters, in Miss Dark’s Apparitions! Leverage meets The Parasol Protectorate in this witty historical fantasy romp. Be the first to join Miss Dark in the spooky mansions of 1890s Europe - preorder Tall & Dark today!
344 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 30, 2022
91 people are currently reading
367 people want to read
About the author
Suzannah Rowntree
32books555followersHi! I live in a big house in rural Australia with my awesome parents and siblings, drinking fancy tea and writing historical fantasy fiction that blends real-world history with legend, adventure, and a dash of romance.
If you like the historical fantasy of Gail Carriger, S. A. Chakraborty or Naomi Novik, you'll probably like my stories too!
You can visit me online at
GOODREADS FRIEND POLICY: I'm afraid I don't accept every single friend request I receive, unless we already know each other, or it looks like we have tastes broadly in common. However, please feel free to follow and interact.
If you like the historical fantasy of Gail Carriger, S. A. Chakraborty or Naomi Novik, you'll probably like my stories too!
You can visit me online at
GOODREADS FRIEND POLICY: I'm afraid I don't accept every single friend request I receive, unless we already know each other, or it looks like we have tastes broadly in common. However, please feel free to follow and interact.
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Shelved as 'my-books'
March 23, 2022Behold! The spin-off series set in the same world as MISS SHARP'S MONSTERS, featuring a young lady who sees memories of the dead, an irritable inventor, a feral ballerina, a sweet and pure himbo, and Vasily Nikolaevich Romanov, who is not having a good afterlife.
Coming 2 APRIL, 2022!!!
Coming 2 APRIL, 2022!!!
April 4, 2022
Tall & Dark is yet another stunning historical fantasy by Suzannah Rowntree--and an epic start to a new series, which I already can't wait to continue, so when exactly is the next one coming out?
Oh, well. Onto the review...
First of all, our endearing main character, Miss Molly Dark, a young woman in 1890's Europe just trying to get by, for herself and her family. Her character took me by surprise, but in the best way! I love protagonists who are kind and gentle and have a sense of humor. Not the type you'd expect to find pulling off such an ambitious heist, which makes it even better! The inner conflict between her morals and her actions was done fantastically.
The secondary characters were a riot. The "inventor loves himbo" dynamic is priceless. And the Grand Duke--oh, the Grand Duke. I admit 60% of my excitement for this book was for Vasily, and as I expected, he did not disappoint! I was surprised by his character considering the events of the previous series, but it makes me anticipate the continuation of his arc all the more. It's gonna be a wild ride whenever the Grand Duke is along.
While the mystery itself is not all too difficult, the story kept me turning pages every night. (Much of the time thanks to Dark and Vasily's bizarre and entertaining interactions.) It ended far too soon, but on such a great note. The next installment should be even more epic!
Whether or not you've read Miss Sharp's Monsters (and if you haven't, you totally should), Tall & Dark is a fantastical romp through "Bête Epoque" Europe full of lovable characters, an intriguing plot, and a jolly good time, and I highly recommend it.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. A positive review was not required; all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*
Oh, well. Onto the review...
First of all, our endearing main character, Miss Molly Dark, a young woman in 1890's Europe just trying to get by, for herself and her family. Her character took me by surprise, but in the best way! I love protagonists who are kind and gentle and have a sense of humor. Not the type you'd expect to find pulling off such an ambitious heist, which makes it even better! The inner conflict between her morals and her actions was done fantastically.
The secondary characters were a riot. The "inventor loves himbo" dynamic is priceless. And the Grand Duke--oh, the Grand Duke. I admit 60% of my excitement for this book was for Vasily, and as I expected, he did not disappoint! I was surprised by his character considering the events of the previous series, but it makes me anticipate the continuation of his arc all the more. It's gonna be a wild ride whenever the Grand Duke is along.
While the mystery itself is not all too difficult, the story kept me turning pages every night. (Much of the time thanks to Dark and Vasily's bizarre and entertaining interactions.) It ended far too soon, but on such a great note. The next installment should be even more epic!
Whether or not you've read Miss Sharp's Monsters (and if you haven't, you totally should), Tall & Dark is a fantastical romp through "Bête Epoque" Europe full of lovable characters, an intriguing plot, and a jolly good time, and I highly recommend it.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. A positive review was not required; all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*
September 13, 2022
09.13.2022 This is currently just 0.99 USD on all major ebook retailers! Expires tomorrow on the 14th! (Amazon, Kobo/Walmart, B&N/Nook, Apple, etc.) >
“A medium; an inventor; an acrobat; a confidence-trickster; a bodyguard.�
An intriguing and fun tale of mystery, with apparitions, forged identities, and royal monsters in a classically dark (and ghostly) Victorian setting.
This is my first read from Rowntree and I’m happy to say that it certainly does not disappoint. The prose flows smoothly and feels very reflective of the historical period it is set in. It’s on the descriptive end of the scale (so expect full-length paragraphs and long sentences), but not what I would call slow since I thought it works well to set up the entire atmosphere and setting and is very immersive. (At first I wanted to say the world feels akin to Jane Eyre and Sherlock Holmes, but it also includes some steampunk�? I cannot be certain since I’m not entirely acquainted with the genre.)
I admire Molly’s struggle to do what is right by her own family’s needs as well as by the rightful heir/s to the inheritance. She is the first-person POV the entire story is told from and I'm happy to report she is not lacking in either sense nor humor. :) Her interactions with the Baron are delightful. And the rest of the company - Nijam, Alphonse (I admit, the repeated “Nijam’s Alphonse� cracked me up), and Mimi - involved in this deception are all diversely presented and uniquely voiced. The entire company’s dynamic is very fun (RIOT might be the right word here ;) to watch.
The mystery is not what I would consider especially difficult to solve for the part of the reader, but I think the journey of reading this book has been well worth the time. Again I applaud Rowntree’s ability to convey all the historical details in such an interesting way (as a rule, I tend to dislike “historical� stories that sound, well, not true to period at all).
And as for the next installment, I can already see hidden layers of mystery set up (I’m looking at you, Vasily <3) and I can’t wait to read about Miss Dark & Co.’s next mystery-adventure!
Content:
PG-13 for ghostly elements and serpent-like monsters. Also talk of a medium � but this is only presented as something that the main character can see and not something she sought or really wished for. There are some violence (being a mystery), none graphic. Light, infrequent British-style swearing (I think “D—n� may appear once to a few times). Some non-descriptive kissing.
There is a scene which mentions kissing between females in a all-girls school/convent as an experiment, such action is not thought of positively � but mostly inquisitively - on the part of the main character. Personally, I think the author did an accurate job of representing my response in this matter� but you must read that section to determine this for yourself. It’s not sexualized � just deliberated in the main character’s head. I'd suggest some parental guidance/discussion for this topic.
“A medium; an inventor; an acrobat; a confidence-trickster; a bodyguard.�
An intriguing and fun tale of mystery, with apparitions, forged identities, and royal monsters in a classically dark (and ghostly) Victorian setting.
This is my first read from Rowntree and I’m happy to say that it certainly does not disappoint. The prose flows smoothly and feels very reflective of the historical period it is set in. It’s on the descriptive end of the scale (so expect full-length paragraphs and long sentences), but not what I would call slow since I thought it works well to set up the entire atmosphere and setting and is very immersive. (At first I wanted to say the world feels akin to Jane Eyre and Sherlock Holmes, but it also includes some steampunk�? I cannot be certain since I’m not entirely acquainted with the genre.)
I admire Molly’s struggle to do what is right by her own family’s needs as well as by the rightful heir/s to the inheritance. She is the first-person POV the entire story is told from and I'm happy to report she is not lacking in either sense nor humor. :) Her interactions with the Baron are delightful. And the rest of the company - Nijam, Alphonse (I admit, the repeated “Nijam’s Alphonse� cracked me up), and Mimi - involved in this deception are all diversely presented and uniquely voiced. The entire company’s dynamic is very fun (RIOT might be the right word here ;) to watch.
The mystery is not what I would consider especially difficult to solve for the part of the reader, but I think the journey of reading this book has been well worth the time. Again I applaud Rowntree’s ability to convey all the historical details in such an interesting way (as a rule, I tend to dislike “historical� stories that sound, well, not true to period at all).
And as for the next installment, I can already see hidden layers of mystery set up (I’m looking at you, Vasily <3) and I can’t wait to read about Miss Dark & Co.’s next mystery-adventure!
Content:
PG-13 for ghostly elements and serpent-like monsters. Also talk of a medium � but this is only presented as something that the main character can see and not something she sought or really wished for. There are some violence (being a mystery), none graphic. Light, infrequent British-style swearing (I think “D—n� may appear once to a few times). Some non-descriptive kissing.
There is a scene which mentions kissing between females in a all-girls school/convent as an experiment, such action is not thought of positively � but mostly inquisitively - on the part of the main character. Personally, I think the author did an accurate job of representing my response in this matter� but you must read that section to determine this for yourself. It’s not sexualized � just deliberated in the main character’s head. I'd suggest some parental guidance/discussion for this topic.
April 19, 2022
5 stars // read March/April 2022 (let's just ignore the fact that I'm writing this review over two weeks late...)
Overall, this was a fantastic book. I loved the worldbuilding, characters, and several scenes made me laugh aloud. Tall and Dark can be read as a stand-alone without previous knowledge of the Miss Sharp series, but several references (and one specific character) will be a lot more fun to people already familiar with the world. I knew from the description that Vasily would show up at some point, but I was really happy at how his character was incorporated. The plot also moved at a really seamless, smooth pace with some unexpected twists. My favorite part was when
Recommended for fans of:
-Assumed identities
-Steampunk alternative Victorian Europe with monsters
-Miss Sharp
-Historical fiction that's a lot more fun than regular historical fiction
-Murder mysteries
Content: Overall, this had minimal language/content concerns. As a Christian reader, there were two areas that I was a bit concerned about when I started the book- a. the main character is a medium and b. at least one character is bisexual. I was curious to see how the author would handle both of those elements since she is a Christian, and honestly, I think she did a fantastic job. The "ghosts" that the main character communicates with/sees are actually more like memories and strong impressions of people, rather than actual spirits or the people themselves. The LGBT aspect wasn't a significant part of the book and the book viewed it in more of a neutral way than something positive. So, while those aspects have been an area of hesitancy for me in other books, I don't have any issues recommending this book.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for a review. However, I was not required to leave a positive review, and all opinions stated are my own. (Thank you!!)
Overall, this was a fantastic book. I loved the worldbuilding, characters, and several scenes made me laugh aloud. Tall and Dark can be read as a stand-alone without previous knowledge of the Miss Sharp series, but several references (and one specific character) will be a lot more fun to people already familiar with the world. I knew from the description that Vasily would show up at some point, but I was really happy at how his character was incorporated. The plot also moved at a really seamless, smooth pace with some unexpected twists. My favorite part was when
Recommended for fans of:
-Assumed identities
-Steampunk alternative Victorian Europe with monsters
-Miss Sharp
-Historical fiction that's a lot more fun than regular historical fiction
-Murder mysteries
Content: Overall, this had minimal language/content concerns. As a Christian reader, there were two areas that I was a bit concerned about when I started the book- a. the main character is a medium and b. at least one character is bisexual. I was curious to see how the author would handle both of those elements since she is a Christian, and honestly, I think she did a fantastic job. The "ghosts" that the main character communicates with/sees are actually more like memories and strong impressions of people, rather than actual spirits or the people themselves. The LGBT aspect wasn't a significant part of the book and the book viewed it in more of a neutral way than something positive. So, while those aspects have been an area of hesitancy for me in other books, I don't have any issues recommending this book.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for a review. However, I was not required to leave a positive review, and all opinions stated are my own. (Thank you!!)
April 4, 2022
THIS BOOK WAS SO FUN!!!! HISTORICAL GASLAMP LEVERAGE!!!!! And Duke Vasily returns being his silky self and I LOVE him as well as our new protagonist Molly Dark and I cannot WAIT to read book 2!!!!!
March 24, 2022
This is the first book in "Miss Dark's Apparitions" a series that is a spin-off of "Miss Sharp's Monsters". As fond as I am of Miss Sharp's Monsters, this book was just so much better. The plot was well constructed and written in an effortlessly engaging style that draws you in right from the start. The voice of Miss Dark felt authentic to the time period in which the book was set and the supernatural elements slipped in effortlessly without disrupting the feel of the era. The cast of characters have extremely diverse personalities that do not necessarily mesh well despite the fact their lives very well may depend on their ability to work together. I did spend much of the book wondering how these people could ever be drawn together again for a sequel and was not expecting how this was done in the last chapter (but don't worry, this set up was in no way a cliffhanger, just the promise of more adventures to come).
So in short, love it, can't wait for the next one!
So in short, love it, can't wait for the next one!
July 3, 2024
WOW, Miss Rowntree never ceases to amaze. Seamlessly blending fantasy with historical fiction, we are taken on a wild, mysterious ride with a family of monsters and "featuring a young lady who sees the dead, an irritable inventor, a sweet and pure himbo, a feral ballerina, and a Grand Duke who is NOT having a good afterlife"* (I would have read this book for the list of characters alone)
I love this book, a lot. The dialogue is perfectly constructed, the plot complex and thoroughly intriguing, and the characters are wonderfully nuanced.
This is a fun and funny story with rather dark undertones. In other words, it's not fluff, nor is it heavy. It's just the right amount of gritty history, industrial-punk and monster fantasy to make it thoroughly entertaining.
I couldn't put this book down and can't wait for the next one.
*loosely quoted from the author
I love this book, a lot. The dialogue is perfectly constructed, the plot complex and thoroughly intriguing, and the characters are wonderfully nuanced.
This is a fun and funny story with rather dark undertones. In other words, it's not fluff, nor is it heavy. It's just the right amount of gritty history, industrial-punk and monster fantasy to make it thoroughly entertaining.
I couldn't put this book down and can't wait for the next one.
*loosely quoted from the author
December 23, 2024
EDIT: Unhiding this to add some Content Warnings:
After talking to some friends, we came to the conclusion that this book does propagate the following.
Antisemitism, Racism, Bi-phobia, Anti-SexWorker Sentiments, Classism.
Bit by bit:
1. The missing heiress husband is Jewish, and the story concludes with the (Christian) heroes saving his existence (in a way that wouldn't be legally sound). The way it is done reeks of White/Christian saviorism.
2. There's a scene where Molly 'pities' Nijam and wonders how hard her life must have been and how much people must have clearly fetishized and underestimated her, and how horrible this is, all with the undertone of 'Molly would never do that, look how she's disgusted by it'. Problem is: That is the first thing Molly did without ever scolding herself for it: Reduce Nijam down to her (by white/orientalist standards attractive) looks and be surprised to the point of shock when Nijam speaks fluent German (the story's set in Vienna, after all).
3. There's several scenes where Molly is shocked to find she finds the BBEG (a woman) attractive, BBEG also flirts with her and it's all written as if this is meant to be good bi rep, but is constantly portrayed as sign of wrongness and depravity.
4&5. There's constant bits in which Molly and the others lament over how mistreated the poor are, how the rich ought to look out for the poor etc, all to in the next breath be disgusted by being in the apartment of a a sexworker, have various scenes in which they speak from privileged ignorance towards the poor, again without any reflection, and Molly herself only works as governess because she can't stand the idea of her formerly rich family having to degrade themselves to work like the common folk.
It's... bad.
Now, I don't know if any of it was intentional (I hope not), but in all these cases the book tells the reader one thing, and shows another. And no, it's not something in line with Molly being an unreliable, egocentric narrator, it feels like Miss Rowntree tried very hard to create scenes to make Molly and her 'team' look sympathetic, progressive etc, but failed to keep in consistent outside of the scenes not intended to give that impression.
---
Original Review:
I should have loved this book. I wanted to love this book. I love Leverage and good heist stories in general, I have a soft spot for 19th century historical fiction, especially the 'fun romp' ones, I am keen on Steampunk, I love mysteries with mediums and ghosts.
This book promised all of that.
But I did not love this book. Because it delivered on none of its promises.
Is it set in late 19th century Europe? Yes. Do we ever get a real sense of that? Not really, for the same reason the Steampunk falls flat. And the very same reason the 'Leverage' inspiration fell flat:
Now, i do not intend to insult the author in any way, but I must say the book felt as if Miss Rowntree was quite at a loss on how to write a semi- or alt-historical Leverage-esq heist romp, and instead opted for just ripping off Leverage wholesale, while almost systematically ignoring the bits and bobs that make Leverage work.
Recaps (Unmarked Spoilers!)
Characters:
Molly Dark: Our protagonist and narrator. She's the oldest out of four sisters, and the sole supporter of her family after their father lost all the family's money in Hong Kong and died shortly thereafter. Molly officially works as governess, but earns some additional money as medium. Money which is dearly needed now more than ever, as Molly's mother contracted tuberculosis and needs to go to a sanatorium.
Now Molly can't actually talk to ghosts at will. What she can do is see 'imprints', memories of the deceased, which she uses to pretty much do what we'd nowadays call a cold reading to draw conclusions about the dead, and use said information to give her customers some peace of mind.
Padma Nijam: A cold, genius inventor who gets Molly wrapped up in the heist, as Molly sports an uncanny resemblance to a missing exiled princess. Not much is revealed about Nijam other than that she's a genius and looking for some man who later in the book turns out to be Alphonse Schmidt, Vasily's amnesiac manservant, who she has some history with.
Vasily Romanov: Another grifter out for the inheritance. Initially claims to be a Bulgarian baron married to the missing princess, but later reveals himself to be an exiled Russian royal, on the run from the Russian government. (Former) Vampire.
Alphonse: He... exists. He's Vas' amnesiac manservant/bodyguard and has a backstory with Nijam. He's... well...there.
Mimi: Ex-Ballerina turned cat-thief. Friend/Ex-Mistress of Vas. No social skills.
Plot:
When Molly loses her employment as governess after a séance gone awry, she takes up the offer of an irritating stranger to pose as missing princess in order to secure the woman's inheritance.
As this is a world where the royal houses are full of mythological monsters, this seems easier said than done, but the issue of Molly lacking a serpentine tail to pose as a Melusine is overcome by a state-of-the-art prosthetic tail. But more issues arise when the duo runs into a Bulgarian noble at the castle, claiming to be the missing heiress' husband. Not just that, but he's accompanied by the man Nijam has been in love with and who she had been looking for for years now.
The deception of the royals works out, till Molly discovers that the actual heiress is dead, just around the same time someone is trying to kill Molly.
A visit to the opera, a close shave with the Russian police and some unwelcome press coverage later, Molly gets confronted by the heiress' murderer, and, following the dead girl's imprint to remote safety set things in motion to bring justice to the dead heiress and her actual husband.
This does sound like a decent plot. Nothing outstanding, but solid.
Sadly, it isn't.
'Tall & Dark' is, unfortunately, one of those stories in which the plot happens to the characters.
Where every line of dialogue, every action, reaction and thought seems to exist solely to have the plot happen, instead of stemming from the characters' personalities, goals, ideologies etc.
The characters are thus all passive, without any internal logic, consistency or just a sense of self preservation.
Nijam is supposedly so rattled by running into Alphonse, who she loves and has been searching for for quite some time, that she runs into a closed door... only for her to be entirely uninterested in what happened to him, how it is that he doesn't recognize her, nothing.
Molly never once stands up for herself, always lets people talk over her, overwrite and disrespect her decisions, yet in the end she's made out to be the Mastermind, the planner of the group that everyone clearly listens to.
And the world-building itself doesn't fare better.
E.g. how the 'imprints' Molly can see work, what they are, changes part way through the story, seemingly just because the initial definition would not have allowed for the latter half of the book to happen. Initially 'Imprints' are the memories one person or even a building or a street has of a dead person. Then it changes to being the memory of the dead person, because otherwise Molly could not follow the dead heiress' imprint out of the castle, which she before said is what is remembering the dead woman.
Yet, in general, for a series titled 'Miss Dark's Apparitions' ghosts and other ghostly sightings are criminally and comically lacking. And the ghostly sightings, ghosts and imprints alike, are, as everything, there for the plot to happen. The first ghost is only there so Molly loses her job as governess, and the second one is there so Mimi (more on her later) gets something to do.
This gets twice as frustrating with a first person PoV with Molly as narrator:
The way Molly tells the story, often addressing the reader directly, it's not certain if she isn't just outright lying to the reader (there's a meta level that seems to insist she isn't?), which... is not a good look, especially for a heist story.
Yes, in a heist story like Leverage or Ocean's 11 etc the audience isn't told everything. But not in the 'lie to the audience' way, but in a 'don't tell the audience the truth' one, which is very different. It's not telling the audience that they see something different from what's actually happening, but distracting them from seeing what's actually happening and diverting their attention elsewhere.
Another issue I had with the PoV is that the amount of passages that 'Molly learned about later' keeps mounting up, making me wonder why the book wasn't outright written in third person. Those passages contain far too many details and bits and bobs that Molly couldn't possibly know about, as, given which characters are in those passages, it's hard to imagine they would share such info with Molly to publish somewhere.
There's furthermore so many logic holes riddling the plot that it feels as if one could ask every other page 'well, what was the plan if that failed/what was the plan here to begin with', without any possible in-universe answer.
Vasily claiming to be the lost heiress' husband? Well, what was his plan had Molly not shown up? (And no, unless that passage is somehow missing from the kindle edition, it is never revealed that he and Nijam had been working together from the start)
What was the plan had someone emptied a glass of water into Molly's face (which according to the information given would have been enough to make an actual Melusine turn into their 'true' form)?
How did the Antagonists manage to find the singing teacher (the guy who actually married the heiress, the reason she ran away from home to begin with) in a different city, but did not once hear the rumors that did cost him his job and reputation. The rumors that were about him marrying one of his students?
Did these rumors plot conveniently not include the whole bit about the student being one of the exiled royals? Because one would think that'd be a very juicy bit of gossip to include realistically.
There's a bit where the testator wants to destroy the current will to reinstate the previous one, but the document is in another room, being safekept by one of the royal family members. Now, I'm no lawyer, but I believe it would have been perfectly possible for the family's lawyer, who came to the castle to assess the testator's soundness of mind, to demand the document while he was there. Instead of saying 'I'll come back tomorrow to make a new will', leading to the testator getting killed that night.
The list goes on.
And as if these little pinpricks weren't bad enough, now for what I found just obnoxiously frustrating:
The aforementioned 'ripping off Leverage wholesale'. YMMV on Leverage being good or bad, everyone has different tastes, but when a story that promises to be 'inspired' by Leverage has ALL its protagonists being bland, superficial, badly-done copies of the Leverage characters, something has just gone wrong.
Molly, as mentioned, starts out so dreadfully passive and naive, with no spine to agency to speak of, but in the end we are meant to perceive her as Mastermind because... well because the universe, by all means, bent over backwards to have the plot (and thus Molly's plan) work out in the 'good guys' favor.
Nijam (second lead) fills the 'Hacker' role, and is only there to... make some earpieces that are so far before their time, and feel only there because hey, they're on the show (not that the plot needs them here, but hey, they're on Leverage, so they must be something no heist plot can do without, right?), and the fake serpent-body that breaks the suspension of disbelief even for Steampunk. She's also just insufferably arrogant. (See below)
Vasily fills the 'Grifter' role, and even on 'The Rashomon Job' no one would have described Sophie as this much of an arrogant, self-important biddy. He's there because... yeah, the team needs a stand-in for Sophie, and of course there's out to be a ship with Molly...
Alphonse is the stand-in for Eliot. He gets one scene where he easily beats up six or seven guys and then he... is there for Nijam's backstory. And given how things went in 'Miss Sharp's Monsters' (info you can easily glimpse from that one's reviews) there's also not much of a mystery as to why he's amnesiac but now possess super-human prowess...
Mimi might be the worst example: She's the 'Thief' character and copies Parker's character almost word for word, except for all of the personality and backstory that made Parker work. Instead of a quirky, bit unsettling cloudcuckoolander with no social skills, with the heart in the right spot and a troubled past, Mimi is just... annoying and obnoxious, but so-much-better than anyone else. She's grating, condescending, and pretentious. She also seems to only exist so that there is a Not-Parker on the team.
Talking about Nijam being insufferable, the following needs special mention:
There's a bit where Nijam is ripping Molly a new one because the culprit found letters Molly had received from her mother and Molly's response to said letter. Nijam is really going to town on Molly, berating her for not burning the letters as Nijam had told her to and so forth, putting all the blame on Molly's 'stupidity'. The problem?
Nijam brought Molly these letters.
Sure, Molly had asked her to pick them up from presumably a PO box, but Nijam was in full control of what happens to the letters. She could have told Molly to read the letters now, and give them back to Nijam for safekeeping. She could have told Molly she'll keep the letters in her room and Molly can come there to read them. She could have told Molly 'No. I will not pick up those letters. Yes, your mother is sick with TB, but it is too big a risk.'
Nijam was, again, in full control over those letters and over what happens to them.
Yet she gave them to Molly, told her to burn them after reading and then went on her merry ways, only to then lecture Molly for something that Molly wouldn't have f*cked up if not for Nijam's own arrogance and incompetence. And yes, we are supposed to side with Nijam here and also feel bad for Molly for her messing up like that. And as mentioned, Molly does NOT defend herself. The way it is written Nijam did nothing wrong.
Having mentioned Molly's mother contracted tuberculosis, this is another thing that got grating in the end:
There are many, many elements that feel dishonest in how they appear to be fishing and milking for sympathies from the reader without really being a part of the story/world. And that is on top of elements that feels exploitative towards minorities in the sense that these bits feel to be there to hammer home what good people Molly & Co are (is this the wrong point to mention Molly is only the whole governess thing so her formerly rich sisters don't have to work? Also she's disgusted and shocked to be in the flat of a sex worker when meeting Mimi? And maybe let's not mention the 'clear sign of depravity' undertone of the culprit flirting with Molly. But don't worry, Molly ends up with the controlling, disrespectful Vasily, even considering marriage if the synopsis for book 2 are any hint)
And, last but not least:
This book feels like it wasted at least two or three perfectly fine plots:
1. The ghost that costs Molly her job threatens to kill someone. It could have been interesting to have Molly try to prevent that while juggling her job as governess and going toe to toe with skeptics.
2. The heiress' husband is already there at the séance at the start, why bend the plot into a knot and have Molly lose her job and have Nijam be a stranger that approaches her, when it could have very well be that the dead heiress asks Molly to pretend to be her to find out who killed her?
3. The aforementioned bit about Al being amnesiac should have been a B-Plot at least, by all means.
Conclusion:
If you like Leverage, heists with ghosts, steampunk or just Victorian mysteries, I recommend looking for fanfics in that vein.
After talking to some friends, we came to the conclusion that this book does propagate the following.
Antisemitism, Racism, Bi-phobia, Anti-SexWorker Sentiments, Classism.
Bit by bit:
1. The missing heiress husband is Jewish, and the story concludes with the (Christian) heroes saving his existence (in a way that wouldn't be legally sound). The way it is done reeks of White/Christian saviorism.
2. There's a scene where Molly 'pities' Nijam and wonders how hard her life must have been and how much people must have clearly fetishized and underestimated her, and how horrible this is, all with the undertone of 'Molly would never do that, look how she's disgusted by it'. Problem is: That is the first thing Molly did without ever scolding herself for it: Reduce Nijam down to her (by white/orientalist standards attractive) looks and be surprised to the point of shock when Nijam speaks fluent German (the story's set in Vienna, after all).
3. There's several scenes where Molly is shocked to find she finds the BBEG (a woman) attractive, BBEG also flirts with her and it's all written as if this is meant to be good bi rep, but is constantly portrayed as sign of wrongness and depravity.
4&5. There's constant bits in which Molly and the others lament over how mistreated the poor are, how the rich ought to look out for the poor etc, all to in the next breath be disgusted by being in the apartment of a a sexworker, have various scenes in which they speak from privileged ignorance towards the poor, again without any reflection, and Molly herself only works as governess because she can't stand the idea of her formerly rich family having to degrade themselves to work like the common folk.
It's... bad.
Now, I don't know if any of it was intentional (I hope not), but in all these cases the book tells the reader one thing, and shows another. And no, it's not something in line with Molly being an unreliable, egocentric narrator, it feels like Miss Rowntree tried very hard to create scenes to make Molly and her 'team' look sympathetic, progressive etc, but failed to keep in consistent outside of the scenes not intended to give that impression.
---
Original Review:
I should have loved this book. I wanted to love this book. I love Leverage and good heist stories in general, I have a soft spot for 19th century historical fiction, especially the 'fun romp' ones, I am keen on Steampunk, I love mysteries with mediums and ghosts.
This book promised all of that.
But I did not love this book. Because it delivered on none of its promises.
Is it set in late 19th century Europe? Yes. Do we ever get a real sense of that? Not really, for the same reason the Steampunk falls flat. And the very same reason the 'Leverage' inspiration fell flat:
Now, i do not intend to insult the author in any way, but I must say the book felt as if Miss Rowntree was quite at a loss on how to write a semi- or alt-historical Leverage-esq heist romp, and instead opted for just ripping off Leverage wholesale, while almost systematically ignoring the bits and bobs that make Leverage work.
Recaps (Unmarked Spoilers!)
Characters:
Molly Dark: Our protagonist and narrator. She's the oldest out of four sisters, and the sole supporter of her family after their father lost all the family's money in Hong Kong and died shortly thereafter. Molly officially works as governess, but earns some additional money as medium. Money which is dearly needed now more than ever, as Molly's mother contracted tuberculosis and needs to go to a sanatorium.
Now Molly can't actually talk to ghosts at will. What she can do is see 'imprints', memories of the deceased, which she uses to pretty much do what we'd nowadays call a cold reading to draw conclusions about the dead, and use said information to give her customers some peace of mind.
Padma Nijam: A cold, genius inventor who gets Molly wrapped up in the heist, as Molly sports an uncanny resemblance to a missing exiled princess. Not much is revealed about Nijam other than that she's a genius and looking for some man who later in the book turns out to be Alphonse Schmidt, Vasily's amnesiac manservant, who she has some history with.
Vasily Romanov: Another grifter out for the inheritance. Initially claims to be a Bulgarian baron married to the missing princess, but later reveals himself to be an exiled Russian royal, on the run from the Russian government. (Former) Vampire.
Alphonse: He... exists. He's Vas' amnesiac manservant/bodyguard and has a backstory with Nijam. He's... well...there.
Mimi: Ex-Ballerina turned cat-thief. Friend/Ex-Mistress of Vas. No social skills.
Plot:
When Molly loses her employment as governess after a séance gone awry, she takes up the offer of an irritating stranger to pose as missing princess in order to secure the woman's inheritance.
As this is a world where the royal houses are full of mythological monsters, this seems easier said than done, but the issue of Molly lacking a serpentine tail to pose as a Melusine is overcome by a state-of-the-art prosthetic tail. But more issues arise when the duo runs into a Bulgarian noble at the castle, claiming to be the missing heiress' husband. Not just that, but he's accompanied by the man Nijam has been in love with and who she had been looking for for years now.
The deception of the royals works out, till Molly discovers that the actual heiress is dead, just around the same time someone is trying to kill Molly.
A visit to the opera, a close shave with the Russian police and some unwelcome press coverage later, Molly gets confronted by the heiress' murderer, and, following the dead girl's imprint to remote safety set things in motion to bring justice to the dead heiress and her actual husband.
This does sound like a decent plot. Nothing outstanding, but solid.
Sadly, it isn't.
'Tall & Dark' is, unfortunately, one of those stories in which the plot happens to the characters.
Where every line of dialogue, every action, reaction and thought seems to exist solely to have the plot happen, instead of stemming from the characters' personalities, goals, ideologies etc.
The characters are thus all passive, without any internal logic, consistency or just a sense of self preservation.
Nijam is supposedly so rattled by running into Alphonse, who she loves and has been searching for for quite some time, that she runs into a closed door... only for her to be entirely uninterested in what happened to him, how it is that he doesn't recognize her, nothing.
Molly never once stands up for herself, always lets people talk over her, overwrite and disrespect her decisions, yet in the end she's made out to be the Mastermind, the planner of the group that everyone clearly listens to.
And the world-building itself doesn't fare better.
E.g. how the 'imprints' Molly can see work, what they are, changes part way through the story, seemingly just because the initial definition would not have allowed for the latter half of the book to happen. Initially 'Imprints' are the memories one person or even a building or a street has of a dead person. Then it changes to being the memory of the dead person, because otherwise Molly could not follow the dead heiress' imprint out of the castle, which she before said is what is remembering the dead woman.
Yet, in general, for a series titled 'Miss Dark's Apparitions' ghosts and other ghostly sightings are criminally and comically lacking. And the ghostly sightings, ghosts and imprints alike, are, as everything, there for the plot to happen. The first ghost is only there so Molly loses her job as governess, and the second one is there so Mimi (more on her later) gets something to do.
This gets twice as frustrating with a first person PoV with Molly as narrator:
The way Molly tells the story, often addressing the reader directly, it's not certain if she isn't just outright lying to the reader (there's a meta level that seems to insist she isn't?), which... is not a good look, especially for a heist story.
Yes, in a heist story like Leverage or Ocean's 11 etc the audience isn't told everything. But not in the 'lie to the audience' way, but in a 'don't tell the audience the truth' one, which is very different. It's not telling the audience that they see something different from what's actually happening, but distracting them from seeing what's actually happening and diverting their attention elsewhere.
Another issue I had with the PoV is that the amount of passages that 'Molly learned about later' keeps mounting up, making me wonder why the book wasn't outright written in third person. Those passages contain far too many details and bits and bobs that Molly couldn't possibly know about, as, given which characters are in those passages, it's hard to imagine they would share such info with Molly to publish somewhere.
There's furthermore so many logic holes riddling the plot that it feels as if one could ask every other page 'well, what was the plan if that failed/what was the plan here to begin with', without any possible in-universe answer.
Vasily claiming to be the lost heiress' husband? Well, what was his plan had Molly not shown up? (And no, unless that passage is somehow missing from the kindle edition, it is never revealed that he and Nijam had been working together from the start)
What was the plan had someone emptied a glass of water into Molly's face (which according to the information given would have been enough to make an actual Melusine turn into their 'true' form)?
How did the Antagonists manage to find the singing teacher (the guy who actually married the heiress, the reason she ran away from home to begin with) in a different city, but did not once hear the rumors that did cost him his job and reputation. The rumors that were about him marrying one of his students?
Did these rumors plot conveniently not include the whole bit about the student being one of the exiled royals? Because one would think that'd be a very juicy bit of gossip to include realistically.
There's a bit where the testator wants to destroy the current will to reinstate the previous one, but the document is in another room, being safekept by one of the royal family members. Now, I'm no lawyer, but I believe it would have been perfectly possible for the family's lawyer, who came to the castle to assess the testator's soundness of mind, to demand the document while he was there. Instead of saying 'I'll come back tomorrow to make a new will', leading to the testator getting killed that night.
The list goes on.
And as if these little pinpricks weren't bad enough, now for what I found just obnoxiously frustrating:
The aforementioned 'ripping off Leverage wholesale'. YMMV on Leverage being good or bad, everyone has different tastes, but when a story that promises to be 'inspired' by Leverage has ALL its protagonists being bland, superficial, badly-done copies of the Leverage characters, something has just gone wrong.
Molly, as mentioned, starts out so dreadfully passive and naive, with no spine to agency to speak of, but in the end we are meant to perceive her as Mastermind because... well because the universe, by all means, bent over backwards to have the plot (and thus Molly's plan) work out in the 'good guys' favor.
Nijam (second lead) fills the 'Hacker' role, and is only there to... make some earpieces that are so far before their time, and feel only there because hey, they're on the show (not that the plot needs them here, but hey, they're on Leverage, so they must be something no heist plot can do without, right?), and the fake serpent-body that breaks the suspension of disbelief even for Steampunk. She's also just insufferably arrogant. (See below)
Vasily fills the 'Grifter' role, and even on 'The Rashomon Job' no one would have described Sophie as this much of an arrogant, self-important biddy. He's there because... yeah, the team needs a stand-in for Sophie, and of course there's out to be a ship with Molly...
Alphonse is the stand-in for Eliot. He gets one scene where he easily beats up six or seven guys and then he... is there for Nijam's backstory. And given how things went in 'Miss Sharp's Monsters' (info you can easily glimpse from that one's reviews) there's also not much of a mystery as to why he's amnesiac but now possess super-human prowess...
Mimi might be the worst example: She's the 'Thief' character and copies Parker's character almost word for word, except for all of the personality and backstory that made Parker work. Instead of a quirky, bit unsettling cloudcuckoolander with no social skills, with the heart in the right spot and a troubled past, Mimi is just... annoying and obnoxious, but so-much-better than anyone else. She's grating, condescending, and pretentious. She also seems to only exist so that there is a Not-Parker on the team.
Talking about Nijam being insufferable, the following needs special mention:
There's a bit where Nijam is ripping Molly a new one because the culprit found letters Molly had received from her mother and Molly's response to said letter. Nijam is really going to town on Molly, berating her for not burning the letters as Nijam had told her to and so forth, putting all the blame on Molly's 'stupidity'. The problem?
Nijam brought Molly these letters.
Sure, Molly had asked her to pick them up from presumably a PO box, but Nijam was in full control of what happens to the letters. She could have told Molly to read the letters now, and give them back to Nijam for safekeeping. She could have told Molly she'll keep the letters in her room and Molly can come there to read them. She could have told Molly 'No. I will not pick up those letters. Yes, your mother is sick with TB, but it is too big a risk.'
Nijam was, again, in full control over those letters and over what happens to them.
Yet she gave them to Molly, told her to burn them after reading and then went on her merry ways, only to then lecture Molly for something that Molly wouldn't have f*cked up if not for Nijam's own arrogance and incompetence. And yes, we are supposed to side with Nijam here and also feel bad for Molly for her messing up like that. And as mentioned, Molly does NOT defend herself. The way it is written Nijam did nothing wrong.
Having mentioned Molly's mother contracted tuberculosis, this is another thing that got grating in the end:
There are many, many elements that feel dishonest in how they appear to be fishing and milking for sympathies from the reader without really being a part of the story/world. And that is on top of elements that feels exploitative towards minorities in the sense that these bits feel to be there to hammer home what good people Molly & Co are (is this the wrong point to mention Molly is only the whole governess thing so her formerly rich sisters don't have to work? Also she's disgusted and shocked to be in the flat of a sex worker when meeting Mimi? And maybe let's not mention the 'clear sign of depravity' undertone of the culprit flirting with Molly. But don't worry, Molly ends up with the controlling, disrespectful Vasily, even considering marriage if the synopsis for book 2 are any hint)
And, last but not least:
This book feels like it wasted at least two or three perfectly fine plots:
1. The ghost that costs Molly her job threatens to kill someone. It could have been interesting to have Molly try to prevent that while juggling her job as governess and going toe to toe with skeptics.
2. The heiress' husband is already there at the séance at the start, why bend the plot into a knot and have Molly lose her job and have Nijam be a stranger that approaches her, when it could have very well be that the dead heiress asks Molly to pretend to be her to find out who killed her?
3. The aforementioned bit about Al being amnesiac should have been a B-Plot at least, by all means.
Conclusion:
If you like Leverage, heists with ghosts, steampunk or just Victorian mysteries, I recommend looking for fanfics in that vein.
December 19, 2023
Това е втората поредица на Сузана Раунтри, развиваща се в алтернативна стиймпънк вселена, където всяко кралско семейство на земята е някакъв тип легендарна гад � вампир, върколак, сирена или друго, хранещо се с човешки материал създание. Но ако първата ѝ поредица беше за инфилтриране на повредената от благородниците почти жертва мис Шарп, която като същински Блейд си постави за цел да им върне състоянието на синьокръвните към по-човешки измерения, тук разказваме за мис Дарк, чийто план е малко по-постижим � просто ще ги окраде. И за целта като същинска Дани Оушън тя събира своя екип от надарени със специални умения почти престъпници, основно концентрирани в опразване на джобове, сейфове и тайници с минимални жертви. Е, това последното е ясно, че няма да се получи.
Поредицата се води като мемоарите на Дарк, започнала като фалшив медиум, еволюирала до истински такъв, която влачи със себе си една тумба призраци, един бивш вампир, една кисела френска балерина, една индийска стиймпънк гениална изобретателка, за която мизантропична си е направо комплимент, и един симпатичен хубавец без памет, в който останалите разпознават най-великият химик на хилядолетието, въпреки че няма никакво основание за това. На странната ни трупа се пада да се инфилтрира между богаташи и благородници, генетично изменени или просто чудовища, които просто си плачат да бъдат остригани като пролетни агнета, и да се лишат от някоя и друга безумно скъпа др��нкулка или купчинка злато с неясен легален произход. Направо като Робин Худ, ако същият си запазваше приходите за себе си и инвестираше в личните си мечти и проекти. Доста практично, без съмнение.
Очаква ви стегнато и задъхано действие, стиймпънк виториана с чудовища и странни изобретения, добро количество саркастичен хумор, разбираема, ако и трудна романтична история, даваща малко вкус, но не задаваща общото настроение на поредицата. Из цяла Европа има сума ти богаташки монстри за поизтръскване, а призраците и приятелите на мис Дарк нямат никакви скрупули, особено що се отнася до осигуряване на вечерята плюс някоя друга диамантена огърлица � абсолютният минимум, нали разбирате. Чисто забавление, леко хапещо, леко премятащо, и просто много, много добро.
Поредицата се води като мемоарите на Дарк, започнала като фалшив медиум, еволюирала до истински такъв, която влачи със себе си една тумба призраци, един бивш вампир, една кисела френска балерина, една индийска стиймпънк гениална изобретателка, за която мизантропична си е направо комплимент, и един симпатичен хубавец без памет, в който останалите разпознават най-великият химик на хилядолетието, въпреки че няма никакво основание за това. На странната ни трупа се пада да се инфилтрира между богаташи и благородници, генетично изменени или просто чудовища, които просто си плачат да бъдат остригани като пролетни агнета, и да се лишат от някоя и друга безумно скъпа др��нкулка или купчинка злато с неясен легален произход. Направо като Робин Худ, ако същият си запазваше приходите за себе си и инвестираше в личните си мечти и проекти. Доста практично, без съмнение.
Очаква ви стегнато и задъхано действие, стиймпънк виториана с чудовища и странни изобретения, добро количество саркастичен хумор, разбираема, ако и трудна романтична история, даваща малко вкус, но не задаваща общото настроение на поредицата. Из цяла Европа има сума ти богаташки монстри за поизтръскване, а призраците и приятелите на мис Дарк нямат никакви скрупули, особено що се отнася до осигуряване на вечерята плюс някоя друга диамантена огърлица � абсолютният минимум, нали разбирате. Чисто забавление, леко хапещо, леко премятащо, и просто много, много добро.
April 7, 2022
Oh, that was excellent. I didn't realize how much I'd been missing this storyworld . . . as it turns out, the answer is "quite a lot."
Tall and Dark is a magnificent successor to Rowntree's Miss Sharp series, which was one of my favorite reads of 2021. While Miss Sharp and Inspector Short themselves aren't on the scene (for fairly obvious reasons), everything else that made the previous trilogy so great is back, including but not limited to:
-A storytelling style reminiscent of a Victorian memoir, with comments and asides to the reader, but much faster paced to appeal to a modern appetite.
-A world very like our own 1890s Europe, but one in which the term "monstrous ruler" isn't at all metaphorical. I'll note that this story is set close enough to the end of the Miss Sharp books that we're only just starting to see some of the effects of what happened at the end of this series, though there are references to those events.
-An exciting story with some excellent mystery elements (though this one is more of a con than a mystery, at least at the start).
-A mix of well-researched history with very creative fantasy.
-A perfect blend of action, drama, pathos, and humor.
-A return of the Grand Duke Vasily, who has not been enjoying himself since the events of the Miss Sharp books, but whose reappearance was thoroughly welcome.
And new to this book, we have . . .
-A cast of delightfully colorful characters! Most notably, Molly Dark (our heroine and POV character) and Nijam (genius inventor and brains behind the con).
--Molly is a little bit quieter than Liz Sharp, but she's no less delightful a main character: clever enough to scheme, loyal to her family, genuinely good-hearted but also practical and quite willing to use whatever tools she needs to in order to take care of her family. I liked the tension between her desire to provide for those depending on her and her misgivings about what she had to do in order to fulfill that desire. Her particular ability, to see "imprints" or memories of the deceased, was also pretty cool, and I like how it was worked into thestory. And she does have a romantic streak that was just quite fun, especially when contrasted with Nijam's blunt logic and straightforward manner.
--Nijam was also quite interesting, as she has a very scientific mindset, but is motivated probably more than she'd like to admit by matters of the heart. She's not my favorite character, but I did enjoy her.
-A con instead of a mystery � though if you love one type of story, you'll probably enjoy the other. (And it does end up turning into a bit of mystery before long, as murders and attempted murders just keep cropping up.)
-A new family of royal monsters, these ones melusines, which are apparently half snake and half human? I hadn't heard of them before, but I like how Rowntree used them.
A few additional thoughts and notes:
-There were a few points at which the first-person narration broke to relate events that happened elsewhere and were, presumably, related to the narrator later. I found these a little jarring, though I understand why they were necessary.
-Spotting references to the events and characters of Miss Sharp was quite fun.
-Every so often, characters reference how glad they are that there are no monsters in the English royal family, and every time they do, I'm just like . . . oh, honey. You have no idea.
All in all, this is an excellent read, and you can enjoy it whether or not you've read the Miss Sharp books � though I'd highly recommend reading both! And now, at the end of everything, I have only one question: where's the next book?
Tall and Dark is a magnificent successor to Rowntree's Miss Sharp series, which was one of my favorite reads of 2021. While Miss Sharp and Inspector Short themselves aren't on the scene (for fairly obvious reasons), everything else that made the previous trilogy so great is back, including but not limited to:
-A storytelling style reminiscent of a Victorian memoir, with comments and asides to the reader, but much faster paced to appeal to a modern appetite.
-A world very like our own 1890s Europe, but one in which the term "monstrous ruler" isn't at all metaphorical. I'll note that this story is set close enough to the end of the Miss Sharp books that we're only just starting to see some of the effects of what happened at the end of this series, though there are references to those events.
-An exciting story with some excellent mystery elements (though this one is more of a con than a mystery, at least at the start).
-A mix of well-researched history with very creative fantasy.
-A perfect blend of action, drama, pathos, and humor.
-A return of the Grand Duke Vasily, who has not been enjoying himself since the events of the Miss Sharp books, but whose reappearance was thoroughly welcome.
And new to this book, we have . . .
-A cast of delightfully colorful characters! Most notably, Molly Dark (our heroine and POV character) and Nijam (genius inventor and brains behind the con).
--Molly is a little bit quieter than Liz Sharp, but she's no less delightful a main character: clever enough to scheme, loyal to her family, genuinely good-hearted but also practical and quite willing to use whatever tools she needs to in order to take care of her family. I liked the tension between her desire to provide for those depending on her and her misgivings about what she had to do in order to fulfill that desire. Her particular ability, to see "imprints" or memories of the deceased, was also pretty cool, and I like how it was worked into thestory. And she does have a romantic streak that was just quite fun, especially when contrasted with Nijam's blunt logic and straightforward manner.
--Nijam was also quite interesting, as she has a very scientific mindset, but is motivated probably more than she'd like to admit by matters of the heart. She's not my favorite character, but I did enjoy her.
-A con instead of a mystery � though if you love one type of story, you'll probably enjoy the other. (And it does end up turning into a bit of mystery before long, as murders and attempted murders just keep cropping up.)
-A new family of royal monsters, these ones melusines, which are apparently half snake and half human? I hadn't heard of them before, but I like how Rowntree used them.
A few additional thoughts and notes:
-There were a few points at which the first-person narration broke to relate events that happened elsewhere and were, presumably, related to the narrator later. I found these a little jarring, though I understand why they were necessary.
-Spotting references to the events and characters of Miss Sharp was quite fun.
-Every so often, characters reference how glad they are that there are no monsters in the English royal family, and every time they do, I'm just like . . . oh, honey. You have no idea.
All in all, this is an excellent read, and you can enjoy it whether or not you've read the Miss Sharp books � though I'd highly recommend reading both! And now, at the end of everything, I have only one question: where's the next book?
April 1, 2022
A fun, fast-paced blend of zany heist caper with light romantic suspense and lots of intrigue set against an opulent, menacing European background, all beautifully written and with engaging world-building redolent of a steampunk Mary Stewart.
I’m so excited we get to revisit the “Bête Epoque� (introduced in Miss Sharp’s Monsters) and explore new and unexpected twists to European history c 1900.
This is a satisfying story on its own and could be read as a stand alone, while also setting up a lot of fun for us to have with these characters in the future as the rest of the series is released. The rationalist lady inventor, the kind-hearted bodyguard, and the mercenary ballerina were some of my favourites.
This book doesn’t require reading the previous series, but there are some fun moments for those who have (there’s even a creepy type of monstrous royalty we didn’t know about, guys!!).
In contrast to the reckless, death-defying, lower class Miss Sharp, who secretly longed for respectability, Miss Dark is an outwardly proper young English governess who has been gifted with supernatural perceptions and is “a born confidence trickster.� Her talents, impulses, and financial needs (an ailing family to support back home) are on a collision course with her upbringing, class, and values, and that makes for an intriguing and unexpected character journey.
Trigger warning (contains mild spoilers):
Miss Dark gets some non-explicit romantic/sexual attention from would-be seducers of both sexes.
I’m so excited we get to revisit the “Bête Epoque� (introduced in Miss Sharp’s Monsters) and explore new and unexpected twists to European history c 1900.
This is a satisfying story on its own and could be read as a stand alone, while also setting up a lot of fun for us to have with these characters in the future as the rest of the series is released. The rationalist lady inventor, the kind-hearted bodyguard, and the mercenary ballerina were some of my favourites.
This book doesn’t require reading the previous series, but there are some fun moments for those who have (there’s even a creepy type of monstrous royalty we didn’t know about, guys!!).
In contrast to the reckless, death-defying, lower class Miss Sharp, who secretly longed for respectability, Miss Dark is an outwardly proper young English governess who has been gifted with supernatural perceptions and is “a born confidence trickster.� Her talents, impulses, and financial needs (an ailing family to support back home) are on a collision course with her upbringing, class, and values, and that makes for an intriguing and unexpected character journey.
Trigger warning (contains mild spoilers):
Miss Dark gets some non-explicit romantic/sexual attention from would-be seducers of both sexes.
September 16, 2024
I very much enjoyed this. I could tell it was a spin-off. It just has that feel. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could even tell you which character overlaps. (I've not read the previous series yet.) But it still stood alone well enough to enjoy.
The characters are witty and distinct. There's a dry humor to the narration and tone. The world is lightly sketched but interesting. There's no romance, but there is potential for it in the future. All in all, I look forward to reading the rest of the Miss Dark's Apparitions series and then going back to read those of Miss Sharp's Monsters.
The characters are witty and distinct. There's a dry humor to the narration and tone. The world is lightly sketched but interesting. There's no romance, but there is potential for it in the future. All in all, I look forward to reading the rest of the Miss Dark's Apparitions series and then going back to read those of Miss Sharp's Monsters.
April 14, 2025
This was more my thing than the Miss Sharp books (though I did enjoy the first two of those). Probably because risky cons are my favorite, especially when murder mysteries and charming-but-dangerous strangers are involved. And of course there are the Victorianisms, the humor, and the deft grasp of human nature. Vasily is so dramatic, what's not to love. Also Molly employing the whole sweet-helpless-female routine was delightfully relatable, even up to and including her annoyance when some people cease to fall for it because she's used it too effectively one too many times.
It's basically Leverage but in fantasy 1890s Austria. Literally what is not to love??!?
It's basically Leverage but in fantasy 1890s Austria. Literally what is not to love??!?
March 1, 2023
I GOBBLED this up. Gave me everything I loved about Miss Sharp's Monsters, and gave me even more Vasily to boot. I adored Molly Dark as the lead, and her dynamics with the rest of the cast were just as intriguing as the twisty plot itself. The character dynamics were deliciously witty, too, though I'm afraid I can't explain why without spoiling anything.
I immediately pre-ordered the next one, and can't wait to see what happens next!
I immediately pre-ordered the next one, and can't wait to see what happens next!
March 10, 2023
This spinoff series is starting off every bit as adventurous and delightful as "Miss Sharp's Monsters." Proper British governess fending off snake-shifting royals in an attempt to steal a fortune? What premise could be more delicious?
The only elements that weren't my favorite were the fabricated seance/medium inclusions. But I trust Suzannah as an author and she always handles things thoughtfully. I would still highly recommend the story.
The only elements that weren't my favorite were the fabricated seance/medium inclusions. But I trust Suzannah as an author and she always handles things thoughtfully. I would still highly recommend the story.
Want to read
August 16, 2024 until September 10, 2024! I got a DRM-free epub from Smashwords.
April 13, 2022
All in all, I think I actually enjoyed this more than Miss Sharp's Monsters (which I already loved, and I highly recommend you read them first before getting to this one). If you want an idea of what this book is like, basically, take The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi, The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger, a little bit of Anastasia, mix them together, and you get Tall & Dark.
Miss Sharp's Monsters is for starters one of the rare stories where the heroine ends up with the "respectable" LI rather than the scoundrel where I didn't feel like the author was being condescending or gave away any, say, slut-shamey vibes? Which is a HUGE FEAT in my books, given it did a good job on centering on who Liz was, what her experiences were, and what she wanted in life. Given what's being set up between Molly Dark and Vasily (who's still a cunt, and I mean this affectionately), I'm really looking forward to seeing it develop, whatever way it goes or where it ends up.
Molly feels overall less confident than Liz, but I also found her more relatable (to me at least, as the eldest of five): she's your typical proper impoverished English lady forced to become a governess, whose heart is at the right place and who wants to help her family above all else, and the 1st person POV makes you empathize and root for her. She's kind, gentle, a very compassionate person, romantic without coming off as a silly airhead, with a good sense of humor, an inner conflict that's great to see evolve through the story and who has to deal with a gift of seeing imprints (this story's version of ghosts) which is a blessing and a curse all at once. She ultimately always tries to do the right thing, which made the end of the story oh so satisfying.
The other characters are loads of fun too - we got a mad scientist lady (Nijam) who's 100% done with everyone's shit, her long lost love (Alphonse) who's basically the Purest Himbo of a man to have walked the earth, and I was very excited to see the feral ballerina mentioned in the blurb and boy, did Mimi not disappoint. Never thought I needed Victorian Louise Belcher until now.
Also, I'm really curious to see where Vasily's character development is going - as I said, he's a cunt who will double-cross anyone, but I really feel like ultimately, he's full of self-loathing he hides under a facade and, I dunno, he kind of needs a friend? Not really sure Alphonse counts given he's his valet and therefore in a position of inferiority, like it or not. So, I do feel a little bad for him. Not enough to not want to kick his butt, but still a little.
Since I'm half-French, I was also VERY curious to know what type of monster the French royal family was (I was kind of wondering if it wouldn't have something to do with Merlin or Viviane, given Merlin's tomb is believed to be in Brittany and Viviane has a river named after her there (Ninian)), and let me tell you, having them be melusines was BRILLIANT. I don't know if Suzannah Rowntree came across the legends surrounding Mérovée (first King of France Clovis's grandfather), where he was said to be born out of the union of his mother with a quinotaure, which is basically a mythical beast created by Poseidon who's sometimes represented as half-bull, half-sea snake. As a result, Mérovée was said to have magical powers, so French royals being mélusines would fit in pretty nicely here, especially since the legend of Mélusine itself comes from France.
Imagining Louis XIV as a melusine is... terrifying as hell, though, I will say that.
And I'm still holding on to my theory that the Wittlesbachs were Fair Folk. It just makes sense. Come on. Tell me Sissi and Ludwig II of Bavaria weren't Fair Folk in this universe.
Anyway, I'm just saying, I needed the next book yesterday. Can't wait to see what's next in store for such a colorful cast of characters!
Miss Sharp's Monsters is for starters one of the rare stories where the heroine ends up with the "respectable" LI rather than the scoundrel where I didn't feel like the author was being condescending or gave away any, say, slut-shamey vibes? Which is a HUGE FEAT in my books, given it did a good job on centering on who Liz was, what her experiences were, and what she wanted in life. Given what's being set up between Molly Dark and Vasily (who's still a cunt, and I mean this affectionately), I'm really looking forward to seeing it develop, whatever way it goes or where it ends up.
Molly feels overall less confident than Liz, but I also found her more relatable (to me at least, as the eldest of five): she's your typical proper impoverished English lady forced to become a governess, whose heart is at the right place and who wants to help her family above all else, and the 1st person POV makes you empathize and root for her. She's kind, gentle, a very compassionate person, romantic without coming off as a silly airhead, with a good sense of humor, an inner conflict that's great to see evolve through the story and who has to deal with a gift of seeing imprints (this story's version of ghosts) which is a blessing and a curse all at once. She ultimately always tries to do the right thing, which made the end of the story oh so satisfying.
The other characters are loads of fun too - we got a mad scientist lady (Nijam) who's 100% done with everyone's shit, her long lost love (Alphonse) who's basically the Purest Himbo of a man to have walked the earth, and I was very excited to see the feral ballerina mentioned in the blurb and boy, did Mimi not disappoint. Never thought I needed Victorian Louise Belcher until now.
Also, I'm really curious to see where Vasily's character development is going - as I said, he's a cunt who will double-cross anyone, but I really feel like ultimately, he's full of self-loathing he hides under a facade and, I dunno, he kind of needs a friend? Not really sure Alphonse counts given he's his valet and therefore in a position of inferiority, like it or not. So, I do feel a little bad for him. Not enough to not want to kick his butt, but still a little.
Since I'm half-French, I was also VERY curious to know what type of monster the French royal family was (I was kind of wondering if it wouldn't have something to do with Merlin or Viviane, given Merlin's tomb is believed to be in Brittany and Viviane has a river named after her there (Ninian)), and let me tell you, having them be melusines was BRILLIANT. I don't know if Suzannah Rowntree came across the legends surrounding Mérovée (first King of France Clovis's grandfather), where he was said to be born out of the union of his mother with a quinotaure, which is basically a mythical beast created by Poseidon who's sometimes represented as half-bull, half-sea snake. As a result, Mérovée was said to have magical powers, so French royals being mélusines would fit in pretty nicely here, especially since the legend of Mélusine itself comes from France.
Imagining Louis XIV as a melusine is... terrifying as hell, though, I will say that.
And I'm still holding on to my theory that the Wittlesbachs were Fair Folk. It just makes sense. Come on. Tell me Sissi and Ludwig II of Bavaria weren't Fair Folk in this universe.
Anyway, I'm just saying, I needed the next book yesterday. Can't wait to see what's next in store for such a colorful cast of characters!
Want to read
November 28, 2024This is not a full review. I read through the beginning of all 300 SPFBOX contest entries. This was a book I wanted to read more of.
A governess in Vienna invents a persona to make money on the side as a medium, except her séances are anything but a trick - but little does she understand the world of the dead that she is playing in.
I’m wow’d. This historical, steampunk fantasy mystery’s opening is pitch perfect. It is a delight. It is perfectly measured. Cozy, quirky, humorous, tender, surprising, even frightening - the story effortlessly unfolds before the reader. I never wanted to stop reading.
Sometimes an opening is so flawless, there’s really little to say about it other than to beg everyone to read it. This is one of those openings.
Our female MC is positioned firmly at the center of the first-person narrative. She is an endearing protagonist. She makes mistakes, but she’s doing her best to make her way in the world and send money home to her sick mother.
She is not vindictive towards the apparent nonbelievers who condescend to attend her séance. She regrets taking what may be a young man’s last 20 kronen. But despite the drops she’s put in her eyes to make them dilate (for effect) she is not putting on a show. Maybe she really can help him.
As ever in the best stories, things do not go as planned. “So, it was a bad beginning,� our MC confesses. But her mistakes make this opening all the more of a delight.
Our MC has a gift. She is using it to the best of her abilities, but she is decidedly not a professional, and the truth is all some people want IS a show.
The tone of this reminded me of the best cozy mysteries. All the descriptions and dialogue ground the story beautifully in its setting. Everything about this is a triumph. Everything.
This is as good of a first chapter as I’ve read anywhere, ever. Were I to choose ten finalist openings, this would surely be one of them. Yes, yes, yes. This is an achievement. 1st in a series! Buy it! I did.
I’m gloriously in!
A governess in Vienna invents a persona to make money on the side as a medium, except her séances are anything but a trick - but little does she understand the world of the dead that she is playing in.
I’m wow’d. This historical, steampunk fantasy mystery’s opening is pitch perfect. It is a delight. It is perfectly measured. Cozy, quirky, humorous, tender, surprising, even frightening - the story effortlessly unfolds before the reader. I never wanted to stop reading.
Sometimes an opening is so flawless, there’s really little to say about it other than to beg everyone to read it. This is one of those openings.
Our female MC is positioned firmly at the center of the first-person narrative. She is an endearing protagonist. She makes mistakes, but she’s doing her best to make her way in the world and send money home to her sick mother.
She is not vindictive towards the apparent nonbelievers who condescend to attend her séance. She regrets taking what may be a young man’s last 20 kronen. But despite the drops she’s put in her eyes to make them dilate (for effect) she is not putting on a show. Maybe she really can help him.
As ever in the best stories, things do not go as planned. “So, it was a bad beginning,� our MC confesses. But her mistakes make this opening all the more of a delight.
Our MC has a gift. She is using it to the best of her abilities, but she is decidedly not a professional, and the truth is all some people want IS a show.
The tone of this reminded me of the best cozy mysteries. All the descriptions and dialogue ground the story beautifully in its setting. Everything about this is a triumph. Everything.
This is as good of a first chapter as I’ve read anywhere, ever. Were I to choose ten finalist openings, this would surely be one of them. Yes, yes, yes. This is an achievement. 1st in a series! Buy it! I did.
I’m gloriously in!
October 11, 2022
I quite enjoyed this new tale, and some of the plot even more than in the Miss Sharpe series that takes place in the same world. You can read this without the other series, but there is recurring things, do you might like it better if you read both.
I really love the blend of history, mobsters and strong female characters with their own agendas, goals and faults.
I struggled a bit too really get a feel for the characters in Tall and Dark, especially the side characters. By the end of the book I was definitely enthralled, but not nearly as quickly as with the author's other books.
I absolutely loved the ghosts and visions, which I thought were handled really well. A great talent that doesn't come without a price, but also doesn't give to much of the story away.
Puzzling among at the murder mystery was a delight, and even if I had a bunch really early on, I was still hooked to the very end!
Definitely a very fun and entertaining read!
I really love the blend of history, mobsters and strong female characters with their own agendas, goals and faults.
I struggled a bit too really get a feel for the characters in Tall and Dark, especially the side characters. By the end of the book I was definitely enthralled, but not nearly as quickly as with the author's other books.
I absolutely loved the ghosts and visions, which I thought were handled really well. A great talent that doesn't come without a price, but also doesn't give to much of the story away.
Puzzling among at the murder mystery was a delight, and even if I had a bunch really early on, I was still hooked to the very end!
Definitely a very fun and entertaining read!
Read
April 18, 2022I enjoyed SO MUCH about this book. It’s the best paced in Rowntree’s monsterverse � hits a great stride and maintains it all the way through. And the monsters didn’t disappoint � had my nervous self on the edge of my seat multiple times.
In a way, this book is the least theme-y of any Rowntree work, and I love the theme-y bits best. Though the exploration of sexuality gets serious, and actually left me conflicted. Thinking about charity, representation, sin, and what’s tmi and� jei(? - just enough info).
Till next year, in�
In a way, this book is the least theme-y of any Rowntree work, and I love the theme-y bits best. Though the exploration of sexuality gets serious, and actually left me conflicted. Thinking about charity, representation, sin, and what’s tmi and� jei(? - just enough info).
Till next year, in�
November 6, 2023
I really couldn't get into this one...not enough backstory to make the world or the characters or even the plot make sense...plus paranormal steampunk murder mystery romance just isn't a genre I love...Tall & Dark suffered a terrible identity crisis which overshadowed any glimpse of a readable story!
Definitely abandoned in a hotel bedside table in Greece...the olive oil needed the luggage space!
Definitely abandoned in a hotel bedside table in Greece...the olive oil needed the luggage space!
September 5, 2024
Thoroughly enjoyable with a delightful writing style that had little nuggets of surprise at every turn. A deft handling and exploration of the human experience all couched in a gaslight world of monsters. Well worth the read!
September 3, 2024
DNF @ 24 %.
August 28, 2022
A medium and an ex-vampire collide in small castle while trying to steal a fortune from a family of decidedly sinister royal Bourbons. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing for any reader who likes sassy heroines like Miss Molly Dark, is curious about how a certain Russian Grand Duke is doing after his encounters with Miss Sharp (go read that series first!), and enjoys a chase around the castle in pursuit of a murderer or two. This steampunk series expands the world created for the author's Miss Sharp series (Werewolf in Whitechapel) and readers of the earlier books will catch onto some of the snide asides a bit faster. But still a charming addition to the library.
September 27, 2022
If you love Leverage, you will love this. It's got all the charm of Leverage's Robin Hood-esque cons, but historical and with ghosts and monsters. There's an inventor, a charming, predatory Grand Duke, an... unscrupulous acrobat, and a loyal to a blinding-fault bodyguard. Oh, and a medium. Gotta have a medium for all the ghosts.
Where Miss Sharp's Monsters(the previous series) was all mysteries, this one is both mystery AND heisting, and it's deliciously fun. The cast of characters couldn't be more different, from the staunchly pragmatic Nijam to the romantic Molly Dark to the dangerously charming Vasily--and more. And while most of them are NOT overly concerned about altruism, Molly somehow convinces(in ONE way or other) them to all toward more selfless paths, which was the twist on the conmen trope that made Leverage so fresh. This has twisted it yet again with plopping it into the Historical Continental setting where all the royals are monsters of some variety or other.
It's creative, funny, and has a lovely amount of heart at its core. I look forward to seeing how these characters develop on their new path.
I received an ARC and I have reviewed this willingly.
Where Miss Sharp's Monsters(the previous series) was all mysteries, this one is both mystery AND heisting, and it's deliciously fun. The cast of characters couldn't be more different, from the staunchly pragmatic Nijam to the romantic Molly Dark to the dangerously charming Vasily--and more. And while most of them are NOT overly concerned about altruism, Molly somehow convinces(in ONE way or other) them to all toward more selfless paths, which was the twist on the conmen trope that made Leverage so fresh. This has twisted it yet again with plopping it into the Historical Continental setting where all the royals are monsters of some variety or other.
It's creative, funny, and has a lovely amount of heart at its core. I look forward to seeing how these characters develop on their new path.
I received an ARC and I have reviewed this willingly.
April 20, 2022
loved it
Love Suzannah rowntree’s work and Iam in the process of devouring everything of hers I can get my hands on
Love Suzannah rowntree’s work and Iam in the process of devouring everything of hers I can get my hands on
April 8, 2022
"Attempting to summon or communicate with the dead is largely useless, occasionally perilous, and not entirely cricket."
It’s about as far-fetched as anything, with serpentine monsters, prosthetic tails, a clairvoyant governess and technological inventions far advanced for the time period, so you’ll certainly have to exercise your ability to suspend disbelief.
But the gutsy heroines and the ever-delightful, debonair Grand Duke Vasily forge a bumpy ride through a chucklesome plot, delivering twists and turns and schemes within schemes, and it’s a ride you won’t regret. All the while Rowntree teases us with her signature tensions and betrayals between our band of misfits, characters who need each other as much as they can be relied on to never unanimously agree (unless, of course, there’s profit in it for everyone, and even then, nobody is quite sure when they might discover that their drink was laced with something sweet and consummately unwholesome).
The old, silly tropes are made fresh and hilarious with the sheer amount of what’s different in this book.
Of course, there’s the obligatory dying-elderly-relative, the vast inheritance, the missing princess, the my-poor-darling backstory, the de rigueur social critique of women’s rights and limited career opportunities, and the question of how so much wealth came to rest so heavily in favour of so few and undeserving. (I may also have a petty gripe about a sprinkling of happy coincidences which help our protagonist ensconce herself in the castle as a member of the family).
But then there’s everything original, too: the formidable Melusine, mythical snake creatures which take on their form when they get wet; a female prosthetist and inventor with talent and temper; a governess with a surprisingly hilarious habit of misusing common English idioms (my favourite thing about the dialogue); a defanged vampire with a flare for theatrics (my favourite scenes are always those with him in the spotlight); the ongoing intrigues of Europe’s network of monsters Royale; exclamations such as "Wait till I get my hands on that kuckuckskind!"; not to mention Turkish oil wrestlers, agony aunts, occasional-tables, angry poltergeists, and a "businesslike basin and ewer" and other such exotic things from the otherwise dormant and forgotten recesses of history.
There are so many ways this book could end, you'll be guessing the whole way through. So what are you waiting for? ;)
It’s about as far-fetched as anything, with serpentine monsters, prosthetic tails, a clairvoyant governess and technological inventions far advanced for the time period, so you’ll certainly have to exercise your ability to suspend disbelief.
But the gutsy heroines and the ever-delightful, debonair Grand Duke Vasily forge a bumpy ride through a chucklesome plot, delivering twists and turns and schemes within schemes, and it’s a ride you won’t regret. All the while Rowntree teases us with her signature tensions and betrayals between our band of misfits, characters who need each other as much as they can be relied on to never unanimously agree (unless, of course, there’s profit in it for everyone, and even then, nobody is quite sure when they might discover that their drink was laced with something sweet and consummately unwholesome).
The old, silly tropes are made fresh and hilarious with the sheer amount of what’s different in this book.
Of course, there’s the obligatory dying-elderly-relative, the vast inheritance, the missing princess, the my-poor-darling backstory, the de rigueur social critique of women’s rights and limited career opportunities, and the question of how so much wealth came to rest so heavily in favour of so few and undeserving. (I may also have a petty gripe about a sprinkling of happy coincidences which help our protagonist ensconce herself in the castle as a member of the family).
But then there’s everything original, too: the formidable Melusine, mythical snake creatures which take on their form when they get wet; a female prosthetist and inventor with talent and temper; a governess with a surprisingly hilarious habit of misusing common English idioms (my favourite thing about the dialogue); a defanged vampire with a flare for theatrics (my favourite scenes are always those with him in the spotlight); the ongoing intrigues of Europe’s network of monsters Royale; exclamations such as "Wait till I get my hands on that kuckuckskind!"; not to mention Turkish oil wrestlers, agony aunts, occasional-tables, angry poltergeists, and a "businesslike basin and ewer" and other such exotic things from the otherwise dormant and forgotten recesses of history.
There are so many ways this book could end, you'll be guessing the whole way through. So what are you waiting for? ;)
April 16, 2025
I wasn't aware until I finished the book and read the end notes that this is a spin off of a different series. That makes sense, in retrospect, because the world building had me a bit confused. The author has spent quite a lot of time coming up with an alt-historical Europe in which all the royal families of the various nations are some sort of monstrous creatures with magical powers, but she largely assumes that we know all this already. It took me longer than it usually does in a fantasy world for the various aspects of this world and these characters to coalesce, but that was likely because I didn't actually start at the beginning. So for potential new readers, don't start here -- go back and read the other series first.
My kids and I are suckers for a good group heist, and this is certainly a creative take on that kind of story. There's a lot going on in one slim novel, and I can see plenty of potential for Molly and all of her companions in future adventures. But you have to have a really deft hand to successfully juggle as much as this book tackles. I do blame a bit of the incoherence on coming into the world late, but I also felt like so much was going on that I never quite settled into the characters or who (other than Molly) I wanted to be rooting for.
I was basically able to accept that this is a fantasy world where there are monsters, our heroine can see spirits (the seance scene at the beginning had me hesitant, but Molly's determination to use her ability to right wrongs settled my fears on that front), and there's a whole alternate history things happening, but when one of the villainesses starts trying to seduce (?) the heroine and we get this odd aside about girls kissing each other at school, I was totally pulled out of the story. This kind of content is very predictable in mainstream YA/NA type books, but this one hadn't seemed like one of those. It felt very out of place.
I think I got this book for free or super cheap on Kindle, but to be honest, I won't spend money on further installments. It didn't quite hit the mark for me.
My kids and I are suckers for a good group heist, and this is certainly a creative take on that kind of story. There's a lot going on in one slim novel, and I can see plenty of potential for Molly and all of her companions in future adventures. But you have to have a really deft hand to successfully juggle as much as this book tackles. I do blame a bit of the incoherence on coming into the world late, but I also felt like so much was going on that I never quite settled into the characters or who (other than Molly) I wanted to be rooting for.
I was basically able to accept that this is a fantasy world where there are monsters, our heroine can see spirits (the seance scene at the beginning had me hesitant, but Molly's determination to use her ability to right wrongs settled my fears on that front), and there's a whole alternate history things happening, but when one of the villainesses starts trying to seduce (?) the heroine and we get this odd aside about girls kissing each other at school, I was totally pulled out of the story. This kind of content is very predictable in mainstream YA/NA type books, but this one hadn't seemed like one of those. It felt very out of place.
I think I got this book for free or super cheap on Kindle, but to be honest, I won't spend money on further installments. It didn't quite hit the mark for me.
March 19, 2023
Sublime! Suzannah, please always write about this pine-scented bloke because he's downright adorable.
I really enjoyed the characters in this book. I was intrigued by some of Molly's self-reflection, particularly those thoughts that essentially boil down to how she perceives herself and how she imagines others perceiving her.
The plot was fun, never slow but also never too fast, and I really like the writing style that Suzannah used. It's always lovely, as a reader, to be addressed by either the narrator. I also enjoyed the many references to historical figures and other works of art/literature, as well as the Unhistorical Note at the end of the book.
It's been a while since I have read the Miss Sharp books and did find myself desperately trying to remember how things had ended or who exactly had appeared in the last of those books, but not remembering clearly didn't diminish this book at all. It certainly wouldn't matter if you hadn't read those books before reading this, though I would recommend it as it will make many things more enjoyable.
Eagerly looking forward to the next book!
I really enjoyed the characters in this book. I was intrigued by some of Molly's self-reflection, particularly those thoughts that essentially boil down to how she perceives herself and how she imagines others perceiving her.
The plot was fun, never slow but also never too fast, and I really like the writing style that Suzannah used. It's always lovely, as a reader, to be addressed by either the narrator. I also enjoyed the many references to historical figures and other works of art/literature, as well as the Unhistorical Note at the end of the book.
It's been a while since I have read the Miss Sharp books and did find myself desperately trying to remember how things had ended or who exactly had appeared in the last of those books, but not remembering clearly didn't diminish this book at all. It certainly wouldn't matter if you hadn't read those books before reading this, though I would recommend it as it will make many things more enjoyable.
Eagerly looking forward to the next book!
March 10, 2024
Overall, I really enjoyed this. It's a fun blend of fantasy and historical fiction. It's got elements of a gothic romance and a heist adventure. I figured out a few pieces of the mystery pretty early on, but that didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the story. I lost a bit of interest in the later sections when I started to feel like maybe I didn't actually like any of the main characters anymore and wasn't rooting for anyone, but I did get back into it before the ending. This book is the intro to a series, but can be read as a standalone. I will probably read more because the series seems to be free on Kobo Plus. For a cheap/free series, I thought the writing and editing was solid. My only critique is that I wanted to feel consistently invested in the main characters, but sometimes they felt a little flat.
Content Warnings:
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Grief, and Death
Minor: Homophobia and Classism
Content Warnings:
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Grief, and Death
Minor: Homophobia and Classism
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